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Sunday, June 29, 2008
Jack In The Box Kona Coffee Shake
Why do more west coast places not offer coffee shakes?
Even in Georgia I could find coffee shakes easily but out here in good old SoCal the coffee shake pickins' are slim. Jack In The Box has been advertising they're Kona Coffee Shake pretty heavily so when it was time for my fast food dinner I opted for Jack over In-N-Out based purely on the shake (don't get me wrong Jack has some good burgers to- they are just not In-N-Out)
If I had any fantasies that the shake would indeed have the rich, deep goodness that a real cup of Kona coffee does, well that was very quickly shattered. That said it is a very sweet, light coffee flavor that makes for a pleasant shake. Actually the taste reminded me exactly of 'coffee milk' (think chocolate milk but with coffee flavored syrup in place of chocolate) which we made as kids with Coffee Time syrup:
Thinking for the shake in those terms it was pretty good. Expecting actual Kona quality from the coffee was just asking too much. Even if the coffee on the artificial side of the taste spectrum I still liked it enough that I would order it again.
Marvo over at The Impulse Buy tried one not too long ago as well. He was less enthused about it then I but be sure to read his review HERE
Jack In The Box
Posted by Unknown at 6:45 PM 1 comments
Labels: Chain Food, Coffee, Dairy, Fast Food, Shakes
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Fresh & Easy Milk Chocolate Bar
Today I made my first visit to a Fresh & Easy store.
Fresh & Easy is a part of the UK based Tesco chain for those of us on this side of the pond from what I could tell from the Tesco website they look to be like Wal*Marts wet dream. Seriously, go to that site and check out everything they do. Maybe Jim From Jim's Chocolate Mission could chime in and tell us what the average Tesco is like.
Anyway, let's talk about the chocolate for now. Before I taste it I have to say that at a mere $.33 for 1.55 oz's it was a pretty great deal. The ingredients are straight forward enough: sugar, cocoa butter, milk, chocolate liquor, soy lecithin, salt and vanilla.
Upon opening the wrapper the thin bar is divided up much like a Hershey bar. The chocolate is a very light looking milk chocolate. The smell is sweet but pleasant. You can really smell the vanilla and the cocoa. On smell alone I thought it was going to be a good bar. The melt is very smooth and creamy.
Unfortunately this is where the praise ends. It's just too sweet. And I know I have said this a lot lately but it is also oil. For $.33 decent. For chocolate in general not so great. Of course if you stocked up on these at Halloween you could make a whole bunch of new friends with the kids in your neighborhood (kids don't care if it's too sweet!)
Fresh & Easy
Posted by Unknown at 11:15 PM 2 comments
Labels: Candy, Chocolate, Milk Chocolate
Lindt Creation 70% Cherry & Chili
The shout out for this review goes out to Sugerhog.Net
Last month she reviewed the Lindt Creation Cherry & Chili bar and I had to try one for myself.
The bar is made up of 70% dark chocolate that sandwiches a layer of a mousse type filling and a cherry/chili jelly. The chocolate it's self is bitter and acidic. It is also on the chalky side. I could deal with the bitterness. I am a fan of dark chocolate but all three aspects together and it is just not pleasant.
The bars saving grace however is the cherry chili jelly. That stuff is out of this world! It's sour without being overly bitter and there is the tiniest bit of heat from the chili. Please someone do an ice cream with this jelly as the swirl! I am not out right admitting that I separated the chocolate slabs and licked out the jelly... but it could have happened.
If they had done this bar with say a deep milk chocolate in place of the dark chocolate it could have been an outstanding bar. As is it is worth tasting for the Jelly alone.
Now how do I get me some of that jelly...
Albertsons Supermarket
Posted by Unknown at 10:07 PM 0 comments
Labels: Candy, Chili's, Chocolate, Dark Chocolate
Mountain Dew Super Nova- Limited Edition
And here we have the last of the three new Mountain Dew's Super Nova
Super Nova is supposed to be a strawberry/melon flavor. I am starting to think this has not been my week to try new things. I don't know what it actually really tasted like but it didn't remind me of strawberry or melons. It minded me most of Cherry Rolaids. And somehow I don't think that was the flavor they were going for.
Like the other two flavors there is vaguely lemonade thing going on. And while that was good for the other two it was just vile here.
I think my vote is going to Revolution!
That said Code Red is still the best Dew!
Jay's Shell Station, Monrovia. Ca
Posted by Unknown at 8:31 PM 1 comments
Labels: Caffeine, Limited Edition, Soda, Soft Drinks, Special Edition
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Dreyer's Slow Churned Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Bar
Cookies & Cream on a stick?!
Sign me up!
Well it sounded good. The outside of the bar is coated in chocolate that has cookie bits enbedded into it. Well, let's be honest it's embedded with things that look like cookie bits. In reality they are little brown nuggets of chocolate flavored oil. The coating which according to the ingredient list is actually made with chocolate tastes like mocklate... bad mocklate.
I would like to tell you that if you make it through the coating you will be rewarded, but much like the ending on a Pauly Shore movie about the best thing you can say is that at least it's over. I like Dreyer's cookies & cream in the Grand line so I was actually surprised when the Churned version turned out to be awful. Again it's oily. In fact that is the only thing you can taste. I don't get how this fell so far short.
Albertsons Supermarket
Posted by Unknown at 11:55 PM 3 comments
Labels: Chocolate, Dessert, Ice Cream, Low Calorie, Low Fat
Friday, June 20, 2008
Skinny Cow Vanilla with Caramel Ice Cream Cones
Since I liked the mint and fudge cones so much I decided to give the vanilla a try.
As much as I liked the mint cone I disliked the vanilla. Let's start with the ice cream it's self. As I was expecting it was very airy and lacked any of the rich, fatty mouth feel that say Ben & Jerry's would have- but I was expecting that. It is after all light ice cream and aimed at those watching the weight. The flavor is a weird mix of absolutely nothing- and then there is a chemical aftertaste. I don't really understand how something with no flavor can have an after taste but it did.
Then there is the "caramel". Oh it looks like caramel, it smells like caramel and it all almost tastes like caramel. But the texture was off. Too liquidy, and again it tasted more like a scientific version of caramel then real caramel.
The cone is the best part. Crispy and sweet. It's good but it doesn't make up for the rest of the cone not being.
Albertsons Supermarket
Posted by Unknown at 10:50 PM 0 comments
Labels: Caramel, Ice Cream, Low Calorie, Vanilla
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Frosted Mini Wheats- Blueberry Muffin
I know I am always saying there is not enough blue food...
I am torn about it if cereal makes me regret that or not.
We all know I love blueberry, I love cereal. The two of them should be pretty good right? Yeah, that's what I thought too.
Like the traditional frosted mini wheat the blueberry muffin variety has one "nekkid" side and one side that is frosted in a combo of sugar and blueberry. It DOES in fact taste like a blueberry muffin- a muffin that was designed by a food scientist that never actually ate a real muffin. For the first few seconds it's in your mouth it is pretty good. But the problem is that 'good' quickly becomes "chemical aftertaste from hell" And if you are the type who likes to drink your extra cereal milk be warned- it will taste kind of like grated Flintstones vitamins (only less good)
- but it is blue!
Great idea, could have been a good flavor but it just doesn't work.
Albertsons Supermarket
Posted by Unknown at 9:30 PM 10 comments
Lazzaroni Bittersweet Chocolate with Amaretti di Saronno Crumbles Bar
During my last trip to Claro's Market I came across this bar.
To be honest I had never had Lazzaroni chocolates- I have had the Amaretti di Saronno and they are DIE for. If you have never had them go and find yourself a box. They are great on their own, crushed as a crust, dunked in coffee, over ice cream... I like them can you tell?
So before I write myself into an amaretti stupor maybe we should talk about the bar.
The bar is a hefty 3.17 ozs and even through the bright red wrapping you can feel the shape of the molded bar. Unwrapped, the chocolate is dark and glossy and has an almost coffee like-aroma. Reading the companies website I found that there is good reason- there is actually Arabica coffee pieces in the bar.
So how did it taste?
Pretty darn good!
First, I don't know what percent the cocoa content is the bar appears quite dark. However, it has a rather surprisingly creamy melt and a sweetness not normal for a dark chocolate. It reminded me of a high end Toll House morsel. The coffee's bitter edge keeps the sweetness in check and also set's off the Amaretti pieces. I LOVED the crunch the Amaretti gave to the bar. In fact my only complaint with the bar is that I wish the Amaretti pieces were bigger!
I don't care how yo do it just get yourself one of these bars!!
Claro's Italian Market
Posted by Unknown at 8:58 PM 1 comments
Labels: Candy, Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Imported, Imported Candy, Italian
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Jones Soda Strawberry Manilow
In honor of Barry Manilow's 65 Birthday I am reviewing Jones Soda Strawberry Manilow drink
I have actually been holding on to this drink because I wanted to tie it to Barry's birthday.
As a life long Manilow fan ANYTHING Barry is pretty much fanFREAKINGtastic but this is the first food related item I have tried.
Strawberry Manilow is a mix of dairy and fruit flavor. Like you would have (or should have) guessed from the name it is primarily strawberry flavored but it also has Blackberry & Raspberry. I tend to not be the biggest fan of strawberry flavoring on the planet but in this case the strawberry is mellowed out by the other berries. I think it is actually the blackberry that comes through the strongest. The first flavors are all the sweetness of the strawberry but then it rounds out to the tartness of the blackberry and the last notes are the syrupy sweetness of the raspberry.
The drink does have both skim milk and cream which gives it both a rather pastel mid-80's color cheesiness to it and a smooth texture the juice would not have on it's own. It made me think of a thinner version of an Orange Julius-type drink. It's not something I would drink every time I cranked up my overwhelmingly large Manilow collection but it was tasty- and it is sweetened with pure cane sugar!
Thanks to the good folk's over at Jones for giving us Fanilow's something to sip while shedding a tear for Lola and Tony. After making it through the rain and even now for making us smile... and if you got all those song references you have a chance of being a bigger geek then me!
Cost Plus World Market
Posted by Unknown at 4:49 PM 1 comments
Labels: Dairy, Soft Drinks, Special Edition
Kinder bueno
I have to give thanks to Jim over at Jim's Chocolate Mission for inspiring me to want to try these.
Jim has reviewed both the regular Kinder bueno and the Kinder bueno White and he made the hazelnut filling sound like something that sound definitely not be missed. So when I saw the bar at my Italian grocery today I had to pick it up.
The bueno is made up of two fingers that are about the size of a slightly wider Twix bar. Bonus point's to Kinder for having the fingers individually wrapped inside the foil. The fingers are made up of 4 squat segments of lightly chocolate coated goodness. As far as I could tell it was a milk chocolate- the label on my bar being entirely in Polish didn't exactly help me a lot. Hiding inside of the extremely sweet chocolate is crispy wafer shell that surrounds a dollop of hazelnut creme. I don't know if my bar was just really fresh but I have got to say that the wafer was perfect. It was still crispy enough to break with a satisfying crunch on first bite.
Jim was dead on with the hazelnut filling! Seriously that filling is so good that personally I think it rivals the hazelnut used in the companies Nutella.
I wish I could just get a hold of the hazelnut on it's own!!
The bar as a whole has it's merits- I am not normally a fan of wafers, but if they are always as crisp as the ones in this bar (rather then the chewy, limp, stale wafers one tends to find in candy) I could learn to love them. The chocolate coating was too sweet for my taste but, on a occasion I don't mind. The clear star here is the hazelnut creme.
Claro's Italian Market
Posted by Unknown at 2:30 AM 3 comments
Labels: Candy, Chocolate, Ferrero, Hazelnut, Imported, Imported Candy, Italian, Milk Chocolate
Monday, June 16, 2008
Mountain Dew Revolution- Limited Edition
Round 2 of the Dewmocracy challenge!
Revolution is another of the three Dew Drinker designed flavors.
Revolution is a Wild Berry flavor with added Ginseng. This reminded more of a Raspberry Lemonade then Wild Berry- maybe my taste buds are going in my old age- or maybe it's because at work I drink a potentially hazardous amount of Raspberry lemonade. I don't get the Wild Berry at all... Although raspberry is after all a berry. Maybe this is supposed to be like the Joe Francis version of raspberry? and with no age of consent issues!
Much like Voltage, personally I found it to be super sweet. And while I did suck down the bottle at about double the rate that I went through the Voltage I can't see myself buying this on a regular basis. Yes, once again let us remember I am an old chick who can't handle her caffeine and for my day to day soda consumption I stick to diet. So far this is winning my vote but we still have 1 more flavor to go!
Jay's Shell Station Monrovia, Ca
Posted by Unknown at 4:30 PM 0 comments
Labels: Caffeine, Limited Edition, Soda, Soft Drinks
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Meiji Meltyblend Framboise
I loved the Green Tea Meltyblends. I was trying to restock my supply today and while the Ranch 99 Market sadly did not have the Green Tea in stock they did have the Framboise (Raspberry)
So, I ignored it and just wanted to pout about not getting the Green Tea Meltyblends.
NO, of course I didn't do that! I bought the box.
Just like with the Green Tea Meltyblends, the candy themselves are about the size of sugarcubes. There is a dusty looking cocoa outer layer. The first few second all that you taste is the cocoa while the cube melts in a cool, silky river.
Then the raspberry kicks in. I have ot say I was impressed by how viberant the raspberry flavor was. It reminded me of eating a really high quality jam. The raspberry managed to stay tasting natural and didn't have that biter, artificial taste that some raspberry flavored candies have.
I know there are a few more Meltyblend flavors out there and I have liked the Green Tea and the Raspberry so much I am going ot try and get a hold of the others.
Ranch 99 Supermarket
Posted by Unknown at 10:33 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Jell-O Singles Chocolate
Every once and a while a new version of a popular product comes out that leaves me scratching my head and wondering "why?"
Jell-O Singles is a perfect example of that.
The product is made of single serve sleeves of powdered pudding that you add a half cup of cold milk to, mix for roughly 2 minutes and then let it sit for the next few minutes to let it set. And after all that you have a single serve bowl of pudding. Which begs the question, if you only want a single serving of pudding why not just grab a handy ready to go pudding cup? The serving size and calorie is about the same. Heck the cost is about the same but all you have to do is peel back the top and eat!
At first I thought maybe this would be aimed at the lactose intolerant or people who just prefer to use non-dairy milk. But the powder is made with milk and the directions advise against using soy milks because the pudding won't set.
I also thought that maybe it was for campers, hikers etc- but since you still need milk and there are non refrigerated single serve cups already out there (with no prep needed) I feel safe to say that wasn't the aim either.
The flavor is great! same chocolaty, rich flavor you expect from Jell-O pudding. It was a little lumpy but I think that was probably my fault.
All in all while the flavor was just as good as the pre-made cups or even if you made a larger batch from the box. I just don't get the point of this product. Honestly, it is easier and just as good to open one of the single serve cups then to make the the single packet.
Albertsons Supermarket
Posted by Unknown at 2:24 PM 25 comments
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Breyers Oreo Sandwiches
Back on May 16'th we morned the passing of one of my favorite ice cream treats the Klondike With Oreo Ice Cream Cookie
Reader Amanda let us know that she had seen Oreo ice cream sandwiches under a different brand. Today this Breyer's version turned up at my local store.
The Breyer's version (which like Klondike is a Unilever brand, so they have kept things in the family) is a smaller cookie sandwich and features low fat vanilla ice cream rather then the Oreo ice cream that the Klondike version had.
Size wise the Breyer's version is smaller overall then the Klondike version had been. Actually, I preferred the Oreo cookies on this version to the Klondike. They are smaller but thicker and they had more of a true Oreo flavor- this is saying something because I LOVED the cookies on the Klondike as well.
So the cookie is a hit but how is the ice cream?. Well... it's cold. It's not that it tastes bad- it just doesn't taste like anything. The texture is smooth but there is no real mouth feel to it. Other then, well cold.
Even without using Oreo ice cream if this had just had a good quality vanilla (could using real vanilla possibly have been that hard?- I know Breyers make a decent vanilla in the normal line) I would go as far to say that because the cookies themselves are so good this version could have been outstanding. It would have actually have BETTER then the Klondike.
As it is I am tempted to scrap out the bad ice cream and "refill" the cookies with good vanilla or just crumple the cookies into good ice cream.
Albertsons Supermarket
Posted by Unknown at 10:34 PM 3 comments
Monday, June 9, 2008
Skinny Cow Mint With Fudge Ice Cream Cone
If happy cows really do come from California count me in!
I wasn't sure what to expect from these cones. I didn't have the highest of hopes because let's be honest, most low fat ice cream sucks. I was really surprised by how good these cones were!
The mint was crisp and clean with just the right amount of sweetness. There was no medicinal after taste. The fudge ripples were only on the top and reminded me of Hershey's syrup- not a bad thing as I like Hershey's syrup on ice cream.
The cone was crispy and fresh- and lined in chocolate!
The ice cream is on the airy side and while there is a cool mouth feel it is of course not the same creamy, rich feel you would get from a full fat ice cream.
All in all this was a good cone and has made me want to moove (I could not resist) onto more of the Skinny Cow offerings.
Albertsons Supermarket
Posted by Unknown at 11:35 PM 1 comments
Trader Joes Matcha Green Tea Yogurt
I love green tea!
I love yogurt!
So why didn't I love green tea yogurt?
The color was appealing. The smell was good. The texture was a little thin but I could over look that. No, I think it was because the best way to describe the flavor would be to tell you that it is like eating spinach yogurt. Yes, you read that right- spinach.
And I mean spinach yogurt in the worst possible sense. Imagine you took a brick of frozen spinach, defrosted it, squeezed the "juice" that comes out of said brick of spinach into some thin, lowfat yogurt. THEN you pureed some of the spinach into the yogurty sludge. Well that is what I feel like I have eaten.
Since TJ's has so few misses this one saddens me but certainly won't keep me from continuing to try more of their products.
Trader Joe's
Posted by Unknown at 11:16 PM 1 comments
Labels: Dairy, Green Tea, Low Calorie, Low Fat, Trader Joe's, Yogurt
Sunday, June 8, 2008
5-Hour Energy Shot
Kids, sometimes I do crazy things in order to bring you a good review... and sometimes I do crazy things just for the hell of it.
I want to tell you that I drank the 5-Hour energy shot simply to review it for you. But no. I drank it because I worked a really weird schedule this weekend and my insomnia is back in full force. Out of desperation before a daunting dinner shift that otherwise my butt would have been dragging on I picked up said 5-Hour Energy.
The ad's that seem to be on every 3 minutes promises instant energy with no jitters and no crash. It also promises to taste great.
I want to meet the person who said it tasted great. Great compared to what? Old tuna?, Pre-chewed gum?. Alright, that's a little unfair of me. It's not that it tastes bad. It's just that the best way of describing the flavor is to say that it's like a Red Bull for people who thought Red Bull was too sweet. That probably says it all. If not- it's really bitter!
Did it work?
Why yes it did! And it did work within minutes. All of a sudden I had more energy then I knew what to do with. I wasn't jittery per say, but I COULD NOT stay still- which my coworkers found funny. In fairness to 5-Hour Energy I had drank it with minimal food and in my old age I have less and less tolerance to caffeine. In fact, I drank the shot at 3:15 PM and come 3:00 AM I was still ready to go- but I felt awake and alert not wired or cloudy headed. As promised there was no crash and when I woke up the next day there were no lingering effects.
Because of my weenie-like response to caffeine I personally couldn't make this a regular part of my daily grind- but I would have no problem using it again if I needed a fast shot of energy (and not sleeping over the course of the next 16 hours were not an issue!)
Jay's Shell Station Monrovia, Ca
Posted by Unknown at 11:55 PM 2 comments
Labels: Energy Drinks, Low Carb, Sugar Free
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet!
At the risk of losing any foodie cred that I may have left I would like to stand atop the highest mountain and loudly proclaim that I LOVE KRAFT MAC & CHEESE!!
Yes, yes, REAL homemade mac & cheese IS about a bizillion times better. There is no question. But sometimes in life you just crave "cheese" that is day-glo orange and comes in powered form from a foil packet. No people- I DO NOT want anything to do with the Velveeta version (even Kraft's version) no I WANT that scary pouch of cheese. And never, EVER does non Kraft boxed mac & cheese pass my lips. I don't know what addictive substance lurks in the cheese powder but it works!
I think part of the secret to good mac & cheese is the amount of milk and butter used. Believe me when I tell you I have done extensive testing on the the subject and I can say with great authority that the secret to perfect mac & cheese is as simple as 2 tablespoons of milk and 2 tablespoons of butter. Yes, I know the box says otherwise. The box is wrong!. I think the 2x2 ratio works because any less then that and there is not enough liquid to mix the powered cheese properly. Any more then that and it is too liquidy and the flavor gets diluted. I told you , I have put A LOT of time into this.
Yes, this is the perfect cheap, fast, food. It's cheesy, it's kind of salty, it's filling. It's a taste of childhood- you can even get it with Sponge Bob shaped pasta if you are inclined!
Albertsons Supermarket
Posted by Unknown at 1:24 AM 7 comments
Friday, June 6, 2008
Mountain Dew Voltage
Ask not what Dewmocracy can do for you but what you can do for Dewmocracy!
Dewmocracy is of course the name of the new campaign Mountain Dew has launched to choose it's next flavor. The three flavors that are out; Voltage, Supernova and and Revolution were designed by Dew drinkers- although I couldn't tell you who they were or how the final three were selected. And that one of the flavors- voted on by visitors to the web site will go on to be an official Mountain Dew flavor. Oh, and while you are at the site if you REALLY like any of the three flavors or have entirely too much free time to kill between Star Trek reruns in your Mom's basement, you can even visit message boards dedicated to each of the flavors (flame wars included!)
I have all three in my fridge but I decided to start with Voltage because it's a spiffy purply blue color. And as I have said many times- there is just not enough blue food!.
The label says that this is a Raspberry Citrus flavor with Ginseng (and of course an ass load of caffeine!). It reminded me of a liquid version of a raspberry SweeTart only much, much sweeter. The citrus side of things can only be found in the slightly acidic after taste. Interestingly enough according to Wikipedia one of Ginsengs many uses is as an aphrodisiac. This leads me to wonder if that was really not the smartest thing they could have added. Since Mountain Dew is a Nerd diet staple do we really want to make horny hyper nerds even more horny and hyper? maybe some lavender would have been a better option. Anyway back to the flavor... It was too sweet for me at first but it does grow on you... and then you start to crave it and your heart thumps from the caffeine and then suddenly you find yourself visiting 7-11 in the middle of the night for a fix... what was that only me?
For another opinion check out Marvo's review of all three flavors over at The Impulse Buy
Jay's Shell Gas Station Monrovia, Ca
Posted by Unknown at 12:28 PM 4 comments
Labels: Limited Edition, Soda, Soft Drinks
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Coffee-Mate Italian Series Italian Sweet Creme Ltm Edition
Non-dairy coffee goodness!
I like my coffee two ways- either strong and black or light and sweet. More often then not my choice for coffee at home is light and sweet because I can stay in and deal with having dairy creamer.
It was a happy discovery to find this Coffee-Mate, not only is it non-dairy but it taste pretty good!. I am not sure to be honest what makes it Italian sweet creme but it is indeed sweet- I didn't feel the need to add any extra Splenda to my cup and it is very creamy (cremey?).
Albertsons Supermarket
An excellent product for the lactose intolerant- and for everyone else.
Posted by Unknown at 9:05 PM 2 comments
Labels: Coffee, Italian, Mixers, Soft Drinks
Diet Rite Cherry Cola
I love cherry cola's but I am also an old geezer who can't tolerate caffeine after seven P.M. if I want to sleep that night.
On top of that I try to drink more diet soda then regular soda- because I LOOOOOVE me my soda and let's face it, who needs to waste empty calories on soda when I can use them for ice cream!
Now sadly there just don't seem to be many diet, caffeine free cherry soda's out there. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Diet Rite Cherry Cola. The Diet Rite family of soda's all boast zero calories, carbs, caffeine and sodium.
But how do they taste?
In the case of the Cherry Cola the answer is not good. Think cherry cough syrup in generic "cola" and add to that the strong after taste of artificial sweetener- which I had a hard time figuring out because it uses Splenda and Splenda as a rule doesn't have that funky after taste.
This was really disappointing.
Albertsons Supermarket
Posted by Unknown at 6:26 PM 0 comments
Labels: 0 Calories, Diet Soda, Soda, Soft Drinks, Sugar Free
Trader Joes's Greek Style Yogurt- Honey
I am thinking if the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee got a hold of some of this he would have a new breakfast staple.
I am also thinking "Did I just date myself by mentioning the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee?" do they even still use him in the ad's?
Possibly retired cereal spokesbee's aside. Trader Joe's Greek Style yogurt is definitely strong on the honey flavor. While there is no visible trace of the honey it is the dominate flavor. The honey is strong (very strong) with floral notes and it makes the yogurt very sweet.
The texture is that great, smooth, cool sour cream-like texture that I love in Greek yogurt. What I miss with this particular flavor is the tanginess that Greek Yogurt has. There is none to be found here. Since this is the first of the TJ's Greek yogurt I have tried I am unsure if they're version is always like this or if the intense sweetness of the honey does away with it.
If you are a fan of honey, you would love this yogurt. For me the honey was over powering but I like the yogurt it's self enough to want to keep trying other flavors.
Trader Joe's
Posted by Unknown at 1:13 PM 3 comments
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Yoplait Light Apple Turnover Yogurt
I am warning you guys now we are going to have A LOT of yogurt this week!
Warm weather gets me on a yogurt kick so I have stocked my fridge. The first one I tried was the Yoplait Light Apple Turnover.
I have noticed that light yogurt tends to be either really bad or really good so I was not sure what to expect. Luckily for me the Apple Turnover was on the really good side.
The flavor is light and sweet. The flavor reminded me of baked cinnamon apples. The yogurt it's self is creamy and smooth and surprisingly light on the tang factor. Because of that it made it more satisfying as a sweet snack. The little bites of apple brought some crunch and a slight bitter edge. My only compliant with this yogurt is that the amount of apple bits is pretty sparse.
Really tasty overall and for a 100 calorie snack that is also fat free and relatively good for you it is hard to do better. This gets a coveted 11!
Posted by Unknown at 12:11 PM 5 comments
Labels: 100 Calories, 11, Dairy, Fat Free, Fruit, Healthy, Low Calorie, Low Carb, Yogurt
Monday, June 2, 2008
Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Pretzel Bites
I should probably just say now that in the course of writing this review I ate almost the entire container...
Which should tell you I either really loved this snack or really hated it. I LOVED it. The candy is made up of little spheres of pretzel covered in dark chocolate and sprinkles. I just love chocolate and salt together. If you let the chocolate melt on your tongue as you get to the thinnest part of the chocolate it mixes with the salt from the pretzel/
The pretzels are crunchy and counter balance the smooth, cool chocolate perfectly. It was WAAAY to easy to plow through an embarrassingly large portion in a short period of time. The sprinkles are just sort of there. While they looked pretty they didn't really bring much to the table.
Again I have to praise Trader Joe's for they're commitment to high quality for low prices. The chocolate alone is good enough that I would enjoy it all by it's self.
One of the best TJ's offerings- and that says a lot because I am a pretty big fan.
Trader Joe's
And here is the rest of it.
Posted by Unknown at 9:19 PM 4 comments
Labels: 11, Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Pretzels, Salty, Trader Joe's
Dark Raisinets
Raisinets are another of those candies that evoke childhood memories for me.
It's not that we were exactly deprived of candy as kids, but there was a definite difference between the candy bought for the three of us kids and the candy my father bought for himself. It's not that he got himself high end stuff and got us cheap bulk candy (truth be told "back in the day" when I was just a youth there really wasn't all that much high end candy). No, he just got himself things I deemed more interesting then M&M's.
He almost always had a stash of chocolate covered raisins... and a certain someone took great pleasure in any available opportunity to snag some of said raisins. As an adult (kind of) I still find myself wishing raisins were used in candy more.
To be honest I haven't bought a box of Raisinets in years- personally I think Trader Joe's version is far better and cheaper! But this box of the dark chocolate variety just sort of called out to me.
The Raisinets are plump and juicy and fairly glossy little numbers. The coating is generously thick and Nestle actually uses real chocolate here (although it is real chocolate made with fake vanilla flavor so figure that one out)
The chocolate tasted pretty much exactly like Toll House Morsels (which I happen to love) They also melt pretty well even though they are a little waxy at first.
I still prefer the TJ's version but if I were to buy a box of these- say at the movies the dark version would be my choice. I also think this version would be fantastic baked in cookies.
Blockbuster Video
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An Unsanctioned Iran Is Scary—Nukes or Not
This article was published in full with the National Interest.
Click here to read the full article.
Anwar El Sadat's historic 1977 trip to Jerusalem changed the political dynamics in the Middle East. The current rapprochement between Washington and Tehran could have the same effect. A comprehensive deal between America and Iran would change the balance of power in the region.
Cynics of the nuclear negotiations insist that Iran is seeking a nuclear bomb, and the danger of that scenario is quite obvious. But the nuclear threat should not distract the international community from the very real, nonnuclear dangers posed by a resurgent Iran free of economic sanctions. Iran's hegemonic ambitions in the region will grow if sanctions are lifted, strengthening the regime and the Iranian economy. The direct involvement of Tehran in illicit activities in the Arab world is a major source of mistrust between the strong Sunni ruling families of the Gulf and the Shia mullahs in Iran.
Iran's regional ambitions make key U.S. allies—such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel—hesitant to embrace any rapprochement between Washington and Tehran.
Click here to read the full article on NationalInterest.org
Related articles
- Iran Protests US Sanctions in Call With Kerry (nytimes.com)
- US-Iran rapprochement starts to reshape Middle East power balance (irishtimes.com)
- A Long Road To Normalisation (saisaonline.org)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Shama Hongqiao Shanghai
Job title:
Team Leader, Housekeeping客房服务部主管
1.Supervise the implementation of housekeeping standards and procedures in relation to:监督客房部各项标准和工作程序的执行 :2.Bedroom service.臥室服务。3.Bathroom service.卫生间服务。4.Valet service.洗衣服务。5.Cleaning service.清洁服务。6.Linen maintenance.布巾维护。7.Trained and direct staff on guest floor.培训和引导员工去工作。8.Inspect all rooms including occupied, departing and vacant rooms and public areas.检查所有的房间,如住人房,预退房和空房等和公共区域。9.Report ready room to reception.将检查完后的干净房间汇报给前台。10.Check and report maintenance work and ensure report is been followed up.检查和汇报工程问题并负责跟踪确保完好。11.Make recommendations on procedure to be adopted and personnel required to the Department Manager.向部门经理提出合理化建议。12.Responsible for the cleanliness and upkeep of the property including equipment and supplies in general.确保物业包括所有物品和工具的清洁。13.Report immediately sick and irregular guest to Department Manager.向部门经理汇报客人生病和异常客人。14.Organize work assigned ensure that staff understand and perform their duties quickly and efficiently in order that the standard on quality and service are met all times.所安排的工作确保员工能够明白,并快速高效的去完成工作。15.Inspect service trolley to ensure that they are well-stocked.确保工作车储存规范。16.Check VIP rooms before guest arrival, visit guest during their stay to offer assistance.在贵宾客人到达之前检查好房间,并在其入住期间给予帮助。 Collect staff work report sheets, pay attention to all special remarks.收集员工工作表,特别注意表上面的特别事项。17.Before report off duty, make sure all working and service areas are in good conditions.在下班之前,确保工作间以及所有的服务区域干净,处于良好工作状况。18.Responsible for linen, guest amenities and equipment inventory according to company's polices and procedures.根据公司的政策和制度,负责布草,客用品和机器的盘点。19.Ensure staff uniforms and property linen is processed and delivered in a timely manner.确保员工制服和物业布巾及时得到清洗和派送。20.Responsible for keeping record of all on-loan supplies to guest. 确保准确的客人借物。21.Maintain a current and thorough knowledge of all housekeeping systems.对客房部所有系统有最新和完整的知识。22.Responsible for smooth and effective shift hand over.负责管理接班和交班工作,以确保交接班过程的有效进行 。24.Distribution and collection of keys.分发和收集钥匙。25.Solve employee grievances.解决员工受到的不公正待遇问题。26.Perform room allocations.分配客房。27.Perform room inspections.检查客房。28.Prioritize arrival rooms.排列抵店客人客房的优先顺序。29.Liaise with Front Desk for guest and property requirements. 配合前台满足物业和客人的要求。 30.Ensure laundry valet is processed and delivered in a timely manner.确保及时为客人提供洗衣服务并送还。 31.Co-ordinate special projects (eg. Show rooms, pest control, window and carpet cleaning, room inventories).协调特别项目(如参观客房,除虫,窗户和地毯的清洁,客房供应量)。32.Manage all special requests made by guests.处理客人所有的特殊要求。 33.Ensure consistency within the department.确保部门内工作的一致性。 34.Management of lost property for the property.管理物业的遗失财物。 35.Ensure you have complete knowledge of room types, layouts and facilities.确保具有客房类型,设计和设施的全面知识。 36.Manage storage areas.管理仓库。 37.Maintain adequate stock levels and quality.保存充足的用品存货和水平。 38.Complete stock takes as required.按要求完成库存盘点工作。39.Record the equipment out of work and send to engineering department.把坏的和需要修理的机器作记录,并把它送到工程部。40.Conducts shift briefings to ensure property activities and operational requirements are known.进行交接班说明,确保了解物业的工作和运营需求
•interacting with others; demonstrated ability to interact with customers, employees and third parties that reflects highly on the property, the brand and the Company.拥有在与他人交往时大多数时间所使用的沟通技能;完全代表物业,品牌和公司与顾客,员工和第三方交往的能力。•Able to speak, read and write English.具有说,读和写英语的能力。•Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office. 熟练使用微软办公软件。•Organizational and training abilities.具有组织和培训能力。
Years of experience:
Number of positions:


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CHILLICOTHE GAZETTE / SEARCH: 2305 Jennings Norwalk, OH 44857
Single Family Detached
- 3 beds
- 2 baths
- $75,000 price
- 20190723 mls id
- Square Feet: 1,700 sqft
- Year Built: 1969
Wonderful investment opportunity: This spacious 3 bedroom ranch on nearly an acre is available immediately!! New roof (2018) New privacy fence (2018), newer windows, newer floors and many other updates have been done to this home recently. The home features an open floor plan with a well designed layout. The master has the potential for a fabulous en suite & is separate from the other 2 bedrooms. Home offers A remote location with A close proximity to cities, shopping & hospitals. Seller is motivated!
- Site Link
- Style Other Style
Courtesy of: Coldwell Banker Routh Realty
Office Phone: +14196269313
Listing Agent: Christine Nawalaniec
Updated: 2nd December, 2018 10:38 PM.
2305 Jennings Norwalk, OH
Real Estate | Chillicothe Gazette Powered by Placester


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TK the Tenacious
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Email: email@example.com
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TK the Tenacious's VideosSort by: All | Viewer Picks | Council Picks | Awaiting Judgement
Alcoholby TK the Tenacious 02-21-2006Lost: Ah, the joys of inebriation...
Backdoor Loverby TK the Tenacious 09-07-2005Lost: Locke just wants to be Boones backdoor lover. Not meant to be taken seriously.
Knock Yourself Outby TK the Tenacious 06-24-2005Lost: A cheerful little sing-along in which the LOSTaways search for the meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Upendiby TK the Tenacious 05-27-2005Lost: A fluffy vid in which Shannon and Sayid frolic in the magical land of Upendi! Angst? What is this "angst" you speak of?
Spectacular Spectacular!by TK the Tenacious 05-22-2005Lost: A musical pitch for the show. What network could say no to this?
1-5 of 5 Videos 1


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TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Moving quickly to contain a widening political scandal, Gov. Chris Christie fired one of his top aides Thursday and apologized repeatedly for the 'abject stupidity' of his staff, insisting he had no idea anyone around him had engineered traffic jams to get even with a Democratic mayor.
'I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team,' the Republican governor said at an extraordinary news conference in which he patiently took questions from reporters - and answered in his typically blunt fashion - for nearly two hours.
Christie, who had previously assured the public that his staff had nothing to do with the lane closings in September that caused major backups at the George Washington Bridge, said he fired Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly 'because she lied to me' when he demanded weeks ago that anyone who knew anything about the episode come forward.
Kelly was the latest casualty in a scandal that threatens to upend Christie's second term and his expected run for president in 2016. Two other top Christie appointees have resigned in the past few weeks.
The investigation broke wide open on Wednesday, with the release of emails and text messages that suggested Kelly arranged the traffic jams to punish Fort Lee's mayor for not endorsing Christie for re-election. The gridlock delayed emergency vehicles, school buses and countless commuters for four days.
In other developments:- The chief federal prosecutor in New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, said he is 'reviewing the matter to determine whether a federal law was implicated.' The Legislature is also investigating. Using public resources for political ends can be a crime.
- David Wildstein, a Christie appointee who resigned from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey after being implicated in the scandal, was found in contempt Thursday by a legislative committee after he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions.
- Christie traveled to Fort Lee later in the day to apologize in person to Mayor Mark Sokolich. While Sokolich accepted Christie's public apology, he urged the governor to delay his visit, saying he suspects the whole story has yet to come out. He said the governor's office was tainted by 'venomous, petty' politics.
The allegations turned a local traffic furor into a national issue and raised questions about Christie's leadership and integrity as he lays the groundwork for a White House bid. Democrats at the national level have seized on the scandal as more evidence that Christie is a bully.
The governor brushed off questions about the effect on his presidential prospects, saying he was too busy governing the state to think about that.
'I am absolutely nowhere near beginning that consideration process,' he said. 'I haven't even been sworn in for my second term yet.'
Afterward, some political analysts on both sides of the aisle said Christie would probably pull through OK - provided there are no more surprises.
Democratic operative David Axelrod complimented Christie for handling the news conference 'as well as he could,' writing on Twitter: 'Unless smoking gun turns up tying him to scheme, or others arise, he lives 2 fight another day.'
Besides firing Kelly, Christie cut ties to former campaign manager Bill Stepien, asking him to withdraw a bid to become the next state GOP chairman. The governor said he was disturbed by the 'callous indifference' displayed by Stepien in the emails released Wednesday.
Stepien had widely been seen as a potential campaign manager for Christie if he runs for president.
Christie said he is still looking into the traffic-jam episode and will take action against other senior staff members if it is warranted.
Over and over, Christie took responsibility for the affair by virtue of his role as governor, while simultaneously blaming his staff for doing something 'stupid' and for not telling him the truth when he asked.
He said he saw the emails and text messages for the first time on Wednesday, and was 'blindsided' by what he read and outraged by the callous language. He said he was left 'heartbroken' and 'betrayed' by his tight-knit circle of advisers.
'I had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or execution,' Christie said of the lane closings. 'And I am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here.'
Kelly hasn't commented. Christie said he hadn't spoken to her since the emails were released, saying he didn't want to be accused of trying to influence a possible witness.
'Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,' Kelly wrote in August in a message to Wildstein. A few weeks later, Wildstein closed two of three lanes connecting Fort Lee to the heavily traveled George Washington Bridge, which runs between New Jersey and New York City.
In the back-and-forth emails and text messages that followed, Christie loyalists gloated over the traffic jams and called the Fort Lee mayor 'an idiot' and 'this little Serbian.'
For weeks, Christie had asserted that the closings were not punitive, but part of a traffic study, and that no one on his staff was involved. On Thursday, he acknowledged that was a lie, because his staff misled him.
Christie said he believed his staff in part because he had never heard of Sokolich and had no idea the Christie camp was even seeking the Democrat's endorsement.
Still, the governor said: 'I am responsible for what happened. I am sad to report to the people of New Jersey that we fell short.'
___Associated Press writer Steve Peoples in Washington contributed to this report.


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We recently had the pleasure of designing a super fun watercolor styled custom design for Erica from Tiny Toes and Tuk Tuks. Erica is living a life of adventure in South East Asia and we are excited to give you the chance to meet her. So without further ado, meet Erica…
How long have you been blogging?
I just began.
What made you decide to start a blog?
My husband and I work in South East Asia and it gets hard to keep in touch with people back home. I recently gave birth to a baby girl and I desperately wanted to friends and family back home to feel like they are a part of her life. I also wondered how many other people living abroad share the same feelings as me. So I decided to create a blog and write honest and raw posts about the difficulties/ joys of living far from home and ways to cope. Tiny Toes and Tuk Tuk's was created out of a desire to stay in touch and relate to other people in my position.
What has been the biggest unexpected perk or bonus of your site and being online?
It is too early to tell, but I am hoping the biggest perk will be other people sharing in my experience and feeling less alone because of it. SO many people live in countries other than their home countries and experience similar emotions and cultural experiences and it is my desire that we can all support one another.
Tell us about the design makeover process? How did you choose the colors, fonts and ideas that inspire your personal brand?
Because I am writing about living in south east Asia while raising a child, the title of tiny toes and tuk tuks just seemed fitting. I wanted soft colors that are reminiscent of childhood as well as an Asian flair. I feel that the overall product reflects my personality as well as the purpose of the blog. I wanted the colors to be aesthetically pleasing and the fonts to be fun and girly. I hope people all over the world enjoy the blogs combination of travel and parenting.
How did you find / hear about Designer Blogs?
Erica's testimonial:
Before choosing Designer Blogs, I had a terrible time finding a blog designer that would not rip me off! I hired one lady to create a blog for me and she took my money and ran. I was very disappointed! But then I discovered Designer Blogs and everything was extremely professional. I had confidence that this would be a good choice and I was SO right! My blog designer Lindsey was terrific at hearing my vision and making it appear on my blog. Everything was created extremely fast and so I was not left waiting forever to receive my product. I am a first time blogger and was learning everything from scratch and Lindsey was nice enough to always answer my questions and walk me through step by step actions in order to understand my blog. Overall I would choose Designer Blogs over and over again!
Thank you Erica! You were a pleasure to work with! Please be sure to visit and follow Erica at the links below:


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Sierra Leone mudslide disaster update
Newspaper readers have responded generously to the Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship Link's appeal for funds to help victims of the devastating mudslip in Freetown. Like all the communities in the immediate vicinity of the disaster area, our twin town is doing what it can to help the displaced survivors. Honorary Secretary of the Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship Link, Robin Gray sends us the latest news.
The appeal has so far raised £911 to date (including gift aid). Faced with the problem of getting funds as quickly and effectively as possible to those in need, the Link is working with Build on Books, a well-known and very dynamic non-governmental organisation(NGO) that the Link has worked with before.
In spite of its name, Build on Books is not just an educational charity – and its Freetown-based team swung immediately into action to take practical aid to the disaster area and to the Don Bosco camp, a mother and child camp that has been set up in a Freetown orphanage. The charity's Lori Spragg writes: "We have been providing food, water, soap, clothing and shoes in large quantities to families that have lost everything. We have a medical team on site to deal with the shock and often horrific injuries of survivors".
The Friendship Link is sending the appeal money to Build on Books, confident that every penny will be turned into much needed aid. The effects of the disaster will be felt for a long time.
If readers would like to contribute to the Link's appeal, they can use this link: Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship Link – or send a cheque made out to HSLFL to The Secretary HSLFL, Oaklands, Rock Lane, Hastings TN35 4NY.
The Link's next fundraising event is a Music Quiz Night at St Paul's School, Horntye Road, St Leonards on Friday 15 September at 7pm. Tables should be booked in advance from the secretary on firstname.lastname@example.com or 01424 436603. All the money raised will go to the disaster appeal fund.
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Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. During 2019, he is serving on the State Department's Policy Planning Staff in the office of the secretary. He is a 2017 winner of the ...
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The Sverdlovsk Incident Was One of the World's Worst Bio Weapons Mishaps
Soviet authorities tried to keep 1979 disaster a secret
WIB history July 9, 2017 Sebastien Roblin
In October 1979, a West German newspaper run by Soviet émigrés ran a vague story alleging that an explosion in a military factory in Sverdlovsk — now Yekaterinburg — had released deadly bacteria, killing as many as a thousand people. The story swiftly drew attention from other Western newspapers and eventually the U.S. government, because if Soviet factories were producing biological weapons, they were doing so in contravention of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention.
Not so, Moscow swiftly retorted. Yes, an outbreak had killed dozens in Sverdlovsk, a closed city devoted to the Soviet military-industrial complex and the fourth largest in Russia today. But the culprit was tainted meat afflicted by anthrax.
Anthrax is an infection caused by a naturally occurring bacteria transported via spores that can be found all over the planet, and that can lie dormant in the soil for some time. Humans are most commonly affected by anthrax when abraded skin makes contact while handling an affected animal, particularly sheep or cattle, or animal products such as hides or wool.
This form, known as cutaneous anthrax, leaves nasty sores, but is only fatal 20 percent of the time when left untreated. Much rarer gastrointestinal anthrax infections can result from eating infected animals.
However, the deadliest form of transmission involves breathing in anthrax spores, and has an 85 percent fatality rate. For pulmonary anthrax infections to occur, high concentrations of spores must be inhaled, and the spores cannot be too large, so as to slip past human mucous membranes. Once inside the human body, the bacteria multiply and in a couple of days begin producing deadly toxins.
The victim may feel flu-like symptoms such as a sore throat and aching muscles, as well as shortness of breath and nausea. These symptoms progress to intense bleeding coughs, fevers, interrupted breathing and lethal meningitis, leading to characteristic dark swelling along the chest and neck. Vaccination with antibiotics is effective at preventing the infection, but is not effective once the infection sets in.
UZS VK gas mask. Vitaly V. Kuzmin photo
Because anthrax can be easily manufactured and remains stable for years, it also was ideal as a biological weapon—a fact that U.S. scientists were aware of due to the experience of their own biological-weapons program, which had been active since 1943.
The United States ultimately mass-produced six major strains of deadly bioweapons, many of which were designed to be spread by air-dropped cluster bombs. However, Pres. Richard Nixon brought an end to the program in 1969, and three years later most of the world's nations signed onto the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, banning not only the use, but the production and development, of biological weapons.
However, the convention lacked a formal compliance and monitoring mechanism. Furthermore, it does not ban research on how to defend against bioweapons — which explains why weapons-grade anthrax is stored in U.S. government laboratories, and was available for use in the infamous anthrax letters that were sent shortly after 9/11, likely by a disgruntled employee.
U.S. intelligence analysts were skeptical of the Soviet tainted-meat story — CIA agents had obtained scattered reports supporting the narrative that there had been a factory accident at the time of the outbreak. Furthermore, the deaths of Soviet citizens spanning over two months did not cohere with a tainted meat-supply problem, which could have been dealt with swiftly.
The Reagan administration seized on the incident to lay into the Soviet Union for apparently contravening the bioweapons ban.
The Soviet press maintained that this just showed how Washington was ready to use any tragedy afflicting the Soviet people to its political advantage. Some U.S. scientists, such as renowned Harvard researcher Matthew Meselson, were also inclined to believe the Soviet explanation.
In 1981, the United States had alleged that communist forces in Asia made use of "Yellow Rain" mycotoxins in Asia—allegations that were widely discredited. When, in 1988, Soviet scientist Pyotr Burgasov flew to the United States and presented autopsy records and photos from the victims of the Sverdlovsk outbreak, many Western scientists were finally persuaded that the incident merely reflected an embarrassing slip-up of the Soviet medical system.
However, even that autopsy data suggested some curious anomalies, including evidence of swelling of the lungs corresponding to a pulmonary anthrax infection. Furthermore, why had the outbreak mostly affected adult males, and relatively few women or children? New rumors emerged that the Soviet Union had developed some form of disease tailored to kill military-age men.
The true situation would soon come to light in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union. The newly anointed Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, confided to Pres. George H. W. Bush at a conference that U.S. allegations about the Soviet bioweapon were entirely true. Yeltsin, as it happened, had been the party boss in the Sverdlovsk during the outbreak, which he admitted was the result of the bioweapons accident.
Just a year after signing on to the 1972 bioweapons ban, the Soviet Union had actually expanded its bioweapons production via a massive new civilian program, known as Biopreparat, that employed 50,000 personnel scattered across 52 separate facilities. Biopreparat had manufactured hundreds of tons of a dozen different biowarfare agents, designed to be spread by missiles or sprayed out of airplanes.
Mishaps did occur — for example, in 1971, weaponized smallpox being tested on Vozrozhdeniya Island infected a scientist on a passing ship, leading to three deaths.
Yekaterinburg. Photo via Wikimedia
The deputy director of Biopreparat, Kanatzhan Alibekov (now Ken Alibek), would later immigrate to the United States and give his account of the Sverdlovsk incident in his book Biohazard, based on accounts he overheard from several colleagues.
The bacteria had originated from a bioweapons facility in Sverdlovsk known as Compound 19A, built in 1946 "using specifications found in the Japanese germ warfare documents captured in Manchuria," according to Alibekov. The Japanese Unit 731 was infamous during World War II for both testing and field deploying bioweapons targeting Chinese civilians.
Compound 19A produced tons of anthrax in powdered form annually, for release from ballistic missiles — in particular a strain known as Anthrax 836 selected (not designed) because it was particularly deadly to humans. One day — Alibek places the date as March 30, 1979, though most sources insist it was early April — a technician removed a clogged filter and left a note indicating it needed to be replaced.
His account continues:
Compound 19 was the Fifteenth Directorate's busiest production plant. Three shifts operated around the clock, manufacturing a dry anthrax weapon for the Soviet arsenal. It was stressful and dangerous work. The fermented anthrax cultures had to be separated from their liquid base and dried before they could be ground into a fine powder for use in an aerosol form, and there were always spores floating in the air. Workers were given regular vaccinations, but the large filters clamped over the exhaust pipes were all that stood between the anthrax dust and the outside world. After each shift, the big drying machines were shut down briefly for maintenance checks. A clogged air filter was not an unusual occurrence, but it had to be replaced immediately.
Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Chernyshov, supervisor of the afternoon shift that day, was in as much of a hurry to get home as his workers. Under the army's rules, he should have recorded the information about the defective filter in the logbook for the next shift, but perhaps the importance of the technician's note didn't register in his mind, or perhaps he was simply overtired. When the night shift manager came on duty, he scanned the logbook. Finding nothing unusual, he gave the command to start the machines up again. A fine dust containing anthrax spores and chemical additives swept through the exhaust pipes into the night air.
The missing filter was noticed hours later and swiftly corrected — but by then it was too late. A brisk night breeze had carried the deadly spores over into an adjacent ceramics factory, infecting the largely male factory laborers working the night shift. Nearly all died within a week.
The city authorities were kept in the dark about the accident until the outbreak became apparent. Then the party swiftly engaged in a cover-up.
Troops established a perimeter around the factory, while Soviet officials announced that tainted meat was responsible. Hundreds of stray dogs were shot and black-market food vendors were arrested for "spreading tainted food." The KGB destroyed hospital records and pathological reports documenting the outbreak, while the victim's bodies were bathed in chemical disinfectants to remove the evidence left by the spores.
Lenin in Yekaterinburg. Svetlov Artem photo via Wikimedia
According to Alibek, damage control measures instigated by ill-informed Soviet officials actually worsened the outbreak.
The local Communist Party boss, who was apparently told that there had been a leak of hazardous material from the plant, ordered city workers to scrub and trim trees, spray roads, and hose down roofs. This spread the spores further through "secondary aerosols"—spores that had settled after the initial release and were stirred up again by the cleanup blitz. Anthrax dust drifted through the city, and new victims arrived at the hospitals with black ulcerous swellings on their skin.
Through May, at least 99 Soviet citizens were infected and 64 died within a two-and-a-half-mile radius of the factory. Alibek claims he was told the actual count was closer to 105. For sheep, which were more susceptible to the spores, cases were reported within 30 miles.
Boris Yeltsin more or less supported Alibek's account when he admitted to the chemical weapons program and the accident in a speech in 1993. Furthermore, Andrei Mironyuk, head of the Special Department of the Ural Military District, also testified to a chemical accident in Ural magazine in 2008.
And of course, Yeltsin also allowed in international inspectors, including Matthew Meselson, whose findings now supported the explanation of bioweapons leak, as recounted in his wife's history of the incident, Anthrax: The Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak.
Yet despite the former Russian president's open testimony to the contrary, the Sverdlovsk incident is treated as an open question today in Russia, with some Russian officials sticking to the tainted-meat story.
The Russian-language Wikipedia article on the incident lists both tainted-meat and factory leak narratives, and then lists a number of conspiracy theories blaming Western bioterrorists. Burgasov, the scientist who earlier had presented the "tainted meat" evidence in the United States, now claims that the anthrax strains in Sverdlovsk "are only found in" Canada or South Africa.
The Sverdlovsk incident illustrates both how inherently awful and self-destructive bioweapons have the potential to be, and the extent to which authoritarian societies engage in extraordinary deception and obfuscation to conceal their accidents and illicit activities. It should bring to mind the elaborate deception following the shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983. Even in the face of strong contravening evidence, indignant denials can sway the fair-minded and convince sympathetic observers.
By some accounts, the facility at Compound 19 remained active in Yekaterinburg and is still engaged in bioweapons production. States today already dispose of vast arsenals of destructive and inhumane weaponry, ranging from thermobaric warheads to nerve gas and nuclear warheads—so what need is there to add biological weapons to the mix?
Surely, it should be in the collective interest of all nations to truly adhere to the ban on biological weapons, which have abundant potential to turn on their users, whether by accident or in the hands of terrorists.
This article originally appeared at The National Interest.


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The INSIDER Summary:
- Hainan Airlines debuted their new uniforms at Paris Couture Week on Tuesday.
- The uniforms, which mix traditional and modern design elements, were created by Laurence Xu, who has also designed costumes for films.
- The uniforms have been in the making for over two years, and Xu created 1,000 blueprints before settling on the final design.
When you think of Paris Couture Week, you probably don't think of models strutting down the runway in flight attendant uniforms.
However, that's exactly what happened on Tuesday, when Hainan Airlines, China's largest civilian-run airline, debuted their glamorous new uniforms, designed by Laurence Xu, during Xu's haute couture fashion show for Fall/Winter 2017.
Xu's designs present a blend of traditional Chinese and modern Western elements, combining imagery of birds with streamlined tailoring to create a modern final product with a classic feel, according to Hainan's press release.
The final collection includes dresses, blazers, coats, and hats for women, and a suit and coat for men, all using a primarily grey color scheme, with hints of blue and orange. According to the press release, the collection has been in the works for over two years, and over 1,000 design blueprints were tested before the final designs were selected.
Between Xu's take on the traditional Chinese Cheongsam dress and the futuristic-looking blazers and coats, there's no denying that Hainan's uniforms fit right in with the rest of this week's couture shows in Paris.


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Serare School is looking for an Early Childhood Educator.
If you love introducing young children into school, we are looking for you. We have several positions for full time and assistant kindergarten teachers. Children that you will interact with will be between 3 and 6 years old.
Key responsibilities:
- Design and follow a complete teaching plan.
- Teach alphabet and numeracy along with personal, social and emotional skills;
- Organise learning material and resources including Internet;
- Use a variety of activities and instructional methods (songs, stories, media, structured games, art, outdoor activities etc.) to motivate and stimulate children's abilities;
- Maintain an open line of communication with parents and provide appropriate information;
- Assess students' performance and progress to ensure they are mastering the skills on regular basis;
- Monitor children's interactions and nurture cooperation and sharing;
- Cooperate with administration staff;
- Follow and comply with teaching standards and safety regulations;
Desired qualification and skill set:
- Early Childhood qualification from a reputable and recognized institution. Training should have been either KHA, Montessori or DICECE.
- Minimum of P1 qualification.
- Computer literacy in MS Excel & MS Word, and other relevant software.
- Minimum of 3 years teaching experience in a kindergarten and lower primary.
- Good teamwork and problem solving skills.
- Good oral and written communication skills.


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|Biosequences .. Software .. Molbio soft .. Network News .. FTP
To avoid problems with ethidium bromide, I always cut the gel before I stain... this works if you are doing population-level studies where you know where the bands you are interested in will be on the gel. THis saves MUCH money without being dangerous. Another thing we did (in a well funded but frugal lab) was save TBE and TAE for a week, in beakers near the gel rigs. I don't know if this is standard procedure or not, but it definitely seemed to work. This actually probably saves more time than money, however. Still valuable, though! By the way-- I never imagined NOT racking my own pipet tips. Maybe I don't deal in the volume that some of you do, however. --Dana Debra M. McDonough (donough at UCSUB.COLORADO.EDU) wrote: > > Repour agarose gels. Unless you need to blot the gel or cut bands from > it, you can usually remelt, repour and reuse a gel several times. It's > actually easier than weighing more agarose! > > deb >


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Exciting, practical brain info
to point you towards the life you want!
For 25,000 years, we've been functioning without the full benefit of our Human Brain (prefrontal cortex). Technology has made life easier, more comfortable, and, a lot longer. Simultaneously, however, an enormous challenge is developing that compromises our individual and cultural progress.
The last 60 years have flooded our lives with entertainment distractions. We went from listening to the radio and viewing the occasional film to screens around us and in our hands at all times. Our brains are constantly occupied by external input, and, because the brain rewards our attention with the addictive neurochemical dopamine, we've become hooked on the devices that serve it up. There are screens at gas pumps, in banks, airports and grocery stores, media viewing and gaming is available in cars, bedrooms, classrooms, boardrooms, anytime, anywhere.
The novelty, excitement, and fear served up by screen media programming, hold us captive in our Animal (mammalian) Brain, limiting us to the functions of that older, more primitive brain region. Instantly and involuntarily, we lose the emotional and intellectual advantages of our innate cognitive processes, problem-solving, creativity, emotional control, and reasoning skills that would otherwise guide our thinking and behavior from our modern Human Brain. Without realizing it, we seek out whatever offers us the biggest and most reliable fixes of dopamine, which is typically violent, fear-based media, extreme political and religious ideologies, sexual misconduct, gambling, and marketing. The result is an increasingly unhealthy and dumbed-down population, a dysfunctional government, continuing inequity, and a civil society at risk.
A simple understanding of dopamine and neuroplasticity empowers us with the ability to be the individuals, parents, and policy makers who can:
About D.C. McGuire
D.C. (Donna-Christine) McGuire has been engaged in clinical practice, education, and neuroscience research for over 2 decades. 14 years of her career have been dedicated to the study of dopamine and neuroplasticity.
In her forthcoming book, The Brain You Need for the Life You Want, Or Why We're Addicted to Stress, Overeating and Violence, she discusses the remarkable influence of dopamine on politics, business, health, education, parenting, relationships, and social issues, with particular focus on violence. The book also offers the means to harness dopamine and neuroplasticity for better immediate and future outcomes, individually and collectively.
After earning an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts, D.C. became a congressional aide on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Several years later, she resettled outside New York City and established a commercial space planning and design firm. While there she served on the Urban Renewal Commission, on the Boards of the American Ballet Theater and a marine technology firm. During that time, she had one-woman showings of her art in New York, Nantucket, and Palm Beach.
Hospitalized for 4 months as the result of an auto accident, she was motivated to make a major career change. The design firm was sold. D.C. entered a graduate program in psychobiology with cross-registration at Wellesley College and MIT where she focused on psychoneuroimmunology. Her incomplete PhD dissertation concentrated on the psychological and physiological effects of light on wound healing.
Returning to the West Coast, D.C. earned a graduate degree in clinical psychology, did research on wound healing at UCLA, and established a clinical practice utilizing brain related therapies to treat chronically and terminally ill patients.
D.C. has been sponsored by professional associations, non-profit organizations, and private firms to apply recent neuroscience-based solutions to challenging issues – professionally and personally. Her presentations, nationally and internationally have shown thousands of men, women and school children how to be healthier, happier, and more successful.
She currently serves on the National Advisory Board of the Union of Concerned Scientists, and is actively engaged with Human Rights Watch.


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The formulation and development of "Talent City" comes through loads of valuable inputs by the President of youth wing Don Bosco (India) Rev Fr M.A Joseph who has vast experience in the relevant subject owing to his professional expedition globally.
Multiplex for Kids is a specialised unit, which offers multiple lifestyle courses under a single roof with dedicated world-class infrastructure. Our courses include Djing, Shooting, Table Tennis, Roller Skating, Computers, Personality Development, Art N Craft, Swimming, Music, Vocals, Mental Maths, True IQ, Self Defence, Dance, Modelling and Acting.


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President Maithripala Sirisena says foreign judges and prosecutors should not be involved in an investigation into allegations of human rights violations.
In an interview with the BBC, the Head of State said the country did not need to "import" specialists.
But on Thursday the president said: "I will never agree to international involvement in this matter." "We have more than enough specialists, experts and knowledgeable people in our country to solve our internal issues," he said.
"This investigation should be internal and indigenous, without violating the laws of the country, and I believe in the judicial system and other relevant authorities in this regard. "The international community need not worry about matters of state interest."
Asked when the court might be set up, he said: "These things cannot be done instantly or in a hurried manner.
"We will certainly reach our target but it's a process."
The president also dismissed reports from the advocacy group Freedom from Torture that people in detention were still being tortured.
Saying the claims were made by people who were close to the Tamil Tigers, President Sirisena added: "I totally deny that. If someone can prove with evidence, I am ready to give them the opportunity. Justice is served equally in this country."


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Mobile Deposit
Make a deposit, not an extra trip with the MSB*mobile app and your web-enabled mobile device. It's secure, and making a deposit is as easy as taking a picture!
Mobile Deposit with MSB*mobile is as simple as Tap. Snap. Deposit!
MSB*mobile Deposit
- Download MSB*mobile , the McFarland State Bank app for Android™, iPhone® or iPad®
- Tap the "Deposit" tab and select the account you're depositing to and enter the check amount.
- Sign the back of your check and snap a picture of the front and back.
- Click "Use" to accept the image.
- Review and confirm deposit to submit.
- Check the status of your deposit.
- Convenient - 24/7 access to your accounts. You can deposit checks virtually anytime and anywhere.
- Secure - MSB*mobile banking uses leading-edge technology to help ensure all of your account information and activity is safe and secure, just like depositing checks at any of our office locations.
- Mobile Banking with Mobile Deposit is available for personal accounts.
- You must be enrolled in Online Banking. To enroll, give us a call at 866.245.1686 or stop in at one of our convenient locations .
- MSB*mobile must be installed on your mobile device to access Mobile Deposit.
McFarland State Bank does not charge a fee to use Mobile Deposit.
Some features may not be available for all mobile devices and/or carrier plans. Check your carrier plan for details.
Message and data rates may apply.
Android is a trademark of Google, Inc. iPhone and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.
Visit our Online Education Center for a tour of how easy MSB*mobile Deposit is to use!
Contact a Personal Banker or stop in today for more information.


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Hi Loves,
In the last few months you've probably seen my posts on the interviews with K E Garland AKA Kathy for her book "Daddy". Since it is Father's Day I thought I would share this with all of you.
This book is memoirs of several women (including myself) of failed relationships between daughter's and father's. Before you assume it's a depressing read, it's really not. In these stories you'll see that most of us all have some positive learning experiences going through these series of events.
I would love for you to purchase this book and read it. No matter who you are, I believe everyone could learn something from the experiences we share in this book. Also, a portion of the proceeds will be contributed to each of our favorite charities. Mine being The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
Below is my interview with Dr. K E Garland. Thank you for stopping by and reading a piece of my life as always.
One more thing, I'm happy to say I will be spending some time with my Daddy today.


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It happens to the best of us.
Creative blocks come without warning—and more than just frustrating, they can be downright terrifying if your career depends on your craft.
In order to get out of a creative rut, it helps to find out why you go there in the first place. Not all creative blocks are created equally, and defining the cause is just as important as pulling up your boot straps and giving that block all the fight you have in you.
Today I'm sharing plenty of tips for getting over a block, plus I've explored the "why" to help you determine the perfect fix. (All photos are from my office)
Get over the fear
Creative work is fun, but it can also be very intense. You may be stuck because you're afraid to say what you really want or need to; you may be scared of what you'll discover in the process; you may fear what other people might think. If this is you, you're being blocked by your own emotions. And to that, I say, "it gets better."
The fix: Get it out of your system, come out the other end, and then realize the world didn't end.
Give yourself permission to burn it
Creative blocks often come right after you've made something great. Success can be our worst enemy, because the pressure to create something greater than the last is so powerful, it can be downright stunting. The next thing you make doesn't have to be better and perhaps it won't be. And that's okay.
The Fix: Make shit and throw it away. You need to exercise your muscles to get back into the groove. Do yourself a kindness and allow yourself to create something with the intention of tossing it. Giving yourself permission to burn it is really giving yourself permission to create without limits. No one has to see it, and you don't have to keep it — it never happened! Or perhaps it turns out awesome, in which case, fantastic.
Adopt a new perspective
Over-thinking things? Sounds like you're mentally blocked rather than emotionally stopped. If you find yourself going in circles in your head, you're likely trapped by your own thinking. You may be so locked into seeing the world and your work in a certain way that you're ignoring other approaches.
The Fix: Change your mind and try to recognize and break your normal thought patterns. Question your approach and ask yourself "why," "what if," etc. Maybe ask a friend for their perspectives. A fresh set of eyes might just be what you need to gain insight and freshen your approach.
Habits that aren't helpful
Perhaps your block isn't due to some existential crisis or drama. Perhaps it's that your working habits aren't working for you. Maybe you're not blocked, rather you're working within conditions that aren't conducive to what you need. Maybe it's your environment, maybe it's your work hours, maybe it's having too much structure or not enough.
The Fix: If you're stunted by options, try narrowing your focus; If you're too stimulated, find a quiet place that you won't get distracted in; If you procrastinate because there's no deadlines, set one for yourself; If you're too tired, get more sleep and try working later in the day; If you can't work without windows to look out of, find some gosh darn windows! Whatever the habits are that got you in this mess, change them.
Do something completely unrelated to your discipline
After you've defined what's causing your block, it's sometimes helpful to just create for the sake of creating. Try working on a project outside of your wheelhouse. It's not only a great way to discover new skills, but it'll likely help you gain insight into your work.
The Fix: Get out of your element, both physically and creatively. Write, draw, work out, tackle a DIY or home reno project.
Hope these tips helped! Toodles from me and Piper.


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- Our Story
- Membership
- Adopt-A-Teller
- Affiliates
- Fest & Conference
- Youth
- Awards
- Gallery
- Resources
- Calendar
Welcome to NABS… the place where you can hear, feel and see the authentic voice of Blackstorytelling. While you are here, be sure to visit Our Story, the Gallery, Resources and our Blog. For a one-of-a-kind LIVE storytelling experience, in which all FIVE of your senses…and BEYOND…will elevate, titillate and jubilate, we invite you to attend the "In The Tradition..." 37th Annual National Black Storytelling Festival & Conference, November 6-10, 2019, LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD in Montgomery,Alabama. Visit often for updates.


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North Korea Is Now Back Online Following Internet Collapse
As reported in BuzzFeed, the internet connection that North Korea lost with the world came back on Monday following a more than nine hour collapse which many believe resulted from a cyberattack.
As many cyerbsecurity experts know, North Korea's internet connection was spotty during the 24 hour period that preceded the outage. Keith Mann reports that although North Korea's internet occasionally suffers from failures, the distinct consistency of the recent outage caused cybersecurity expert Doug Madory to conclude that the severed internet connectivity constituted "some sort of attack," according to Twitter.
According to reports, the internet connectivity outage lasted approximately nine hours and 31 minutes. This is consistent with a DDoS attack on their routers." Madory went on to state "I haven't seen such a steady beat of routing instability and outages in KP before."


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东西 All That Stuff
(English version below, on "all that stuff" I carry with me on the journey, as well as the relationships and the process of gearing up..)
- 《道德经》
1. 极简:越简单、越少、越轻便越好
2. 绿色:穿百家衣,回收利用,尽量避免购买新物品
3. 不贪恋:没有"拥有",只有"使用"。使用完毕后,让物品重归循环,让别人继续使用。
- 前轮驮包:第四天,把四个驮包减为两个,把前轮的两个驮包舍掉,把储物空间压缩一半,倒逼简约。
- 炉灶、厨具:全程冷食,省了锅碗瓢勺、煤气罐等。
All That Stuff
The reason why I have a Great Worry
Is because I have a body
If I have no body
What worry could I have?
- Dao De Jing, Ch. 13
When there's a body, there's stuff -- to keep the body nourished, sheltered, and moving. This post is about "all that stuff" I carry with me on the journey, as well as the relationships and the process of gearing up.
On this pilgrimage, when it comes to gears and stuff, the principles are:
1. Minimalism: as simple, as few, and as light as possible.
2. Sustainability: buying new is the last resort.
3. Trusteeship: non-attachment to things, knowing I am just their current steward and user, before they return to the circulation.
I once read somewhere, "If I need something, but I don't have it, then I don't need it." And, "If I am carrying something that I haven't used for a month, then I don't need it."
Minimalism and simplicity, as an art of living, is a ideal for this journey-- without it becoming a fetishism, or an ultra-light obsession.
Here is the link to my complete gear inventory.
On this trip, I am only bringing two sets of clothes -- one for wearing, one for washing.
What I did not bring:
- Front panniers: got rid of them on Day 4. We have the tendency to fill up as much space as we have available, so, by cutting my carrying capacity by half, I am leaving less room for error :)
- Contact lenses: too much hassle to put on and off… Contact lens solution also weighs quite a bit.
- Water filter: I am in the US…
- Stove system, fuel, cooking equipment: will be doing all cold food that doesn't require cooking.
- Bike computer: it broke. I took it as a sign to stop outsourcing my body's intuitive knowing to gadgets: speed, temperature, distance, etc. Not replacing it.
- Electronics: Kindle, MP3 player, camera, external battery. A smartphone does it all. And when the battery of the phone runs out, what better excuse for unplugging!
Throughout the process of putting together the gears, I had to work seriously to resist consumerist impulses and inner cravings. Going to the store is a hard battle, requiring a lot of will power. I would go into REI for an hour, and come out with only one item -- most of the time in the store was spent on resisting the urge to buy things. Voices like, "Oh, that one is one sale, and I might need it on the road!" "Oh, this one is only $20, with 10% REI membership refund anyway!" And so on.
An old Chinese saying goes, "The child who wears clothes passed on from others will grow up faster."
I held an intention to avoid buying new things as much as possible for the pilgrimage, and instead, to source them from thrift stores, friends' garages and storages, etc. In addition to the resource-saving benefits, it also carries many community and spiritual benefits.
The shorts I wear are $7 from Goodwill, plus $20 at the tailor to resize it -- still cheaper than buying new, and it is also supporting small local business, and making friends with the local tailor, who also made the pouch for my flute from recycled fabric.
I am using the same phone (Nexus 4, bought used on Amazon for $125) as I did three years ago -- the one I used while riding across the US last time. It works great, as a camera, voice recorder, MP3 player, e-reader, maps, and so on.
Getting used things from my community also builds relationships. On any given day of the journey, I am wearing or using items passed on to me from half a dozen friends. Each item is not an mere object, but a living relationship and fond memories. Right now, I am wearing socks from Earl, pants from Tom, and shirt from Jack. I am literally surrounded by a cocoon of gifts and well wishes through the "stuff".
Kahlil Gibran wrote,
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the over-prudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?
Before departure, I gave away almost all my "possessions". The contemplation of mortality and impermanence helped me to let go of even the more sentimental items.
Over the past three months, four people close and/or dear to me have totaled their cars. Luckily, all of them escaped more or less unscathed. But, the proximity and frequency of these near-death encounters made me chuckle as I look at my (relatively small) pile of stuff: there's no guarantee that I will come back to use them. So why not release them back into the greater circulation, so that they can fulfill their purpose, and I mine? What's more, if my storage pile is too big, or too significant in my heart, then, energetically, I would be too weighed-down to truly journey far and free.
This uncertainty is in fact true every day, every time we sit in a car. But we have been desensitized. The pilgrimage has helped to re-sensitize me to uncertainty of safety, and the certainty of impermanence.
Finally, back to Gibran,
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
Carey Lewis
4/5/2016 06:55:34 pm
Hi Zilong I met you at Ventura on Sunday at Rev Bonnie's church we spoke after the service and my client Andrew Pettit was the musical soloist for the service. I was quite impressed about your journey which I have shared with people since our meeting. If you're ever in Burbank Ca. contact me and we will have a meal together. I will monitor your travels stay safe!!
Zilong Wang
4/6/2016 11:50:00 am
Thank you, Carey! Really appreciate your kind encouragement and interests -- best wishes!
Leave a Reply.
A pilgrimage around the globe by bicycle, in service of the ecological and spiritual awakening of our time.
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April 2018
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When Waianae last won a league championship, the current Seariders were barely out of kindergarten.
Nine years after then-coach Leo Taaca led Waianae to back-to-back Oahu Interscholastic Association championships, there is a stirring in the hearts of Searider faithful. No, they don't need a win over three-time defending OIA champ Kahuku to validate their loyalty.
The fact is, however, that Waianae may be the only team remaining in postseason play that can put a halt -- or a speed bump -- in front of Kahuku's steamrolling, smashmouth football attack. The Seariders got past Mililani 7-6 in the semifinal round. They contained a Mililani passing attack that had amassed more than 400 yards in two previous games.
"We got beat a couple of times, but we got lucky they were overthrown," Waianae coach Daniel Matsumoto said yesterday. "They still could move the ball, but the field position, we were fortunate with the field position. That helped a lot."
The Seariders met on Saturday, not long after their victory.
"Everyone is still excited. Nothing is really different, but they are excited about playing for the OIA championship. It's been a while," Matsumoto said.
Mililani ran the ball 64 percent of the time, giving league-leading rusher Jordan Torres 14 carries. He finished with 74 yards against a bruising Waianae defense. As a team, the Trojans managed 86 rushing yards on 29 carries, or less than 3 yards per attempt.
"We had a feeling they were going to try and run the ball. (Torres) sure runs well against other teams," Matsumoto said.
Waianae moved up to No. 3 in today's Star-Bulletin Football Top 10.
Iron sharpens iron: The brutal, cannibalistic world of Interscholastic League of Honolulu athletics -- and academics, if you ask enough students -- hasn't changed over the years. Talent in masses breeds extreme competitiveness.
That level of competition within schools and between programs creates a quality of play that makes for great drama, which is what the ILH had this season on the gridiron. Kamehameha entered the conference season unbeaten with stealth defense that had limited offensive juggernauts like Farrington and Redlands East Valley (Calif.) to single-digit scores.
Defending league champion Punahou finished its nonconference slate perfectly after a 23-16 win over Washington state's No. 1 team, Eastlake, at Qwest Field in Seattle. The Buffanblu defense had just two returning starters, but after four nonconference games, Punahou was primed to win another crown.
Saint Louis? The arsenal was there for coach Delbert Tengan and a staff that is perennially one of the most creative in the state. Few other staffs make halftime adjustments as successfully. The defense and special teams dominated opposition in August and early September. Would the offense catch up?
Over the course of the ILH season, it became clear that the Crusaders offense was up to the task. In fact, the offense under quarterback Micah Mamiya was so effective, Saint Louis swept through the rest of the league on the first go-round. When the Crusaders then beat Division I foes Kamehameha and Punahou a second time, there wasn't a doubter left. Now 10-0, Saint Louis has a bye week for the first time in ages.


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Why Wiley Rein?
Janell Mallard
Senior Recruiting and Diversity Manager
Wiley Rein LLP
1776 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
Our City
Wiley Rein is a uniquely DC firm. Wiley Rein's location—at 1776 K Street in the heart of the federal City – is one of our great assets. Our commitment to focus on the nation's capital allows our attorneys to practice a unique type of law at the intersection of law and policy. Our attorneys have easy access to the many government agencies, Congressional committees, and courts that they appear before. Our attorneys have the benefit of being up close and personal for policy decisions and implementation, while maintaining seamless relationships with clients across the country and around the world.
The strategic decision to remain exclusively a DC firm has numerous benefits for our attorneys. We are lucky to have our attorneys largely under one roof, allowing for easy collaboration between practice groups, attorneys, and staff. Firm management knows each team member and each attorney's contributions, and new attorneys are easily integrated into our firm's close-knit environment.
Our DC location offers attorneys and staff easy access to countless cultural offerings. Some of the country's best museums, inspiring monuments, and fantastic restaurants are steps from our office. Not only is Wiley Rein a great place to build your career, it also has a fantastic setting for you to enjoy life outside of the office.
This commitment to DC drives our desire to help meet the needs of the entire City, not just the corridors of power. We partner with local institutions, from DC Central Kitchen to N Street Village and schools like The Academies at Anacostia and Thurgood Marshall Academy, to assist the broader community in which we work and live. Examples of our commitment to the City can be found in Pro Bono.
Our focus on DC offers our attorneys and clients unparalleled access and opportunity.