The Kit Kat Club

Title: My Love, On Christmas Day
Author: wishiknewwho
Rating: G
Characters: Ten / Rose, OC (Kira)
Dislcaimer: I don't own Doctor Who and it's probably just as well that I don't because it'd be nothing but hugs and hair ruffling for the foreseeable future. Title taken from the song "Christmas Day" by Dido.
Spoilers: None for DW; takes place in a world where Doomsday never happened. However, if you intend to read my fic Miles to Go and don't want it spoiled, you might want to wait on this one.
Summary: Stockings.
Author Notes: No notes here.  Just Merry Christmas!

Beta'ed by those superstars, nipplemuggins  and salimali .

Ten

I'm in Florida! Sadly, this is not going to be a Christmas tradition in that next year I will probably need to spend with my dad, what with three years having passed since the last Christmas we spent in the same state.

This year I snagged my first Yuletide pinch hit, which I'm typing slowly away at tonight. As with my original assignment, I'm very excited about it.

Lately I've been doing less memes, but this one looks adorable:

ANON CRUSH MEME

If you catch me online, tell me I will be fine? I've written more pinch hits in less time for other exchanges, but that doesn't make me any less nervous. I think it's something intrinsic to Yuletide.

Speaking of Yuletide, Yuletide Madness is open.

This entry was originally posted at http://everysecondtuesday.dreamwidth.org/29801.html. If you'd prefer, please comment there with OpenID. (DW comment count: )

Washington – The coming trials of 11 Muslim men in the United States for several separate acts of mass murder will sharply refocus attention on Islamic theology. It will also present the Muslim world with a “moment of truth.”

How the Ummah, the global Muslim community, reacts will be a crucial test of how the American public judges the mantra “Islam is a religion of peace.”

Political correctness aside, the jury is still out in the court of American public opinion.

Some time in the coming year, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantánamo detainees are to be tried in a civilian criminal court in New York for plotting the 9/11 terror attacks and for the mass murder of nearly 3,000 people. Five others will be tried before a military tribunal on separate charges including the attack on the warship USS Cole that killed 17 sailors.

( Read more... )

Yahoo!

A distressing, if not entirely surprising, story from Australia:

A ROCKHAMPTON dad is accused of forcing his son to have sex with a prostitute because he feared the 14-year-old was gay.

During a family barbecue around Christmas time in 2007, the dad allegedly phoned a prostitute and arranged to meet her at a motel on Yaamba Road, North Rockhampton.

The father drove his son to the motel and paid the prostitute in $50 notes.

The prostitute took the boy into a motel room while the father waited on a balcony.

The dad walked in and out of the room to check on his son and told him he wanted to see a used condom as proof that they’d had sex. After the boy and the prostitute had finished the dad took his son home.

A magistrate yesterday found there was enough evidence against the father for him to stand trial for the rape of his son.

( More details ... )

Source

is the description on the photos I took on Sunday, which was Cake Day. E's birthday is the 24th--tell her happy birthday!--on which she will be traveling, so Sunday was the day we made cake and had presents. And I made my ( first ever cake! )


I'm flying to my parents' house tomorrow, and getting up at the ass crack of dawn to do so.  I have mixed feelings about going home.  Life back on the ranch has been rocky lately, but the holidays with my family tend to be really nice; there is lots of cooking and eating delicious things, lots of reading, lots of long walks.  And now apparently there's two feet of snow to do it in!  EXCITED.  Snow does not really happen where I live now.  I'm very mildly sick with the same basic cold (sore throat, stuffy nose), which I am nursing with a huge mug of tea.  I just don't feel like expending the energy I usually do on bitching and moaning about being sick.  It's just not that big a deal.  

Happy holidays, everybody.  

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

SJ police to carry small cameras on uniform





SAN JOSE, CA (KGO) -- The San Jose Police Department is among the first in the nation to take cop cameras to the next level. Instead of the cameras mounted in their cars, 18 officers began wearing a camera and recording devise on their bodies.

The device called Axon is made by Taser International. It's the size of a Bluetooth earpiece and officers say it's surprisingly light.

"I would hit this one the P goes off and a red light shows up here that I can see. Now I am in live recording mode, so I am recording audio and video right now," said William Doane from San Jose Police.

The camera is always on record and when the officer hits start, the last 30 seconds of stored video and everything after will be recorded on this device, worn on an officer's waist.

"And that is Y-video of what is coming through my camera right now. So you're recording us. I am recording us right now," said Doane.

The video collected cannot be erased by the officer and is downloaded at the police station.

This makes San Jose the first major city in the United States to use this technology. The police department says it will be a big help when collecting evidence.

But the department has been investigated for excessive force in some cases.

San Jose resident Andrew Martinez hopes the cameras will bring transparency

"I hope there will be more justice and more checks and balances to keep the police department to be able to do their job correctly," he said.

"And if an officer did something wrong, we want to know that too," said Chief Robert Davis from San Jose Police.

Others say police will feel intimidated.

"I would feel less secure because the police would be holding back because they are being caught on tape," said San Jose resident Akshay Alaghatta.

Police will use it for three months and will then evaluate the results. Because it's a pilot program, San Jose PD pays nothing.

abc

⌈ Secret Post #1082 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

101.

( More! )

Notes:

Sorry it's late, had a final til 7.

Secrets Left to Post: 07 pages, 163 secrets from Secret Submission Post #155.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

1) I am making a Bad Girls pimp post since no one seems to have heard of it. You will all fall in love immediately upon seeing it, I'm sure! Or I will be hurt and bewildered.

2) I went shopping with my little brother today and picked out everything that he bought everyone for Christmas because he knows NOTHING. It was fun, but long. It's nice to be able to get out of the house once in a while, but I MISS HAVING FRIENDS AROUND

3) I got to talk to waxrose on the phone the other day! It totally made my week and ILU FOREVER BB. I'll convince you to marry me one of these days, I swear ♥

4) I've seen this meme around a bit and I think it's ADORABLE, so you should all do it so that I have people to ~confess my love~ to.
ANON CRUSH MEME

Gay rights activists across the world consider same-sex marriage one of their toughest goals. Only seven countries permit it: Belgium, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, South Africa and Sweden. A handful of US states also allow it.

But on Monday night, and despite opposition from conservatives and the Roman Catholic church, Mexico City was in the vanguard of a Latin America-wide tilt towards greater tolerance for homosexuality. The Mexican capital became the first in Latin America to allow same-sex marriage with a groundbreaking law which could set a precedent for gay rights across the region.

The city's assembly passed the legislation, which will also give gay couples the right to adopt children, in a dramatic vote that triggered celebrations and chants of "yes we can" from activists gathered in the chamber.

( YES! )

World Net Daily poll on what to get Obama for Christmas: an ‘arrest warrant’ and a ‘ticket back to Kenya.’

The right-wing website World Net Daily (WND) has been the source of a variety of smears, particularly a campaign to question the legitimacy of President Obama’s citizenship. While WND exists at the fringes of the conservative movement, top Republican legislators frequent the WND radio program and the Republican National Committee, among other GOP organizations, fund WND through e-mail list rentals. The website, which files regular articles about the role of Christianity during the holiday season, has a new Christmas-themed poll which asks, “What would you like to give Obama for Christmas?” Readers have responded by voting for: “a court ruling booting his ineligible self from office, “a one-way ticket back to Kenya,” and “an arrest warrant”:

( Read more )

Fox reporter jokes about deadly volcano ash in the Philippines: ‘In a way, they’re having a white Christmas.’

This morning, Fox News reported on the Mayon Volcano in the Philippines, which is continuing to emit clouds of soot and ash over the surrounding area. The tiny particles of sulfuric ash “could cause respiratory problems or skin diseases, and could affect the thousands of people crammed into evacuation centers beyond the eight-kilometer danger zone.” Officials expect a major eruption in the next few days. In reporting the events, Fox News correspondent Mike Cohen described the deadly ash as a “white Christmas”:

COHEN: It can be very dangerous, Patti Ann. You know it already has brought ashfall to several towns in the area. So in a way they’re having a white Christmas — except this is sulfur ash, so it is something that can be deadly to the people if inhaled.

( Read more )



Republicans Deciding Whether To Stop Filibustering Health Care Bill, Head Home For Christmas

This morning, the Senate cleared a series of procedural votes on the health care bill, paving the way to passing reform on Christmas Eve. All 60 members of the Democratic caucus voted in favor of the three motions, suggesting that Republicans are waging a losing battle to delay the passage of reform.

In fact, given the inevitability of passage, a divide appears to be forming between Republicans who want to head home for the holidays, and those who wish to drag out the debate. Following today’s vote, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suggested that he is ready to leave. McConnell announced that he is “working on an agreement that would give certainty to the way to end this session.” “Hopefully the two of us together can be recommending something that makes sense for both sides in the not too distant future,” he said. Watch it:

( Read more )

Turning reindeer dung into gems for necklaces and ornaments has raised a pile of money for the Miller Park Zoo.

The last two ornaments for the year were sold Sunday bringing the total raised for the zoo to $20,884. The fundraiser organized by the Miller Park Zoological Society brought in about $5,000 in 2008.

Chief "gemologist" Susie Ohley estimated about 300 necklaces and more than 2,000 ornaments were made this year, the second year of the project.

"For sure this has been great for the zoo," said Ohley, spokeswoman for the zoological society. "We are very appreciative of the support and attention this project has given us."
( Read more... )
source has a picture of jewelry</i> I would never in a million years guess it was reindeer poo.
Miller Park Zoo website in Bloomington, IL

Just a little something holiday themed in between the murder, mayhem, and health care hysterics. and the P in ONTD_P stands for something else today...

Microsoft has shown a keen interest in boosting the Xbox 360's status as a community hub. Leading this initiative has been Xbox Live Avatars, which offer a 3D representation of their owners on the online service. Now, Microsoft is contemplating tying real-world health and psychological data to said avatars in an effort to discourage many-a-gamer's sedentary lifestyle.

Here's the gist of what Microsoft has in mind.

Last week, Microsoft's patent application titled "Avatar Individualized by Physical Characteristic" popped up in the US Patent and Trademark Offices' online database. The filing details a way in which Microsoft can introduce a heightened degree of reality into the appearance of gamers' avatars by utilizing a third-party health-care data repository (Microsoft gives Health Vault as an example) or a Wii Vitality Sensor-like device.

To incentivize people to improve their physical well-being, Microsoft's filing notes that gamers will be locked out of certain components of a game or a chat room until the proper health parameters are met.

"Physical data that reflects a degree of health of the real person can be linked to rewards of capabilities of a gaming avatar, an amount of time budgeted to play, or a visible indication," the filing reads. "Thereby, people are encouraged to exercise."

"For example, a locally executed video game on a game console or other device capable of interactive play rewards players that have achieved a degree of health or athletic skill in real life, even if played in a solitary fashion," the filing reads. "Alternatively or in addition, the degree of health can unlock additional playing time or can unlock certain aspects of a game, such as additional levels."

Microsoft's patent application might tie in with Project Natal, the Xbox 360's forthcoming camera-based motion-sensing add-on. As part of its 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference, Microsoft showed off how the device will scan a person's body and represent it onscreen via physically proportionate silhouette. It also showed off several activity-oriented titles in development for Project Natal, including the physically demanding Ricochet, a 3D, full-body version of Breakout.

Microsoft's filing goes on to note that it wouldn't just be physical characteristics that could be refined. "The physical characteristics can be further extended to psychological traits associated with the physical person, including intelligence, religious beliefs, political affiliations, and hobbies that affect the rendering of an avatar," the application reads.

The filing also indicates ways in which Microsoft can facilitate determining an individual's mental health or mood. "For example, as a person utilizes Voice over IP to chat with a viewing person in the virtual environment, stress could be detected to gauge honesty," the application notes. "As another example, skin resistance, pulse, and breathing could be detected to gauge mood."

According to the filing, the data will be beneficial to individuals looking to "meet and become acquainted with particular types of people." Microsoft's application notes that while self-defined avatars allow people to "overcome shortcomings that would otherwise inhibit them, such as pertaining to self-consciousness," there are those who would prefer to have "the cues that are available in meeting someone in person."

Source

WAT?? WTF, Microsoft?!

There may be 26 Christmas trees in the White House, but Sasha and Malia Obama know it's mostly for decoration.


"Unfortunately we don't get presents under every tree," Malia, 11, joked Tuesday during an appearance at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington D.C.


First Lady Michelle Obama and first dog Bo were also in attendance as her daughters took questions from the young patients.


One child asked Sasha, 8, “How will the holidays be different this year?” Quick-witted Sasha responded: "It will be easier to get on an airplane,” making everyone laugh with her reference to Air Force One.


When the First Lady was asked what she got President Obama for Christmas, she answered, "I can't tell," pointing to the press pool in the back of the room.


Source

The homicide rate dropped 10 percent in the first half of this year as crime rates reached their lowest point nationally since the 1960s, the FBI reported Monday.

Preliminary figures collected by the FBI also show that car thefts dropped significantly in the first half of 2009, falling nearly 19 percent and continuing a sharp downward trend.

Overall, the rate of violent crime fell by 4.4 percent and the rate of property crime dropped by 6.1 percent, the FBI reported.

In the District [of Columbia], violent crime dropped by 7.6 percent and property crime by 3 percent. Homicide dropped by 20 percent, and aggravated assault and burglary each fell 17 percent.

The figures are based on data supplied by more than 11,700 police and law enforcement agencies. They compare reported crimes per population in the first six months of this year with the first six months of last year.

The data for early 2009 suggest that the crime-dropping trend of 2008 is not just continuing but accelerating. In 2008, the data showed a nearly 4 percent drop in homicide and an overall drop in violent crime of 1.9 percent from 2007 to 2008.

According to the FBI figures, reports of violent crime fell about 7 percent in cities with 1 million or more people. But in towns with 10,000 to 25,000 people, violent crime ticked up slightly by 1.7 percent.

Separate statistics compiled by the Justice Department measure both reported and unreported crimes.

Source: washington Post There's a pretty graph at source

US teen pleads no contest to 2 charges in Facebook scam to blackmail dozens of boys into sex

By Dinesh Ramde, The Associated Press

WAUKESHA, Wis. - A Wisconsin teenager accused of using a Facebook scam to blackmail dozens of male students into sex acts has reached a plea agreement.

Nineteen-year-old Anthony Stancl of New Berlin pleaded no contest Tuesday to two felonies. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed 10 other charges.

Stancl was accused of posing as a girl on Facebook and tricking more than 30 classmates into sending him naked photos of themselves, then using the photos to blackmail them for sex.

Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel says he will recommend a "substantial" prison term. Stancl faces a maximum of 50 years in prison when he is sentenced at a date to be determined.

Defence attorney Craig Kuhary declined to comment.

Source: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091222/world/us_facebook_sex_plea

RIMA, whose sister was murdered by Saddam Hussein's officers, is going to America. Hani, another Christian, is off to Sweden after surviving a kidnap by a Baghdad militia. Michael Marody, whose cousin was also abducted but did not come back alive, is heading for Australia.

War-torn, anarchic Iraq, however, is not the only place in the Middle East where fewer Christians will be celebrating this Christmas.

( a string of businesses owned by Coptic Christians was burned down in riots in the southern province of Qena last month )

Source

McCain Senate Re-Election Race Already Getting Ugly

Talk-radio host, Tea Partier, and former House member J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) hasn't even filed to run against Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in the Republican senate primary, but both sides have already gone on the offensive. Even while still in the hypothetical stage, this race has already escalated into push polls, name-calling, and legal complaint filings.

McCain's former chief of staff and former Arizona Attorney General, Grant Woods, filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) alleging that Hayworth is illegally using his radio-talk show to promote his potential candidacy for McCain's senate seat. Woods, who says Hayworth has utilized the equivalent of more than half a million dollars of Clear Channel time to promote and "test the waters" of his candidacy, filed the complaint after McCain staffers complained to him several times about Hayworth's broadcasts. He declared, "You can't use the public airwaves...to explore your candidacy for public office ad nauseam, and I stress the nausea."

( Read more )


Charlie Crist Endorsements Withdrawn By Two Republican Congressmen

Lately, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has been having a tough time in his bid for U.S. Senate, and he's experienced another setback.

U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart confirmed Tuesday he and his brother, U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, have rescinded their endorsement of Crist for the Republican primary.

Mario Diaz-Balart declined to say why they were rescinding their endorsement. He would say only that they notified Crist weeks ago and that he "left them no choice."

Mario Diaz-Balart said it's the first endorsement they've rescinded. The congressman said he had no plans to endorse another candidate.


(Ok guys enough with the “bb paragraphs are your friend” notes. If you haven’t noticed LJ has a bug and for some reason "disable auto formatting" is auto-checking itself. I promise you as soon as the article is posted I will fix it, but please stop bugging me about it, I am not blind, if you have a problem take it to LJ to fix the issue.)

Drunk 4-Year-Old Steals Christmas Presents



CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WTVC-TV) - A 4-year-old boy, beer in hand, is accused of stealing Christmas presents from his neighbors. It's a strange story, but also a sad one.

( LOLOLOL! Bus to Hell? One ticket please! )

Source

So, I bought a pretty darn good ticket from someone in an online Eddie group and I'll be heading to NYC to see him on 1/16 at the Garden.  Anyone else going to be there?  Might be cool to meet for drinks or something beforehand, and strategize on how to find the post-show Q&A afterwards (if there is one) at such a huge venue.

I'm very geeked in that aside from the ticket itself, this trip is costing me virtually nothing.  I cashed in some banked airline miles for the ticket, and then just cause I could, decided to use nearly all of my miles to get a first class seat instead of coach!  I'm staying with some friends who live over on the East Side of Manhattan, so no gazillions of dollars for a hotel room!  This means I'll have money to spend on some cool Eddie stuff at the show. WHEEEE!

Probably going to see a show or two over the weekend as well, cause I just CAN'T go to NYC and not see a show.  Looking at Bye Bye Birdie, or possibly Wishful Drinking.

So, anyone else heading to NYC just to see Eddie?  Or are there other local folks who are coming out?