Contest Directions:
[ Democrats lead in races for 11 of 15 crucial Republican-held U.S.
House seats a month before November 7 elections, putting them within reach of seizing house control, after more
than a decade of Republican rule. ]
Unlike the Disney's Lion King, US House may have 'Ass Kings' on
November 7, if donkeys kick the elephants from the throne. The battle
of Democratic asses and Republican elephants becomes too fierce as the
election day is drawing closer. We, at Freaking News, just could not
stay away from the event, fulfilling our patriotic duties.
Photoshop Democratic US politicians as donkeys, and Republican US
politicians as elephants. The photoshopping environment is up to you -
photos, paintings, posters, books, etc. Your animals have to be
recognizable as politicians you photoshopped. Adding patriotic / party
paint-jobs to your elephants and donkeys is allowed, as long as
they are in addition to 'donkeys & elephants transformations'.
[ browse best gallery pictures ] [ browse this contest gallery in high resolution ] Tag funny pix donkeyselephants Jackpot: 1st place: $20, 2nd place: $12 , 3rd place: $8 Started: 10/6/2006 6:00:00 AM, Ended: 10/8/2006 6:00:00 AM
This contest is fueled by the following news:
Domestication of donkeys took place much earlier than the domestication of horses. Donkeys were the first animals, which the ancient person used for transportation of cargo. Already, around 4000 BC, domesticated Nubian donkeys were used in delta Nile. In Mesopotamia, wild donkeys were domesticated much later. In ancient epoch, donkeys reached Europe. It is known, that Asia Minor donkeys were with Etruscans. Donkeys reached Greece around 1000 BC.
Initially, donkeys were used for riding and dragging carriages, but with the advent of faster and strong horses, the donkeys were replaced with horses. Since then, references about donkeys in ancient cultures almost disappeared. Use of donkey decreased to loading with loads. In this work, the donkey had advantage over horses since the donkey is extremely robust and is in a condition to withstand much longer periods without water and food.
Sometimes, donkeys were used for obtaining meat, milk and skin. In the Middle Ages, asinine skin was considered as the most suitable for parchment manufacturing. Donkeys were to be found to the north of Alps only from the times of Romans.
There are two types of African elephant - African Bush Elephant (Elephant Africana) and African Forest Elephant (Elephant cyclotis). Some categorization considers forest elephants as subspecies of bush elephants. The height of male bush elephants is up to 3.5 m, females – up to 3 m, forest elephants are little bit smaller. Frontal skull is convex, ears are larger, trunk with 2 finger-shaped growths on the end. Tusks are well developed in males as well as females (length upto 3 m, weight upto 100 kg). They are found in Africa (towards south from Sahara) in steppes, forest-steppes and forests. They mainly eat branches and leaves of trees. In captivity, they can be easily tamed, but they are used seldom as a working animal.
Africa was the ancestral home of elephants, apparently, where (in the vicinity of upper Miocene – lower Pliocene) their most ancient fossils are found. In the middle of Pliocene , elephant through isthmus of Suez got into Eurasia and have extended almost to the entire continent. In the beginning of Pleistocene, elephant through the Bering Strait went to North America. Wide extension of elephants and their adaptation to existence in various climatic conditions - from tropical forests and steppes to the Arctic tundra - have led to appearance of many kinds and types. Towards the end of Pleistocene region, elephants quickly become rare; in Holocene, elephants remain only in South Asia and in Africa. The most ancient elephant, found in the territory of USSR, known is from the regions adjoining upper Pliocene and belong to the species Archidiskodon — thunder elephant and its descendant - southern elephants (A. meridionalis).
In the news: Democratic candidates are leading in 11 of 15 critical Republican held seats in the U.S. House of Representatives a bit over one month before the national elections, to be held on November 7th. The Democrats are within striking distance of taking control of the House of Representatives. This is according to new polls released on Wednesday by Reuters / Zogby. Republican incumbents appear particularly vulnerable with 7 or 9 trailing their Democratic challengers at this time. Democrats need to gain 15 seats in order to gain control of the House of Representatives. The polls also indicate that Republicans are behind in 4 of 6 open seats that they had won in the 2004 election cycle. Pollster John Zogby stated that this is a dismal showing in the polls for Republicans. The polls were taken from September 25th through October 2nd in 15 of the most competitive districts in the United States. The polling overlapped by three days the sex scandal involving former Representative Mark Foley. The sex scandal and questions and concerns about the way in which the GOP leadership handled the matter is mushrooming into a major political crisis for the Republican party and its candidates. Republican leaders worry that the scandal and its fallout negatively could impact the core supporters of the party -- most particularly religious and social conservatives. This factor, added with the concerns of voters over the war in Iraq, the economy and the future of the country itself have worked to form a strong environment for the Democrats calls for change in this volatile election year.
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[ Democrats lead in races for 11 of 15 crucial Republican-held U.S.
House seats a month before November 7 elections, putting them within reach of seizing house control, after more
than a decade of Republican rule. ]
