Jump to August 2010 archive page: 1 2 3 4 5
  • Dan Anderson / Pool via Getty Imges

    President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama give thier daughter Sasha a high five after she got a hole in one at Pirate's Island Miniature Golf on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010 in Panama City Beach, Fla. The First Family is visiting the area to help promote tourism and check up on cleanup efforts from the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill.

    Jason Reed / Reuters

    When putt-putt looks like the PGA

  • Wong Maye-E / AP

    Singapore's torch bearer and sailor Darren Choy runs toward the Youth Olympics Cauldron during the opening ceremony to mark the start of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore on Saturday, Aug. 14.

    Surreal start

    I am normally not a huge fan of pictures from ceremonies or performances since they are planned events and making a nice picture of a visually over-the-top show is sometimes like shooting fish in a barrel. That being said, this is still a pretty cool image.

  • Stuart Franklin / Getty Images

    John Daly waits on the eighth green during the first round of the 92nd PGA Championship on the Straits Course at Whistling Straits on August 12, 2010 in Kohler, Wisconsin.

    Sharp dresser

    This is a really well-handled photograph; and those are awesome pants.

  • Carey Wagner/Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel

    An underwater nursery grows staghorn coral, listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, at a site in the Florida Keys. Julian Sprung, a marine biologist, cleans algae to prevent the release of toxins that prohibit growth. Above him and the concrete coral garden are broken pieces of staghorn coral growing on lines, waiting for the right moment to be planted on a reef. The work is undertaken by the Coral Restoration Foundation, which restores coral to the depleted reefs off of Key Largo.

    Carey Wagner/Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel

    A hogfish swims past Pedro Riera, a volunteer from the Florida Marine Aquarium Society, as he cleans algae from staghorn coral in the underwater nursery in 30 feet of water. Riera says of cleaning coral, "It was great, I have an aquarium at home so it was like my own corals at home … it was fun to see my new friends as well, all kinds of various fish picking at the algae as it came loose. But being out there in the world it was much bigger with a lot more water."

    Carey Wagner/Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel

    A staghorn coral only a few centimeters long is planted on Molasses Reef with marine epoxy.

    Carey Wagner/Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel

    Volunteers from the Florida Marine Aquarium Society and locals work with Ken Nedimyer, the founder of the Coral Restoration Foundation, as he ties broken coral to a line for optimal growth.

    Restoring the reefs

    Photojournalist and diver Carey Wagner shot some spectacular images that ran today in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. Her work visually anchored reporting on cultivation of rare corals to rescue depleted reefs in the Florida Keys.

    The Sun Sentinel has a sweet new big image gallery where you can see MORE PHOTOS as well as their STORY and VIDEO.

  • Paul White / AP

    A bald eagle cools off at the Zoo in Madrid Tuesday Aug. 10, 2010.

    The Week in Pictures: Outtakes

    This image was eliminated from this week's The Week in Pictures (known to the media eds here as TWIP) during the final round of editing.

    While the bright, saturated colors, and the really interesting texture of the water hitting the eagle's feathers were engaging, the fact that this photo was from a zoo - a controlled environment - did deplete the editors' initial reaction to the image, and in the end, it didn't make the cut for this engaging week that included: desperate survivors of Pakistan's massive flooding, an eye-tricking image of underwater swimming, a sweet moment of summer love, and more.

    Click to see the full slideshow for the week of Aug. 5 - 12 and cast your vote.

    Tell us below, which image do you like best this week, and why? Should the bald eagle have made the slideshow?

  • What should we call this photoblog?

    I just sent this email to our whole newsroom. Strikes me that you, our loyal readers, will probably have some great ideas:

    Calling your photoblog “Photoblog” is sort of like naming your child “Child.”

    We’ve known this for a while. Meanwhile, an otherwise kind listing by 10,000 words prompts me to begin to take action:

    “The lackluster title of MSNBC’s online offering belies the amazing wire images indexed on the site.”

    So, if you have any ideas for a short, memorable, awesome name for a constantly updated feed of totally rad pictures on every subject under the sun, please reply to me (and only me) so we start to get some options percolating.

    (I sort of like ‘See it Now’ but Ed Murrow took that one already and it’s sorta stodgy. What I like about it is the “Now” – the immediacy of it. Conveying that would be good. . . )

    Please post any suggestions in comments below.

  • Ilya Naymushin / Reuters

    Fishermen drink and watch a newly married couple kiss on a bank of the Yenisei River in Divnogorsk, a town 24 miles to the south of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, August 13, 2010. Local couples traditionally visit the river bank in Divnogorsk on their wedding day.

    Fishing for a reaction?

    I wonder what the fisherman is thinking.

  • Peter Andrews / Reuters

    Marcell Turi of Hungary competes in the men's 3m Springboard preliminaries at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest August 13, 2010.

    Peter Andrews / Reuters

    Matthieu Rosset of France

    Zsolt Szigetvary / EPA

    Constantin Blaha of Austria

    Zsolt Svigetvary / EPA

    Andrzej Rzeszutek of Poland

    Peter Andrews / Reuters

    Ilya Zakharov of Russia

    Zsolt Svigetvary / EPA

    Michele Benedetti of Italy

    Peter Andrews / Reuters

    Stefanos Paparounas of Greece

    Peter Andrews / Reuters

    Oleksiy Prygorov of Ukraine

    Divers: Graceful in action, not so much when frozen in time

    I like these pictures, and the athleticism of the divers is astounding. What's even more astounding is how their facial expressions seem to express not just the difficulty of the event, but also a fair bit of awkwardness, especially compared to how graceful this event appears as it unfolds live in a brief burst of moments in video.

  • Akhtar Soomro / Reuters

    A two-year-old malnourished boy sleeps in a hammock while taking refuge with his family in a classroom in Sukkar, in Pakistan's Sindh province August 13, 2010. Disease outbreaks pose new risks to victims of Pakistan's worst floods in decades, aid agencies said on Friday, potentially hindering already complicated relief efforts. The floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours, have engulfed Pakistan's Indus river basin, killing more than 1,600 people, forcing two million from their homes and disrupting the lives of about 14 million people, or 8 percent of the population.

    Hungry and sleeping in a hammock in Pakistan

    It would be hard to overstate the devastation depicted in pictures from the flooding in Pakistan. See our slideshow here.

  • Brett Phibbs / New Zealand Herald via AP

    Annwyne Stanish walks "Hop Along," a little blue penguin, along Rothesay Bay beach, near Auckland, New Zealand. The penguin was washed up on Muriwai Beach suffering from head and leg injuries and was nursed back to health by bird rescue volunteers Sylvia Durrant and Annwyne Stanish

    A helping hand

    .

  • Jarroslaw Szot / Skydive.pl via EPA

    Skydivers join in a 102-person formation during the parachute jumping festival, Euro Big Way Camp 2010, over the airfield Kruszyn in Wloclawek, Poland, on Aug. 12. The pariticipants succeeded in setting a new European record for skydiving formation, beating last year's record of 99 skydivers. The festival runs from Aug. 9-13 and is attended by over 250 parachute jumpers from various countries.

    Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

    I'm guessing this is hard to pull off, but it sure looks fun.

  • Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters

    Samuel Pizzetti of Italy competes in the men's 800m freestyle heats at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest on Aug. 12, 2010.

    European swimming championships

    BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -The European swimming championships mark a new era in the sport as the first major meet where competitors can no longer wear the neck-to-ankle bodysuits that helped set world records in recent years. Read the full story here.

  • Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

    (Above) Supporters of same-sex marriage hold signs and cheer after a stay was lifted that allows same-sex couples to marry in Calif. on Aug. 12, 2010 in San Francisco. California Supreme court Judge Vaughn Walker lifted a stay on same-sex marriages in Calif. just over one week after his ruling that Prop 8 was unconstitutional. Marriages will be allowed to resume on Aug. 18. (Below) Danielle Peregory, left, places a veil on the head of her future wife Kelly Jones as they wait in line to get a marriage license at the San Francisco City Hall.

    Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

    Eric Risberg / AP

    Victor Choban, left, of Sacramento, Calif., and Richard Otterstad, right, of Oakland, Calif., hold protest signs outside City Hall as same-sex couples begin lining up to be married in San Francisco, on Aug. 12.

    Same-sex marriage and public opinion

    msnbc.com story: Judge says California gay marriages can resume on Aug. 19, but opponents have several days to file an appeal.

  • Hatem Moussa / AP

    Palestinian boys play with fireworks in celebration of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Aug. 12, 2010. Devout Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk during Ramadan, a time of heightened religious fervor.

    Observing Ramadan

    msnbc.com story: Observing Ramadan? There’s an app for that

  • Antonio Scorza / AFP-Getty Images

    Firefighters and rescuers work on a lear jet that plunged into the waters of Guanabara Bay during landing at the Santos Dumont domestic airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 12. The three people on board were rescued with only minor injuries. According to airport authorities, the jet skidded at the end of the runway after one of its tyres exploded.

    Close call

  • Steven Meisel / Vogue Italia via AP

    A fashion photo spread shot by Steven Meisel for the August issue of Vogue Italia titled "Water & Oil," featuring Kristen McMenamy.

    Steven Meisel / Vogue Italia via AP

    Steven Meisel / Vogue Italia via AP

    Steven Meisel / Vogue Italia via AP

    Steven Meisel / Vogue Italia via AP

    Vogue's oil-inspired spread stirs controversy

    This series of fashion photographs by Steven Meisel titled "Water & Oil" is causing a stir.

    Reads Lisa Orkin Emanuel's article: "A stirring photo spread in the August issue of Vogue Italia was inspired by the Gulf oil spill, leaving readers wondering if the magazine crossed from evocative to insensitive."

    Check out the full article and see the cover of the August magazine.

    What do you think of the images, and the controversy?

  • Wojciech Pacewicz / EPA

    The ruined interior of one of the barracks of the World War ll Nazi extermination camp Majdanek, now a musem, following a fire in Lublin, Poland, on August 10. The barrack, storing shoes of the camp's former prisoners, went down in flames overnight, the cause of the blaze is yet to be determined.

    AFP / Getty Images file

    A pile of human bones and skulls is seen in 1944 at the Nazi concentration camp of Majdanek in the outskirts of Lublin, the second largest death camp in Poland after Auschwitz, following its liberation in 1944 by Russian troops.

    Fire at death camp destroys shoes of Nazi victims

    A fire swept through a barrack at the former Nazi death camp of Majdanek, destroying more than half the building and possibly 10,000 shoes of Holocaust victims.

    Above are the burned shoes, and a photograph after the Russian liberation of the camp in 1944 - a grim reminder of what those shoes represent.

    Read the full story

  • John Duricka / AP

    Members of the Senate Republican leadership depart a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, held in light of an all night session to pass a bill at midnight on Dec. 17, 1982. From left are Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, Sen. Paul Laxalt, R- Nev. and Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah.

    Stevens (above center), an uncompromising advocate for Alaska for four decades, died in a plane crash on Monday, Aug. 9, at the age of 86. Family spokesman Mitch Rose says Stevens was among the victims of a crash outside Dillingham, Alaska about 325 miles southwest of Anchorage.

    Former Sen. Ted Stevens dies in Alaskan plane crash

    Stevens was appointed in December 1968 and became the longest-serving Republican in Senate history.

    See a slideshow with images from his storied political career.

    Read the full story of his life and legacy.

  • K. Cook / LLNL / NASA / ESA / STScI / AURA

    This long-exposure Hubble Space Telescope image released Tuesday, Aug. 10, shows a spiral galaxy located deep within the Coma Cluster of galaxies, 320 million light-years away in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices.

    The 28-hour exposure

    The image you see here is less than 25% of the high-resolution original. Take a look at the stunning detail in the raw version here. Hubble's high-tech camera, paired with 28 hours of exposure time, made it possible to observe these faint details.

    Hubble has also captured the outer spiral arms of NGC 4911, along with thousands of other galaxies of varying sizes. The Coma Cluster is home to almost 1,000 galaxies, making it one of the densest collections of galaxies in the nearby universe.

    You can read up on this image here on the CosmicLog.

  • Reuters

    Young gymnasts exercise on wooden bars at the gymnastics hall of a sports school in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, on Tuesday, Aug. 10.

    Reuters

    A coach stretches a young gymnast during a training session for four to seven-year-olds at a sports school in Jiaxing on Tuesday.

    An early start

    .

  • Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

    A caisson carries a flag draped casket to its burial site in Arlington National Cemetery outside of Washington, DC in Arlington, VA.

    Making a profit on soldiers' death benefits

    The U.S. Veterans Affairs Dept. and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners say they are reviewing military life insurance arrangements.

    It seems that insurance carriers are using the accounts to earn income on $28 billion owed to the families of fallen military personnel.

    Read the full story, and weigh in below on what you think about insurance companies profiting from the deaths of service men and women.

  • Andrees Latif / Reuters

    Flood victims looking to be evacuated are framed from inside a Army helicopter coming to their rescue in the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan's Punjab province August 9. Soldiers and aid workers struggled on Monday to reach at least a million people cut off by landslides that have complicated relief efforts after the worst floods in Pakistan in 80 years. The floods have killed more than 1,600 people.

    Helping the suffering in Pakistan

    See more images from the Pakistan floods here.

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