A Photoshop disaster in the House of Commons

This is a little off blog topic, but my last post regarded sex and politics, and this is too ridiculous not to share.

This is the official profile page for one of Canada's new MPs, Rathika Sitsabaiesan. The honourable member was elected in the riding of Scarborough—Rouge River on May 2, standing for the New Democratic Party.

Do you notice anything strange about her picture?

Let's blow it up a bit:

Contrarian reader Mark Austin thought it looked a little odd, and was able to find the original at OpenParliament (it has since also been replaced):

As a 29-year-old Millennial woman, The Honourable Ms. Sitsabaiesan probably felt the top she wore to her portrait sitting was just fine. It is fine, as a matter of fact, and no different than what any other woman would wear in a modern business situation.

But somebody thought otherwise. Whether she herself had second thoughts, or whether someone behind the scenes at the House of Commons had a moment of extreme prudishness, the completely awful photoshop cleavage-ectomy has now made the pages of Jezebel.

And that's far more embarrassing than seeing the modest bits of your Member of Parliament's breasts.

Nonetheless, I post this to mock prudishness and bad Photoshop—not the rookie MP, who has taken on a thankless job in public service that I would never want. I wish her and her colleagues the best of luck in the new session.

Britain: What's so great about it?*

(*With a nod to every Irish, Scottish and Welshman/woman who has ever uttered that phrase.)

In advance of the 2012 London Olympics, The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport has launched a postcard and poster campaign that cranks the nationalism up to WWII-era levels.

This time, however, the propaganda is aimed at the outside world. The campaign was developed by the DCMS on behalf of the Prime Minister, working with colleagues at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Trade & Investment, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, VisitBritain, and the British Council. 

The examples of "greatness" run the gamut from general themes like environment, scenery, research and technology to modern icons such as Wallace & Gromit, Richard Branson,  serial wife-killer Henry VIII and shoe fetishist Nicholas Kirkwood.

Below I've posted all the postcards (ignore the crop marks, they're converted PDFs). What do you think of Great Britain's newfound public patriotism? Is it just what they need, or is that kind of patriotism a little scary these days?

Thanks to Neil H. for the tip.