text:
Jimquisition: Dumbing Down for the Filthy Casuals
Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 . . . 30 NEXT
The Lion King isn't really the G rated version of Hamlet, it doesn't try to follow even a similar plot or any themes. But that's the point, students learn to read Shakespearean english so as to not destroy the work, and that's the same as learning how to watch for animations to dodge the boss' attacks. If you could beat Dark Souls without learning the enemies' techniques it would be terrible just as Shakespeare translations are.
I'm only going to quote you because you were the last person to quote me and you all have roughly the same argument.
The problem I am currently encountering is that you bastards feel it nessecary to persudate the creator not to put in a mode that will give me access to what I do enjoy in the game.
Admittedly, I didn't know what I was getting into when I bought the game, but when the developer offers to allow me to enjoy it, and brats like those I see in this thread slap him down, I get pissed off.
Huh. I guess I just don't have the same definition of "dumbing down" as much of the internet. Inclusion of an easy mode isn't dumbing down... simplification of game mechanics is. Fallout 3/New Vegas' version of SPECIAL is a dumbed down version of the original, Dragon Age: Origins used a dumbed-down version of D20 (as did Knights of the Old Republic)... but did that make them easier? Not really, no. It just gave the player fewer options for gameplay. That's dumbed down.
My concern is this jim and perhaps you can allay that concern for me. That development of an easy mode in dark souls would take time and resources out of development of the core experience and thus cheapen the game as a whole. I want everyone to play it but what if that easy mode costs me a level in the game due to development time constraints? what if the balancing of the core game lacks tuning because they are now doing double the work? Neither of us are developers at least as far as I know so perhaps you with your clout could ask From software if this would be troublesome.
If not than have at it. Ill still cringe when some friends of mine immediately jump onto easy mode without even attempting the core difficulty but what can you do.
Uncle usurps throne, conflicted prince, quest for revenge...no themes or plot?
The dumbening down of entertainment has been a reality ever since "W" got elected!
OT: Didn't the Game Overthinker already do this episode?
I'll say now what I said then... There's nothing wrong with an easy mode. On a business standpoint it makes sense and on a gamer standpoint, it should be more than welcome.
Think of it... How many of us owned a Game Genie or played a FPS using "GOD mode" OR has a cheatcode/walkthrough website bookmarked on their web browser?
I too have this sort of pride and im not ashamed too admit it. well said sir. Also I love the jin roh pic. I need to watch that a second time I missed alot of the plot the first go around.
Yeah, the attitude that Far Cry 3 is super-easy is a bit surprising. I'm playing the game on normal and find it properly challenging.
Killing baddies from stealth is pretty easy, but maintaining stealth isn't. While you have access to tons of healing, dropping into an enemy base without planning is like kicking a hornet's nest and dealing with several heavies, RPG snipers, and fixed guns isn't a walk in the park.
Generally speaking, any given situation is survivable although that's usually by running away, not by standing and fighting.
But I think the reputation for difficulty stems from the first game which wasn't so much difficult as it was plagued by the worst save system ever seen in a first person shooter and enjoyed putting you in situations with minimal cover and waves of reinforcements where a series of small mistakes could easily lead to death and having to start over again from the beginning. It just seemed harder because you couldn't save immediately after a tough fight like you could in Serious Sam or Doom.
5:10, turned off. Personal bigotry does not help resolve the perceived bigotry of others.
But prior to that, I was impressed at the "paid for the content" argument, as it does strike home for me (and, I must assume by the completion rates on various titles, a large number of other people) - most games end with a final boss fight/level that's miles harder than everything that's gone before - just at the point when you want to see the denouement to the story and finish the narrative, not grind through a gameplay section that's doing its best to keep you from seeing that ending. I would give a lot to be able to balance the story appropriately - make the final fight challenging, but also a place to feel powerful, and have the climax be where the most difficult gameplay occurs - IF the player wants. Because there must be, somewhere out there, a gamer or two that enjoy the final boss model. I'm just not them - and I'd love to have been able to finish more game stories instead of putting the things down in frustration five steps from the finish line.
So you knew it was supposed to be challenging, yet you said you didn't care about challenge in this type of game? Also, where did a developer "offer to allow you to enjoy it"? I've never paid attention to dark souls but I might buy it now that another sequel has been confirmed.
To be honest, the idea of a Dark Souls Easy Mode wouldn't piss me off even if I did play Dark Souls. I am, however, slightly irked at Devil May Cry 4's tendency to scale down bosses if you die too often against them automatically without telling you it has done so until AFTER you beat the level.
That's annoying.
I don't care about the challenge in this type of game, no, and I knew it was meant to be challenging. I fail to see a contradiction. It's like saying, 'Hey, this game's gameplay is amazing, but I don't care about the gameplay, I'm more interested in the story'.
In many cases it might even be as simple as that, but not in the case of Dark Souls. The reason for this is that the often notoriously referred difficulty of Dark Souls is the defining aspect of the experience and the primary tool that is used to provide the player with a sense of accomplishment and discovery. These are the two stated goals of Dark Souls (Miyazaki says much). This difficulty and the lack of certainty of success creates tension and enhances the sense of achievement that the game is designed to provide. This is the ideological reason.
You also have to understand that the difficulty is not only present in the game mechanics but also in the area design, visual style, and even story presentation. Every aspect of the game, the whole experience from the ground up, is purposefully designed to be challenging to the player in order for it to create a sense of accomplishment. The challenge is also a major part of the content in the game. This idea is ingrained in Dark Souls so deeply that altering it without fundamentally reforming the game would be impossible or at least defeat any or most purpose it was designed to have. This is the practical/functional reason.
One of the greatest things about Dark Souls is, however, that it can still remain incredibly flexible when it comes to how you want to play it. As far as gameplay goes you can make Dark Souls however easy or difficult you could ever want it to be, but even then you will still have to work for the knowledge of how to go about doing just that.
Pretty much the main concern I'd imagine.
Like if WoW dropped rated arenas and heroic raiding to focus on expanding their daily quest selection.
EDIT. Double post.
I don't want an easy mode in Dark Souls, not because I don't want other people accessing the content, but because I want a hard time accessing the content. I want that frustration of not being able to progress because everything's too powerful for me, because that makes actually succeeding so much more glorious. Makes you feel like a fucking gaming god. Merely having an option to make it easier cheapens the experience, knowing what you just did means shit because you can just breeze through it with a menu option.
If people really don't want a hard and frustrating gaming experience, why not play some game that's not all about the hard and frustrating experience? There's thousands of less challenging games out there, but games like Dark Souls are fucking rare. Just let me have my game and you can play something else.
edit: After reading quite a bit on this topic and watching the following videos I've found myself leaning toward the, "keep it the same" camp. The whole point of this game really, as stated by the developers was to use difficulty as a means to an end, in order for the player to experience a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
I do feel that it may be possible however to make the game more accessible by offering a more robust manual and perhaps a longer, and maybe optional tutorial section at the beginning, like Demon's Souls had.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm-Jjvqu3U4&list=LLZfVa5LeJDCBa62O_HUSTlA (Vihart's video. They Became What They Beheld: Medium, Message, Youtubery)
BilltheEmu who made some good points reposted Vihart's video on youtube (the above link) from Peithelo's post.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.395777-Jimquisition-Dumbing-Down-for-the-Filthy-Casuals?page=25 (reference to BilltheEmu's post on page 25 of this thread)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDI1oHutLe0 (Difficulty in Games... warning long and rambling by EpicNameBro)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b91BWzLigs (Easy Mode, Do Not Want (1 year special) by EpicNameBro)
That's a sign of personal weakness, not a problem of the game. If you wuss out and put it on easy cause you're having trouble, that's you who's failed, not the game for having the option. You can't say "I want a challenge" but then when the challenge gets too challenging, drop it down to easy.
Elitism in the purest form. Additionally, if beating Dark Souls on normal is what gives your life meaning and value and the fact other people beat it on easy somehow de-values the relatively insignificant accomplishment that you've seemingly based your entire self-image on... you have issues.
Did I just not say that I was talking about my own experience? In fact, I said it's not about other people in the very first sentence. What's elitist about defending what I love about a franchise?
Could you try to be less of a condescending douchebag? Especially considering how hard you fail at it. The source you link to is a translation error.
And you knew the game was supposed to be challenging, but you don't like the amount of challenge in a game that's designed to be challenging. Ok, I get it.
Jim very correct, I cannot stand it when people defend hard difficulties when there are casual gamers who do not have the skill, time or patience to get through a difficult game if they bought it they deserve a fair chance and a lower difficulty and as the human race we should be moving foward and be finding new ways to cater for everyone.
I think there should be an easier difficult in Dark Souls if people bought it with there own money they deserve to have that chance.
I think the next step is explaining how to properly implement an "easy mode" in dark souls. Because from what I understand with this thread, the difficulty isn't just based on numbers which can easily be manipulated.
Well, Jim clearly states to not have played Dark Souls.
So, what the jimmenijimming jimjim does he know about it?
'Easy mode' is against the very nature, the main core element, the very experience and ride that is Dark Souls (or Demon's Souls for that matter). So... for once, I am not with Jim and think he's talking out of his ass.
If Dark Souls was a meal, say, some sweet'n'sour chicken dish, and Jim just liked the taste - or, in this case - looks of it and doesn't know Jim about cooking, he just went: "Ooh! It's red! It's got to have blood in it! Chewy bits! Yum! Must be shrooms and tofu! Ooh shiny shiny! Must be shampoo in it! Ooh! Sour! Must have lemons in it! Funny taste of cilantro! What is cilantro? I don't know cilantro! Must be some more liquid soap, then! Hmmmm!"
Thank you.
Cordially yours, yours and everybody else's,
The problem with dumbing down games as I see it is you can't talk to a friend about the experience since he played it on baby mode and you played it on real mode, thus the game the two of you played wasn't the same game.
I generally agree, Jimothy, but Demon Souls is a bad game to use as an example. I thought the message system (especially the warnings) was both innovative and helpful. If Dark Souls has an easy mode, people playing the easier version won't be able to contribute to the game community through warnings and other helpful messages.
I'd much rather see a system of user-provided hints and tips to get other gamers through tough parts of a game instead of an easy mode. I might have more faith in humanity than you, though.
That's not the point. Good for missing the point. Do you even know what Niche means? Because if you seem to have a problem with it, then your missing the point. Again.
Opinion. I think you need to realize that. Your stating your opinion as Fact. This is why people like myself enjoy the game. Hence why it's a niche.
See you seem to attacking the game all on opinion. It's one thing trying to argue about a system, it's another trying to point out that you don't like the game and that it should change. In your first post you mentioned you should see all of the content. But you clearly show why you shouldn't be able to. Because the game isn't made for you. Hence Niche, the hole thing I have been trying to push. Dark Souls is not for everyone and thus if someone like yourself doesn't like it. To bad, it shouldn't change to accomidate those who don't like the style of the game.
Your reasons for not liking it ARE VALID. But in your post you say that you should be able to see all the content, when not playing the game as intended, wishing for it to change so it's not even Dark Souls anymore.
I made a whole post back about how level design would be effected by Easy Mode as Dark Souls easy mode couldn't be just changing stats around as it's built into how the game is played and the levels themselves that make it hard. Changing the difficulty would mean redesigning the game. If they made hard mode just have more enemies and higher health for them, it's missing the point as to why the games are difficult.
It's not like most games that can just change the stats, because the levels are designed with just hard difficulty in mind and not easy. Most games that have multiple difficulties are built around so that it has multiple difficulties.
So yes, it would indeed effect the game in a bad way for having to change the game all around. It's not as easy to make difficulties as people seem to think.
I disagree with you here. I'm terrible at FPSs, so my husband put Dues Ex: Human Revolution on the hardest difficulty. You can change the difficulty mode at any point in time in that game, yet I played it all the way through on the hardest setting. I died 3 times right after he asks if you want to go lethal or non-lethal... If you feel the need to go down a setting perhaps you are not having as good a time as you thought you were? Having the option doesn't force you to take it. Just because human's like to take the easiest path, doesn't mean you have to.
Besides challenge is relative. What is hard for me, is different than what is hard for you. So why not have options to challenge us both?
It is. Make all enemies hit for 1/3 of the damage they usually do and half as often. There you are, a perfectly functional easy mode that takes a couple of hours to implement.
If anything what bothers me is how people here talk like Dark Souls was OMG impressively hard when in the big scheme of games:Quite sure it will be at connect four level in game AI at best.
Let me explain this... Again... A game like Dues Ex is built with multiple difficulties in mind. How it's created allows for the developers to add more enemies, do higher damage, and such. Dark Souls is not. The level design, how each level is played is centered around being hard. Just adding more enemies and increasing health and damage for a hard mode, or lessening them is missing the point as to why Dark Souls is hard.
It's hard because the levels are made to be. In most games like I mentioned (with Dues Ex) are built with multiple difficulties, where as Dark Souls isn't. Hence if they wanted to add Easy mode, they would have to change the whole way difficulties work because at the current moment it wouldn't work just changing the stats on enemies.
Thus this is why Easy mode would hamper the game as they would be forced to change how Dark Souls is played unless they want to design the game twice which is just stupid and asking for a lot.
Wrong let... Me... explain... fucking again... I swear people don't read the important posts and just continue to think difficulties in games are just all numbers it's not...
"Let me explain this... Again... A game like Dues Ex is built with multiple difficulties in mind. How it's created allows for the developers to add more enemies, do higher damage, and such. Dark Souls is not. The level design, how each level is played is centered around being hard. Just adding more enemies and increasing health and damage for a hard mode, or lessening them is missing the point as to why Dark Souls is hard.
It's hard because the levels are made to be. In most games like I mentioned (with Dues Ex) are built with multiple difficulties, where as Dark Souls isn't. Hence if they wanted to add Easy mode, they would have to change the whole way difficulties work because at the current moment it wouldn't work just changing the stats on enemies.
Thus this is why Easy mode would hamper the game as they would be forced to change how Dark Souls is played unless they want to design the game twice which is just stupid and asking for a lot."
(Repost of what I said to Xisin.)
Thats a great idea and from software should find a way of doing that as well of how it should be implemented.
Thats not true there was a moment they were going to put it in. Just saying it is hard on the level design is a flawed perspective because Miyazaki the director of Dark Souls said we were going to put it in so there are a ton of different ways DS can be made easier. Ninja Gaiden of xbox is difficult right from the get go and when the ps3 remake game out ninja gaiden sigma there was an easier mode and it still had the same level design.
Wrong, that was a mistranslation. They never said they were going to make difficulties. They said they wanted more people to finish while maintaining the same level of difficulty meaning probably a better tutorial, which is all Dark Souls really needs. That and people for people to be patience, which apparently people now a days don't have. Dark Souls is difficult but not hard. If you go slow, really make sure you pay attention, it can be a very soothing experience. Problem is, people don't want to go slow. They want to play Dark Souls, like Skyrim or any other real time RPG.
Also Ninja Gaiden, from the little I played of the demo's, the level design doesn't work the same as Dark Souls. In that game the levels were fairly straight forward, what made it hard was the amount of enemies and the damage they do aside from being tough in general. Dark Souls levels are difficulty because of the layout that accomidates the enemies, not just the enemies themselves.
|Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 . . . 30 NEXT


text:
Brain Diseases
Brain Diseases
In this article
- Brain Diseases: Infections
- Brain Diseases: Seizures
- Brain Diseases: Trauma
- Brain Diseases: Tumors, Masses, and Increased Pressure
- Brain Diseases: Vascular (Blood Vessels) Conditions
- Brain Diseases: Autoimmune Conditions
- Brain Diseases: Neurodegenerative Conditions
Brain diseases come in different forms. Infections, trauma, stroke, seizures, and tumors are some of the major categories of brain diseases. Here's an overview of various diseases of the brain.
Brain Diseases: Infections
Brain diseases in the category of infections include:
Meningitis: An inflammation of the lining around the brain or spinal cord, usually due to infection; Neck stiffness, headache, fever, and confusion are common symptoms.
Encephalitis: An inflammation of the brain tissue, usually due to a viral infection; meningitis and encephalitis often occur together, which is called meningoencephalitis.
Brainabscess: A pocket of infection in the brain, usually caused by bacteria; antibiotics and surgical drainage of the area are often necessary.
Brain Diseases: Seizures
Included in the seizure category of brain diseases is epilepsy, a condition characterized by recurring seizures caused by abnormal and excessive electrical activity in the brain. Head injuries, brain infections, and strokes may cause epilsepsy, as well.
Brain Diseases: Trauma
Trauma includes these conditions:
Concussion: A brain injury that causes a temporary disturbance in brain function, sometimes with unconsciousness and confusion; traumatic head injuries cause concussions and may result in headache, along with concentration and memory problems.
Traumatic brain injury: Acquired, often permanent brain damage from a traumatic head injury; obvious mental impairment or more subtle personality and mood changes can occur.
Intracerebral hemorrhage: Any bleeding inside the brain, which may occur after a traumatic injury or stroke as a result of high blood pressure
Brain Diseases: Tumors, Masses, and Increased Pressure
This category of brain disease includes:
Brain tumor: Any abnormal tissue growth inside the brain; whether malignant (cancerous) or benign, brain tumors usually cause problems by the pressure they exert on the normal brain.
Glioblastoma: An aggressive, cancerous brain tumor; glioblastomas progress rapidly and are usually difficult to cure.
Hydrocephalus: An abnormally increased amount of cerebrospinal (brain) fluid inside the skull; usually, this is because the fluid is not circulating properly.
Normal pressure hydrocephalus: A form of hydrocephalus that often causes problems with walking, along with dementia and urinary incontinence; pressure inside the brain remains normal, despite the increased fluid.
Pseudotumor cerebri (false brain tumor): Increased pressure inside the skull with no apparent cause; vision changes, headaches, dizziness, and nausea are common symptoms.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
kingdavid needed a new web page design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 14 designs submitted by 5 freelance designers.
This website will be for a high-end wedding band. They would like a professional feel to their site, as it will be used in their sales pitch to their potential clients.
There are 7 pages needed for this site, please read the detailed description.
I. Site Concept
This website will be for a high-end wedding band. They would like a professional feel to their site, as it will be used in their sales pitch to their potential clients. The domain name is .
This contest is for an uncoded design only. Please use a separate photoshop file for each page of this website, and please organize your layers well. All layers should be labeled appropriately, and hover-over effects should be on their own layers. We will also need all font files used in the designs.
II. Site Pages
A. Splash Page - This will be a page with a splash image in the center of the page.
B. Home - This will be the main page of the website, and will contain the Mission Statement text.
C. Media - This will be the page where visitors can listen to audio clips.
Please lay the audio clips out as text, with a play button next to each item. Here is a link to the play button software we will be using:
Please use the following link to create a customized button that will fit well into your design:
D. Contact - This page will neatly display contact information (no contact form). Just Name, Phone number, Email address, and Mailing address.
E. Services - This page will discuss the various services and types of players this band can supply at an event.
F. Press - This page will have links to various press references to the band.
*Please integrate a mailing list subscription box discretely into every page.
*Please make it possible for us to add new pages to the nav later on.
III. Pics
Here is a link to pictures you may use in the design.
http://tinyurl.com/2xn85m (zip file)
IV. Other Sites
Here are other designs that are liked by the site owner:
Desired Tagline
Please refrain from posting the musicians name or domain name in this contest, thanks.


text:
Skip to content
Search for:
Emma Christie Does Art
Contextual Studies Blog
Tag: signs
1 Post
Lecture Task
Postmodern Poster for abuse
April 17, 2017
0 Comments
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here:
Cookie Policy


text:
Michael Ammar is one of the finest magic teachers of our time. Consistently classic effects, broadcast quality filming and editing, free bonus effects which include the props and teaching that is clear, concise and effective made Michael Ammar's Easy to Master Card Miracles the best-selling series of all time!
Each DVD contains ten classic effects, live performances before an audience, multiple camera explanations, and a free bonus effect with each video that includes the special props necessary!
Volume 1 - 8 Card Brainwave, Acrobatic Aces, Triumph, Cannibal Cards, The Perfect Royal Flush
Volume 2 - Twisting The Aces, Card Warp, Card Through Handkerchief, Ambitious Card
Volume 3 - Haunted Pack, Card Stab, Card In Wine Glass, Color Changing Deck,Card In Wallet
Volume 4 - Ambitious Card, Your Signed Card, Untouched, Card Thru Table
volume 5 - Card On Ceiling, Torn & Restored Card, Another Quick Coincidence, Grasshopper
volume 6 - Triple Coincidence, Sleeve Aces, Close-up Illusion, Jumping Gemini, Oil and Queens
Do you own this product? Write a review.


text:
Mission Statement
The mission of the Midwestern State University Counseling Center is to provide opportunities for students to know themselves as individuals, to form deeper relationships with their peers, and to increase their wellness. The staff of the MSU Counseling Center provides these opportunities through individual and group counseling services, consultation, and mental health educational programs focused on key student development issues and reflecting concern for holistic health and wellness. As providers of mental health services to the student population, the staff is guided by the highest professional and ethical standards of their professions. Our personal,academic, and career counseling services are directed towards enhancing the skills which students bring with them to MSU and encouraging the development of skills which will increase their success both at MSU and beyond.
Meeting the Counseling Needs of MSU Students
Corner of Hampstead and Louis J. Rodriguez Drive
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday through Friday


text:
CorneliusWilson needed a new coded website design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 15 designs submitted by 6 freelance designers.
1 coded web design needed for confessions website.
The backend is from PHPpod.com. The extension for the templates are in "tpl", if that helps anyway. From what I am viewing the coding does not look difficult at all, just snippets of coding for certain parts.
I am working on developing a confessions website, TellTheNet.com. We have a backend for the website so what I need is the frontend. What you see on the webpage now is the default template. We need something new of course, something that will attract 18-22 year olds. A web design that would make people interested in the website, because as we all know confessions is a very small market.
The web design HAS to be compatible with the backend, otherwise you will not get paid and we will move on to another web designer. Don't mean to be harsh but I refuse to pay for a web design that I cannot use, regardless of how good it looks.
Everything has to be in the same format, as I have no idea how to change anything around. If you feel like you are a capable of moving certain parts of the website around then go ahead.
Well I look forward to the possible web designs for the website. Good luck!


text:
To change your Account information (your name, email address, company address, phone number, or password), log in and click on "Account" in the blue navigation bar at the top of the page. Once you've made your changes, be sure to click "Save Changes."
Alternatively, you may click on "Account" in the dark gray box on the left side of your dashboard to access this page, or simply use this link: https://www.ihire.com/employer/account/edit
From the Account tab, you can also change your company's branding information, view your payment methods, or view your purchase history.
Search for information about managing your account, how to use the site, and services iHire offers for job seekers.
Answer questions about iHire's employer services including posting job ads and searching resumes, among other topics.
We're here to help! Contact us with your questions or concerns


text:
Herman Roozen is a Dutch comic artist and writer. Between 1988 and 1994, he published the strip 'De Morinel' in the farmer's magazine Ons Platteland, which was succeeded by 'Stekkel' in 1995. Roozen produces comic strips for company magazines and newsletters like Jellinek Journaal ('Jelle'), Microsoft's TechNet newsletter ('TechEddie'), and the staff magazine of a power company ('Wendy en Wilco').
In 2004, he succeeded Henk Groeneveld as the artist of 'Opa' in Boerderij. In 2007 and 2008, he published his strip 'Eefenement' in Algemeen Dagblad. Roozen is furthermore a prolific scriptwriter for 'Dirkjan' (Mark Retera), 'Jan, Jans en de Kinderen' (Studio Jan Kruis), 'Meneer Foutjes' (Mars Gremmen), 'Kort en Triest' (Jean-Marc van Tol), 'Okki' (Dirk van Dulmen) and Dutch Disney stories, among other comics.
Wendy en Wilco


text:
- Font:
- +
- -
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee rejects letting states decide whether to allow abortions, claiming the right to life is a moral issue not subject to multiple interpretations.
"It's the logic of the Civil War," Huckabee said Sunday, comparing abortion rights to slavery. "If morality is the point here, and if it's right or wrong, not just a political question, then you can't have 50 different versions of what's right and what's wrong."
"For those of us for whom this is a moral question, you can't simply have 50 different versions of what's right," he said in an interview on "Fox News Sunday."
The former Arkansas governor, who has drawn within striking distance of Mitt Romney in Iowa's leadoff presidential caucuses, said he was taken aback by the National Right to Life Committee's recent endorsement of Fred Thompson, the ex-Tennessee senator.
"But my surprise was nothing compared to the surprise of people across America who had been faithful supporters of right to life," said Huckabee, who is challenging Thompson's claim that he is the most reliable conservative in the GOP field.
"Fred's never had a 100 percent record on right to life in his Senate career. The records reflect that. And he doesn't support the human life amendment which is most amazing because that's been a part of the Republican platform since 1980," Huckabee said.
In a separate interview aired Sunday, Thompson said Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision allowing legal abortion, should be overturned, with states allowed to decide whether to permit abortions. "We need to remember what the status was before Roe v. Wade," he said.
Thompson spokeswomen Karen Hanretty said Thompson has a very strong record on abortion. The National Right to Life Committee said when it endorsed him that Thompson "has had a strong, consistent pro-life voting record throughout his political career."
Huckabee on TV
Huckabee also previewed his first television ad of the campaign on the program. The 60-second spot, which features actor Chuck Norris, was to begin running in Iowa on Monday.
"My plan to secure the border. Two words: Chuck. Norris," says Huckabee, who stares into the camera before it cuts away to show Norris standing beside him.
"Mike Huckabee is a lifelong hunter who'll protect our Second Amendment rights" on gun ownership, says the tough-guy actor, who takes turns addressing viewers.
Other political news of note
Animated Boehner: 'There's nothing complex about the Keystone Pipeline!'
House Speaker John Boehner became animated Tuesday over the proposed Keystone Pipeline, castigating the Obama administration for not having approved the project yet.
- Budget deficits shrinking but set to grow after 2015
- Senate readies another volley on unemployment aid
- Obama faces Syria standstill
- Fluke files to run in California
- Animated Boehner: 'There's nothing complex about the Keystone Pipeline!'
"There's no chin behind Chuck Norris' beard, only another fist," Huckabee says.
"Mike Huckabee wants to put the IRS out of business," Norris adds.
"When Chuck Norris does a push-up, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the earth down," Huckabee says.
"Mike's a principled, authentic conservative," says Norris.
In closing, Huckabee says: "Chuck Norris doesn't endorse. He tells America how it's going to be. I'm Mike Huckabee and I approved this message. So did Chuck."
Huckabee acknowledged that the ad probably will not change many minds.
"But what it does do is exactly what it's doing this morning," he said. "Getting a lot of attention, driving people to our Web site, giving them an opportunity to find out who is this guy that would come out with Chuck Norris in a commercial."
Thompson's campaign said the ad shows Huckabee is not serious about immigration, an issue in Iowa.
"With his new campaign ad featuring Chuck Norris, Mike Huckabee has confused celebrity endorsement with serious policy. What would Huckabee do to secure America's border against millions of illegal immigrants pouring into our country? According to his ad, 'Two words: Chuck Norris,'" said Thompson campaign spokesman Todd Harris.
Thompson was interviewed by ABC's "This Week."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Those of you who hate change, brace yourselves.
In addition to the new template, I've got news. Over the last few months, three of my longtime co-bloggers have moved on (well, Sweet Machine wasn't necessarily taking a permanent vacation, but realistically… yeah), and Snarky's Machine and I have been trying to keep things going in some form that sort of resembles the old SP. But both of us are busy and tired and cranky about moderating, which you've probably noticed on account of how we're always talking about being busy and tired and cranky about moderating. Snarky's also started up a fantastic pop culture blog, I Fry Mine in Butter, and wants to spend more time on her office supplies blog, Does This Pen Write, in addition to her paid writing projects. In the meantime, we've both either been feeling guilty about not writing here or cranky about moderating when we do write.
So Snarky's bowing out, and "kateharding.net" will finally be an accurate url for this blog once again. It's just me now. And I don't even know what it will become yet. I know it's incredibly unlikely that I'll update more than a couple of times a week for the forseeable future, so you should put Shapely Prose in your reader if you want to keep up with new posts. (You should put Jezebel and Broadsheet in there, too, because I'll still be doing one-offs for them as well.) Big thanks to everybody who's stuck around this long and everybody who continues to. When I figure out what I want to do with SP (if there's to be any overarching vision at all — most likely it will be the same old stuff, but probably with more personal blogging), you'll be the first to know. While you wait, you can feel free to explore the 1200+ posts in the archives. Rock on, Shapelings.


text:
He was a bit disappointed to hear that I had posted that exact same story a few hours earlier (and that he wasn't the first to tell me), but he was still happy to know that what he thought was "blog worthy", was in fact, right on target.
Yesterday (Tuesday) evening, two of my kids took the bus to Yerushalayim and met me at work. They got off the bus by themselves (they're 12 and 10 years old), found my office, and called to say they had arrived (I was waiting for them at
While some find driving in Yerushalayim to be annoying or difficult -- I love it.
Having driven around Manhattan a lot before moving to Israel, I find the driving experience very similar to Yerushalayim; some streets can be very narrow, cars parked all over the place...drivers who weave in and out of lanes...taxis driven by Israelis (in both cities)...street signs don't always make sense...
Driving into the Old City via Sha'ar Yaffo, my kids started asking me all sorts of questions about the Old City. "Look at this, look at that," they laughed and pointed at different sites and scenes as my van squeezed through the narrow alley-road in the Armenian Quarter towards the Jewish one. As we passed Sha'ar Tziyon, I mentioned that the IDF Tzanchanim (paratroopers) unit entered into the Old City from that gate in 1967, and the walls there are all pockmarked from bullets. A second later, we stopped, stuck in a traffic jam of cars snaking their way from the Jewish Quarter parking lot back to Sha'ar Tziyon.
Since our mission was to say tehillim at the Kotel, I asked the kids if they wanted to get out and walk by themselves to the Kotel while I waited to park the van. "Sure!" they answered, and we agreed to meet down at the Kotel after I parked. Full of self-confidence, they scrambled out of the van...leaving me to find a spot by myself as the setting sun's remaining orange glow bounced off the walls of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.
25 minutes later, I found a parking spot and met my kids down below near the flag poles at the Kotel plaza. I marveled that they felt at home in the Old City (as they should) and my 12 year old said that he knew the Jewish Quarter, "like the back of his hand." He explained that during his Bnei Akiva summer camp experience this past summer, they had a scavenger hunt in the Old City over a 24 hour persiod, and he ran up and down the steps to the Kotel over 10 times that day.
Wanting to start saying Tehillim as quickly as possible, my daughter went to the women's side, my son and I went to the men's side, we found some tehillim books from the caves on the side of the plaza, and walked up to the Kotel.
I wasn't sure what perakim to say...which chapters. Tehillim has so many chapters, where should I start? I decided to say the chapters for the 4rth and 5th of the month, since we were in the twighlight between the 4rth and 5th days of Tishrei, and the surgery was going on now.
As I started to recite Tehillim, I was amazed at the chapters designated for those two days. Coincidence that surgery for the person fell out exactly on the twighlight between these 2 days, during Tishrei? The chapters I said for the 4rth day were these (link here) and for the 5th day were these.
The 4rth day's were those one usually says in times of distress and those said during the month of Elul and Tishrei for Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. Very solemn stuff.
מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד: ה' רֹעִי, לֹא אֶחְסָר.
לְדָוִד, מִזְמוֹר:לה' הָאָרֶץ וּמְלוֹאָהּ; תֵּבֵל, וְיֹשְׁבֵי בָהּ.
לְדָוִד: ה', אוֹרִי וְיִשְׁעִי--מִמִּי אִירָא;ה' מָעוֹז-חַיַּי, מִמִּי אֶפְחָד
That really put me in the correct mood...and then, I finished day 4 and started day 5.
I was surprised by the abrupt change of mood. From solemn chapters beseeching for help, and declarations that G-d is the ruler over the universe -- the 5th day's chapters were a totally different theme. Upbeat. Positive. From Kabbalat Shabbat and davening.
מִזְמוֹר, לְדָוִד: הָבוּ לה', בְּנֵי אֵלִים; הָבוּ לַה', כָּבוֹד וָעֹז.
מִזְמוֹר: שִׁיר-חֲנֻכַּת הַבַּיִת לְדָוִד
רַנְּנוּ צַדִּיקִים, בַּה'; לַיְשָׁרִים, נָאוָה תְהִלָּה
It was as if, these were chapters to say AFTER a successful operation. Saying them, I wondered how I could say such joyous chapters, when after all, I was worried about the ongoing surgery...
We finished saying tehillim and davening almost an hour later and walked back up the stairs towards to Jewish Quarter. A boom shook the air, and my kids looked at me. "Ramadan" I reminded them, and we heard sporadic firecrackers from the Muslim Quarter. Stopping at the top of the stairs, we took another look back at the Kotel and Har HaZeitim, and I felt very content that we said tehillim, davened at the Kotel, and had a good opportunity to walk around the Old City.
Went to Bonkers Bagles for a quick bite, drove home...and found out the surgery was over and things were looking promising.
Baruch Hashem.
Credit for Video: Friday in Jerusalem
Created by Gil Ronen, firstname.lastname@example.com
Video Hosted by IZFONE -- Izfone is a leading Voice over IP service provider specializing in the Israeli market.


text:
Using QGIS, if I load a polygon layer and make a new column, how do I fill that column with the:
- area of each polygon and another column with
- length of the perimeter of each polygon?
Stack Exchange network consists of 175 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.Visit Stack Exchange
Using QGIS, if I load a polygon layer and make a new column, how do I fill that column with the:
Open field calculator, select the new column and type the following expression
Make sure your layer is in a projected coordinate system (not lat/long ) and in correct units. ( i.e. if your layer's projection has 'meters' as units, your area will be square meters ) Note that reprojecting layers on-the-fly does not change the units for area/perimeter calculation, so you have to first reproject using Save as ... with the correct target CRS.
You also can use fTools: Vector menu -> Geometry Tools -> Export/Add geometry columns
It updates your layer automatically by adding AREA and PERIMETER columns.


text:
NORTHWOOD — Coe-Brown Northwood Academy will be inducting the first four members into its newly established Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday at the annual CBNA alumni basketball games.
The inductees are Robert E. Bailey '45, Wade R.D. Sauls '84, David S. Smith and Ginger Sanford Snow '89.
The induction will take place in Smith Hall between the women's and men's games. The women's game starts at 5:30 p.m. and the men's at 7 p.m.
CBNA trustee and alumnus Bailey is being honored for his contributions to CBNA. He is single-handedly responsible for many of the Academy's current athletic fields. In 1994, using equipment from his own construction company, Bailey began transforming the rocky ledge across the street from Coe-Brown's main building into track, soccer and baseball fields, as well as an outdoor basketball court. Nine years later he worked his magic again, installing four new tennis courts. The former chicken range on the hill is often referred to as "Bob's Field of Dreams."
Sauls was an accomplished athlete. He was a four-year member and starter on the CBNA boys varsity soccer team and was voted team MVP in his junior and senior years. He scored 69 career goals In basketball, Wade was a four-year member of the varsity squad and was starting guard on the 1982 and 1984 Class S state championship teams. He was team MVP his junior and senior years and scored 1,000 career points. Sauls was the New Hampshire Coaches Association Free Throw Shooting Champion in his senior year. He went on to play both soccer and basketball at Plymouth State University.
Smith's name is synonymous with athletics at Coe-Brown. As boys varsity basketball head coach, Smith led his team to the Division II state semifinals last winter in an exciting match against eventual champion Portsmouth. Coe-Brown celebrated Smith's 450th career win in 2008. The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2009. The NHIAA cited Smith's 42 years of coaching various sports as well as his distinguished career as a teacher, athletic director, assistant principal, guidance counselor, guidance director and, of course, headmaster. In addition to his coaching and administrative responsibilities, Smith's has served on the New Hampshire Officials Association.
Snow is the first female inductee. During her high school years, Ginger was a member of the Coe-Brown varsity softball, volleyball and basketball teams. She was the first person to play varsity all four years in all three of these sports. As a basketball player, she scored 1,000 points. Following high school, she was awarded a full basketball scholarship to the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Snow also had a long and distinguished career as a professional football player. She was a wide receiver for the Boston Militia for nine seasons and was a three-time all-star.


text:
As Monday came to an end at GeekWire HQ, the smell of Trader Joe's smoked gouda and the sound of a bottle uncorking filled our office.
That meant one thing, and one thing only: Our first bottle of Amazon wine had arrived.
We wrote about our wine purchasing experience this past Thursday, examining Amazon's new wine service that offers bottles from wineries around the country. By Monday morning, our first bottle had already arrived and we were ready to put Amazon wine to the test.
I snagged some parmesan crisps and smoked gouda cheese from Trader Joe's to set the mood for GeekWire's first-ever official wine tasting event, and when 5 p.m. came around, it was time to uncork.
Our first package was a $26.26 order of white wine called 'Kelso' from Claar Cellars ($13.99 for the wine, $9.99 for shipping and $2.28 sales tax.) It came in a box with an alcohol-label stuck to the side, making sure it was delivered to someone 21 years or older.
We were impressed with the way the wine was packaged inside the box. My colleague John Cook even asked if the packaging design had been patented.
Once we stopped talking about how great the packaging was, it was time to check out the actual bottle. The label looked just like what we saw on Amazon's website.
Now for the most important part of the evening: the taste test. John uncorked the bottle like a pro and we toasted the moment with our respective glasses: Todd Bishop's blue Microsoft mug, John's paper cup from the water cooler and my plastic container from Top Pot. Yes, this is how geeks drink wine at the office.
Neither John, Todd or myself are big wine guys, but as you can tell from the empty bottle, we actually enjoyed the Kelso. I'm not going to get all food critique-y on you, but it was a smooth, slightly fruity taste that was actually nice to drink. With that fine cheese and those elegant parmesan crisps, it was a great combo.
But just as we were polishing off the bottle, huge news broke.
"Holy shit!" Todd yelled. "Sinofsky is leaving Microsoft!"
And that concluded the Amazon wine experience. Todd somehow, some way buckled down and posted a story about the departure of Microsoft president Steven Sinofsky. Whether or not the Kelso helped or hurt his performance, we'll never know. Regardless, I was impressed — in my book, that was the mark of a true pro.
All in all, it's safe to say that we really did enjoy our Amazon wine experience. Looking back, we probably should have bought in bulk to get more bang for our buck. Would we pay $26 for this bottle to be shipped to our doorstep again? Probably not. But we could have ordered six Kelso bottles at $14 per bottle, for the same amount of shipping. That's something we'd certainly consider.
Our second bottle has yet to arrive. The first-ever GeekWire wine-tasting went so well we might just have to do it again.
UPDATE, 9:20 P.M.: Just to be clear, the wine is shipped directly from the wineries and Amazon simply serves as a marketplace. The nice packaging was all Kelso.
Previously on GeekWire: We just bought our first bottle of wine off Amazon: Here's how it works


text:
Tinsley Ellis
Top SongsSee All
Sound of a Broken ManWinning Hand 2018
Kiss of DeathMidnight Blue 2014
Bad Dream #108Trouble Time 1992
AlbumsSee All
CompilationsSee All
Appears OnSee All
About Tinsley Ellis
A hard-rocking, high-voltage blues guitarist most often compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tinsley Ellis is hardly one of the legions of imitators that comparison might imply. Schooled in a variety of Southern musical styles, Ellis draws not only from fiery Vaughan-style blues-rock, but also Texas bluesmen like Freddie King and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the soulful blues of B.B. King, the funky grit of Memphis soul, and numerous other electric bluesmen. Ellis has been praised in many quarters for the relentless, storming intensity of his sound, and criticized in others for his relative lack of pacing and dynamic contrast (he's also been dubbed a much stronger guitarist than vocalist). Yet no matter which side of the fence one falls on, it's generally acknowledged that Ellis remains a formidable instrumentalist and a genuine student of the blues.
Ellis was born in Atlanta in 1957, and spent most of his childhood in southern Florida. He began playing guitar in elementary school, first discovering the blues through the flagship bands of the British blues boom: John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac, the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, and so on. He soon moved on to a wide variety of original sources, becoming especially fond of B.B. King and Freddie King. After high school, Ellis moved back to Atlanta in 1975 to attend Emory University, and soon found work on the local music scene, joining a bar band called the Alley Cats (which also featured future Fabulous Thunderbird Preston Hubbard). In 1981, Ellis co-founded the Heartfixers with singer/harmonica player Chicago Bob Nelson, and they recorded an eponymous debut album for the tiny Southland imprint. They soon signed with the slightly larger Landslide and issued Live at the Moon Shadow in 1983, by which point they were one of the most popular live blues acts in the South. However, Nelson left the group shortly after the album's release, and Ellis took over lead vocal chores.
The Heartfixers' first project in their new incarnation was backing up blues shouter Nappy Brown on his well-received 1984 comeback album, Tore Up. Ellis debuted his vocals on record on the Heartfixers' 1986 LP Cool on It, which brought him to the attention of Alligator Records. Ellis left the Heartfixers to sign with Alligator as a solo artist in 1988, and they picked up his solo debut, Georgia Blue, for distribution. The album helped make Ellis a fixture on the blues circuit, and he toured heavily behind it, establishing a hard-working pattern he would follow for most of his career. The follow-up, Fanning the Flames, appeared in 1989 and explored similar territory. Released in 1992, Trouble Time helped land Ellis on album rock radio thanks to the track "Highwayman," but it was 1994's Storm Warning that really broke Ellis to a wider blues-rock audience, earning more media attention than any of his previous recordings; additionally, guitar prodigy Jonny Lang later covered Ellis' "A Quitter Never Wins" on Lie to Me.
For 1997's Fire It Up, Ellis worked with legendary blues-rock producer Tom Dowd (the Allman Brothers, Derek & the Dominos), as well as Booker T. & the MG's bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. Ellis subsequently left Alligator and signed with Capricorn; unfortunately, shortly after the release of 2000's Kingpin, Capricorn went bankrupt, leaving the album high and dry. Still, Ellis soon caught on with Telarc, releasing his initial disc Hell or High Water on the label in 2002, followed by The Hard Way in 2004. One year later, Ellis was back with Alligator, putting out the live set Live! Highwayman and 2007's Moment of Truth, the first studio album to contain original material since Hell or High Water. Ellis toured relentlessly behind the album, and reentered the studio in early 2009. Speak No Evil was released that October, but it would be another three and a half years before he issued another studio album, with Ellis choosing to focus on live performance for the intervening period.
When the all-instrumental Get It! did arrive in March 2013, it contained tributes to a number of his blues guitar heroes such as Freddie King, Bo Diddley, and Albert Collins. Before the end of the year he had also prepared another album with the same lineup as the Get It! sessions: Kevin McKendree on keyboards, Lynn Williams on drums, and Ted Pecchio on bass. Midnight Blue was released in January of 2014, followed quickly by Tough Love in 2015 and Red Clay Soul in 2016. In 2018, Ellis returned with Winning Hand, co-produced in Nashville with keyboardist McKendree. ~ Steve Huey
- Atlanta, GA
- Blues
- Jun 4, 1957
Similar ArtistsSee All


text:
Save 37%
Marlow Fabric / Sage
Marlow is a fantastic striped fabric available in a range of colours, with a woven herringbone effect throughout.
Marlow is made from 100% cotton. A great curtain and blind fabric, also suitable as an upholstery fabric. Our online store and shops in Burford, near Oxford and Cheltenham have huge stocks of discount curtain and upholstery fabrics.
- Type: Regular Fabric
- Fabric Width: 140cm
- Colour: Sage
- Fabric Code: 1813R
- Composition: 100% Cotton
- Usage: Curtains, Blinds & Upholstery
Upholstery fabric fire retardant info
- Extra info: Washable
- Stock info: We hold large volumes of stock, occasionally items will need to be ordered in from suppliers. To double check the stock availability prior to order please call, live chat or email us.
Our price: £18.50/m


text:
This is actually a very interesting thread, JS Online readers reacting to this question: "How much time do you think you will have wasted this week talking or reading about the Packers? Go ahead and waste some time by tell us about it here."
A surprising number of respondents are of the whiny, I'm-sick-of-the-Packers variety. And they're serious. Take this one, for example.
I, too am not a Packers fan and am really sick of the 24/7 coverage they are getting. They are a bunch of overpaid athletes, who certainly wouldn't make this big of a deal about our lives. It is really frusterating that I can't turn on my TV or radio without hearing about what the Packers are doing. I don't care. I have a family and friends that are much more important than some sports team. Give me real news. I want to know what's going on in the world. Not if one of the Packers hurt their little toe. Maybe we should all be thinking about what we could do to make our city, state, country, and world better and safer. I am really glad to see though that I am not the only one that feels this way.
– Clare, Milwaukee, WI
Well. Someone needs to get Clare a Pabst or twelve, and maybe a few extra for her houseful of cats. Clare finds it frustrating that she can't turn on her television without seeing something about the Packers. I dream of having that problem. It's one of the reasons I constantly think about moving back to Wisconsin. Clare also tells us that she "wants to know what's going on in the world" — a complaint she registers online. Hmmm. If anyone knows this "Clare," tell her that there are these things called "websites" on this new thing called the "Internet." In an instant, she can get lots of news about what's going on in the world. In fact, if she just types in CNN.com or BBC.com or even FoxNews.com, she can probably find an entire website dedicated to the news of the world without so much of a mention of the Green Bay Packers. One final note. In her complaint about too much Packers, "Clare" begs the local stations to return to their original programming. "Give me real news," she writes. When was the last time "Clare" watched the local evening news? There is no real news on it. All of this coverage of the Packers has replaced only the ridiculous scare segments that gobble up all of the non-weather minutes of the local news. "How your bed can maim you! Tune in at 10." "Herpes from your dentist? The citywide epidemic at six." "Playgrounds or Killing Fields? What parents need to know about their kids and the monkey bars."
If the local television news covered only the Packers we would all be smarter for it.
Back to your cats, Clare. Back to your cats.
UPDATE: As it happens, I caught some of my local (Baltimore) news tonight. The greater Baltimore/Washington, DC, area got an inch of snow today and the first report was about the severe dangers associated with snowfall. The story featured a demonstration of an old lady shoveling snow, in order to show people how to do it without injuring their backs. "Push, and just shovel it off. See, I don't have to lift any of it up." Yeah, too bad, they're not getting this kind of "real news" back in Wisconsin.


text:
- Font:
- +
- -
Medical device maker Smith & Nephew Inc. is recalling more products made by the Triad Group Inc. of Wisconsin, saying they could be contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria.
Don't miss these Health stories
More women opting for preventive mastectomy - but should they be?
Rates of women who are opting for preventive mastectomies, such as Angeline Jolie, have increased by an estimated 50 percent in recent years, experts say. But many doctors are puzzled because the operation doesn't carry a 100 percent guarantee, it's major surgery -- and women have other options, from a once-a-day pill to careful monitoring.
- Larry Page's damaged vocal cords: Treatment comes with trade-offs
- Report questioning salt guidelines riles heart experts
- CDC: 2012 was deadliest year for West Nile in US
- What stresses moms most? Themselves, survey says
- More women opting for preventive mastectomy - but should they be?
The new recall includes two types of products: wipes used to protect the skin before medical tapes and films are applied, and adhesive removers that can clean residues from the skin, according to the firm. The products, including UNI-SOLVE Adhesive Remover Wipes, are widely used by diabetics and others who require daily medication.
The move expands again the recall of products manufactured and distributed by H&P Industries Inc. and the Triad Group Inc. of Hartland, Wis., which have been shuttered by the federal Food and Drug Administration. On April 6, U.S. Marshals seized more than $6 million in medical supplies made by the twin family-owned firms.
An FDA spokeswoman said the agency is aware of the latest voluntary recall.
Special report: Tracking tainted wipes
Investigation finds lax oversight, rampant problems with contaminated wipes
Msnbc.com series reveals federal Food and Drug Administration officials knew about problems at Wisconsin plant for years before taking action to halt production, distribution.
- Smith & Nephew sues beleaguered wipe-maker
- Tainted wipes destroyed as firm moves forward
- Tainted wipe maker gets FDA nod toward reopening
- 11 deaths tied to alcohol prep wipes
- Investigation finds lax oversight, rampant problems with contaminated wipes
H&P Industries products have been cited in at least three lawsuits that blame contaminated alcohol prep pads for serious injuries and a death. In January, H&P Industries launched a recall of all lots of alcohol wipes because of the potential for contamination with Bacillus cereus. The bacteria can cause serious life-threatening infections in ill and vulnerable people. H&P Industries also has issued recalls for lubricating jelly and povidone iodine wipes.
Since early January, the FDA has received 201 reports of problems with Triad alcohol wipes, including allegations of seven deaths, 114 infections and 87 minor problems, such as rashes, according to a summary of the agency's MedWatch reporting system. FDA officials are investigating the deaths; however, only one — a 2-year-old boy — specifically cited Bacillus cereus as the cause. The others did not include a specific organism or cause of death, and FDA officials can't yet say whether they were related to use of the Triad products.
One report identified the growth of Bacillus cereus after a lumbar puncture in a premature baby boy delivered by cesarean section. The child's condition was not reported.
Smith & Nephew is a global distributor of medical products and devices. Like many others, it contracts with firms such as H&P Industries to make some of its products. Mary Heather, a Smith & Nephew spokeswoman, said that company notified the FDA about the new voluntary recall on April 6, citing the potential for contamination with Bacillus cereus.
Testing performed on some products already distributed or quarantined has detected no contamination, but a company letter indicated the firm was launching the recall "out of an abundance of caution."
Recalled products include REMOVE Universal Adhesive Remover Wipes, UNI-SOLVE Adhesive Remover Wipes, SKIN-PREP Protective Wipes, PERI-PREP Protective Wipes and NO-STING SKIN-PREP Protective Wipes. The affected product codes are 420400, 420471, 59420425, 403100, 402300, 59403125 and 59420600. Click here for specific lot numbers.
© 2013 msnbc.com Reprints


text:
Hi All,
When I have performed music in my friend's Methodist church, (played not worshipped : ) I have always been struck by the social and economic support that churches give their members. There is the social network within the churches themselves, then there is the friendly rivalry and extended network support of other Methodist churches around our country. If a member of a congregation needs customers for his insurance company there is an instant potential client base from among his/her religious tribe. If a son/daughter needs money for an expensive operation or school trip, the congregation and extended church communities can contribute. In this original Facebook/ tribe/religious social network, surely any churchgoer who has doubts about the reality of Jesus/god/holy ghost would be hard pressed to leave such an advantageous environment?
How can Atheism compete with that?
Views: 460
By the way, please don't for one minute think that I'm advocating churches or religion - I'm definitely not!
I would like to understand what mechanism could replace the scenarios that I've described, and how can they be implemented. How will people be able to move away from a socially advantageous network?
Good points. I wouldn't condone switching people's thinking using fear and coercion. Reason is certainly better than irrationality.
Do we, as atheists, have a moral obligation to try and help those who we perceive to be suffering from a delusion (religion). Or do we behave more like alcoholics anonymous and help people when they come to groups such as this one on their own volition? Do we organize within our communities and present a lobby on societal issues? Or do we sit back and hope that over the next 100+ years the gradual increase in education will slowly erode the substantial economic and political power base that the church has in Barbados?
well spoken,
I see atheism also as a tool to help rid the world of ethnic hatreds
I agree that those suffering from delusion are unlikely to be swayed for the reasons you've described. sorry, I forgot about AA's religious foundation : ) but I'm glad you saw my point. Yes, organising and lobbying will invite ridicule, scorn, discrimination and worse.
Perhaps a better path may be to quietly organise for the purposes of showing Barbadian/Caribbean society that atheism should be seen not as a threat but a legitimate alternative to religion (I can hear laughter already). If we can change the perception that atheists are evil worshipers of satan (a common opinion on facebook it seems) then perhaps that will help.
I wonder how Barbadian society would react to an atheist foundation whose goal was to help the community through charitable projects with no strings attached.
Something along the lines of the Rotarians (are they a religious group too? :) ) If we were to show that it's O.K. to be atheist and that several prominent and respected members of society are atheist, would that make a difference? Would that help to ease the fears of those who are too afraid to leave the belief system that has been thrust upon them?
If such a group could be safely established and gain the trust of society then in the future it might begin to make it's voice heard in matters of policy and law.
Theists of any sort seem predisposed to believe that we're a pack of amoral bacchanalians (only during carnival please ;-) whom if left to run the world would install Stalinist or fascist dictatorships. So I concur there's a need to change that perception. The Rotarians are not supposed to be faith-based but I suspect that here in the Caribbean that might not be strictly the case. A do-good club is a good idea, but I think there would be a need to also incorporate somehow a fair, ethical and morally guided approach or philosophy to the do-gooding along with the general promotion of reason and rational thought if not as an agenda as a resource portal. Certainly Bajans would be suspicious and likely derisive. Having prominent community members would certainly lend credibility and help encourage the like minded, There has to be some out there.(??)
OK, just answered my own question.
Certainly doable, perhaps the artwork can be obtained gratis from an Athiest organisation?
Well, a bus ad campaign would certainly stir the pot, in our environment I could see it boiling over and scalding the cooks. Visions of accusations of cultural terrorism are dancing in my head!
I was very excited and full of admiration when I read about the bus campaigns in England and I think Canada. Before investing money, I would want to know what was the result of their campaigns? Were they effective?
I'm also of the opinion that doing a bus campaign without having a local organization for people to join would be putting the cart before the horse.
if a local bus campaign could be realized here, I think the local press who are very religious, would look for a story and likely portray the issues in the worst possible light. A few individuals operating without an organisation behind them would be easy pickings.
Do I sound nervous? - oh yes.
I was amazed to find that England, in the 1970's had blasphemy laws and actually used them against a gay men's magazine publisher! I wonder if Barbados has these laws?
BTW the link for bus ad rates didn't seem to work for me, can you please give me the address again?
© 2020 Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: The Nexus Group. Powered by


text:
FailureSucks necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 49 diseños de 19 diseñadores freelance.
I'm in need of a logo for my website/company MarketingSpring, a website focused on improving small business and featuring marketing case studies.
I need a logo for my website/company MarketingSpring. The website will contain business tips for marketing websites and small business and other related materials like marketing case studies and videos.
This logo will be for the web, although I would like the finished product to be high-quality enough to transfer to print if needed.
I'm really open to many ideas on this as I find that others always seem to come up with approaches to design that I would have never thought of.
That said, I'm looking for a fairly clean logo and one that will work on both a white background or a black one.
Other than that, show me your inspiration. :)
- Item 1...
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
Brent5393 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 92 designs submitted by 21 freelance designers.
Aresco stands for Aquila Resources Company and we are an oil and gas operator in Texas. Aquila means eagle in Italian and the eagle is symbolic to how we got our start.
Business 2 Business within the oil and gas industry.
We want a logo to represent our company Aresco which stands for Aquila Resources Company. We want the logo to be simple, bold, and strong.
We are open to logos that are just a symbol, or a symbol and our name.
Things that should be considered in the design:
1. We will use this logo for everything, ie shirts, business cards, stationary, website, etc. So it needs to look good on all of them.
2. We want the logo to remain simple in design so that we can be more easily recognized by the logo.
3. No cartoons.
4. Remember, strength, simplicity, bold.
We would prefer to see the logo with a black and white backgrounds.
We are open to color, but we want it to stay simple, so don't over do it.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
Czech coach Jiri Siller: "Our strategy was to have good serving and push Gioli away from the possibility of attack. We believed that we could be good in defense."
Asked about Aneta Havlickova, after she tallied a near-record 34 points:"Aneta plays in Italy, and tonight she was playing against Italy. So it was a good motivation for her."
Czech captain Ivana Plchotova:"It's an important game for us. We kept belief in ourselves. The Italian team is very good, and we have never beaten them before. This is our first time. Tonight we could do everything we tried to do."
Italy coach Massimo Barbolini:"Our team played so well during the first two sets. After that, we made a lot of mistakes. The Czech team played better than us, so their victory is a correct result. They are good at blocking, and in some moments, we needed to pay attention or be patient. But immediately, we could not react properly. That's why we lost this game."
Italy player Simona Gioli:"The game started uneasily. It was a difficult match. In the first two sets, we played well, and we were thinking toward the end that we are going to win. But after we won two sets, we began to make more mistakes. That's why we lost this match."
Italy captain Eleonora Lo Bianco:"It's almost the same feeling as Simona says. After winning the first two sets, we suddenly lost motivation to play, and the Czech team kept their motivation to win."


text:
This used Hyundai i30 registration GJ18YZA (2018) has a 1.4 Petrol engine with a Manual gearbox and boasts impressive fuel consumption of 52.3 mpg. The CO2 emissions are considerably low at only 124 g/km.
Specifications, mileage and prices are subject to change. All our used vehicles are checked thoroughly by our Hyundai Technicians. Some cars may have previously been registered to an ex rental fleet, business fleet or Motability. Please ask your sales advisor when you make your enquiry for further information and to confirm all details before travelling or a purchase is agreed


text:
Oldest Community of Mom Bloggers - Since 2007
Welcome toMom Bloggers Club
Join Us!or Sign In
Or sign in with:
Skin is the largest organ of our body. It is also the most exposed to the elements and the pollution in large cities. It is no wonder that we must take special care of it and keep it healthy. It is not just a matter of beauty. Skin is our only natural barrier from viruses, bacteria and other malicious…
You have to admit that as a parent, getting your child to do something they don't want to do can be a challenge. Unfortunately for some, convincing their child to sit down and read (in lieu of interacting with a digital device) can be one of those things. Though it may seem at times impossible, it should be stated that…
2210 members
2175 members
1711 members
1564 members
1515 members
1129 members
1080 members
1078 members
974 members
962 members
Taubah Blackman has not received any gifts yet
Give a Gift
Posted on August 10, 2009 at 10:00am
0 Comments
Join Mom Bloggers Club
© 2020 Created by Mom Bloggers Club.
Powered by
Badges |
Report an Issue |
Terms of Service
Please check your browser settings or contact your system administrator.


text:
Holiday Shop
Build your summer wardrobe around romantic cotton dresses, eye-catching bikinis and flirty one-pieces from our women's Holiday Shop. From city break must-haves to island getaway essentials, discover supercharged, summer-ready brands including LoveShackFancy, Zimmermann and Missoni Mare. At the top of our list? Off-the-shoulder dresses and raffia bags for dinners on the Amalfi Coast, and printed kaftans for a week in Maldivian paradise.more
- Filter by: Filter Again
- size
- brand
- colour
- category
- neckline
- Display
7 items Clear All Filters
- Fendi Remove Filter
- Sophie Anderson Remove Filter
sizeSize Guide
brandFendi, Sophie A...
- Product order
Related Categories
Related Items
Related Products
Heidi Klein Smocked Bikini Bottoms
The perfect blend of beachside glamour and bohemian chic, these bikini bottoms from Heidi Klein create a flattering pairing with the halterneck bikini top. With a low-rise fit and modest coverage, it sculpts the perfect figure, detailed simply with frill-trimmed ......more
NEW SEASON SS20 Lazul Ring Detail High-Waist Bikini Bottoms
Delivering nostalgic appeal, these high-waist bikini bottoms from Lazul are imagined in the label's season-favourite Vintage Floral print. Exuding a Mediterranean feel which seamlessly merges with the label's bohemian aesthetic, the piece can be coordinated with the matching bandeau top ......more
NEW SEASON SS20 Marysia Antibes Bikini Bottoms
Marrying elegance with femininity, Marysia's Antibes bikini bottoms lend your minimal holiday edit a touch of heightened sophistication. Delicately framed by form-flattering scalloped trims, the clean and classic silhouette is imagined in textured quick-drying fabric for prolonged wear. Perfect to ......more
NEW SEASON SS20 Max Mara Ruched High-Waist Bikini Bottoms
Crafted from chintz-effect fabric for a sleek and shiny finish that perfectly complements poolside ensembles, these bikini bottoms from Max Mara are effortlessly elegant. Designed with a high waist and a ruched stomach panel, the style is both comfortable and ......more


text:
Gene Simmons of KISS behind a program for Spike
[media-credit name="Spike" align="alignright" width="290″][/media-credit]
Spike is adding scripted programming to its lineup.
Seeking a broader audience than its original guys' network reputation previously invited, Spike (formerly Spike TV) will introduce several scripted "event" programs, that is, miniseries and short-term efforts aiming for wider appeal. The MTV-owned cable channel seems to be forever in rebranding mode.
Among the projects announced Monday are "Hit Men," from Gene Simmons of KISS, Leslie Greif (Hatfields & McCoy's) and Chris Collins (Sons of Anarchy), about "how the mafia took control of the music industry of the 1970's," a four-hour mini- written by Bobby Moresco ("Crash") about infamous Boston criminal Whitey Bulger, a paranormal drama called "The Lamp," the Levinson / Fontana Company with Brant Englestein ("Borgia") as writer, that sounds like "X-Files" meets Aladdin's lamp.
Another as yet untitled project will chronicle the 2012 terrorist attack on Benghazi, Libya.


text:
Story highlights
- Four people were injured, police said
- The blast occurred near a bus in Tel Aviv
- Police are searching for a motorbike
A car exploded in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Thursday, but police say they don't think the blast was terror-related.
The explosion occurred near a bus, and four people were injured by glass and shrapnel
Police say they believe the strike was an assassination attempt related to organized crime.
Investigators want to know whether an explosive was planted in or thrown at the car, which could be seen engulfed in flames on Israeli TV.
They are searching for a motorbike in connection with the incident.
Two months ago, a bus was bombed in Tel Aviv, a strike that wounded 24 people and that police regard as a terror attack.
An Arab-Israeli was arrested in connection with the blast. Police said the attacker was carrying out orders from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.


text:
Shuzan, a Buddhist monk of the tenth century, once held up a bamboo stick before his disciples. "Call this a stick," he bellowed, "and you assert; call this not a stick, and you negate. Now, do not assert or negate, what would you call this stick? Speak! Speak!"
Here are my first two example questions so others get the point (I encourage others to add their own questions in the comments):
1. You are about to begin a permanent pacemaker implant on an 85 year old woman with a serum creatinine level of 3.2 who presented with complete heart block and a wide complex escape rhythm of 35 to your emergency room. Her vital signs are otherwise stable. You know you don't receive payment for placement of a temporary pacemaker wire before the permanent pacemaker is implanted. Your patient is right-handed, so an IV is started in her left arm in anticipation of an ipsilateral pacemaker implant. She receives appropriate skin prep (another question in this, perhaps?) and prophylactic antibiotics (maybe another on this?) before her procedure. The next best approach before proceeding would be:There, Questions 1 and 2 for our OWN new certification process are in.
A.) Place a temporary pacing wire via the right femoral venous approach before proceeding anyway.
B) Use vascular ultrasound to carefully identify the precise location of the axillary vein before attempting a blind stick based on classic subclavian access techniques.
C) Withdraw the stylette approximately 2 cm before advancing the RV lead in the patient's ventricle to minimize the chance of ventricular perforation.
4) B and C above.
5) A, B, and C above.
2. The new "pacemaker in situ" ICD-10 code to minimize patient hassles receiving payment for your services is:
Now, who's got some more?


text: Why have I started to be logged out of this site automatically? I have it set to remember me so that I don't have to keep logging in. I keep this site as a tab on firefox. However several times today when I have gone to the codeguru tab in firefox I have had to log on again. I don't want to have to keep logging in. Before today it was keeping me logged in all the time with no problem. Has something changed?


text:
|Price Per Capsule
|Price (US $)
|Add to Cart
|Add to Cart
|Add to Cart
All the health and medical information provided over here is for general purposes only. We in no way can match up to the expertise and judgement of your healthcare provider. Therefore, we would recommend you to always consult your doctor first before taking any drug or medication, to certify the safety and efficacy of it on you.
Danazol 50mg Caps
Danazol 100mg Caps
Their packaging is discrete and is always delivered safely but when I received my last order, one of the inhalers was damaged. I contacted the Customer Support and they immediately reshipped the medication with no additional cost. They have been ...
Nathan Wright
Excellent company, I've ordered several times with them and all my orders have been processed smoothly. Great communication, fast shipping, would definitely recommend them.
Olivia Carter
The product was packaged perfectly and the order was delivered within the scheduled time frame. They have the best price available and the quality of the medication is of top grade, there is nothing more I could have asked for.
Samuel Billings
The product is as advertised on the website, I have made a few purchases here and am very happy with the results from the medication. The quality of the product is very good, I would continue to get my supplies from this online pharmacy.
Nolan Green
I am very happy with their ongoing referral program, I have referred 3 of my friends and the referral amount was added to my account within a week. I would surely be referring more of my friends.
Caleb Rivera
They have always been quick to respond to my emails and provide prompt resolution at the earliest. They even call to update on the issue, I am really very happy with the services received so far.
Ryan Williams
Disclaimer The products mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners and are not owned by or affiliated with daynightdrugs or any of its associated companies. Information provided on this website is for general purposes only. It is not intended to take place of advice from your practitioner. It is for the knowledge of the site visitors at large that the brand names mentioned under Search column or under different categories, are meant merely as a guide. It should not be construed or misunderstood that the site has any remotest intention to market the 'Similar in composition to' Brand named drug or that the site has any tie-up or link with the manufacturers or traders of the 'Similar in composition to' named medicine .
Processing currency - All transactions are processed in US Dollars
Copyright ©2008-2020
All Rights Reserved


text:
Our ministry often refers to the "opposite of poverty." And you might think that we are referring to wealth. The opposite of poor is obviously rich, right?
Actually, in order to answer the question, we first must be able to understand what poverty really is.
There is spiritual poverty … having no access to the gospel or never hearing about our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Sadly, millions of people around the world do not know that Jesus loves them. So the opposite of spiritual poverty is obviously having access to the gospel. It means knowing who Jesus is and how much He wants a relationship with everyone.
There is educational poverty. For hundreds of millions around the world, education is a luxury they cannot afford.
Think about that statement, "education is a luxury." And imagine what that means for those who are trying to keep up in a changing world.
Lack of education creates a lack of options, difficulty in finding employment. So the opposite of educational poverty is the opportunity for advancement, new learning and practical training.
There is social poverty. In many parts of the world, there are people groups who are simply "undervalued." Women have few or no rights, children have no voice, no platform … few or no rights.
So the opposite of social poverty is obviously a world where everyone is valued. Where there is community, or at least opportunity for community, and where governments recognize the value of every citizen.
There is health poverty. It may sound foreign to most of you reading this blog, but there are many, many people around the world who don't even know the importance of brushing their teeth, or making sure the water they drink is clean.
There are men, women and children throughout our planet who believe that debilitating, crippling pain is just part of life — not knowing that it could be cured or treated, if only given the opportunity.
We've hear stories of village mothers who deprive their children of water when the children have diarrhea … believing that diarrhea means the child has has too much water. Not understanding that the very thing a child with diarrhea needs is more fluids.
We teach kids how to care for their bodies. Health poverty also includes those millions of people around the world who have no access to health care. So the opposite of health poverty may be the opportunity to get basic medical/health needs taken care of. It means the ability to learn how to take care of your own body.
There is environmental poverty. I have walked in parts of the world where families live in parched land, with dirt floors, where sewage trenches trickle outside their front doors.
Not every person in the world needs a mansion or even a 2,000 square foot, carpeted home. But every person should have safe shelter. Every person should have access to clean air and clean water. That's the opposite of environmental poverty.
And, of course, there's economic poverty. Can you believe there are millions of people around the world who do backbreaking work for 8 to 12 hours per day, for less than $2 pay?
Seriously? How can you feed a family on that kind of money? You can't.
But the opposite of economic poverty isn't for each of these people to suddenly become wealthy. The opposite of economic poverty is to have enough. Enough income to feed your family. Enough income to provide shelter for your family. That's hardly too much to ask.
So, as you partner with us or your church or another ministry organization to fight poverty, it's good to have a better understanding of what that really means.
We're not called to make the poor become rich, uber-athletes, Ph.Ds or super-theologians. We're not called to give them the opportunities to live in paradisaical environments. We're called to make sure they have enough in each of these categories. So the opposite of poverty isn't wealth. It's simply … enough.
LINK UP: Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (a.k.a. World Poverty Day). Don't be silent. Take some time to make some noise. Write a post about extreme poverty and then share it with us by linking up below.


text:
Odds are against the stock market's aging bull making it through a sixth year, but this is no ordinary bull market.
Analysts expect stocks to continue running higher but at a slower pace than the 30 percent gain of last year.
It was five years ago this week that the S&P 500 plunged to an intraday low of 666, forcing capitulation of even the steadiest hands in a market panicking on fears that the financial sector was so ill it couldn't be cured.


text:
Coverage: row2k | Rowing News
USRowing | Rowing Canada Aviron
BLED, Slovenia—Gold medalist Esther Lofgren '08-09, bronze medalist Malcolm Howard '05 and 19-year-old finalist Andrew Campbell led a group of five current and former Harvard and Radcliffe athletes who reached top-level finals in four events in the 2011 World Rowing Championships, which concluded Sunday on Lake Bled.
Campbell, a Harvard sophomore, finished fourth in the lightweight men's single, while Lofgren won a world title with U.S. women's eight for the second straight year and Howard placed third as part of Canada's men's eight. Austin Meyer and Will Newell '11 finished fifth with the U.S. lightweight men's eight.
Henrik Rummel '09 and the U.S. men's eight placed second in the B final, eighth overall. Caryn Davies '05 earned the same finish in the women's pair.
Rowing in the bow seat for the United States, Lofgren was the first athlete across the finish line as the boat posted a winning time of 6:03.65, three-quarters of a second faster than second-place Canada. It is the sixth world title in a row for the United States in the event. The Americans were in fifth place out of six crews through the first 500 meters of Friday's final but had moved into second by the midway point and took the lead in the third 500.
Howard, who won gold in the eight at the 2008 Olympics and returned to the boat this year after competing in the single, helped the Canadian entry rally past Australia to finish third in Thursday's final. The Canadians finished two-fifths of a second ahead of the Aussies and 0.35 seconds back of runner-up Great Britain. Rummel and the U.S. boat missed the A final by one spot, placing fourth in their semifinal.
Campbell, coached by Harvard lightweight head coach Charley Butt, earned the best U.S. finish since 2002 in the lightweight men's single, finishing in 7:06.64 and missing a medal by 3.3 seconds. He was competitive throughout Friday's final, rowing in second place through 500 meters and third place through 1,500. It was his world-championship final in 18 months. He won bronze medals at the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championships and the 2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
The U.S. lightweight men's eight placed fifth in its final, about three seconds behind fourth-place France and 4.5 back of bronze-medalist Demark.
Davies advanced straight to the semifinals with a second-place heat finish, but the U.S. women's pair missed the final by one spot with a fourth-place showing in the semifinals.


text:
JAPAN ignores Child Abduction because of Racism
Japan Ignores Child Abduction because of Racism
By Lee Jay Walker
The Modern Tokyo Times
|Japan ignores child abduction because of racism
The government of Japan continues to allow international child abduction because it is clear that many national governments have asked Japan to change the legal system. However, the government of Japan just ignores the issue or brushes it under the carpet. Yet one aspect of Japanese law is clear, and this is the racial nature of the legal system and how Japanization is the "heart" of this policy. Therefore, why isn't Japan deemed to be a pariah in the international community?
Firstly, I want to highlight the case of Shane Clarke, a British national, because The Guardian newspaper highlighted his case on Sept. 15, 2008. Before focusing on this case it is important to mention that The Guardian newspaper is very liberal, therefore, you always get a balanced point of view.
The article, written by Justin McCurry, highlights the problem of child abduction in Japan and the ineffectiveness of the legal system in this nation. Sadly, but only all too frequently, Shane Clarke would soon understand that the legal system in Japan is not based on fairness, equality, justice, or equal rights; on the contrary, he would see the true nature of Japanese family law which is based on racism and inactivity.
Shane Clarke states about his Japanese wife that "From the moment I met her at Narita airport I knew something was wrong." He continued by stating that "The whole thing had been orchestrated."
Yet I would add further, that the whole thing being orchestrated literally means "the whole thing being orchestrated." I am talking about the government, the judicial system, the police, and all major institutions being "orchestrated" in order to preserve the supremacy of Japanese nationals over non-Japanese nationals.
Justin McCurry states the following "Japan is the only G7 nation not to have signed the 1980 Hague convention on civil aspects of child abduction, which requires parents accused of abducting their children to return them to their country of habitual residence. He is one of an estimated 10,000 parents, divorced or separated from their Japanese spouses, who have been denied access to their children. Since the Hague treaty came into effect, not a single ruling in Japan has gone in favour of the foreign parent.
Yes, read again, "not a single ruling in Japan has gone in favour of the foreign parent." Therefore, no right-minded individual with these statistics can claim that the justice system is based on equality in Japan. The only other possible conclusion can be racism and we are talking about institutional and systematic racism. Also, we are talking about collusions and "done deals" between different institutions in the name of "Japanization."
Surely this issue must be raised at the United Nations? Yet sadly, many national governments like the British are hypocrites because the government of the United Kingdom understands full well that child abduction in Japan is a major reality. Therefore, how can the British government support Japan over the abduction issue in North Korea, yet remain quiet over the abduction of British children of mixed blood in Japan?
However, the European Union, America, and Canada, are all urging Japan to sign the Hague Convention which relates to children. Of course the British government is too meek and mainly interested in economic issues, therefore, Japan makes the most of its economic clout and the indifference of many national governments.
Turning back to the case of Shane Clarke, he would soon understand that the legal system of Japan is not based on equality but on racism. Also, he would soon find out that the British government is compliant and helping Japan to violate human rights by remaining silent and indifferent.
Shane Clarke states "We are talking about two British citizens, and no one will help me. The message our government is sending out to foreign nationals is that it's perfectly all right for them to commit a crime on British soil, and as long as they leave the country quickly enough, they'll get away scot-free."
Justin McCurry also notes "he can expect little sympathy from Japanese courts, which do not recognize parental child abduction as a crime and habitually rule in favour of the custodial – Japanese – parent." Not surprisingly, Japan is being rebuked for being "a haven for child abductors" by campaigners.
Therefore, Japan should be taken to the United Nations and a binding resolution should be passed on this nation. After all, 10,000 cases involving a non-Japanese national and a Japanese national in Japan but despite this high number, not one single case where a foreign national won equality or justice? Therefore, racism and a system which loathes the "outsider" is clearly a reality in modern Japan.
The talking must stop because action is now needed and it is vital that this issue is raised until Japan is shamed into acting like a normal developed nation. Clearly Japan will only act if all major powers raise this issue and ordinary citizens must do more to put pressure on national leaders.
Japan is an international pariah when it comes to international child abduction and clearly Japan wants to become a permanent member of the United Nations. Therefore, it is important to focus on Japan's "weak spot" and raise this issue with the United Nations and to make sure that all national governments know about this important issue.