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Barking Up The Right Tree
"April showers bring May flowers." Have you all heard that old time saying? The dogwoods are blooming that means the red horse (fish) are shoaling, laying their eggs at the shoals on the rivers and streams. If you don't have this kind of fish in your area, let me describe them. They are built like a sucker, but they have red fins and some red scales on both sides of their back. They do get up to over two feet long. They are good to eat, by pressure cooking the bones along with the rest of the fish after skinning and defining them, then you form them into patties and you can save them in the freeze or fiy them up. The way we caught them was with nine hooks (regular hooks) tied about four inches apart near the end of the line with a heavy piece of lead weight at the end. The line was about twenty feet long and was tied to a twenty foot river cane. You just throw upstream; drag the line and hooks down across their egg beds. This was a great deal of fun. It's so much fun it could keep a person there about three days, (Ha, ha.) Oh, and I might add, you would need a 50 pound test line.
Well, how are you readers doing? Real well I hope.
I received a surprise call from a friend from about twenty some years ago. It was Roger Wagner and we talked for an hour. He sure brought back a lot of wonderful memories about hunting black bear. I was in there where he was hunting near the Upper Peninsula in the great State of Michigan several years ago. There was quite a bit that he told me about that I had forgotten. He was hunting Redbones at the time and I had gone up to see how a young Bluetick was doing that I had sent up there for hunting bear and to collect my money. Roger was operating an insurance agency and I was also in the insurance business and again we both were raising children and as you readers know that keeps you pretty busy and doesn't leave much time for bear hunting or any other kind of hunting.
Roger said he had tried out Redbones, Blueticks and Walkers, and now was into Leopard Curs and the mule called Kawasaki.
He mentioned that he knew O.L. Beckham; we both were acquainted with him. I'm sure Roger met him several times at the big hunt at Kenton, Ohio. In my opinion, O.L. Beckham was a great guy and a great column writer. I read his column for years and so did Roger.
Roger said he took a trophy bear in about 2005 that weighed 538 pounds. I hope to get some pictures and stories from him. They had the wolves come in to their area in 1992 and took a big toll on the deer population. He and his hunting party last September took three black bear and only saw eleven deer in eight days. I'm looking forward to hearing from you, Roger. I'm sure we have a lot to discuss about the past and the future.
I sure enjoyed trips to Michigan to hunt the black bear and the fellowship with the hunters up there. They are great people.
I did an oil painting of a hunting lodge where I stayed at one time on one of my trips, then I sold it the same day I finished it. I will paint another one someday. I just keep putting it off. Every once in a while, I look at the pictures of the lodge where I stayed while hunting. Hunting black bear is a great thrill and I have had several thrills. The closer the bear is the more of a thrill, in my opinion.
I received a letter from my youngest brother, Loy McCoy, Torrington, Wyoming. He had purchased a new 243 Ruger rifle and scope.
He said last year he shot at five mule deer with his bow but missed all five shots. He had a black bear walk through his camp and saw several elk while hunting in the Medicine Bow National Forest, and saw very few deer. That's not like him to miss his target. His new grandson Justin is now walking. He has only one grandson and I can tell he's very proud. He was telling me that he spent a lot of money duck and goose hunting but no luck. Don't feel bad, Loy, my luck has not been good either when it comes to hunting that is the last couple of years. I stay too busy and fail to plan hunts. I hope to be able to manage better this year and just take off and do it.
I plan to plant gourd seed next week; to me they are pretty tricky to grow. I have some new seed, one kind is hen and goose egg size and the other kind is big goose neck gourds. I am going to try long straight neck gourds also. They are the hardest for me to grow. They have to be grown on a fence where the gourds hang down this causes the neck to be long because of the weight. If anyone wants to try their hand at growing gourds, send a self-addressed, four by nine inch envelope with a stamp on it and I will send the seed free. I have received several orders this year. "It's time to plant!"
My sister-in-law Pat McCoy, Guernsey, Wyoming, sent me a CD with eight songs she had written through the years. They are good; I have been listening to them every morning while going for coffee. Thanks, Pat, for sharing your songs with me. I have recorded 267 Country, Western and Gospel songs on CDs. It is one of my favorite hobbies and I enjoy it very much. I play the keyboard and sing, my daughter Lena plays the guitar. In some of the songs I play the mouth harp or play the guitar. It's fun, you all should try it some time. It's some good clean fun.
My flowers are beautiful this year and there are several different types.
My hideout (outside patio) is looking good. I have cleared it out and it has more room by taking a few trees out. There is a small swing, picnic table and a fire and grill area. The pecan tree has lots of blooms this year and is also a nice shade for the hideout. I hope to add several items in the near future. It's big enough to play horseshoe, croquet and I ride my 4-wheeler though it. I also have targets around the inside for the grandsons to practice shooting at with their BB guns.
One of my grandsons, Trevor, is turning 15 and it's time for him to get down to some real shooting. First with the BB gun, then we can take it to an even higher level. We're going to start out with a small pebble and a twine string. The string will be tied to something solid, and then the pebble will be tied on the bottom end of the twine string about one foot down so the weight will hold the string straight and still. He will start practicing at fifteen feet and then when he can cut the string at fifteen feet regularly, we'll then go on to the twenty foot shots. When he gets good at it and he will, we will start using the 22 caliber rifle. He is already a good shot. He killed a squirrel when he was nine years old with his .22 rifle. It was up a tree about 50 to 60 feet. He is lucky to have a steady arm and hand, and a good eye to go with it. I have to get my bragging in every month about my grandsons and my friends, (Ha, ha.)
At this point as a NRA Member and a News Media Outlet for the Association, here is a special report by Chris W. Cox NRA-ILA, Executive Director, and I quote.
"Whatever you think is the most important issue facing voters this year — the Second Amendment and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, or any other issues that Americans are concerned with at this truly pivotal point in history — Election Day 2012 is about the future of our country.
That's why it's not going to be enough just to vote in November. We have to go the extra mile by helping our candidates' campaigns and by making sure our family members and friends are registered to vote—and that they exercise that right this year.
But we also need to be able to tell our friends why they should vote this November, whether to win election in 2008, to help his congressional allies before the mid-term elections in 2010 or to dupe voters in electoral battleground states today. It's also the repetitive, arrogant disregard for legal and traditional limits on presidential power.
For example most gun owners are aware of the Obama administration's illegal expansions of the federal multiple sales reporting requirement. By law, the requirement applies only when dealers sell two or more handguns to an individual in five business days, but the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has now begun applying it to semi-automatic rifles. November, will help both to defeat Obama and to put out Second Amendment supporters in control of both houses of congress. For that task, we can take advice from Shakespeare: "What's past is prologue." To foresee what President Obama would do if elected to a second term, look at his first term (and earlier)—then imagine him pursuing his radical goals to the fullest without fear of how voters would react. We've already detailed the anti-Second Amendment record Obama amassed before he ran for our nation's highest office. For all the details go to www.gunbanobama.com.
Then consider the things Obama has done since taking office. If you're like me and like most of the NRA members I meet around the country—you're disgusted by what has come out of the White House in the last three years. It's not just Obama's false claim of supporting the second states that boarder Mexico that's only the tip of the iceberg, however.
In January Obama appointed four individuals to government posts without congress' approval. It would have been equally possible for him to appoint gun control activist Andrew Traver to head the BATFE, except that it would have angered gun-owning voters in the states that he cannot afford to lose in November.
And in February the New York Times pointed out that while the Federal Espionage Act was used to prosecute government officials accused of providing classified information to the media only three times between 1917 and 2008, Obama has used it six times. As ABC News' Jake Tapper put it during a White House briefing, Obama has been aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistle-blowers to court.
Whistle-blowers play an important roll of course without them, we might never have known that BATFE and U.S. Attorney's officials authorized "walking" guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels as part of "Operations Fast and Furious." That revelation led to an ongoing investigation by Congress and even the mainstream news media, and now we know the officials within the Obama justice department were willing to have people die at the hands of criminals armed with "walked" guns in Mexico, just so they could use those crimes to call for gun control in the United States.
Even if Obama won a second term, his successor could end "gun walking" and the gun registration scheme it was used to justify. It would be much harder to undo the damage from more Obama appointments to Supreme Court. Of the two justices he's appointed so far, Sonia Sotomayor joined Justice Stephen Breyer's dissenting opinion in McDonald v. City of Chicago, in which Justice Breyer said he could, "find nothing in the Second Amendment's history or underlying rationale that could warrant characterizing it as 'fundamental' insofar as it seeks to protect the keeping and bearing of arms for private self-defense purposes." This reasoning obviously, would have made the Second Amendment a dead letter. Obama's other pick, Elena Kagan, was a key part of the Clinton administration's gun control efforts as a White House policy adviser.
The importances of Supreme Court nominations cannot be overstated. The Heller and McDonald cases in which the court declared that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental, individual right that applies everywhere in the United States, where both decided by five-four votes. If Obama is able to replace just one of the five justices who vindicated the Second Amendment in those cases, the right to arms will be in peril for generations.
One of the four justices who voted against the Second Amendment in those cases, and who has said that overturning the Heller decision is a priority, was Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In February, Ginsburg went to Egypt, where she said, "I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012, instead," she said, "I might look at the constitution of South Africa," and she also advocated Canada's 1982 Charter of the Rights and Freedoms and the European Convention on Human Rights. Naturally none of these documents recognize an individual right to keep and bear arms.
But Supreme Court justices are only a tiny handful of any president's nominees. Consider the people that Obama has brought to the executive branch of the federal government.
There's Vice-President Joe Biden, a longtime gun control supporter in the Senate.
There's former congressman and Bill Clinton advisor Rahm Emanuel who served as Obama's Chief of Staff before becoming Mayor of Chicago. In his latest role, he recently asked the Illinois State Legislature to require anyone who buys a handgun to pay a $65 five-year registration fee, with a renewal fee of $25, and to impose a 2% tax on firearm ammunition purchases.
Then there's Obama's Attorney General, longtime gun control supporter Eric Holder. Before his nomination, Holder joined a "friend of the court" brief in District of Columbia v. Heller, taking the position that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual right to arms.
Soon after taking his new job, Holder called for bringing back the federal "assault weapon" ban of 1994. Out of fear of riling gun owners before the 2010 mid-term congressional election, gun control supporters in Congress didn't oblige with new gun-ban legislation, so for the sake of political expediency Holder temporarily went mum.
But on February 2, during a House of Representative Committee on Oversight and Government reform hearing on "Fast and Furious," Holder admitted that "This administration has consistently favored the reinstitution of the assault weapons ban." When asked why he or the president had not requested Congress to consider a new ban, Holder replied, "I'll be more than glad to submit something for consideration."
There's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who advocated gun owner licensing and national handgun registration before running for president in 2008. She has since agreed with Mexican President Felipe Calderon that America is much to blame for the violence perpetrated by Mexico's drug cartels; and who recently indicated that the U.S. supports a strong Arms Trade Treaty and is prepared to work for it at the United Nations Conference of the treaty, scheduled for July.
There's Arne Duncan, appointed by Obama to head the Department of Education. Duncan's position on Second Amendment issues has best summed up by Duncan himself. Accepting a "Man of the Year" award from an anti-gun lobbying group in Illinois in 2008 said, "We'll keep fighting the NRA, the gun makers, the gun dealers… We'll fight them in Springfield in the courts, in the community, and even in the home."
There's Obama's "regulatory czar" Cass Sunstein, an animal extremist who has said, "We ought to ban hunting," and who thinks animals should be able to file lawsuits against people. If you wonder what kind of mind would produce such a nonsensical proposition, consider that Sunstein also believes that "Without taxes there would be no liberty. Without taxes there would be no property. Without taxes, few of us would have any assets worth defending."
There's Andrew Traver again, Obama's nominee to head the BATFE. Traver served as an advisor to a "Gun Violence Reduction Project" funded by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, which has donated more than $26 million to anti-gun causes since 2003. (More than 18 million of the total was donated during the years when Barack Obama was a Member of the foundation's Board of Directors.) Traver also collaborated with Chicago's NBC-TV News affiliate in a story that was supposedly about semi-automatic "assault weapons," but which showed machine guns being fired.
Obama said three years ago that he believed in "Change." With only a few months to go before the elections, I expect you and I couldn't agree more. Together, our ballots will help decide whether America will become more like the countries that Obama and his allies such as Justice Ginsburg admire—or whether Election Day 2012 goes down in history as the day we reaffirmed our belief that America is different, and ended the failed Obama experiment once and for all.
And I agree with Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice-President and I quote.
"Every gun owner must be 'All In' to defeat Barack Obama in the political fight of our generation this November 6 — when all of our freedoms are on the line."
Marvin Dewitt called from Forgeville, Kentucky, to mention that he has been reading "Barking up the Right Tree" for years and years and enjoys it very much. He said he was slacking up on coon hunting at age sixty-six. He did have a Walker that was age ten. Marvin has worked at an aluminum plant for 38 years. He now hunts an English Redtick female on squirrel. His female is seven years old but is coming along really good. He just got through killing a big timber rattler. Marvin is pro-gun 100%, and understands that the anti-gun movement into attacking our ammunition supplier, and that the gun is worthless without ammunition. We talked about how serious the situation is and that over 80,000 gun owners need to get in there and vote. You hunters and gun owners amount to a lot more than 80,000 people, and know if you think about it who to vote for. We take a big chance in the next election, think of it, presidents and their followers do drastic things when they are going out of office. Right now the antis are quiet until the election is over, and then they will come down on us like gangbusters.
Something else that Marvin said that kind of shook me up a bit. He stated three times he had good dogs and all three where stolen. It reminded me of something that happened many years ago. My dad had a topnotch Bluetick hound and most bragged to dad about his great Blue dog. Remembering back it was in the late 40's and times was not good, but that's not the reason for my little story. Dad went and bought a pup that was out of his Blue dog. It was eight weeks old and stayed in his little bed just under the porch. We went somewhere and came home to find the puppy was lying on the porch beat to a pulp and they left the big rock laying there by his lifeless body, I guess to show how they killed him. Now what I have experienced through the years about people, people that would do that are killers of animals and humans. They grow up loving to kill little animals like frogs, baby rabbits, little possums, and baby coons. They learn to enjoy taking the life of animals. I know now that we had a killer living pretty close in our neighborhood. In police work I found out that these people that murder other people killed little animals when they were five, six, seven, and eight and when they were real young and after growing up they moved into something they enjoyed a lot better and that was to kill a human being. These murderers love to see the life go out of a person. They love to watch their eyes as the spirit leaves them. I will always remember how disheartening it was to imagine someone that would want to kill that little pup. I was only nine or ten years old at the time but it will always stick in my memory.
Years ago I did a story about how I had to put up with my old slick saddle. I ran across a good picture of that very saddle. I don't ride it any more but it's one of my best riding days and the picture was taken in 1983. I would like to show the picture to you readers. It was quite a challenge to just stay in it.
I had a visit with Don Story, Bentonville, Arkansas. Don is a retired Walmart truck driver. He is a very interesting person to talk to. He and I have a lot in common, one is music. He plays the fiddle at several gatherings in northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. We are both cowboys and have been retired several years. I enjoy visiting with Don and hope to see him again before long.
I was talking to a hunter about his hunting dog that got bit by a big rattler, and the dog was given 30cc of Benadryl and then in 30 minutes they did it again. The dog was a medium size dog; it put him to sleep and helped him to sleep it off and got all right. I can believe that and in case of an emergency I would take the chance in order to save my dog.
Another photo is of a nine point, whitetail, buck deer taken in 1982 with my fifty caliber, black powder, Hawkins rifle.
The next picture is of me in 1965 dealing with society. I was there when they needed me.
That's all for "Barking up the Right Tree" this month. Happy hunting to all!
By Max McCoy
Barking up the Right Tree By Max McCoy PDF Download


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Freedom in the World
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Freedom Rating (1 = best, 7 = worst)
Civil Liberties (1 = best, 7 = worst)
Political Rights (1 = best, 7 = worst)
Ratings Change:
Iraq's political rights rating improved from 6 to 5 due to free and competitive provincial elections in early 2009 and an increase in the Iraqi government's autonomy as U.S. troops began their phased withdrawal.
Iraq successfully held provincial elections in January 2009, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Da'wa party emerging as the biggest winner. The parliament in November managed to pass legislation that would govern the scheduled 2010 national elections, but a veto by the presidency council threatened to hold up the polls, forcing lawmakers to pass a revised law in December. Also during the year, U.S. forces transferred security responsibilities to their Iraqi counterparts and began withdrawing from the country under a new bilateral security agreement. There were a series of sectarian killings and deadly attacks on government institutions in 2009, but widespread violence remained at an ebb.
The modern state of Iraq was established after World War I as a League of Nations mandate administered by Britain. The British installed a constitutional monarchy that privileged the Sunni Arab minority at the expense of Kurds and Shiite Arabs. Sunni Arab political dominance continued after independence in 1932 and a military coup that toppled the monarchy in 1958. The Arab nationalist Baath party seized power in 1968, and the new regime's de facto strongman, Saddam Hussein, assumed the presidency in 1979.
Hussein brutally suppressed all opposition and made foreign policy decisions that placed a heavy burden on the country. Iraq fought a destructive war with Iran from 1980 to 1988, and then invaded Kuwait in 1990, only to be ousted by a U.S.-led coalition the following year. After the war, the United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Iraq in a bid to limit its military capacity, force Hussein to allow international verification of the elimination of the country's weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and compel Iraq into resolving its border dispute with Kuwait. The sanctions remained in place for over a decade and caused widespread humanitarian suffering without achieving the intended goals.
Following the establishment of a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone north of the 36th parallel in 1991, most of the three northern provinces of Erbil, Duhok, and Sulimaniyah came under the control of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The two factions fought openly in the mid-1990s, but they eventually reconciled and established an autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
A U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003 and established a Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to administer the country. It disbanded the Iraqi military and prevented members of the Baath party from serving in government or the new security forces. The lack of a viable military and a dearth of foreign soldiers created a security vacuum, leading to widespread looting, damage to infrastructure, and acute electricity and water shortages. The alleged WMD that inspired the invasion were never found.
Sunni Arabs, who constitute roughly 20 percent of the population, were disproportionately affected by de-Baathification policies and wary of participating in a political transition that could hand power to the Shiite majority. Exploiting these sentiments, loose networks of former Baathist officials, Sunni Arab tribe members, and Islamist militants associated with Al-Qaeda began organizing and funding an insurgency that rapidly gained strength in late 2003 and 2004.
Insurgents threatened Sunni Arabs and ensured that they boycotted the 2005 elections for a Transitional National Assembly (TNA) and provincial governments. As a result, Shiite and Kurdish parties won a landslide victory, and Sunni Arabs were not well represented in the new Iraqi Transitional Government (ITG) or the drafting process for a permanent constitution. The charter was approved by referendum in October 2005, though more than two-thirds of voters in two largely Sunni Arab provinces rejected it. Under a compromise brokered as a concession to Sunni demands, the first elected parliament would form a Constitutional Review Committee to determine whether the document should be amended.
Meanwhile, Shiite party militias were able to infiltrate the Interior Ministry's police and counterinsurgency forces, and extrajudicial detentions and killings by both the militias and militia-dominated police units became common during 2005 and 2006. Sunni militias responded in kind, and an intense cycle of sectarian conflict ensued. Ethnically cleansed or segregated neighborhoods soon became a fixture in Baghdad and other multiethnic provinces.
Sunni Arabs participated in the December 2005 elections for a full-term parliament, increasing their political representation. Nouri al-Maliki of the Shiite Da'wa party was chosen as prime minister. However, further political progress remained elusive; the main Sunni Arab bloc in parliament and a Shiite faction loyal to populist cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr both began a boycott of the legislature in 2007.
The parliament adopted several symbolic measures in 2008 to bring Sunni Arabs back into the political process. In January many former Baathists were permitted to return to jobs they lost under the CPA's de-Baathification process, and in February the government granted amnesty to thousands of mainly Sunni Arab prisoners. The largest Sunni bloc returned to government in April after a boycott of almost a year, and six Sunni ministers subsequently joined al-Maliki's cabinet.
In January 2009, Iraq held provincial elections that were originally scheduled for October 2008. Under electoral legislation passed in late 2008, voters could choose candidates rather than party lists, the use of religious symbols in campaigning was restricted, a 25 percent quota was set for female council members, and just six seats—down from 15 in an earlier draft—were set aside for Christians and other small minorities out of a total of 440 provincial council seats. The voting was largely peaceful, and turnout in most provinces ranged from 50 percent to 75 percent. On the whole, al-Maliki's Da'wa party emerged as the winner, though it needed to form coalitions to govern in most provinces. Sharp political and sectarian divisions remained, however; in five provinces the leading parties missed April deadlines, delaying the formation of governments.
The January elections did not include the autonomous Kurdish region or the contested province of Kirkuk. A referendum to determine whether Kirkuk would join the Kurdish region remained delayed, despite a constitutional provision that had required it before the end of 2007. In Ninewa—another province divided between Sunni Arabs and Kurds, as well as Turkmens and a number of smaller groups—the Kurds lost representation due to greater participation by Sunni Arab and Turkmen voters, who had largely abstained from earlier provincial balloting. Elections in July for the Kurdish regional parliament and presidency featured high turnout and a fairly strong showing by a new opposition bloc called Gorran (Change), which took about a quarter of the parliamentary vote.Nevertheless, the ruling PUK-KDP alliance maintained its dominance, and President Massoud Barzani of the KDP won reelection. Gorran alleged that many of its supporters were subsequently fired from government jobs.
In November, the parliament passed a new election law to govern the 2010 national elections. However, it was vetoed by the presidency council, as Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, argued that it did not provide enough representation to Iraqis residing abroad. A slightly revised law was finally passed in December. It called for an open-list, proportional-representation voting system, with multimember districts corresponding to the 18 provinces. A total of eight seats were reserved for Christians and other small religious minorities. Under an internationally brokered compromise on Kirkuk, Sunni Arab, Turkmen, and Kurdish factions agreed to use a 2009 voter registry rather than an older version, despite their suspicions about the legitimacy of a large influx of Kurdish residents since 2003; however, the election results would be subject to a UN-led investigation if fraud was alleged.
Under a 2008 security agreement between Iraq and the United States, U.S. troops in 2009 completed a withdrawal from Iraqi cities and transferred authority over security and combat operations to Iraqi forces. Iraqi officials also obtained authority over prisoners and the power to prosecute U.S. personnel in some circumstances. About 140,000 U.S. troops were stationed in Iraq as of early 2009, and the U.S. government planned to withdraw most from the country by late 2010, though up to 50,000 could remain through the end of 2011, when all U.S. forces had to leave under the security pact. Despite the Iraqi government's increased autonomy, it was unable to provide basic services to its people; certain areas of Baghdad still received only six hours of electricity daily.
The U.S. withdrawal came in the context of apparently durable security improvements since 2007, when an additional 30,000 U.S. troops had been deployed to help suppress rampant sectarian and insurgent violence. Sunni militias had also increasingly turned against the insurgency and Al-Qaeda in those years. Between 379 and 677 Iraqi civilians and security personnel were killed monthly between January and October 2009, a considerable decline from 2008 numbers. The violence that remained often had a sectarian character; 35 Shiite pilgrims were killed by a suicide bomber in February, as were another 140 in April, and Shiite mosques in Baghdad and Karbala were bombed in September. There were almost daily attacks in the ethnically, religiously, and politically contested city of Mosul. A coordinated series of bombings struck Christian sites in Baghdad and Mosul in July; other minorities, including Turkmens and Shabaks, were also targets of periodic violence.
Other attacks during the year focused on Iraqi government sites. The police academy was bombed in March, as were the offices of the Iraqi army. Insurgents attacked government food-distribution centers in April, and police officers at checkpoints across the country were targeted immediately after Ramadan. In October, the deadliest bombing in two years struck the Justice Ministry and the Baghdad provincial council complex, killing over 150 people and wounding more than 500.
Political Rights and Civil Liberties:
Iraq is not an electoral democracy. Although it has conducted meaningful elections, the country remains under the influence of a foreign military presence and impairments caused by sectarian and insurgent violence.Under the constitution, the president and two vice presidents are elected by the parliament and appoint the prime minister, who is nominated by the largest parliamentary bloc. Elections are held every four years. The prime minister forms a cabinet and runs the executive functions of the state. The parliament consists of a 275-seat lower house, the Council of Representatives, and a still-unformed upper house, the Federal Council, which would represent provincial interests. The lower house is set to expand to 325 seats in 2010. Political parties representing a wide range of viewpoints operate without restrictions, but the Baath party is officially banned. The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI), whose nine-member board was selected by a UN advisory committee, has sole responsibility for administering elections.
Home to one-fifth of the country's population, the autonomous Kurdish region constitutes a distinct polity within Iraq, with its own flag, military units, and language. The 111-seat regional legislature remains dominated by the allied PUK and KDP, despite the presence of the new Gorran opposition bloc following 2009 elections. The Kurdish region's political leaders profess their commitment to remaining part of a federal Iraqi state, but Kurdish security forces maintain a de facto border with the rest of Iraq, and Iraqi Arabs are often treated as foreigners.
Iraq is plagued by pervasive corruption at all levels of government, and most offenders reportedly enjoy impunity. A national Integrity Commission is tasked with fighting corruption, but it conducts its investigations in secret and does not publish its findings until the courts have issued final decisions. In April 2009, an attempt by anticorruption authorities to arrest several Trade Ministry officials resulted in gunfire from ministry guards. A number of the suspects were ultimately arrested and sentenced to prison, and the trade minister, a member of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Da'wa party, was forced to resign in May and face charges himself. Recruits allegedly pay bribes to enter the security forces. Iraq was ranked 176 out of 180 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index.
Freedom of expression is protected by the constitution and generally respected by the authorities. However, it has been seriously impeded by sectarian tensions and fear of violent reprisals. Over a dozen private television stations are in operation, and major Arab satellite stations are easily accessible. More than 150 print publications have been established since 2003 and are allowed to function without significant government interference. Internet access is not currently restricted.
Legislation passed in 2006 criminalized the ridicule of public officials, who often file suits when journalists report on corruption allegations. An Iraqi court in May 2009 ordered the German-based Iraqi news website Kitabat to pay a billion dinars ($850,000) in damages for an article accusing al-Maliki's chief of staff of nepotism, though the prime minister then withdrew the lawsuit. In August, the Dubai-based satellite television station Al-Sharqiya was ordered to pay 100 million dinars for defamation against an Iraqi military spokesman, and Britain's Guardian newspaper was instructed to pay 100 million dinars in November for an article in which al-Maliki was accused of increasing authoritarianism.
Violent retribution against journalists has hindered their ability to report widely and objectively. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Iraq-based Journalistic Freedoms Observatory in June 2009 reported more than 70 cases of harassment and assault against journalists by Iraqi security forces since January. However, in an indication of the overall improvement in the security situation, CPJ documented only four murders of journalists in 2009, down from at least 11 in 2008 and more than 30 in each of the previous two years.Impunity for such murders remained the norm.
Journalists operate more freely in the Kurdish region, although a 2008 press law imposes fines for creating instability, spreading fear or intimidation, causing harm to people, or violating religious beliefs. Journalists who offend local officials and top party leaders or expose high-level corruption remain subject to physical attacks, arbitrary detention, and harassment. Kurdish broadcast media are dominated by the two main political parties, but independent print outlets and internet sites have arisen in recent years.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution, and religious institutions are allowed to operate with little formal oversight. However, all religious communities in Iraq have been threatened by sectarian violence. Estimates of the Christian population that has sought safety abroad since 2003 reach into the hundreds of thousands. Religious and ethnic minorities in northern Iraq—including Turkmens, Arabs, Christians, and Shabaks—have reported instances of discrimination and harassment by Kurdish authorities,though a number have fled to the Kurdish-controlled region due to its relative security. While sectarian violence declined in 2009, formerly mixed areas are now much more homogeneous, and terrorist attacks continue to be directed toward sectarian targets.
Academic institutions operate in a highly politicized and insecure environment. Hundreds of professors were killed during the peak of sectarian and insurgent violence, and many more stopped working or fled the country, though there have been some reports of scholars returning to their jobs following security improvements in the last two years.
Rights to freedom of assembly and association are recognized by the constitution and generally respected in practice. The constitution guarantees these rights "in a way that does not violate public order and morality." Domestic and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are able to operate without legal restrictions, and although safety concerns severely limit their activities in many areas, their situation improved along with general security conditions in 2009. The lack of a legal framework and registration system for NGOs also hinders their ability to function and attract donor funds.
The constitution provides for the right to form and join professional associations and unions. Union activity has flourished in nearly all industries since 2003, and strikes have not been uncommon. However, Iraq's 1987 labor law remains in effect, prohibiting unionization in the public sector, and a 2005 decree by the ITG gave authorities the power to seize all union funds and prevent their disbursal. A pro-union parliamentary committee was subsequently established to revise the decree and advance International Labour Organization–compliant labor laws that were drafted in 2004, but these have yet to be enacted.
Judicial independence is guaranteed in the constitution. The Higher Judicial Council—headed by the chief judge of the Federal Supreme Court and composed of Iraq's 17 chief appellate judges and several judges from the Federal Court of Cassation—has administrative authority over the court system. In practice, however, judges have come under immense political and sectarian pressure and have been largely unable to pursue cases involving organized crime, corruption, and militia activity, even when presented with overwhelming evidence. Iraqi citizens often turn to local militias and religious groups to dispense justice rather than seeking redress with official law enforcement bodies that are seen as corrupt or ineffective.
Those accused of committing war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity fall under the jurisdiction of the Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT), previously known as the Iraq Special Tribunal. The IHT statute does not explicitly require that guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and lacks adequate safeguards against self-incrimination. International observers noted numerous irregularities in the trial that culminated in the execution of former president Saddam Hussein in December 2006. Trials and sentencing procedures for a number of senior Hussein aides were ongoing in 2009.
The criminal procedure code and the constitution prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, though both practices are common in security-related cases. The constitution prohibits all forms of torture and inhumane treatment and affords victims the right to compensation, but authorities have not established effective safeguards against the mistreatment of detainees. Allegations of torture by security services have been serious and widespread. While KRG laws similarly prohibit inhumane treatment, it is widely acknowledged that Kurdish security forces practice illegal detention and questionable interrogation tactics.Detainees in U.S. custody have also experienced torture and mistreatment, although U.S. forces in 2009 were transferring their remaining detainees to Iraqi control. In September, the U.S. military closed Camp Bucca, once its largest detention facility in the country.
The constitution promises women equal rights under the law, though in practice they face various forms of legal and societal discrimination. Women are guaranteed 25 percent of the seats in the legislature, and their participation in public life has increased as the security situation has improved; in 2009, women entered the officer corps of the Iraqi police for the first time. While they still faced serious social pressure and restrictions, women also returned in larger numbers to jobs and universities. Women enjoy somewhat greater legal protections and social freedoms in the Kurdish region, but their political power is limited. Moreover, domestic abuse and so-called honor killings remain serious problems both in the Kurdish region and across the country. The laws applicable outside the Kurdish region offer leniency to the perpetrators of honor killings, and though the laws in the Kurdish region are more favorable towards women, honor killings and suicides of women accused of honor crimes persist. The U.S. State Department placed Iraq on the Tier 2 Watch List in its 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, noting problems including the trafficking and sexual exploitation of women from impoverished and displaced Iraqi families, and the abuse of foreign men and women who are recruited to work in Iraq.

subset: commoncrawl


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Burke Management provides professional assisted living property and senior housing property management. In three words we are; friendly, attentive, and comprehensive. It's a new direction for management, marketing and related services to the Retirement Community.
© 2009 Burke Management Company Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited
Phone:507.460.0235 | Address: 437 3rd St SE. Blooming Prairie, MN 55917


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Search Sightseeing & Tours
So many sights to see while you are in Aspen, and plenty of folks who are available to provide historical or environmental context and even give you a lift. Aspen Historical Society and Aspen Walking Tours, provide countless ways to take a step back in time while ACES provides guided tours of the natural habitat around us. Many recreation providers can arrange jeep tours or even helicopter tours as well as guided fishing or hunting trips. Any one of Aspen's longtime local operators will help you and your family find the perfect fit for any outing.


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Stereo Photography: 3D in the Digital Era
This clearly written and easy-to understand short course on stereo photography in the digital era explains step-by-step how you view, share, capture and edit your exciting 3D images. This guide is currently available as a 244 page (8.5 by 11 inch) full-color, fully searchable PDF eBook you can order on a CD or download instantly by clicking buttons to the right.
Click here to see a PDF file with typical sample pages from the book.
Skim the table of contents and preface that follow to learn more about this exciting new book.
Chapter 1
Viewing 3D Photos and Movies
Chapter 2
Displaying & Sharing 3D Photos and Movies
Chapter 3
Capturing Stereo Photographs
Chapter 4
Editing your Stereo Images
Eventually that era passed, along with its signature tail fins and sock hops, and stereo photography has been in the photographic background for decades. It was only with the 2009 introduction of the Fuji W1 stereo camera that stereo photography moved seriously into the digital era. This camera and its successors have reinvigorated and greatly simplified what had previously been a laborious process from beginning to end.
With so much happening all at once it's easy to get confused. The goal of this book is to sort things out for you so you can understand not just the digital stereo camera but the rest of the digital world in which it is embedded. If we talk about stereo film photography at all it's only for historical perspective. We also concentrate on the newer twin-lens digital stereo cameras, leaving esoteric two-camera combinations to others. However, much of what you learn here can be used with single-lens cameras—which are as good as twin-lens cameras when taking stereo close-ups of subjects such as flowers or distant scenes such as landscapes.
As you begin your journey in stereo photography, you are following in the footsteps of some our most esteemed photographers. Many of these, especially those practicing in the 19th century, photographed in stereo extensively because there was an insatiable market for stereo cards showing wonders of the world in 3D. Early stereo photographers include the inventors of photography Henry Fox Talbot and Louis Daguerre and other well-known photographers including George N. Barnard, Felix Beato, H.H. Bennett, Charles Bierstadt, Matthew B. Brady, Roger Fenton, F. Jay Haynes, Jack L. Hillers, Thormas Houseworth, William Henry Jackson, Eadweard J. Muybridge, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, A. J. Russell, Charles R. Savage and Carleton E. Watkins. Search the Web for any of these names to see examples of their work. Although we know the work of many of these photographers, those who worked as employees of the large stereo photography publishers such as E & HT Anthony and Keystone were usually not credited so remain anonymous. Also the negatives captured by well known photographers were traded and sold so it's sometimes hard to know who took which photos.
Click to order a PDF download of this book for $39.95US. After completing the checkout process, a download link is given on the thank you page and on your e-mail receipt.
Click to order a PDF copy of the book on a CD for $39.95US.


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3 things you should teach your kids about money
Even kids can and should learn how to manage their money wisely.
As soon as the book fair was announced at my kids' school last week, the daily requests for cash began pouring in. "Please can we have some money to buy books?" they begged me. My answer was always no, because I resent being coerced into spending money on something for which we have no need. I told them we'd go to the library instead.
But then, they wore me down. I met them partway, agreeing that they could spend their own money at the book fair if they so desired. They took the contents of their piggybank—an impressive total of $27—and blew it all on a half-dozen LEGO Ninjago books with non-existent character development and idiotic plot lines that irritated me so much, I couldn't even finish reading them out loud.Afterwards, I felt angry with myself for caving to their desire for immediate gratification. While it was no money out of my own pocket, I felt disappointed that they had wasted their own precious funds on something so frivolous and of such poor quality as those books. (Unsurprisingly, those books have received no attention since the day they came home.)
I should have insisted on better stewardship of their funds.
There is an excellent article on the Wise Bread website that outlines "7 frugal living skills you should be teaching your children." These will be my blueprint in the coming years, and I will prioritize the following 3 lessons above all else, now that I'm newly determined to instill better financial practices.
One must learn to separate needs from wants in order to manage money successfully. It gives one time to do important price point and quality comparisons, to await sales, explore alternatives, seek second-hand options, or wait to receive it as a gift (particularly for a child).
Advertising preys on low self-confidence. It challenges the idea that we might feel complete, satisfied, and comfortable in ourselves. It pushes us to doubt ourselves.
"Instilling a strong sense of self-confidence can help kids avoid falling victim to these messages for the rest of their lives — and sacrificing a large part of their personal wealth in the process. Seize every opportunity to reinforce the idea that your kids are fine just the way are and model that truth yourself. Then, when age-appropriate, pull back the advertising curtain."
This ties into collaboration, too, which is another point made in the Wise Bread article. Self-confident people tend to be comfortable sharing belongings with others, which saves money all around.
Don't we all struggle with this to some extent? It's difficult not to, living in a world that bombards us with advertising cleverly designed to make us want to keep up with ever-changing styles and crave newer, shinier versions of everything. Many American children have also become used to physical rewards as motivation.
"While encouraging kids to strive for more is important, make it less about things and money. Instead, help them focus on achieving their personal goals, expanding their experiences, appreciating the moment, and building rich friendships."
"Be happy with what you have," my parents used to say. That simple phrase would have come in handy last week, and could have saved my kids their $27, had I thought of it in time. Now, however, it will be staying at the tip of my tongue.


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Do you ever notice that – more often than not – when you ask a friend or colleague how they are, many of them use exactly the same adjective? Can you think of what that is? It's the word 'busy'. It seems that everyone these days is busy!
And I'm definitely guilty of using that word…. except I always tend to give it a little more flare and say "crazy busy." Then I always find myself qualifying that by saying "A good busy, not a bad busy, but definitely crazy busy."
It seems that the B word has become our stock response to any enquiry about our wellbeing, replacing the word 'fine', which used to be the common reply.
Our lives seem to be getting busier and busier. When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the story of the mason jar and the 2 beers.
Tune in for today's episode where I tell you all about it.
Do you know anyone who tends to always be "crazy busy"? Encourage them to simplify their life by sharing our podcast show with them. They can find all our episodes at LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com.
Be sure to stay tuned for Monday's episode when I share with you one of my favorite time management strategies for a busy life.
If you want to stay updated on our new courses and workshops that will soon be offered through Simplicity University, just send a text to 44222 with the word "SimplicityU". Or you can just go to SimplicityU.com for more information.
Links Mentioned in this Show:
Share this Episode: CarlaRaeArneson.com/episode62
Share this Podcast: LifeMadeSimplePodcast.com
Simplicity University: SimplicityU.com
Free Guide: "9 Ways to Simplify Your Life"
Or send a text to 44222 with the word 9SIMPLIFY
Free Download: "5 Steps to Organizing Your Home"
Or send a text to 44222 with the word ORGANIZE
Website: CarlaRaeArneson.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/CarlaRaeArneson
Submit Questions: CarlaRaeArneson.com/AskCarlaRae
Join CarlaRae on Facebook!
Recent Podcast Episodes
- Episode #253: Simplify Your Home With These 17 Decluttering Questions To Ask Yourself
- Episode #252: Change Your Life With This One Simple Belief
- Episode #251: Build New Habits & Accomplish Your Goals With This One Simple Tactic
- Episode #250: What Really Determines Your Happiness & Success
- Episode #249: A "Perfectly Perfect" Special Guest (SPECIAL CHRISTMAS ENCORE EPISODE)


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After Record-Breaking Year, SEOmoz Acquires AudienceWise
With Third Acquisition, Plans to Open a Portland Office
SEATTLE, Wash., Jan. 23, 2013 – SEOmoz, the industry's most popular provider
of search engine and social optimization software, today announced its acquisition of Portland-based SEO firm AudienceWise.
Moz's third acquisition in the last year, the low seven-figure purchase of AudienceWise in cash and stock marks a
definitive milestone in SEOmoz Founder and CEO Rand Fishkin's quest to eventually acquire the city of Portland, Oregon.
Fishkin went on to announce the opening of Moz's second office,
to be located in a hip, up-and-coming Portland neighborhood that most people probably haven't heard of yet.
This acquisition follows a record-breaking year for Moz. After their round of series B funding in May 2012, the company has grown to over 100 employees, surpassed 20k customers, and reached over $21 million in revenue during 2012.
"We're thrilled to be joining forces with AudienceWise. We've had a long personal and professional relationship with Matt and Tim, who've been a source of truly positive, TAGFEE contributions to the marketing industry," Fishkin said. "Given the amazing growth we experienced in 2012, we're in desperate need of more flannel-swaddled, local-organic-sustainable, fixed-gear bicycle–riding talent that refuses to eat at restaurants with more than one location."
Founded in 2011 by Internet marketing veterans Tim Resnik and Matthew Brown, AudienceWise specializes in audience development consulting for news publishers and e-commerce sites. This talent acquisition is expected to incorporate some of AudienceWise's technical processes, strategy, and products into the Moz toolkit. They will also bring additional industry expertise to SEOmoz's research and development of new products.
"We're really excited to be joining forces with Moz," said Resnik, "and we're even more excited about building an office that's uniquely tailored to the specific needs of our Portland team members."
The Portland Mozzers, left to right: Peter "Dog Park Guy" Bray, pickling and craft brew enthusiast Matthew Brown, Tim "Southeast Side" Resnik, elite bike polo-ist Galen Huntington, and David Mihm, who was totally doing local SEO before it was A Thing.
With the announcement, preliminary sketches were released for the GetWonkWisePlex—so named for the three recently acquired Portland companies that have joined the Moz fold: Followerwonk, GetListed, and AudienceWise. Recently rated number one in Seattle Met's "Best Companies to Work For," SEOmoz plans to make their Portland office an equally collaborative, open space. Regular fixtures at Moz will be present at the new office—including the cereal bar, which will serve exclusively vegan, gluten-free options; Thursday catered lunches, which will first be put through a thorough audit system to guarantee all ingredients come from urban gardens within a three-mile radius; and bathrooms, which will be replaced with mustache grooming stations.
"The MozPlex is an inspiration, but we're really hoping to make the GetWonkWisePlex a place where Moz's Portland employees can feel truly at home," said Brown, who was interviewed while supervising the completion of a new bike and hula hoop rack outside of the office. "Rand has given us a lot of leeway in creating the ideal environment for our work. We were able to tap into Portland's community of local artisans when planning our new space, and we're proud to be doing our part for the local ecosystem."
Joining as full-time SEOmoz employees, Resnik and Brown's expertise in audience development campaigns for publishers, technical SEO audits, semantic web strategy, hipster cred, and marketing analytics reviews will all contribute to upcoming developments in Moz's software tools and services. The acquisition does not include the consulting business; AudienceWise will continue to consult with a small group of select clients on a limited basis.
When asked about what's next for Moz developments in Portland, Fishkin responded, "Matt and Tim will both be huge contributors in what is already a stellar team of industry vets. They'll be an external voice for the company, and really help me scale my role as we grow. But I think we're all mostly excited for Steampunk Fridays."
About SEOmoz
SEOmoz is the world's most popular provider of inbound marketing and social monitoring software, as well as easy-to-use tools, tutorials, and educational resources to make marketing analytics accessible to everyone. More than just a software company, SEOmoz has built a vibrant community of over 300,000 members who participate in their Q&A forums, read and comment on their blog, attend Moz events, and participate in weekly webinars. Mozzers can often be found trotting the globe, and have sponsored or spoken at search events in more than 15 countries since 2007.
Media Contact
Ashley Ennis
Barokas Public Relations
(206) 264-8220


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Tags: identity
Showing Results: 1 to 10 of 14 Go to page: 1 2 ›
Diversity Glossary
Below are just a few terms and definitions related to diversity and inclusion work. The majority of the definitions below can be found in the National MultiCultural Institute's Diversity Glossary, which also includes terminology related to legislativ...more
AMC Looks at Cultural Identities of Composers
American Music Center's NewMusicBox features many articles on diversity of genre and programming, as well as several articles on how culture influences the identity of composers and vice versa. Below you will find just some of the articles that are r...more
Chronicle of Philanthropy Surveys are Revealing
The September 9, 2010 issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy featured a pull-out section entitled "Achieving Diversity at Nonprofit Organizations." Highlights include: Three out of every four development jobs are held...more
OPERA America Acknowledges Diversity
In 2006 the National MultiCultural Institute awarded OPERA America a Leading Lights Diversity Award for Diverse Voices, OPERA America's 2005 annual conference, which provided a forum for a national dialogue for the opera community to pr...more
Culture is Focus of TCG's American Theatre Magazine
Among Theatre Communications Group's mission is to leverage the stories of the field to build greater public awareness of and appreciation for live theatre in America. The organization's vision ranges from being the leader and innovator in ass...more
Controversy Offers Numerous Viewpoints
This past week The National Portrait Gallery pulled a four-minute video by David Wojnarowicz from the exhibit "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture," the first major museum exhibition showing how questions of gender a...more
Students are Proud of Mixed Lineage
Black? White? Asian? More Young Americans Choose All of the Above by Susan Saulny The New York Times January 29, 2011 "'I was always having to explain where my parents are from because just saying, 'I'm from Takoma Park, Maryland,' w...more
How Diverse Are You?
Time for a Check-Up: How Diverse Are You? Echelon Online Magazine Susan Baxter "Regardless of the size of your company, you can be a leader in diversity and inclusiveness in the workplace... Diversity is represented by more than emplo...more
Art Has Yet to Face Up to Homosexuality
"Art has yet to face up to homosexuality" By Philip Kennicott The Washington Post; July 1, 2011 "There may be a reckoning in the winds. Attitudes about gays and lesbians, and about same-sex marriage in particular, are now chan...more
Asian Americans face new stereotype in ads
"Asian Americans face new stereotype in ads" by Paul Farhi The Washington Post August 23, 2011 "When Asian Americans appear in advertising, they typically are presented as the technological experts — knowledgeable, sav...more
Today is January, 19 2020
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Design by Design Brooklyn


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The Mindful Way through Depression
When you're depressed, you may feel anxiety, despair and hopelessness, and nothing seems to help – at least, not for long. And, once you've been depressed, you're more likely to get that way again. Sometimes, we don't understand why we feel so bad, and we feel like there's something wrong with us. The more we blame ourselves, the worse we feel.
The authors of The Mindful Way through Depression help us understand why this happens and what we can do about it.
Through practices you can incorporate into your daily life, you can learn to avoid the habits that keep you stuck in unhappiness and help to keep your depression from coming back.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy combines modern science and forms of meditation that have been shown to be clinically effective in alleviating depression. This book teaches you different ways of knowing your mind and body to reduce negative thoughts and feelings. Anyone can benefit, even people who have not been diagnosed with clinical depression, but feel hopeless and unhappy.
Through a combination of Western and Eastern practices, you can learn to live more fully. You can implement the book's eight-week program or go at your own pace.
Often, when we're feeling down, the authors say, we focus on how we think we should feel. "I should be happy. What's wrong with me?" we think. But, that thinking makes us feel worse. Our mind focuses on the sad person we are right now, the happy and peaceful person we want to be, and the person we might become if we stay unhappy. Looking at our life that way causes us to sink into depression.


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- Recent achievements in Sweden show how cities could adopt low-carbon initiatives. Three Swedish cities offer insights into how local government can approach low-carbon policies: through energy and electricity, public transport, and urban planning. [Business Spectator]
- The government of Pakistan, aiming to supply part of the national energy requirement through renewable energy technologies, plans to get up to 2,500 MW from wind energy by the end of 2015. The country had a capacity of 50 MW in December 2012. [The Nation]
- Genesis Energy has received consents for their Castle Hill wind farm, an 860 megawatt wind power project in New Zealand from the country's Environment Court. New Zealand has set a target to generate over 90 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2025. [EcoSeed]
- The Shanghai Securities News reported that China is proposing restrictions to the solar panels exports to European Union to 10 gigawatts per year in order to avoid anti-dumping tariffs. [PR Carbon]
- The 42-year-old Santa Maria de Garoña nuclear power plant in the province of Burgos, one of the eight nuclear reactors operating in Spain, has been shut down. It has been a target of criticism from the opposition and NGOs, such as Greenpeace. [Latin American Herald Tribune]
- China's thinking has shifted increasingly towards renewable energy, which is reaching the market faster than nuclear power, a German environment official says. He says the country understood it could deliver power without air pollution, and create jobs in remote areas. [South China Morning Post]
- Energy expert Alan Simpson has rubbished claims that Britain will get a good deal on a new nuclear energy plant as a "complete dishonesty". The government is desperate for French state energy firm EDF to deliver Somerset's Hinkley Point plant. [Morning Star Online]
- Japanese nuclear operators have applied to restart reactors under new rules drawn up following the Fukushima Disaster, but early approval is unlikely as a more independent regulator strives to show a sceptical public it is serious about safety. [Reuters]
- Georgia's utility regulators are getting ready to vote on Georgia Power's long-range plans, including whether to require the company to incorporate more solar power. Georgia Power wants to shut down 16 coal- and oil-fired power plants. [GPB]
- For more than two years, the largest nuclear plant in Alabama operated without a fully functioning failsafe system. A whistleblower is talking about the plant and a lack of safety culture that earned it a red finding from the NRC. [The Birmingham News – al.com]


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Is anyone else fed up of this wet, cold weather we've been having? We know we are! January and February feel like the longest months of the year - we're either hanging on till payday or day-dreaming of warmer climates across the pond.
So, armed with fresh ideas and inspired by the bright and beautiful colours of this week's Mardi Gras festivals, we've been browsing our Winter Sale for the very best in colourful products.
1. Our Roxy Swivel Chair
With a stunning selection of velvet, our Roxy chair is a sure-fire way to liven up your space. Striking shades of mustard, cobalt, orange and teal can be found throughout this collection. With fabric names such as turmeric, honeycreeper, teal and marmalade what's not to love?! Pair this with its deep buttoned back design and you've got yourself a little piece of luxury right there!
2. The Barrington & Hex stool
Shown in a jewel teal fabric the Barrington collection combines retro inspiration with geometric designs and super soft velvet. The addition of the pillowed back gives a subtle nod to 1920's Art Deco.
If you're not feeling brave enough to go for an all over colour like the Barrington, then why not try a hint of red or mustard with our Hex footstools? Not only are they a unique shape but there is a selection of patterned or plain fabric options.
3. The Betsy & Phoebe chair
Two very different styles, both make an impact in orange! These beauties with their pillowed backs and striking velvet upholstery are the perfect way to inject some much need colour into your home this winter, without feeling overwhelmed by colour.
4. Sofia & Jude Armchair
From our Betsy and Phoebe chairs, to the Sofia and Jude armchairs - two chairs that showcase the classic chesterfield buttoned detailing. The low back Jude design is one of our most popular pieces and comes in an array of colours and fabrics. This is also true of our high back Sofia chair, with it's scroll arms and fully buttoned back, it's the ideal accent chair to sit back and relax.
You will find all of these products in our Winter Sale with up to 30% off. Hurry though, sale ends 25th February.


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November 30, 2017
1. In the previous post in this series, we discussed that there are two types of viññāna: vipāka viññāna and kamma viññāna; see, "Viññāna – What It Really Means".
- We don't have control over vipāka viññāna, but we do have control over kamma viññāna (via controlling our sankhāra) , and that is why it is possible to attain Nibbāna.
- We cannot do anything about the vipāka viññāna. Even in an Arahant they arise as kamma vipāka; he/she will also see, hear, etc like anyone else.
- Vipāka viññāna can arise via any of the six sense doors, i.e., as cakkhu, sōta,ghāna, jivhā, kāya, or manō viññāna. Based on those, WE initiate new kamma viññāna, as we discussed in the above mentioned post. This process is analyzed in detail in, "How Are Paticca Samuppāda Cycles Initiated?".
- What we can — and need to do — is to stop "sankhāra paccayā viññāna" — specifically strong vaci and kāya abhisankhāra — leading to new strong kamma viññāna. Kamma viññāna ALWAYS arise first as manō viññāna.
2. Ānāpāna and Satipathāna bhavana involve controlling kamma viññāna by being mindful of the manō sankhāra that AUTOMATICALLY arise and controlling them with vaci and kāya sankhāra that we consciously generate. The basis of this critical fact is discussed at, "Root of All Suffering – Ten Immoral Actions".
- In formal sitting-down meditation, this means just controlling our vaci sankhāra (conscious thoughts), since we do not move our bodies or speak.
- However, during all waking hours we need to control both vaci and kāya sankhāra (i.e., our conscious thoughts, speech, and bodily actions); see, "Root of All Suffering – Ten Immoral Actions".
- By the way, please do not ignore the initial posts in the "Living Dhamma" section, such as the above mentioned post. It is not possible to grasp complex posts like this one without that basic knowledge.
3. In Paticca Samuppāda it is the kamma viññāna that comes into play in, "sankhāra paccayā viññāna", NOT the vipāka viññāna.
- All sankhāra are generated in our minds. While manō sankhāra arise automatically, we CONSCIOUSLY generate vaci and kāya sankhāra, leading to kamma viññāna; see, "Root of All Suffering – Ten Immoral Actions".
- This is why sankhāra are food for the viññāna, specifically for the kamma viññāna.
3. Furthermore, the next step in Paticca Samuppāda is "viññāna paccayā nāmarūpa". As you can see, this is where the connection to rūpa is made; we will discuss in detail below.
The KEY POINT is that kamma viññāna is not totally mental: The mind — when attached to something — will create an energy (i.e., a kamma beeja or a dhammā) that will be recorded in the kamma bhava.
- Then in the future, that dhammā can come back to the mana indriya and trigger a mind-sense event via "manañca paṭicca dhammē ca uppajjati manōviññāṇaṃ". that we discussed in "What are rūpa? – Dhamma are rūpa too!".
- Then, in the latter part of that citta vithi, more kamma viññāna are created; see, "How Are Paticca Samuppāda Cycles Initiated?".
- Thus it is a feedback process that gets strengthened with time.
4. That kamma viññāna can be building up a kamma beeja (or a dhammā) in the kamma bhava over time via the Paticca Samuppāda process: "viññāna paccayā nāmarūpa", "nāmarūpa paccayā salāyatana", "salāyatana paccayā phassa", "phassa paccayā vēdanā", "vēdanā paccayā tanhā", "tanhā paccayā upādāna", and "upādāna paccayā bhava".
- Then under suitable conditions (see, "Annantara and Samanantara Paccaya"), that kamma beeja (or a dhammā) can come back — as a vipāka — and start that process all over again; see, "How Are Paticca Samuppāda Cycles Initiated?".
- A dhammā with energy or a kamma beeja created previously can come back to the mind as a vipāka viññāna via "manañca paṭicca dhammē ca uppajjati manōviññāṇaṃ".
- Every time one generates vaci or kaya sankhara relevant to that viññāna, that makes viññāna stronger.
5. As viññāna gets stronger, "viññāna paccayā nāmarūpa" makes nāmarūpa stronger. This nāmarūpa is the first stage of a rūpa that is created by the mind, with the viññāna acting as the intermediary.
- It is also important to remember that dhammā includes not only kamma beeja, but also any record of anything that has been done by a given person. So, we can also recall events that have nothing to do with kammic energy, for example, remembering talking to someone or seeing something or solving a math problem; see, "Difference Between Dhammā and Sankhāra".
6. For example, an alcoholic has a "viññāna for drinking". He (she) constantly thinks about drinking, and will build up a "drunk existence (bhava)", which comes back to his mind as a dhammā to trigger more thoughts about drinking.
- Until he breaks that loop by willfully controlling his thoughts and actions involving drinking, that viññāna will grow with time.
- The only way to break that habit of drinking is to be mindful about the bad consequences of drinking and to forcefully suppress any thoughts about drinking (vaci sankhāra) and abstain from drinking (kāya sankhāra).
7. What we discussed above is quite important. Kamma viññāna is the link between mind and matter; it is an energy made by the mind; it creates tiny amounts of matter (rūpa) below the suddhāshtaka stage. It is important to fully understand this point for one to fully grasp the meaning of "manō pubbangama dhammā…". This is in fact how the mind (manō) is creating dhammā via viññāna.
- This is confirmed in the Majje Sutta (AN 6.61), where it is stated that nama is at one end, rūpa is at the other end, with viññāna in the middle: "nāmaṃ kho, āvuso, eko anto, rūpaṃ dutiyo anto, viññāṇaṃ majjhe".
- It would be helpful if one had followed the preceding posts in the "Living Dhamma" section.
8. The goal of a given mind is to extract sense pleasures from the outside world, which is made of rūpa both above and below the suddhāshtaka stage; see, "Our Two Worlds : Material and Mental".
- We all are familiar with sense enjoyment via the five physical senses. But the most enjoyment we experience is through the sixth sense, the mind.
- The five physical senses only bring in imprints of the five types of "solidified rūpa": rūpa rūpa, sadda rūpa, gandha rūpa, rasa rūpa, and pottabbha rūpa (in other words, sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and body touches).
- All those sense imprints that come in are enjoyed by the mind. In addition, the mind can also enjoy thinking about such past sense experiences AND also any planned future events. The "fine rūpa" involved here are "dhammā"; see, "What are rūpa? – Dhammā are rūpa too!".
9. How does the mind enjoy past sense experiences or future expected experiences? The answer to this question leads us to the concept of dhammā, those rūpa that are below the suddhāshtaka, and thus are really energies.
- Just like we "bring in" external rūpa (or rūpa rūpa or varna rūpa ) with our eyes, external sounds with our ears, etc, we bring in external dhammā through the mana indriya, as explained in "What are rūpa? – Dhamma are rūpa too!".
- Some of those dhammā are made by the mind via kamma viññāna! That kamma viññāna had created a dhammā that got deposited in the kamma bhava as kamma beeja or dhammā with energy. This is the connecting piece of the puzzle. We discuss this in different ways, in order to grasp this key idea.
- All dhammās, including nāma gotta and kamma viññāna (also called kamma beeja) are in the nāma lōka; see, "Our Two Worlds : Material and Mental".
10. The point is that "sankhāra paccayā viññāna" starts the "rūpa generation process" the "viññāna paccayā nāmarūpa" completes it.
- In Paticca Samuppāda cycles leading to rebirth, this nāmarūpa is the blueprint for the new existence via "nāmarūpa paccayā salāyatana", a new set of indriya are formed. In the case of a human birth, this is the single cell (zygote); see, "What does Buddha Dhamma (Buddhism) say about Birth Control?".
- In Paticca Samuppāda cycles operating during a lifetime, this nāmarūpa just gives rise to new sense events via "nāmarūpa paccayā salāyatana", where existing indriya become āyatana for a new sense event.
- Note that our indriya (cakkhu, sota, ghana, etc) do not always act as āyatana. Only when we act with lobha, dosa, moha that they act as āyatana to lead to new kamma.
11. In many posts at the site, we have discussed how our gathi lead to the creation of viññāna for certain things we crave (and dislike); see, for example, "2. Viññāna (Consciousness) can be of Many Different Types and Forms" and "3. Viññāna, Thoughts, and the Subconscious".
- We have also discussed how such viññāna arise due to our gathi, see, for example, "Gati to Bhava to Jāti – Ours to Control", "The Law of Attraction, Habits, Character (Gati), and Cravings (Asavas)".
- So, gathi and kamma viññāna are related to each other, feed on each other, and enhance each other.
11. Vipāka viññāna are results of previous kamma, and cannot be stopped. What we need to stop is kamma viññāna that AUTOMATICALLY arise due to our gathi; see, "Avyākata Paticca Samuppāda for Vipāka Viññāna".
- Now we are essentially putting together the pieces of a puzzle to come up with the Buddha's world view to illustrate how the mind creates the world. Key pieces to the puzzle are in various sections of the website. In the "Living Dhamma" section all those components are put together starting from the basic components.
- The picture will become more clear with the next post in the series, "Kamma Viññāna and Nāmarūpa Paricceda Ñana".


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Finding the perfect ice cream sundae can be a tedious task. It takes the right combination of complementary ingredients and authenticity. If you are in the near the Picayune, Mississippi area, we have compiled a list of some of the best sundae options in town. So, make sure on Sunday, July 16 you head over to these local gems and celebrate the holiday properly!
Betty K's
The first on the list is a local favorite called Betty K's. Known for their amazing burgers and shakes, this hole-in-the-wall joint has the people of Yelp raving. With its near 5-star rating, this place has some of the best reviews for their classic meals. Aside from the sundaes, you'll also find that they have received many awards for having the best burgers in Mississippi. Many people claim they have been coming here for years and the experience never fails them. So, the next time you are in the Picayune, area make the stop to celebrate National Ice Cream day the right way!
Dairy Queen of Picayune
Next up on the list is Dairy Queen. Known around the world for their tasty blizzards and traditional flavors, DQ is an easy pick for this upcoming ice cream celebration. Amazing service and tasty milkshakes are just a few of the amenities that you'll find at your local DQ. To keep up with offers and promotions, check out their full menu. Since there are tons of unique flavors to choose from, make sure you try each and every one. Many people say that they love to top off a meal with these creamy shakes. For local deals and information, check out their Facebook page. Spend National Ice Cream Day celebrating right, and get yourself an Oreo blizzard on the go. You won't be disappointed.
Purple Banana Frozen Yogurt
Pulling in a 4 .5 out of 5-star rating on Yelp, the Purple Banana of St. Louis is the spot for frozen yogurt. Although it isn't traditional ice cream, it is still a slam-dunk in the frozen treats department. Known for their generous portions, the Purple Banana is hard to compete with. Purple Banana appeals to the niche, being one of the only frozen yogurt shops in St. Louis, Mississippi. Make sure you check out the Purple Banana for yogurt and toppings galore.
There's a reason ice cream has such a tradition here in the United States. You just can't beat it! While you're just a short drive from these locations, make sure to check out Nissan of Picayune for safe transportation to get you and your sundaes home safely. See you there!


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- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 c. pearl mozzarella balls (or diced fresh mozzarella from large balls)
- 1 lb. fresh tortellini
- 1 small red onion, sliced very thin
- 4 c. fresh basil
- 1 large garlic clove, smashed
- 1/3 c. grated parmesan
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 c. toasted pine nuts
- 1/3/-1/2 c. EVOO
- Water or vegetable stock, to thin it more, if desired
To Prepare Pesto:
- In a food processor, add basil, garlic, parmesan, pine nuts, salt and pepper.
- Process to a fine mince, pulsing and running the machine as necessary.
- Stream in EVOO and leave processor running.
- Scrape down the sides, taste, adjust seasonings, add water or stock for a thinner dressing (this can also be added later)
To Prepare Salad:
- Cook tortellini according to package, drain and cool to room temp.
- Add mozzarella, tomatoes, onion and pesto to a large bowl. Toss to coat.
- Add tortellini, toss to coat.
This pasta salad needs to be refrigerated, however is best to eat closer to room temperature.
Found On: A Year in the Kitchen


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These instructions will enable your inDinero team to download expense reports from your TriNet Expense Cloud account. You can also consult their support page directly.
If you are looking for a way to allow your team to view payroll reports, check out our TriNet Passport article instead.
Note: Sharing expense reports with your inDinero service team through TriNet Expense Cloud will require more than just setting up an account. Each time you approve a report, please ensure you follow the instructions outlined at the end of this guide (or on the TriNet support page) to send the report to your team.
Create an Account for Your Team
From your TriNet Expense Cloud homepage, navigate to Settings > Company Settings > Manager Users. Then, click "+Add User".
Enter the following information:
- Email
(e.g. if your company name is Evolve Enterprises, the email will be email@example.com)
- First Name
- Last Name
Finance Team
- User Type
Click "Add this Person".
Now you view this account on your Manage Users page to finish the setup process.
From the Settings page, navigate to Company Settings > Manage Users. Click the Full View link.
The only field you need to update here is Role. Set it to Bookkeeper.
Send Your Team Expense Reports
When you approve an employee expense report, select the Send To My Bookkeeper option in the dropdown to send the report. ExpenseCloud will show you the email address the report will be sent to, confirm it is the one you use to contact your inDinero service team as outlined in the setup process above.
Here is a typical workflow:
You send an expense report to your boss, Bob. Bob approves the expense reports and sends it to your inDinero service team. Your inDinero team will get an email alerting them of the approved expense report. When your team logs into their ExpenseCloud account, they can export the report to your inDinero account to register the travel and entertainment expense.
When you send to bookkeeper, the following occur:
- Your inDinero team receives the expense report in their ExpenseCloud account. It will be published as an approved report.
- Your inDinero team receives email alerting of new report in their ExpenseCloud account.
- Your inDinero team can download the PDF or CSV to sync or reconcile with your inDinero dashboard.


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Science meets tattoos with atomic tattoos. The atomic tattoo is often an expression of a love of science or of general geek culture. The atomic design is seen more often on men than women, and often is worn by those with technological backgrounds or jobs.
More cartoon versions of atomic tattoos are often seen as part of the anime, comics, or geek culture.


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Before and In
I chose "Before and In" as the title of this post because I get really excited about prepositions sometimes, but mainly when it comes to the following passage of Scripture:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Colossians 1:15-20
This passage magnifies Christ, saying that He is the only one we need. There is a lot here, but I want to zoom in to verse 17: "And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
What does your morning routine look like? Do you always brush your teeth before breakfast? Do you even eat breakfast? Do you shower in the morning or at night? Do you make your bed, or is that not a priority?
Some people are more routine than others. Like my Dad, for example. Every morning he does the exact same thing - even on the weekends, although he allows himself to sleep in one extra hour. He starts his coffee pot, works out, showers, eats breakfast, and studies God's Word. Every. Single. Morning.
Sometimes I get annoyed with people like this because I like to change things up a bit. Sometimes I shower at night, sometimes in the morning, sometimes both. Sometimes I brush my teeth before breakfast, sometimes after. Sometimes I work out in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon. And usually that's okay.
One thing that I've noticed, though, is that my time with God, if it doesn't happen before all of that, doesn't usually happen.
You see, God is worthy of the first place in our lives - before all things. Before work, play, or anything in between. When we place Him before everything else in our hearts and in our day, we are saying to Him (and reminding ourselves) that He is supreme. And when He goes before all things in our lives, He holds it all together. It is only in Him that all things are held together.
I've noticed a pattern that when I spend time with God first thing in the morning, the rest of my day is more productive, and I experience more peace and joy throughout the day. If I put God off until later, I am usually more negative, anxious, or lazy.
You could say this is a placebo effect, but I know it's not. The presence of God is real, and His Word is living and active, and when I arm myself for the day with these, I am much better prepared for battle.
This doesn't mean that God won't go with you if reaching for your Bible isn't the first thing you do when you roll over in the morning. It does mean, however, that there is something very special that happens in our hearts and in our relationship with God when we truly place Him first.
Let me offer a few action steps for different types of people as we seek to put Christ before all things:
- Morning people: Good for you! If you are awake and alive in the morning, sit down with the Lord, listen to Him speak to you through His Word. Be still in His presence. If you're not used to this, start by getting up just 15 minutes earlier than usual to put God in the first place of your day. I think you'll find that after awhile, you'll want to increase the time.
- Morning people with chronic sleepiness: This is me. I am more of a morning person if you leave me in my natural habitat. However, I can fall asleep in almost any situation, like closing my eyes to pray, for example. If this is you, try talking out loud to God. You can even pace while talking to give you that movement to help you focus and stay awake. If this is not an option for you (example: others are still sleeping), try working out first, then having your devotions. I find that once I've got the blood pumping and muscles moving, I am better able to focus and stay awake during prayer and Bible reading.
- Not morning people: If it is truly difficult for you to get up early and still be a kind and Christ-like person throughout the day, try simply reading one verse or a very short passage before you start your day. It will take less than two minutes, but you will give God's Word a chance to take root in your heart before any other messages confront you. You can choose to meditate on that verse throughout the day, as well. Make sure that you do take time out of your day to sit in God's presence, refresh, and recharge. This could be right before bed, right after dinner, or in that small space of time between getting home from work and when all the chaos sets in.
Hello! I'm Faith. I'm a verbal processor who wants to love the Lord and love people with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. I write to think and think to write. I don't drink coffee. I am a dogless dog lover. I enjoy hosting large parties in my home, and I enjoy being alone. Join me in looking to Him and pursuing A Radiant Face.