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This handout image released by the California State Prison, Corcoran, taken on March 18, 2009, shows mass murderer Charles Manson. The now 74-year-old cult leader is serving a life sentence for conspiring to murder seven people, including actress Sharon Tate and coffee heiress Abigail Folger in 1969. - FlickrFan

Actor Edward James Olmos (R) gestures as he speaks during "Battlestar Galactica: A Retrospective" panel moderated by actress Whoopi Goldberg (L) at United Nations headquarters in New York where they discussed themes of importance to both the UN and the television show. Actress Mary McDonnell (C) and Olmos are lead charactors in the US science fiction television show. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA - FlickrFan

A girl relaxes on a inflatable toy as residents flock to Manila Bay March 15, 2009 to swim on its polluted waters to relieve themselves from the tropical heat of the dry season. The city government is considering a ban on bathing at the bay on health grounds. AFP PHOTO/JAY DIRECTO - FlickrFan

A viewer watches a transmission of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivering, on Britain's Channel 4, an alternative "Christmas message" to British audiences, on December 25, 2008. The speech, in Farsi with English subtitles, is the channel's 16th alternative message following previous speeches from others including French actress Brigitte Bardot, British TV chef Jamie Oliver and Major Andrew Stockton, a British soldier who lost an arm fighting in Afghanistan. AFP PHOTO/Leon Neal - FlickrFan

Ahmadinejad: "The solution to today's problems can be found in a return to the call of the divine prophets." Yeah, sure. Thx but no thx. Here's an idea: YOU go back to the "divine" prophets, and we'll figure things out on our own. (PS: I'm not inventing that quote. See Guardian, http://tinyurl.com/7thcyu ) - Yule Heibel

I don't mind the call of the divine prophets if it's a peaceful call... - Rudolf Olah

People gather in St. Peter's square during Pope Benedict XVI 'Urbi et Orbi' (message to the City and to the World) address at the Vatican on December, 25, 2008. The Pontiff in his Christmas message warned that the world was headed toward ruin if selfishness prevails over solidarity during tough economic times for both rich and poor nations. Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on the day Christians commemorate Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, Benedict declared that the 'heart of the Christian message is meant for all men and women. AFP PHOTO/ Filippo MONTEFORTE - FlickrFan

Santa Claus speaks with a young boy at the Manassas Mall in Manassas, Virginia on December 24, 2008. Santa was extremely busy with requests on the eve of Christmas. AFP PHOTO/Karen BLEIER - FlickrFan

An Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldier stands alert in a street of Srinagar on December 23, 2008. Indian authorities have deployed thousands of troops in the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar to prevent protests called by Muslim separatists ahead of the final phase of state elections. Separatist groups had urged a total boycott of the polls, arguing that they would strengthen New Delhi's hold over the disputed region. However, the first six rounds of voting saw a more than 50 percent turnout in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley.The final round is scheduled to take place on December 24 in Srinagar and Jammu -- the winter capital. AFP PHOTO/Tauseef MUSTAFA - FlickrFan

Picture of books on former Cuban president Fidel Castro, for sale in a street of Old Havana on November 26, 2008. Cuba prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution. AFP PHOTO/Yuri CORTEZ - FlickrFan

US president-elect Barack Obama gives a press conference in Chicago on December 18, 2008. President-elect Obama nominated veteran financial regulator Mary Schapiro to serve as the first female chief of the under-fire Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Genslerto head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Daniel Tarullo to fill an open seat on the Federal Reserve board. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM - FlickrFan

Wow. - Russellreno

Riot police officers clash with protesters during a demonstration in Athens on December 18, 2008. The Greek capital was "suffocating" under a barrage of tear gas Thursday as 5,000 protesters swamped riot police outside parliament, 12 days after the police killing of a teenager sparked riots. AFP PHOTO / Aris Messinis - FlickrFan

Home of democracy and anarchy. - Phil Boiarski

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's image is seen in the viewfinder of a video camera as he speaks during the International Anti-corruption Day in Kabul on December 18, 2008. Karzai said corruption was a major challenge for post-Taliban Afghanistan. He urged international partners of Afghanistan as well as the Afghan public to help the Afghan government in its anti-corruption efforts. AFP PHOTO/SHAH Marai - FlickrFan

This undated picture, released from Korean Central News Agency on December 18, 2008 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Il inspects the February General Steel Enterprise in Chagangdo province in North Korea. State media in recent weeks have issued a series of still pictures in an apparent attempt to end the health speculation. But they have all been undated. One photo issued early last month had been digitally altered to superimpose Kim's image onto a military group, experts said. AFP PHOTO / KCNA via KNS - FlickrFan

Mexican clowns parade near an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint, in Mexico City on December 17, 2008. Hundreds of clowns arrived at the Guadalupe Basilic as part of the clown's annual pilgrimage to the sanctuary. AFP PHOTO/Luis ACOSTA - FlickrFan

US president-elect Barack Obama (R) gives a press conference to announce his pick as agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack (not seen) and Ken Salazar (L) as interior secretary in Chicago on December 17, 2008. "Together they will serve as guardians of the American landscape on which the health of our economy and the wellbeing of our families so heavily depends," Obama told a news conference. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM - FlickrFan

ha? - Eric @ CSTechcast.com

US President George W. Bush waves as he walks across the South Lawn December 17, 2008 upon returning to the White House in Washington, DC. Bush returned to Washington following a visit to the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN - FlickrFan

Where's my hobnail boots? - Phil Boiarski

This handout photo received on December 17, 2008 courtesy of the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio shows Dr. Maria Siemionow (C) and a multi-disciplinary team of doctors and surgeons at Cleveland Clinic as they recently performed the first near-total face transplant in the United States. In a 22-hour procedure performed within the past two weeks, surgeons transplanted 80 percent of a woman?s face who suffered severe facial trauma ? essentially replacing her entire face, except for her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin. For the privacy and protection of those involved, no information was released on the patient, the donor or their families. The transplant team was led by Maria Siemionow, MD, Ph.D., Director of Plastic Surgery Research and Head of Microsurgery Training, who received worldwide attention in November 2004 when the Clinic?s Institutional Review Board (IRB) announced that face transplantation is both ethical and possible by approving the first protocol for the surgery. AFP PHOTO/CLEVELA - FlickrFan

Face off! - Burak "cyrus" Bayburtlu

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez answers questions during a press conference after the second day of the South America and Caribbean Summit for Development in Sauipe, Brazil on December 17, 2008. Bolivian President Evo Morales said the incoming administration of president-elect Barack Obama should be given a deadline for ending the economic sanctions in place against Cuba since 1962 or risk having US envoys declared personas non grata in Latin America. AFP PHOTO / EVARISTO SA - FlickrFan

the question he should answer is: are venezuelan better off? has poverty and depravation been worn down? the answer is NO. How long our we to listen to so called socialist support pseudo-democratic regimes that rally on rethoric but that deliver little to nothing to its people?? Chavez deserves jail. - jonathan from twhirl

A Lebanese student holds a picture during a sit-in at the Lebanese University in Beirut on December 17, 2008 of US President George W. Bush (L) ducking as Iraqi TV reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi throws his shoes at him during a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki three days ago in Baghdad. Zaidi, 29, grabbed the world spotlight when he threw his shoes at Bush during a press conference and called him a dog during a farewell visit to Iraq by the US leader who ordered the invasion of the country in 2003. AFP PHOTO/ JOSEPH BARRAK - FlickrFan

And they are much better off. To think they are mad over THE US coming into their country. - Paul

Hollywood stars Keanu Reeves (R), Jennifer Connelly (R) and Jaden Smith (C) smile for photo during a press conference for their latest movie "The day the earth stood still" at a Tokyo hotel on December 17, 2008. They are now here for the Japan Premier. AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO - FlickrFan

US president-elect Barack Obama meets with students and teachers at the Dodge Renaissance Academy school in Chicago on December 16, 2008. Obama earlier nominated Arne Duncan, the tough-minded Chicago schools superintendent, as his education secretary with a mandate to overhaul failing US schools. At a news conference, Obama vowed new funding for schools plus new demands on teachers and parents, arguing it was "morally unacceptable for our children and economically untenable for America" to allow standards to slip further. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM - FlickrFan

needs rest for sure. - Briana Franco

This handout photo shows thrill-seeking Santa Clauses getting into the spirit of summer by skydiving at Picton in the Southern Highlands on December 17, 2008. More conservative Sydneysiders traditionally celebrate the Christmas holidays on the beach or by the harbour doing a myriad of outdoor activities. AFP PHOTO / ADRENALIN / Craig BENNETT / HO - FlickrFan

Hand out photo by Zaka, the Jewish rescue organization, shows bodies of Russian tourists killed in a bus crash lying on the ground at the site of the accident north of the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat on December 16, 2008. Twenty-four people were killed and 28 more injured when a bus filled with Russian tourists plunged into a ravine in Israel's Negev desert today, rescuers said. Among the wounded, 15 were in a critical condition, the Magen David Adom rescue service said. AFP PHOTO/ HO ZAKA/UZI BARAK - FlickrFan

US president-elect Barack Obama (C), flanked by vice president-elect Joe Biden (L) and nominee for education secretary Arne Duncan (2nd R), poses for a picture with students and teachers at the Dodge Renaissance Academy school in Chicago on December 16, 2008. Obama earlier nominated Duncan, the tough-minded Chicago schools superintendent, as his education secretary with a mandate to overhaul failing US schools. At a news conference, Obama vowed new funding for schools plus new demands on teachers and parents, arguing it was "morally unacceptable for our children and economically untenable for America" to allow standards to slip further. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM - FlickrFan

Presidents Hugo Chavez (L) of Venezuela and Raul Castro of Cuba, hug each other as Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (bottom) smiles during the family picture of the Mercosur Summit, held, with guests, in the framework of the South America and the Caribbean Summit, in Sauipe, Brazil, on December 16, 2008. The Brazilian coastal resort od Costa do Sauipe is being the venue for three days of summits by Latin American leaders preoccupied with the economic crisis creeping across their region. AFP PHOTO/EVARISTO SA - FlickrFan

FILES - Picture taken on December 12, 2008 in Brussels shows Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel leaving after a second session of European Council summit at the headquarters of the European Council. Merkel said on December 16, 2008 her government may invest "another few billion" euros in a new stimulus package early next year to help overcome the economic crisis. AFP PHOTO / DOMINIQUE FAGET - FlickrFan

US vice president-elect Joe Biden speaks at president-elect Barack Obama's press conference on energy and the environment in Chicago on December 15, 2008 with Barack Obama (L) and Lisa Jackson (R). Obama nominated Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu as his energy secretary, Lisa Jackson as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Carol Browner as the White House "climate czar" overseeing the battle against global warming, and Nancy Sutley as chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality during the press conference. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas KAMM - FlickrFan

Doesn't seem weird that they keep calling all these new positions "czars"? Drug Czar, Climate Czar, Terrorism Czar, etc. Makes me chuckle. - Victhor The Viking

Members of Palestinian armed group Popular Resistant Committees hold a demonstration in support of an Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at US President George W. Bush on December 16, 2008 in Gaza City. Iraq faced mounting calls yesterday to release the journalist who hurled his shoes at Bush, an action branded shameful by the government but hailed in the Arab world as an ideal parting gift to the unpopular US president. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS - FlickrFan

A car is seen on a road near the water tank in Caldas de Luna, Leon region, on December 15, 2008, after the road was closed down for 21 hours as a result of heavy snow fall. AFP PHOTO/Pedro ARMESTRE. - FlickrFan

Siberian Huskies rest on December 15, 2008, in a Husky farm in Rovaniemi. Husky is a general term for several breeds of dogs used as sled dogs. Huskies were originally used as sled dogs in northern regions but are now also kept as pets. Historically, the word "husky" is a corruption of term "Eskie," also shared by the Inuit tribes. AFP PHOTO / OLIVIER MORIN - FlickrFan

View ot the A75 highway taken near the central France village of Saint-Flour on December 15, 2008. Heavy snow and rain storms across southern France killed three people, cut power lines and trapped hundreds in cars and trains and ski lifts. About 100,000 households were without electricity, local authorities and ERDF said. AFP PHOTO / THIERRY ZOCCOLAN - FlickrFan