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Visualizing Early Washington. A project at the Imaging Research Center of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County has reconstructed the original landscape of Washington DC before its radical transformation into a modern capital city.

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We’ve got some rather shocking news this afternoon for those of you who’ve spent years believing you’re Austrian, Belgian, Danish or Dutch – you’re not.

In fact, you’re German, as this map from Google’s comic book guide to Chrome proves:

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As one McCain aide put it: “We either get Hillary’s voters and we win, or we don’t. It’s not a mystery.”

I guess you don’t win, then…

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The first national polls on John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin yesterday came out today from Rasmussen and Gallup — and contrary to what the GOP probably hoped, she scored less well with women than men.

Here’s a finding from Gallup: Among Democratic women — including those who may be disappointed that Hillary Clinton did not win the Democratic nomination — 9% say Palin makes them more likely to support McCain, 15% less likely.

From Rasmussen: Some 38% of men said they were more likely to vote for McCain now, but only 32% of women. By a narrow 41% to 35% margin, men said she was not ready to be president — but women soundly rejected her, 48% to 25%.

[How McCain did it:]

The McCain campaign has gone to great lengths to present the selection of Sarah Palin as one made after a careful, meticulous vetting process. But evidence continues to suggest that the Arizona Republican made his VP choice with surprising haste.

On Saturday, a Democrat tasked with opposition research contacted the Huffington Post with this piece of information: as of this weekend, the McCain campaign had not gone through old newspaper articles from the Valley Frontiersman, Palin’s hometown newspaper.

How does he know? The paper’s (massive) archives are not online. And when he went to research past content, he was told he was the first to inquire.

[How Obama did it:]

Soon, Edwards was getting reports from House colleagues who had received calls from Eric Holder and Caroline Kennedy, the co-chairs of Obama’s selection process.

At the same time, Edwards said he was working “day and night for three weeks” to prepare information demanded by the Obama campaign.

“They go through every aspect of your family and financial life,” he said. “It’s a very intensive and intrusive process. I never dreamed that somebody would have to read one of my speeches from 25 years ago.”

The first week in August, Edwards received a call from the campaign informing him that he was “on the final short list.” He was told that his name would probably be leaked for public debate on Aug. 10.

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The Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch next month (October 8th), carrying new instruments, batteries and gyroscopes to the Hubble Space Telescope. This will be the final servicing mission to Hubble, the 30th flight of the 23-year old Atlantis, and one of the final 10 flights of the Space Shuttle program, which will be retired in 2010. Even though Shuttle launches may seem to have become commonplace, their preparation and execution is still a months-long process, requiring the work and diligence of thousands to make sure the aging, complex systems are all in perfect condition for launch. Here are some photos of the ongoing preparations for the launch of this mission, STS-125, some of the people involved in making it work, and the crew, who will assume the risks to help keep Hubble alive. (23 photos total)

One of the first bands of wind and rain from Hurricane Gustav arrives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Shrimp boats lie in the parking lot of the Pass Christian, Miss. harbor

This aerial photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard shows flooding from Hurricane Gustav in the Rigolets, in eastern New Orleans Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. The Rigolets is one of two passes that connect Lake Pontchartrain with the Gulf of Mexico and a key conduit of storm surge into the New Orleans area.

A truck is partially crushed by a fallen sign.

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Federal emergency management officials expressed cautious optimism Monday that preparation efforts for Hurricane Gustav helped avert the casualties seen in Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

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Authorities reported eight deaths related to Gustav, which made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 2 storm, a weaker-than-expected strength. At a news conference here, officials said they also were investigating three deaths among the more than 9,000 ill and elderly patients evacuated.

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While Bristol has her folks as backup, I can’t help thinking of all the other 17-year-olds – teens as sexually active as Bristol obviously is – who deserve to learn about all methods of birth control, not just abstinence.

Because if and when they find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy, they won’t have the safety net of a financially comfortable and emotionally supportive family beneath them.

That’s why it’s disingenuous for the Palins to expect privacy as they deal with Bristol’s impending motherhood.

Hell, Bristol is Exhibit A for why policies like her mom’s abstinence-only programs, whose fallout is felt far beyond the Palin household, don’t work.

The teen also is Exhibit A for the towering hypocrisy of McCain and Palin’s anti-abortion stance. Yesterday, the McCain camp crowed about how Bristol had decided to keep her child, a choice that was “supported by her parents.”

The irony of that statement has not been lost on pro-choice advocates who’ve been burning up the blogosphere in the wake of Bristol’s baby announcement.

“And yet John McCain doesn’t want women like Bristol Palin to have the ability to make that decision,” posted a writer on the New York Times Web site yesterday. “This campaign cannot be allowed to make political hay out of a young woman making a choice when they don’t believe she should have that choice.”

Another reader noted how Bristol’s middle-class status had somehow elevated her above the scorn usually heaped upon poor unwed teens:

“African-American teenage pregnancies in urban areas = the destruction of ‘family values’ by liberal principles. White, Republican teens get pregnant = a glorious day for traditional values.”

The Onion is at it again:

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Busy dealing with important paperwork and other vice presidential duties in recent weeks, Dick Cheney was forced to put off until the last minute a cherished annual tradition: gift-shopping for his favorite holiday, 9/11.

“I looked at the calendar yesterday, and I couldn’t believe my eyes—9/11 is almost here!” a rosy-cheeked Cheney said upon returning to the White House Sunday with two giant bags overflowing with gift-wrapped boxes and big red bows. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

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According to reports in the newspaper De Telegraaf, the country’s intelligence service, the AIVD, has stopped an espionage operation aimed at infiltration and sabotage of the weapons industry in Iran.

“The operation, described as extremely successful, was halted recently in connection with plans for an impending US air attack on Iran,” said the report.

“Targets would also be bombed which were connected with the Dutch espionage action.”

“Well placed” sources told the paper that a top agent had been recalled recently “because the US was thought to be making a decision within weeks to attack Iran with unmanned aircraft”.

The article in De Telegraaf is here. I wouldn’t trust the AIVD to tell me the correct time of day, let alone this kind of story…

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Capitalizing on the many accolades he received for tapping Sarah Palin as his VP pick, John McCain announced his choices to fill three important cabinet positions, today.

Click to see them…