Beauty And The Roadkill-wearing Beast
This came in a bit late, but
Thanks to “Johny Deep” for
OMFG, consider the amazing possibilities with that mouth.
More after the cut.
This came in a bit late, but
Thanks to “Johny Deep” for
OMFG, consider the amazing possibilities with that mouth.
More after the cut.
Kennedy was born in Boston and raised in Massachusetts, New York, Florida, and England. He was educated at Harvard College, where he was expelled for cheating on an exam but later readmitted, and the University of Virginia School of Law. His 1958 marriage to Virginia Joan Bennett would later end in divorce. He was a manager in his brother John's successful 1960 campaign for president, then worked as an assistant district attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Kennedy entered the Senate in a 1962 special election to fill the seat once held by John. He was seriously injured in an airplane crash in 1964 and still suffers from back pain as a result. Kennedy was elected to a full six-year term in 1964 and was reelected in 1970, 1976, 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000 and 2006.
In the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident, the car Kennedy was driving ran off a bridge and plunged into water, resulting in the death of passenger Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a suspended sentence; however, doubts about his account of the accident significantly damaged his chances of ever becoming President of the United States. Kennedy's one run for the office, in the 1980 presidential election, ended in a primary campaign loss to incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Kennedy is known for his oratorical power, with his 1968 eulogy for his brother Robert and his 1980 Democratic National Convention rallying cry for American liberalism being his best-known moments. Kennedy's heated rhetoric helped lead to the defeat of the 1987 Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination and usher in an era of intense political battles over federal judicial nominations. Kennedy's personal behavior became the subject of public ridicule in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but his 1992 marriage to Victoria Anne Reggie stabilized his life.
Malaysian authorities postponed caning a Muslim woman for drinking beer in a hotel bar, in a case has drawn international attention to the spreading use of Islamic law in this traditionally moderate, predominantly Muslim country.
Islamic authorities granted Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno a one-month reprieve to mark the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which began on Saturday in Malaysia. State-run media quoted Mohamad Sahfri Abdul Aziz, a state legislator in charge of religious affairs, as saying the attorney general's office advised that the caning should be delayed until after Ramadan, but that the sentence will still be carried out.
People knowledgeable about the situation say local Islamic judges are discussing whether to maintain the caning sentence handed down to Ms. Kartika.
Until the announcement of the delay, authorities appeared stymied by exactly how to carry out Ms. Kartika's detention and punishment. Early Monday, Ms. Kartika left her home in Perak state and headed to a prison near Kuala Lumpur, where the caning was to be carried out. She was then suddenly released and returned home by Islamic officials.
It initially appeared that Malaysia's religious authorities had decided they couldn't legally detain Ms. Kartika in a secular prison while her punishment was carried out. Later, officials said the punishment would be delayed until after Ramadan.
The ordeal is complicated by the fact that a number of special local elections are coming up, with one Tuesday. Politicians mostly are trying to steer clear of the controversy, apparently fearing they might be portrayed as not sufficiently Islamic if they criticize the caning of Ms. Kartika.
Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, though, wrote in his blog that Malaysia's Muslims have nothing to explain to the rest of the world. "As Muslims, we do not have to care too much about the view of others toward Islam when doing what the religion calls for," he said.
Still, the severity of the sentence meted out to Ms. Kartika -- who would be the first Malaysian woman caned -- caught many by surprise. The 32-year-old mother of two was sentenced to six lashes with a rattan cane after being caught drinking beer at a hotel in Pahang state in 2007.
Drinking alcohol is illegal for Malaysia's Muslims, who make up about 60% of the nation's 27 million people and are subject to Islamic Shariah law in addition to civil law. Those caught drinking usually are subject to a fine or a brief prison sentence, while Malaysia's non-Muslims, including its large ethnic-Chinese and -Indian minorities, are free to drink alcohol because they aren't subject to Shariah law.
The sentence has triggered a debate about whether caning is too harsh a punishment for the multiracial country.
Analysts, meanwhile, said the sentence points to the growing role of Islam in political battles as the ruling National Front and an Islamist opposition party compete to present themselves as protectors of the faith.
Ms. Kartika last week urged authorities to cane her in public in order to deter other Muslims from drinking alcohol, and refused to appeal her sentence. She couldn't be reached to comment Monday, but the Associated Press quoted her sister Ratna as saying Ms. Kartika was "stressed" by the decision to delay her punishment.
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was sentenced by a religious court last month to six strokes, making her the first woman to face caning under Islamic law in Malaysia, a moderate Muslim-majority country.
She was taken into custody Monday from her family home in northern Perak state by religious officials who were to transport her to a jail outside Kuala Lumpur where the sentence was to be carried out.
But after travelling a short distance, the vehicle returned and she was abruptly freed.
"I am speechless," Kartika told reporters, adding that the Islamic officials had not told her whether she would be caned later. "I want to know what my status is. I want a black and white statement from them."
The mother-of-two has stared down religious authorities by saying she is ready to be caned, refusing to appeal against her sentence, and challenging them to cane her in public.
"I do not know in what situation I'm in. I'm clueless. I do not know if I am freed, I am in limbo," said the part-time model, who was dressed in a purple Muslim headscarf and a flowing traditional "baju kurung" outfit.
Sahfri Abdul Aziz, a legislator from Pahang in charge of religious affairs, said the punishment had been suspended on the order of the Attorney-General until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began last week.
"However, the sentence will remain the same," he said according to state media.
But a senior government official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity suggested the reprieve could be a step towards burying the whole affair.
"Leave it to the sharia court, they know how to decide. The court has the power to revise the sentence and there are also laws that allow the sultan to pardon her," the top official said.
Human rights group
Kartika's father Shukarno Mutalib, 60, reacted angrily to the about-face and the confusion over whether the caning would go ahead, and said it would reflect badly on Islam, which forbids drinking alcohol.
"My daughter wants the sentence to be done. I'm afraid that people will mock the religion," he said. "Don't make my daughter a toy to play with," he said.
Kartika, who has lived in neighbouring Singapore for many years, had pleaded guilty to drinking alcohol at a hotel nightclub.
Her case has caused a national sensation, and at her family's village more than 50 supporters turned out and chanted "God is Great" and "There is no God except Allah."
"I have known Kartika since she was a small girl," said one 64-year-old villager, Wan Alawiah.
"She is a good girl and I'm sad she will be caned but I ask myself why Kartika is being caned when a lot of other Muslims drink. I feel she has been victimised," she said.
Alcohol is widely available in Malaysia but is forbidden for Muslim Malays, who make up 60 percent of the population. They can be fined, caned, or jailed for up to three years but prosecutions are extremely rare.
Malaysia, a multicultural country with large Chinese and Indian communities, has a dual-track legal system and sharia courts can try Muslims for religious and moral offences.
Islamic scholars have mostly backed the sentence, and said it would be carried out when Kartika was fully clothed and with a cane that is smaller and lighter than the heavy length of rattan used in criminal cases.
Anna Paquin doesn't mind getting naked frequently in her hit HBO show "True Blood." She tells the new issue of Nylon, "It's like, I'm sorry, maybe there are a lot of women who keep their bras on while they have sex . . . I don't happen to be one of them. I don't think the naked body is particularly shocking or interesting." She adds, "People are incredibly literal sometimes in how they view you. You have dark hair and pale skin? You must be brooding. The second you dye your hair blond and get a spray tan, people treat you as if you're a bit stupider and happier."Anna's absolutely wrong here. After most chicks bleach their hair blonde and get a sprayed-on tan they immediately lose a good 20 IQ points. I have seen this phenomenon many times, blonde hair make girls act like blonde bimbos from the dumb blonde stereotype we see on TV. Anyway, here are Anna Paquin nipples. I must admit I never thought much about Anna before but her boobs are not bad. Click on pictures to enlarge.