Google Android Leaked Pictures

Sure, we’ve seen some blurry videos and managed a few stolen glimpses when Andy Rubin demonstrated this beast, but now we’ve gotten our hands on a slew of pictures showing off a very real T-Mobile-branded Dream in all its Android-running glory. Not only does this confirm the design spied in those FCC docs as well as show off that nearly-done version of Android, but it seems to confirm the fact that this will be headed to T-Mobile, and sooner rather than later judging from the looks of the above device. Needless to say, our inner-geeks are completely geeking out right now. Hit the gallery below for a handful of other views of the phone.

Mayor Orders Mandatory Evacuation of New Orleans

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, while Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal warned residents that the state “could see flooding worse than Hurricane Katrina,” as Gustav approached the Gulf Coast. Read more

Steve Jobs Obituary Accidentally Published

The story, marked “Hold for release – Do not use”, was sent in error to the news service’s thousands of corporate clients.

The stock obituary was published “momentarily” after a routine update by a reporter, and was “immediately deleted”, Bloomberg said. Read more

Abortion Legalised in Mexico City

Mexico City’s legislative assembly has voted to legalise abortion in the city, the capital of the world’s second-largest Roman Catholic country.
Lawmakers voted 46 to 19 in favour of the bill that will permit abortions of pregnancies in the first 12 weeks.

Mexico City previously allowed abortion only in cases of rape, if the woman’s life was at risk or if there were signs of severe defects in the foetus.

Opponents of the abortion law have said they will challenge it in the courts.
Church concerns

The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy, in Mexico City, says that for years groups wanting to increase the rights of women have campaigned for change while conservative forces in the Catholic Church and elsewhere have fought to keep the practice outlawed.

Mexico City is one of the most populous cities in the world, with 8.7 million of Mexico’s population of 106 million people living there, according to UN figures from 2005.

The abortion vote split Mexico’s population, which is 90% Catholic, and prompted a letter last week from Pope Benedict XVI urging Mexican bishops to oppose it.

Prior to the vote, riot police kept rival demonstrators apart as they hurled insults at each other outside the assembly building.

There are an estimated 200,000 illegal abortions in Mexico each year.

Of women who opt for illegal procedures, at least 1,500 women die during botched operations performed in unhygienic backstreet clinics.

Many victims of rape are denied access to legal abortion, a Human Rights Watch report said last year.

The Mexico City assembly has courted controversy in Mexico before: it recently voted to allow same-sex civil unions and is currently considering legalising euthanasia.Source: BBCNews

Indian Monsoon Floods Leave Million Homeless

More than a million people have been forced from their homes and 250,000 houses destroyed in one of the worst floods in northern India for decades, sparking accusations that the destruction was man-made. Read more

Volkswagen Overtakes Ford as World’s 3rd Largest Automaker

While Toyota and General Motors continue to duke it out for first place among the world’s largest automakers, the lower rungs have been equally hotly contested. It came as a shock to many that Hyundai-Kia had surpassed Honda to take the Number 5 spot, but if you think the battle is being waged purely between the Far East and North America, don’t discount Europe for long. The continent’s largest auto group, Volkswagen, has claimed its place on the podium as the world’s third largest automaker, beating out Ford in the first half of this fiscal year. Read more

McCain settled on VP pick - Announcement Tonight

Sen. John McCain has decided on his running mate and will inform the person Thursday night, sources close to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said.

A Republican source said the matter was settled at a meeting of McCain’s advisers Wednesday.

Plans are in place for the senator from Arizona to reveal his pick for the GOP vice presidential nominee at an Ohio rally Friday, the day after Sen. Barack Obama formally accepts the Democratic presidential nomination.

The McCain campaign is hoping to have 15,000 people at the Ohio event, roughly five times the size of his largest crowd to date.

In an interview with a Pennsylvania radio station that was taped Wednesday and aired Thursday, McCain said he had not settled on a nominee. The Associated Press reported that the interview with KDKA radio had occurred Thursday, which created confusion as to whether McCain had finalized his choice for vice president.

Asked whether either former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was his VP pick, McCain replied to KDKA, “I haven’t decided yet, so I can’t tell you.”

Both men are expected to join McCain at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania.

Ridge, who is also the former secretary of homeland security, is reportedly on McCain’s short list of possible running mates.

A Republican insider said this month that McCain campaign manager Rick Davis has called several state party chairmen and indicated that Ridge will be the Republican vice presidential pick this cycle.

During his interview with KDKA, McCain praised Ridge, saying, “he’s a great American and a great and dear friend, and I rely on him, and I have for many years.”

But the possibility that Ridge could be McCain’s running mate sparked a backlash among conservatives because he supports abortion rights.

Another potential VP pick, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, also raised concerns among conservatives. Lieberman, an independent senator who was the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, has been a vocal supporter of the war in Iraq, but he, too, backs abortion rights.

If McCain picks either man, it could drive away social conservatives who are already uneasy about his nomination, conservative activists warned.

In an open letter to McCain, conservative activist Richard A. Viguerie wrote, “Your indication that you’re willing to put a person who has a clear, unequivocal pro-abortion record within a heartbeat of the presidency is alarming.”

“Sen. McCain, you are exceedingly proud of being a political maverick — you wear it as a badge of honor. Well, poke the base of the Republican Party — the conservatives — in the eye one more time by choosing a pro-abortion vice presidential candidate, and conservatives will show you that two can play the maverick game,” Viguerie said

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is also believed to be on McCain’s short list, as is Romney, who ran against McCain this year for the GOP presidential nomination and was a frequent critic of the senator on the campaign trail.

But Romney endorsed McCain after he captured the Republican nomination and has campaigned for him. He also opposes abortion rights, a position he said he came to in 2004 after studying the stem cell-issue as Massachusetts governor. Before then, Romney was in favor of abortion rights.Source: CNN.COM

Two Headed Baby Boy Born

A baby boy, named Kiron, was born with two heads by Cesarean section in Bangladesh on Monday.

An estimated 150,000 people from the region descended on the clinic to try to catch sight of the boy so he was moved to a larger hospital and placed under police protection.

Dr Mohamad Abdul Bari, the mother’s gynaecologist, said: “He has one stomach and he is eating normally with his two mouths. He has one genital organ and a full set of limbs. He was born from one embryo but there was a developmental anomaly.”

The clinic had been unable to determine whether the baby had one or two sets of vital organs, Dr Bari said.

Kiron’s life was not in immediate danger but he and his 22-year-old mother were moved to the hospital in the nearby city of Jessore city because of the large crowds that had gathered at the clinic, the doctor said.

According to a local newspaper, many well-wishers had left money for the baby’s family.
Source: Current.com

Environmentally Friendly Pyramid Housing 1 Million People in Development

Timlinks, which develops environmentally safe projects, has recently published several stunning images of a giant pyramid titled Ziggurat. The company also posted the information regarding the plans to officially open the pyramid during the Cityscape Dubai exhibition which is slated to take place on October 6-9 this year. The giant pyramid will be built on 2.3 square kilometers of land and will be capable of housing up to one million people.

Timlinks said that their Ziggurat would not be dependent on the energy system due to the use of steam, wind and other natural resources. The building will also be distinctive for its highly efficient transport communication system that will operate both vertically and horizontally. In addition, the company plans to use private green zones for agricultural purposes.

Specialists of the International Environment Institute said that the technologies used at Ziggurat would make it a viable center. Timlinks has already patented the construction and the technology that were developed for the project. Several European professors will attend Cityscape Dubai to explain how an object like Ziggurat can be used in bigger projects, which probably means that the giant pyramid will not be the only construction of such kind in the world.

A ziggurat was a temple tower of the ancient Mesopotamian valley and Iran, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories or levels. Some modern buildings with a step pyramid shape have also been termed ziggurats.

Ziggurats were important to the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians of ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest examples of the ziggurat were simple raised platforms that date from the Ubaid period during the fourth millennium BC, and the latest date from the 6th century BC. The top of the ziggurat was flat, unlike many pyramids. The step pyramid style began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period. Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside. The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven, with a shrine or temple at the summit. Access to the shrine was provided by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. Notable examples of this structure include the Great Ziggurat of Ur and Khorsabad in Mesopotamia.

The ziggurats had no internal chambers. They were almost always square or rectangular, where one side was typically more than 170 feet (50 meters) long.

The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for public worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be dwelling places for the gods. Through the ziggurat, the gods could be close to mankind, and each city had its own patron god. Only priests were permitted on the ziggurat or in the rooms at its base, and it was their responsibility to care for the gods and attend to their needs. The priests were very powerful members of Sumerian society.Source: Happynews.com

United States Gulf Coast Prepares for Gustav

Gustav swirled toward Cuba on Wednesday after triggering flooding and landslides that killed at least 22 people in the Caribbean. Its track pointed toward the U.S. Gulf coast, including Louisiana where Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc three years ago. Read more

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