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This was published 9 years ago
Ray White backs agents' fees backlash
By Jake Mitchell
Ray White Group has thrown its support behind a group of real estate agents that have appointed a media buyer to negotiate digital advertising rates for them.
The group, known as Real Estate Digital Marketing Services, was formed largely in response to price rises at marketing website realestate.com.au. It has more than 400 agency members.
But that membership has, to date, been confined to Victoria.
The agents have appointed media agency Vizeum to negotiate on their behalf with all digital property marketing groups, but they are particularly concerned by soaring rates at realestate.com.au.
The support of Ray White is significant because the company has about 635 franchises across Australia and more than 400 in NSW and Queensland, where REDMS is yet to establish a presence.
Ray White co-chairman Brian White has drafted a letter that could be sent to the franchises recommending they sign up to allow REDMS to obtain information about the performance of their advertising with property portals, which may be a pre-cursor to having REDMS negotiate ad rates on their behalf.
''We have certainly spoken with the drivers of REDMS and yes, we think it makes sense to professionalise the financial arrangements between the agents that provide the advertising and the digital deliverers,'' Mr White told Fairfax Media.
''We think it would be fantastic for the individuals to be able to speak with one voice.
''It would surprise me if it didn't make sense for the other big franchises to embrace this philosophy.''
REA Group, which is the operator of realestate.com.au and is 61.6 per cent owned by News Corporation, has refused to negotiate with REDMS, but the clout and market presence of Ray White is a potential game changer.
A large number, but not all, of the Victorian agents involved in the REDMS group are also shareholders in Metro Media Publishing, which is half-owned by Fairfax Media, owner of Business Day.
News Corp has raised questions about the legitimacy of REDMS due to its links to Fairfax, which owns the No.2 property marketing groupDomain, but the support of Ray White confirms that the concerns of agents about ad rates are genuine.


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[Bruce Land] has been sending in student projects from the electronic design course he taught at Cornell last semester. By a curious coincidence, two groups build saxophone synthesizers with the same key arrangement as a real sax.
First up is [Brian Wang]'s digital sax. There's a small microphone in the mouthpiece and a series of buttons down the body of the sax telling the ATMega664 what note to play. The data for the saxophone synthesis was created by looking at a frequency plot of a sax, bassoon, harp, and pipe organ. [Brian] has the synthesis part down pat; there's definitely a baritone sax in that little microcontroller.
Next up is [Suryansh] and [Chris]'s PVC pipe saxophone. It's the same general principle as [Brian]'s project – the musician blows into the sax (we really like the kazoo mouthpiece) and a small mic picks up the sound of the wind. If the microphone output is above a certain threshold, the buttons are read and a note come out of the sax. We're picking up a whiff of alto sax here; shame there wasn't a duet with the two teams.
After the break you can see both saxophone projects in all their glory.

subset: commoncrawl


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Sipping Saturday
A bulging bag of ruby jewels arrived home with me on each of 3 trips to the grocery store this week. My intentions for the first bag were to whip up my Saturday Margarita, that didn't happen.
Half -way into the second bag I felt another trip to the grocery store was in my future. By the third bag we had lost all control. Cherries rock!
We didn't even bother to mix a batch of pancake batter or cream butter for a cake.
Fresh over ice.
These cherries stood no chance, as juice ran down our cheeks we sat barefoot in our small backyard throwing back pound after pound of cherries. No conversation, no interruptions, just cherries. When I finally awoke from my cherry laced dream I sent hubby to the store for another pound. Lucky me. Cherry Margarita.
This margarita is my new favorite, well at least for this week. The color is mind blowing beautiful, but the taste is crazy good. It is a little more work only in regard to pitting the cherries, but man is it worth the effort. The lime juice and salt rim really add another flavor dimension to this ruby red liquid happiness. Give it a try. Enjoy! Sweet Life
A wonderful reader recently wrote asking why some of my margaritas have a thin foam. In all my margaritas, I only use fresh juice. I run my fresh fruit through my trusty juicer to extract the most flavor. This produces a tiny amount of foam from the juicing process. Feel free to strain for a clearer juice. I kinda enjoy the earthy look. Thanks for your email Judy. Enjoy this Cherry margarita.
Cherry Margarita
by Sweet Life
by Vianney Rodriguez
makes 4 margaritas
lime wedges
1 cup tequila
1 cup fresh cherry juice, about 1 1/2 cups of fresh cherries
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup Cointreau
ice cubes
On a small plate spread salt. With lime wedges moisten rim of 6 ounce glasses. Dip glasses into salt. Place glasses into freezer to chill.
In a pitcher combine tequila, cherry juice, lime juice and Cointreau. Remove glasses from freezer and serve margarita mixture over ice. Garnish with lime slices.
Crave more Margarita? Try these …


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CFUnited Class: CU248 - jQuery and ColdFusion August 11, 2009 9:00am - 5:30pm
1. Why did you create this class?
Well, I started out teaching jQuery as a separate class about a year ago. It was a fun class, but I met an increasing number of CF developers who hadn't investigated jQuery because they felt that it just duplicates features that are available in ColdFusion, especially CF8. While it's true that many of the tasks that jQuery handles well are also addressed by features in CF, I find that it's very beneficial to be able to take advantage of both technologies.
2. Are you going to cover jQuery first, or ColdFusion?
The focus of the class is really on how jQuery and ColdFusion can work and play well together. We'll spend a bit of time discussing each side of the house, but most of the time will be spent on combining the two.
3. Aren't jQuery and ColdFusion mutually exclusive?
Not at all. As I already mentioned, this is the misconception that originally prompted me to design the class. It's important to understand that CF is a tool that generates code to run on the browser, and jQuery is code that runs on the browser as well. If we understand both technologies from the browser's context, we can make use of them together in very interesting and useful ways.
4. Do attendees need to know jQuery and ColdFusion in order to take the class?
I'm expecting students to know ColdFusion, but not necessarily jQuery. This seems to be the typical scenario, especially in the context of a conference like CFUnited, where attendees are typically familiar with CF. We'll be spending some time in the first part of the class talking about the fundamentals of jQuery, so if you don't know any jQuery, you'll be raring to go by the end of the day.
5. What will attendees know at the end of the day?
Beats me--I don't know if you'll pay attention. Seriously, though, the class is designed to open up a whole box of fun stuff for creating great user experiences with good ol' HTML.
6. How will this class benefit an attendees career?
If your career has anything to do with building front-ends for web applications (or HTML-based desktop applications), you'll find something useful in this class. My intent is to fuel students' imaginations so that they'll feel enabled to explore their own ideas.
7. What should attendees bring to the class?
The biggest thing that will help is your imagination, and perhaps some ideas for an application you're currently developing. You should bring your laptop, with CF installed. I'll provide jQuery and instructions on how to install it, use it, and extend it. Of course, if you're already tinkering with jQuery and have it, that's even better. I look forward to seeing you there!


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MacBook Pro – Technical Specifications
15.4-inch: 1.83GHz (MA463LL/A) | 15.4-inch: 2.0GHz (MA464LL/A) | |
Processor | 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo | 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo |
Memory | 512MB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300) | 1GB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300) |
Display | 15.4-inch (diagonal), 1440 x 900 resolution, TFT widescreen | |
PCI Express Graphics | ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and dual-link DVI | ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and dual-link DVI |
Video | Built-in iSight Camera, DVI, VGA (DVI to VGA adapter included) | |
Audio | Combined optical digital input/audio line in, combined optical digital output/headphone out, stereo speakers, microphone | |
Hard disk drive (2) | 80GB Serial ATA/100; 5400 rpm | 100GB Serial ATA/100; 5400 rpm |
Slot-loading optical drive | SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW) | |
Ethernet | Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) | |
Wireless (3) | Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme (802.11g standard); built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR | |
Modem | Apple USB Modem (sold separately) | |
Input | Apple Remote; full-size, illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor; Scrolling Trackpad | |
Expansion | One FireWire 400, two USB 2.0 ports, and ExpressCard/34 slot | |
Weight | 5.6 pounds | |
Footprint | 14.1 x 9.6 inches | |
Thickness | 1.0 inch (2.59 cm) | |
Video accessories | DVI to VGA adapter included (other adapters sold separately) | |
Hardware accessories | 85W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, lithium-polymer battery | |
Limited warranty and service | Your MacBook Pro comes with 90 days of telephone support and a one-year limited warranty. For more information, visit Apple support or call 800-823-2775. |
- AirPort Extreme
- AirPort Express
- Apple DVI to Video Adapter
- Apple MagSafe Power Adapter
- Rechargeable Battery, 15-inch MacBook Pro
- iWork
- Up to 2GB main memory
- 100GB 5400-rpm, 100GB 7200-rpm, 120GB 5400-rpm hard drive (3)
- Apple Wireless Keyboard
- Apple USB Modem
- Apple Wireless Mouse
- Apple Keyboard
- Apple Mighty Mouse
- .Mac Subscription
- AppleCare Protection Plan
In the box
- MacBook Pro
- MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug and power cord
- Lithium-polymer battery
- Apple Remote
- DVI to VGA adapter
- Install/restore DVDs
- Printed and electronic documentation
Processor and Memory
- 1.83 or 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 2MB on chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed (2.16GHz processor available as custom configuration on 2.0GHz model)
- 512MB (single SODIMM) of PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 memory on 1.83GHz configuration; and 1GB (single SODIMM) on 2.0GHz configuration; two SODIMM slots support up to 2GB
- 667MHz frontside bus
- One FireWire 400 port at up to 400 Mbps
- Two 480-Mbps USB 2.0 ports
- ExpressCard/34 slot
- Kensington cable lock slot
Battery and power
- 60-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery (with integrated charge indicator LEDs) providing up to 4.5 hours of battery life(1)
- 85W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management system
- MagSafe Power Adapter port
- Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme (802.11g standard(3))
- Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
- Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
- Combined optical digital input/audio line in (minijack)
- Combined optical digital output/headphone out (minijack)
- Built-in stereo speakers
- Internal omnidirectional microphone (located under left speaker grille)
Video and graphics support
- ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics processor, dual link DVI support, 128MB of GDDR3 on 1.83GHz configuration. 256MB GDDR3 on 2.0GHz configuration
- Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors
- DVI output port
- VGA output using included DVI to VGA adapter
- Built-in iSight camera
- 80GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive on 1.83GHz configuration. Optional 100GB 5400-rpm, 100GB 7200-rpm, 120GB 5400-rpm drives (3).
- 100GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive on 2.0GHz configuration. Optional 100GB 7200-rpm or 120GB 5400-rpm hard drives.
- 4x Slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- Maximum Write: 4x DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RW; 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW
- Maximum Read: 8x DVD-ROM; 6x DVD-ROM (double layer DVD-9), DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW; 4x DVD+R (double layered) and DVD-R (double layered); 24x CD
- 15.4-inch (diagonal) TFT display, support for millions of colors
- Supported resolutions: 1440 by 900 (native), 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio, 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched
Keyboard and trackpad
- Built-in full-size keyboard with 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys, including 12 function keys, 4 arrow keys (inverted "T" arrangement), and embedded numeric keypad
- Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors for automatic adjustment of keyboard illumination and screen brightness
- Solid-state scrolling Trackpad for precise cursor control; supports two finger scrolling, tap, double-tap, and drag capabilities
- Apple Remote included
Electrical and environmental requirements
- Meets ENERGY STAR requirements
- Line voltage: 100V to 240V AC
- Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz
- DC input: 18.5 Vdc, 4.6 A max.
- Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
- Storage temperature: -13° to 113° F (-24° to 45° C)
- Relative humidity: 0% to 90% noncondensing
- Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet
- Maximum storage altitude: 15,000 feet
- Maximum shipping altitude: 35,000 feet
Size and weight
- Height: 1.0 inch (2.59 cm)
- Width: 14.1 inches (35.7 cm)
- Depth: 9.6 inches (24.3 cm)
- Weight: 5.6 pounds (2.54 kg) with battery and optical drive installed (4)
- Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger (includes Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode Developer Tools)
- iLife '06 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand), Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, iWork '06 (30-day trial), QuickBooks for Mac New User Edition, Comic Life, FileMaker Pro trial, Omni Outliner
- Photo Booth
- Front Row
- Memory available to Mac OS X may vary depending on graphics needs. Minimum graphics memory usage is 80MB, resulting in 432MB of system memory available.
- 1GB = 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity less.
- Wireless Internet access requires base station or other wireless access point and Internet access (fees may apply). Achieving data rates up to 54 Mbps requires that all users have an AirPort Extreme Card and connect to an AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express Base Station. Some ISPs are not currently compatible with AirPort. Range may vary with site conditions.
- Actual weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
- Intel and Intel Core are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
- Internet access requires a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.
- Product contains electronic documentation.
- Backup copy of software is included.
There are no available products under this category.


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A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
More Americans Walking, But Still Not Enough, CDC Says
Almost half of adults don't get enough exercise to improve their health: report
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
TUESDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Almost two-thirds of Americans now say they take regular walks, a significant jump upwards, a new study finds.
However, experts add that far too many people are still not getting enough exercise to improve their health.
According to 2010 data, almost 62 percent of American adults were taking at least one 10-minute walk per week, compared with 56 percent who did so in 2005, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.
That's good news, CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a Tuesday afternoon press briefing. "Physical activity is the wonder drug," he said, and "more Americans are making a first step in getting more physical activity."
The uptick in walking rates means that "15 million more Americans were walking in 2010 compared to 2005," Frieden said.
Regular exercise is a proven health booster, and walking is a great way to get started, Frieden said. "You live longer, you have a lower risk of heart attack and stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a lower risk of diabetes and cancer, a lower risk of falls and depression, a lower risk of cognitive decline as you get older, and probably a lower risk of hip fracture and better sleep as well," he said.
However, despite the good news that more adults are taking walks, 48 percent of all adults still aren't getting enough exercise to make a helpful dent in their overall health, data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey indicates.
According to the U.S. government's Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, people should be doing at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, which includes exercise such as brisk walking, and it should be done for at least 10 minutes at a time.
Walking rates varied widely depending on where people lived, according to the CDC report published online Aug. 7 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Regular walkers are most frequently found in the West, where about 68 percent of people say they walk. On the other hand, Southerners showed the biggest rise in the number of people who walk, jumping from 49 percent in 2005 to 57 percent in 2010, the report found.
More people with conditions such as arthritis and high blood pressure are also walking, the CDC team said. There was, however, no increase in walking among people with type 2 diabetes, which is often linked to obesity.
To make it easier for people to take up walking, the CDC recommends:
- Letting people use school tracks and gyms after hours.
- Encourage employers to create walking paths at or near work.
- Encourage citizens to push for new walking paths and sidewalks in their neighborhoods.
"Hopefully, just knowing more people are walking will encourage others to join the fun," said Samantha Heller, an exercise physiologist and clinical nutrition coordinator at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn.
"Walking is such a great way be active. It's free and you already know how to do it. All you need is a good pair of walking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing and off you go," she said.
And, she added, walking has been shown to help reduce abdominal fat, improve insulin sensitivity, strengthen muscles and bones, reduce anxiety and boost heart health. In addition, regular exercise, including walking, can make you physiologically younger, Heller said.
"Research suggests that walking can improve mental function, make your brain younger and helps reduce chromosomal damage associated with aging," Heller said.
"Start with five minutes out and five minutes back. In no time you can work up to a good 30- to 60-minute walk," Heller said. "You will be walking towards a younger, healthier you."
Copyright (c) 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
- More Health News on:
- Exercise and Physical Fitness


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Today's paper (yes, it's still the paper, even if I read it on a Kindle) has the usual weekly "what's not working" feature.
This time, it was a particular city bus line (not my city) that is apparently somewhat unreliable at one particular time of weekday mornings.
The problem? If the bus wasn't there, some kids would have to walk to school. A school described as "more than half a mile away," which presumably means less than two-thirds of a mile away.
Half a mile? Really?
I'm not inclined to say anything negative about today's kids (although this may be about today's parents). There may be many reasons why we seem to be suffering an explosion of overweight, getting even worse among younger folks. But one reason is probably a general lack of ordinary exercise–like, for example, walking.
Half a mile at my full walking pace is an eight-minute walk. But I walk fast. Let's say 12-14 minutes. I'm guessing that's less time than it takes to stand there waiting for the bus, ride the bus, and walk to school from the bus stop. And, while it's not a lot of exercise, if done twice a day it's more than a mile, which is at least a decent start.
This is where I should bemoan that when I was growing up we walked three miles each way to and from school, in the snow, uphill in both directions. That isn't true, of course. I lived fairly close to my elementary school–more than half a mile but probably less than a mile. A little bit of downhill going, uphill coming back, but not enough to be significant. (The daily "walk around the block" my wife and I take–every day except hiking Wednesday–includes a *lot* more and steeper uphill. It's also around 1.3 miles.) Never, ever in the snow: In the nearly 16 years I lived in Modesto, it only snowed once with the snow sticking for more than an hour, and I was a high school senior at the time.
Half a mile (or "more than half a mile") is really too far for schoolkids to walk? That seems sad.


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Coffee Grinds Explained
Proper coffee extraction is critical for achieving that perfect cup at home. Grind size is one of the few ways to be able to directly affect that extraction rate.
In addition to whole coffee beans, we currently offer 3 different coffee grind levels:
Coarse (Think sugar in the raw, maybe more coarse)
Recommended for
- Chemex Brewer
- French Press
- Cold Brew
Medium (Slightly coarser than table salt)
Recommended for
- Any flat bottom brewer
- Kalitta wave
- Cloth filters
Fine (Slightly finer than table salt)
Recommended for
- V60 pour overs
- Typical cone filter coffee pots
- Aeropress
If you're interested in ground for Espresso, choose fine and mention something in the order comments.
If at all possible, we recommend grinding at home. We prefer Baratza coffee grinders and offer several of their models for sale. Click here to shop for one of their brewers.


text:
Story highlights
NEW: Colombia's president says it is unthinkable if Cuba isn't at the next summit
NEW: Santos adds the summit can be a "starting point" for talks on illicit drugs
Obama says debate is fine, but insists legalization isn't an option in the U.S.
The United States wants strong relations with Latin America, Obama says
Speaking Saturday at the Summit of the Americas, President Barack Obama said it is reasonable to debate alternatives in the war on drugs, but insisted legalizing drugs wasn't a valid option in the United States.
Obama voiced his view in his first public remarks at the hemispheric event during a meeting of business leaders, where he was part of a panel alongside Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
The possibility of drug legalization has gained traction in Central America, which is being squeezed between suppliers to the south and consumers to the north.
Yet the idea goes against decades of the prohibitionist policy backed by the United States, which is largely followed and enforced in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Santos noted Saturday that people in his native Colombia, too, have called for different ways to approach illicit drugs.
"Sometimes we pedal and pedal and pedal, and we feel like we are on a stationary bike," he said of the war on drugs. "I think the time has come to simply analyze if what we are doing is the best we could be doing, or if we can find an alternative that would be more effective and less costly to society. This is a topic of extreme political sensitivity."
He added, "One extreme can be to put all users in prison. On the other extreme, legalization. In the middle there may be more practical policies, such as decriminalizing consumption but putting all the efforts into interdiction."
The first thing that regional leaders should do, Santos said later at the summit's opening session, is seriously and collaboratively examine how to tackle drug trafficking "without dogma, without prejudice."
"This summit is not going to resolve this issue," he said. "But it can be a starting point to begin a discussion that we have been postponing for far too long."
Obama earlier Saturday left the door open for debate, but made it clear that the United States has a firm stance.
"I think it is entirely legitimate to have a conversation about whether the laws in place are doing more harm than good in certain places," Obama said. "I personally, and my administration's position is, that legalization is not the answer."
Much attention in the run-up to the summit was on the drug issue, as well as on leaders from the hemisphere who are not present in the coastal city of Cartagena, Colombia.
Venezuela's foreign minister told reporters Saturday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will not attend because of health reasons. Chavez had recently returned to his country from Cuba, where he underwent cancer treatment.
Cuba, which is not a member of the Organization of American States, was not invited to join the leaders. But there was a last-minute push by Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa to get Cuban leader Raul Castro a seat at the table.
Correa boycotted the summit because of Cuba's exclusion.
Santos, a key U.S. ally, said in his opening remarks Saturday that it was time to overcome such issues – calling it unthinkable if Cuba is not part of the next Summit of the Americas, as well as nearby Haiti.
The United States has "never been more excited" to work as equal partners with countries in Latin America, Obama said earlier Saturday – a vow that's been made before by U.S. presidents, but that nonetheless drew applause from the audience of business leaders.
The president presented an upbeat assessment of hemispheric relations, touting a 46% increase in trade between the United States and Latin American and Caribbean countries.
"This hemisphere is very well positioned in the global economy," he said.
Rousseff spoke of a need for a "virtuous relationship" based on respect and equality among economies, while Santos said he welcomed a "change of mentality in relations between north and south."
Obama pointed out one change he'd like to see: "I think in Latin America, part of the change in mentality, is also not always looking at the United States as the reason for everything … that goes wrong."
There are many examples of increased cooperation between the United States and Latin America, but they are not always flashy and don't draw the same type of attention that conflicts do, Obama said.
"Oftentimes in the press, the attention at summits like this ends up focusing on the controversies," the president added. "Sometimes those controversies date back to before I was born."
The summit's start was momentarily overshadowed by two security incidents – one involving bomb blasts and another involving Secret Service in Colombia to protect the U.S. delegation.
Roughly a dozen Secret Service agents and officers are being investigated over early findings that they allegedly brought back several prostitutes to a hotel in Cartagena, two U.S. government sources familiar the investigation told CNN.
The Secret Service personnel have since been sent back to the United States.
Separately, two small blasts occurred nearly back-to-back Friday in Cartagena.
The explosions – one near a bus station and another near a shopping mall – occurred a good distance away from where world leaders were gathering, said Alberto Cantihho Toncell, a spokesman for the Colombia National Police.
There were no casualties, and only minor damage was reported, Toncell said.
The explosions came on the heels of a similar one earlier in the day near the U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Bogota, authorities said.
CNN's Dan Lothian contributed to this report.


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Friday, September 08, 2006
Of course, the present spate of articles in the MSM are designed to reinforce the statements that President Bush recently made when trying to shore up his support for the continued 'war against terror'.[1]
In one recent article in the UK Telegraph by Michael Shelden one can almost sense the desperation in his narrative as he tries to dissuade readers from believing the claims of Dr. Steven E. Jones, the university physics professor from Utah who is a leading light in the 9/11 Scholars for Truth movement, that the twin towers of the World Trade Center could not have collapsed solely because aircraft had crashed in to them and that, therefore, there must have been some kind of conspiracy involved in order that a secondary cause for the towers collapse could be effected. Shelden doesn't attempt to debunk Jones' assertion but, instead, tries to belittle Jones by referring to some of Jones' other non-related theories about religious characters in Mexican history, etc.[2]
Then there is Alexander Cockburn's attempt to do a similar job on Dr. David Ray Griffin, author of The New Pearl Harbor.[3] Cockburn in his piece in The Nation attempts to frame Griffin's synopsis of what happened on 9/11 within the notion that Griffin has a "…devout, almost preposterous belief in American efficiency", inadvertently inferring that it was American inefficiency that allowed the attacks to happen.[4]
Meanwhile, Abraham H. Foxman of the pro right-wing Zionist Anti-Defamation League writes, predictably, in the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California that conspiracy theories about 9/11 are anti-Semitic. He bases this assertion on the fact that it was reported that many Israeli employees at the WTC did not attend work that day because they had been warned of the possibility of an attack. "This outrageous lie", Foxman says, "took off like wildfire and became the centerpiece of the conspiracy theory that is accepted by millions of people in the Islamic world, and others around the globe, that it was Israel and the Jews, not al Qaida, that perpetrated the terrorist event of Sept. 11, 2001."[5] We need, so Foxman seems to think, to know this because not only have millions of people in the Islamic world got a few doubts about the official version of events but now so have millions of people throughout the western world and, indeed, in growing numbers across the US. The latest figures show that over a third of Americans now believe that there is a lot more to the 9/11 story than the official government version would have us believe as the new Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll shows.[6]
The governments of the coalition of the willing and their compliant and supportive mainstream media are getting worried. We can expect to see a lot more of these types of articles appearing in the MSM trying desperately to debunk so-called 'conspiracy theories' and, of course, the more they try then the more likelihood there is that people that were previously not interested in conspiracy theories and were content with the official version will now be wondering if there isn't something in these stories after all!
[1] 'Strategy for winning the war on terror', White House statement, September 2006. Available online: http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nsct/2006/sectionV.html Accessed 8 September 2006.
[2] Michael Shelden, 'The CIA couldn't have organized this…', Telegraph, 8 September 2006. Available online: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/09/08/ftterror08.xml Accessed 8 September 2006.
[3] David Ray Griffin, The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11. (Northampton, Massachusetts: Olive Branch Press, 2004.)
[4] Alexander Cockburn, 'The 9/11 Conspiracy Nuts', The Nation, 7 September 2006. Available online: http://www.thenation.com/docprem.mhtml?i=20060925&s=cockburn Accessed 8 September 2006.
[5] Abraham H. Foxman, '9/11 conspiracy theories take root in Arab/Muslim world', The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, 8 September 2006. Available online: http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/30263/format/html/displaystory.html Accessed 8 September 2006.
[6] Thomas Hargrove, 'Third of Americans suspect 9-11 government conspiracy', Scrippsnews.com, 1 August 2006. Available online: http://www.scrippsnews.com/911poll Accessed 5 September 2006.
12 comments:
- Anonymous said...
First they ignore you.
Then, they make fun of you.
Then, they fight you.
Then, you win.
I would say we are entering the fight segment.
Yippee-ki-yay. The wheels go round. - Saturday, September 09, 2006 3:01:00 AM
- Anonymous said...
See the 9/11 investigation video put out by several widows* of the 9/11 WTC travesty.
This powerful documentary will be broadcast worldwide at http://scantv.org this Weds. Sept 13, at 10 PM Pacific.
(On cable Ch 77/29 in Seattle, King County)
The show is entitled "9/11 Press for Truth" and will run for 58 minutes uninterrupted on the weekly show, called "All-ways Pursuing Truth." 10 PM Weds.
Maybe these widows* had a personal reason to learn exactly what all happened to kill their spouses and turn their corporate American Dream into a nightmare.
*Known as the 'Jersey Girls'
Order the video at www.911PressForTruth.com or at www.disinfo.com
Based in part on "The Terror Timeline" by Paul Thompson
The widows conclude: "They lied, they all lied."
May God bless American wives in Amerika,
Pastor Don, Producer AWPT.
email@example.com - Saturday, September 09, 2006 4:50:00 AM
- Anonymous said...
The mainstream media are getting hysterical against alternate accounts of 9/11 because they know they are known collaborators and liars for the ruling elites whose interests were served by the attacks.
- Saturday, September 09, 2006 5:01:00 AM
- Anonymous said...
I wonder why so many would think that no Israelies died in the WTC.
Maybe, instead of anti-semitism, it has something to do with the fact that its TRUE!
The only Israeli to die on 911 was the Mossad Agent flying on UA Flight 175. - Saturday, September 09, 2006 6:06:00 AM
- William R. Schultz / The Majority Voice said...
All the obvious discrepencies, concerning the staged 911 attacks, and the MSM's involvement are clearly laid out at my blog www.asylumgoons.blogspot.com
If you haven't connected all the dots yet read this blog. - Saturday, September 09, 2006 6:42:00 AM
- Anonymous said...
Once the culprits behind 911 have been punished, let us seek prosecution of key media figures. Journalistic freedom does not include acting as an agent for government attempting to enslave the nation. This in itself was horrific crime. They should be put on notice.
Archive the evidence for future - Saturday, September 09, 2006 12:35:00 PM
- Anonymous said...
The question that is never asked is:-
....If the recent horrendous Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in the Lebanon were in fact 'proportionate' to their fears, then what were / are the feared weapons.
Possibly TAC NUCS sourced from the Black-Market and carried in an ambulance with a Red Cross on the roof??
Only one would need to reach Haifa and there detonated even as a dirty bomb for the consequences on Israel to be very serious. - Saturday, September 09, 2006 7:17:00 PM
- Anonymous said...
That's not the last stroke from the MSM or their owners, the CENTRAL BANKERS and the FREEMASONS. Rest assure, it is going to get even more hot. They will strive to ban info from the internet, and DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER to suppress you (Maybe what I'm posting will delay it, but these bastards have a way of waiting it out and usually the damage done to their position and authority is a cause their children and grand children take) by any dirty trick you can think of(just imagine being in their shoes and whatever sinister thing you can think of....they will do it). So far, they are running out of their books of dirty tricks...but one still remains: "THIS BLOGGER AND ALL THE 9/11 TRUTH MOVEMENT HAVE A PSYCHOTIC MIND OR ARE SUPPORTERS AND SYMPATHIZERS OF AL-QAEDA, AND THREAT TO AMERICA'S AND THE WORLD'S FREEDOM LOVING COUNTRIES! (plus doing something and pinning it on 9/11 truth movement)".
GOD BLESS US ALL, and shit on these families that own the central banks and of the Illuminati. - Saturday, September 09, 2006 7:44:00 PM
- Anonymous said...
That unique "Israeli" that died was a billionaire.
But what does an elite from Isreali special forces, expert in terrorism doing amongst all these hijackers?
Some press have stated it was Lewin's seat number mentioned by the stewardess as being "the ring leader."
Still, I think you are wrong. There was a grand total of two Israelis that died that day.
The real story is how many people got the Israeli instant message (Odigo) to clear out of the buildings two hours in advance of the strike? - Sunday, September 10, 2006 12:33:00 AM
- Anonymous said...
What a shame it is that it is not militarily or politically viable for the sound of mind who remain on this planet to reduce "Tela-bib", and other military instalations in Mordor to a bunch of filthy nuclear glass. Never do we use the word "impossible", simply not viable.
- Sunday, September 10, 2006 1:48:00 AM
- Anonymous said...
Why has Alexander Cockburn on his CounterPunch website pulled his report dated 31st July 2005 that was entitled:-
'Lost nuclear warheads from B-52 now in Iran??' - Sunday, September 10, 2006 8:38:00 AM
- dingo said...
Good commentary. I've been reading all the "hit" pieces on the "conspiracy nuts". Most of them avoid evidence, except selectively, and mainly confine themselves to ad hominem attacks and name-calling.
Although I remain agnostic on what precisely happened on 9/11—after all most of the evidence has been suppressed—I suppose I'm part of the "let it happen on purpose" school of thought. Too many things went wildly wrong and there has been too much lying—especially from the Pentagon and the Cheney cabal—not to suspect that they have a lot more to hide than mere incompetence.
Certainly, the Bush appointed 9/11 Commission, carefully orchestrated by Philip Zelikow, an actual member of the Bush presidential transition team, a friend and co-author with Condelezza Rice, and a leading ideologue in the whole "global war on terror" (GLOT) was a whitewash.
Even Thomas Keane, head commissioner, now admits that the Pentagon lied systematically and yet nothing was done to force them to tell the truth. Lucky for them they weren't covering up something important like a blowjob.
"Fog of War could explain why some people were confused on the day of 9/11, but it could not explain why all of the after action reports, accident investigations and public testimony by FAA and NORAD officials accounts of 9/11 was untrue."
I have a few problems, however, with some of the more speculative so-called "conspiracy" theories. For example, if the entire 9/11 "attack" was manufactured in Dick Cheney's elves of evil workshop, why were 15 of the 'alleged' hijackers Saudi Arabians and none Iraqis? If you don't want to attack your business partners, the Saudis, and you do want to attack Iraq, then why not plant a phantom Iraqi or two on board? Makes no sense.
Another problem I have is with people who keep saying stuff that is easily refutable and deliberately "inflammatory." 9/11 skeptics who want to get to the bottom of all this need to be responsible in their allegations. For example, some of the "anonymous" posts above don't seem all that concerned about actual information and clearly have a very different agenda. We typically hear allegations that no "Israelis" died in the WTC attacks, and more generally, this takes the form of the "no Jews" died in the WTC attacks.
A quick look at the list of victims—try the Gs for example—will show plenty of Jewish victims.
Whether Mossad operatives also knew about the attacks and were following the alleged hijackers is another question entirely. Certainly, they were very pleased to see the 9/11 attacks succeed. Netanyahu practically peed his pants in joy after the attacks, knowing that the Israelis would get carte blanche for their own relentless & brutal colonialism.
There's a lot of nonsense and disinformation out there, and it's not all coming from the corporate media. - Thursday, September 28, 2006 2:09:00 AM


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Were they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators?
Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Surely, they have no firm belief.
Or are the treasures of your Lord with them, or have they control over them? (At-Tur, 35-37)
The first error a prejudiced person makes is trying to evaluate religion without giving thought to Allah. Sociologists, for example, who do research on religion, can write thousands of books on how religions arose and how they affected societies sociologically. Yet, in spite of all these great academic studies, they cannot understand religion even to a minute extent when compared with those who lead their lives within the boundaries of religion.
Such people are not capable of comprehending the reality of Allah's unity, which is the basis of religion. Anyone who decides to learn about Islam needs first to understand the existence of Allah. If he does not believe in Allah, he will simply be investigating the Qur'an and Muslims in terms of his own limited vision of life.
The Qur'an thus expresses disapproval of such people: "They disbelieve what they cannot grasp, for they have not yet seen its prophecy fulfilled." (Yunus, 39) Islam is not a man-made ideology about which half-baked ideas and baseless conclusions can be put forth from the outside. The individual can understand what Islam is about only when he understands the existence of Allah and lives his life as enjoined in the Qur'an.
Essentially, the existence of Allah and the reality that there is no deity other than Allah are crystal clear facts. But in "the society of ignorance" where people fail to use their reasoning due to their habit of indifference and indolence, they grow blind and cannot comprehend this reality. As a matter of fact, that is the reason why they were stigmatized as a "society of ignorance" (Jahilliyah).
One of the many Qur'anic verses about pondering on the existence of Allah records the Almighty's advice to the Prophet on how he should address the ignorant:
"Say: 'Think, you, if Allah took away your hearing and your sight, and sealed up your hearts, who - a god other than Allah - could restore them to you?'" The same verse goes on to say: "See how We explain the signs by various symbols; yet they turn aside." (Al-Anaam, 46)
A brief example can help us enrich our views and remove our innate ignorance.
Let's assume that there is a person from whose memory everything, including the knowledge of his self-being and his body, has been wiped out. If he found himself on a place like earth, what would he feel like? He would undoubtedly be so amazed and so astonished as to lose his mind out of curiosity. The first thing he would notice would probably be his body. He would not be aware that his body in fact belonged to him in the first place, thinking of it as an external object, like the other things in the scene. Then it would be very interesting for him to be able to control his body parts and make them do what he wanted them to do. He would probably try to figure out the use of his arm by moving it up and down for a while.
He would find very suitable surroundings for his body, the reason for the existence of which would still be unknown to him. There would be safe ground to stand on, a clear image to view, beautiful fragrances to smell, various animals, a proper air temperature exactly suitable to the body, an atmosphere suitable for breathing, and thousands of other sensitive balances. Edible fruits to satisfy his hunger, pure and clear water to cool his parched throat and many more things.
For a moment, let us put ourselves in his position and reflect for a while. In a place like this, would we just go and enjoy ourselves, or be wise enough to ask ourselves some very crucial questions? Would we try to understand who we were, why we were there, what the reason for our existence was, what the reason for the existence of the present order was or, would we simply ignore these questions and be concerned with how much we enjoyed our lives? Would not the first questions come to our minds be as follows:
Who am I?
Who has created me, who has created this perfect body of mine?
Who has created this great order which surrounds me?
What does He, who created everything, want from me? What does He want to show me?
Even an individual with a weak mind would think that there is nothing more important than finding answers to these questions. Someone who pays no attention to them, preferring rather to spend his life in fulfilling his physical needs, amusing himself during the day and sleeping at nights, would undoubtedly be a creature of no understanding at all. Someone must have created his body and his surroundings, and they must have come into being all of a sudden. Once he was created, every second of the rest of his life must also have been dependent on that Superior Being, Who had initially created him. What could be more important than knowing about this Superior Being, Who obviously possesses a great power?
Let us continue with our example and assume that he reaches a city after walking through the land for a while. There are various types of people there, most of whom are pretty vulgar, ambitious and insincere. And almost nobody is thinking about his Owner or the place he is living in. Although everyone has a job, an aim or an ideology, the people of the city cannot bring good order to the city, with which everyone would be content.
Let's assume he meets some people whom the denizens of the city dislike, and towards whom they feel rage and enmity. As to what these people are like, he sees that they are significantly different from the others in many ways. He feels that, as human beings, they are amiable reasonable, and trustworthy. They look humble and they speak in a clear, moderate and sensible manner. He can easily see that there is nothing wrong with them, so he becomes confused and has doubts as to why the citizenry think otherwise.
Let's assume he starts a conversation with them and they tell him: "We have a different view of life and think differently from other people because we are aware that there is an Owner of this place and everything in it. We are also aware that His power is above everything and He has created this place and everything else to test and educate us until the day comes when we will leave this place. We have a book which we have received from Him, and we are leading our lives in accordance with this book."
In such a situation, he might not be a hundred per cent sure whether these people were really telling the truth or not. But he would probably understand that what they were talking about was quite important. He would feel there was nothing more important than obtaining further information about these people at that moment, and he would be extremely curious about the book they were talking about, would he not?
The only thing that stops us from being as sensible as the person in this example is our having been on this earth for a longer period of time.
We have experienced a growth process instead of coming into being as an adult all of a sudden, like the person in the story. Consequently, we have to admit that most of us are in a position similar to that of the town people in the example due to our disregard of such questions in our lives. What we should further bear in mind is that almost none of the people in this city actually thought about the questions cited above, found some consistent answers on their own, and finally turned away from the Superior Being, Who created them. In fact, most of them did not even go through these steps, but simply pushed these questions aside and stopped thinking about them, because of their "collective ignorance".
Are we aware of the fact that the "society of ignorance" we are living in prevents us from answering those crucial questions mentioned above by keeping us occupied with questions like: "What shall I eat tonight, which dress should I wear tomorrow?" or "What is she thinking about me, what should I say to him?"? Unfortunately, this shows nothing but abysmal ignorance although we claim to be living in the "information age".
Now, you have a chance! Think about the complete ignorance you might have been exposed to by such a "society of ignorance" and ask yourselves the following question, which so far you might not have thought over, or might have brushed aside with insufficient explanations: How did I come into existence?
In order to be able to answer this question, it would be useful to start with the physical beginning of our existence and think about that extraordinary event - "birth".
The brief history of birth can be summarized as follows:
Sperms are produced literally 'outside' of a man's body. The reason for this is the fact that sperm production can occur only in a suitable environment with a temperature of about 35 degrees Celsius, which is two degrees below the average body temperature. Male testicles are the only body parts with this temperature, as they are rightly placed outside of the body. To bring the temperature to the required level, another mechanism is activated. The skin covering the testicles shrinks when it is cold and sweats when it is hot to keep the temperature of this area stable. Approximately a thousand sperms are produced per minute, and they have a special design that eases their long journey from the man's testicles to the woman's egg. A sperm comprises a head, a neck and a tail by the use of which a fish-like movement towards the mother's uterus takes place.
The head part, which carries the genetic code of the future human being, is covered with a special protective armour. The benefit of this armor is noticed at the entrance of the mother's uterus. This place is very acidic to protect the mother from microbes and other alien particles like sperms, but by the use of this armor, most sperms manage to stay alive.
Not only sperms are ejaculated to the uterus. Semen is a mixture that consists of many other liquids. These liquids contain sugar that supplies energy to the sperms. Semen, which is a base in its chemical form, neutralizes the acidic environment at the entrance of the uterus and creates a safe environment for sperms. It also makes the environment slippery so that sperms can move along easily. Sperms make a difficult journey inside the body of the mother until they reach the egg. No matter how hard they try to survive, only a thousand sperms out of 200-300 million can make it to the egg.
In the light of this brief information, let's try to find the answers to some questions that cross our minds: How can a sperm make itself so suitable for entry into the mother's uterus, about which it knows nothing beforehand? How can a sperm be produced in the male body in a way that it can survive and find its way to the egg in the female uterus in spite of the protective mechanisms of the female body, about which the sperm had no previous idea? How can this happen?
Since a sperm lacks the ability to adapt itself to an unknown environment in advance, the only possible answer to these questions is that it is actually created that way.
Let's continue with the brief story of birth:
An egg is about half the size of a salt grain. The place where an egg and a sperm meet is called the Fallopian tube. The egg secretes a special fluid that leads the sperms to the egg. As they come closer to the egg, their protective armor is melted by another fluid secreted by the egg. As a result, solvent enzyme sachets appear on the cover of the sperms' heads. By the use of these enzymes, the sperm that is to fertilize the egg, penetrates the membrane of the egg. When the sperms surround the egg, they race one another to enter to the egg. Mostly, only one sperm fertilizes the egg and from that time on, there is no possibility for another sperm to enter it. Before fertilization, the electric charge of the sperms and the egg are opposite, therefore they attract each other. However, after the entrance of the first sperm, the electrical charge of the egg changes, acquiring a pushing effect on the rest of the sperms.
Finally, the DNA of the male present in the sperm combines with the DNA of the female. At this moment, there forms a new cell (the zygote), that is, a new human being inside the mother's womb.
After considering this bit of information, a new question comes to our minds: How is it that an egg is prepared to welcome a sperm as if it "knew" that it would meet the sperm? How can this happen? The only possible answer to this question is that the egg is created to be suitable to the sperm by the will of a Creator who has also created the sperms and controls both the sperm and the egg.
The extraordinary nature of birth does not finish with all this. The fertilized egg clings on to the womb by its special knobbly surface. The small protuberances on the surface of the egg jut out and penetrate deep into the mother's womb like the roots of plants in the ground. The zygote starts to develop through hormones secreted by the mother. The egg keeps receiving nutrition provided by the mother.
With time, the cells divide and grow in number by the two-four-eight-sixteen model. In the beginning, all cells that are formed by the division of old ones have the same properties as each other. Then, all of a sudden, newly formed cells somehow start differentiating, showing separate characteristics, as they are to form different organs of the fetus. The science of today still lacks the competence to give a satisfactory answer to the question of why and how exactly this differentiation of cells takes place and how they form different organs with such perfect organization.
As time passes, a drastic change takes place in the jelly-like fetus. Relatively rough bones start to form inside that soft structure, all of them surprisingly, in their proper places. What's amazing here, is that while all the cells carry exactly the same characteristics at the beginning, through the differentiating process, some of them turn out to be eye cells sensitive to light, others become nerve cells that perceive heat while yet others form those cells that detect sound vibrations.
Finally the fetus' construction is completed and a new baby is born into the world. At this stage, it is 100 million times bigger and 6 billion times heavier than its initial form when it was a fertilized egg.
This "brief history" mentioned above concerns us, because it is the story of how we came into being. For us, what can be more important than finding the ultimate Cause and Owner of that great, extraordinary and complex event of our existence? When we glance at this short history, we come across many other questions to which science, which is under the influence of materialism, has not yet found any answers.
But there are still many questions that need to be answered. One of these is: How can cells of the same structure start to gather in groups and form different organs of the body while they multiply?
Actually, there is no answer to these questions about birth other than accepting the presence of a Creator. It would be a great mistake to think that all of these complex operations occur on their own or by chance. How can cells agree to form "human organs"? Let's think about this a little further. Let's assume that there are two wise adults who come together and decide to work on an engineering project. Even between these two persons, some misunderstandings will unavoidably occur and this will put the success of the project at risk. Then, how can thousands and millions of cells work together to form an absolutely perfect organization without any mishap? Who would dare to say an answer to this question: "It may be possible by chance"? Some atheist "scientists" of today explain this marvelous occurrence as the "magic of nature". What does this mean? Who or what is nature? Has not nature also been created?
Another attempt to answer this question might be to refer to the mother and the father—which would be meaningless. The role of parents in this event is in fact, neglible. Neither mother nor the father is aware what goes on within them in the production of gender cells, fertilization and development of fetus. The exact date of birth is unknown to mother who has no control over delivery. In spite of this, mother and father are seen as the "origin of one's life"? But are they so?
The mother and father are very important to their child, as they play a role in his existence. On the other hand, one never, or only rarely, thinks about ones real Creator. Is not the real Creator, who has the ultimate power and control ones everything including birth, life and death, worth more love and respect? His existence is clear and the existence of any other thing without Him is not possible. No one but Allah can create anyone or any matter on his own, while He neither begets nor is begotten as is stated in the third verse of Al-Ikhlas 3.
The creation is explained in the Qur'an as follows;
"We created man from a quintessence (of clay);
Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed;
Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (fetus) lump; then We made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the noblest of Creators!" (Al-Mumenoon, 12-14)
This being so, it is clear that there is no difference between ourselves and that man in the story, who was "suddenly" created and become curious about who had created him and everything around him. Of course, he found himself as an adult and without any parents who gave birth to him and raised him. But now that we also know that our coming into existence can in no way be explained by parents, we can consider our situation similar to that of the man in the story.
In such a situation, the most important thing to do is to search exclusively for the truth, to listen to those who claim they have knowledge and evidence about the truth and then to think over what we have been told. Take the man in the story again. As we know, he meets some people in the city who tell him that they can make known to him the Creator Who has created himself and everything around and that there is a book from Him. What do you think he would do? Would he listen to them, or would he simply turn away from them and prefer to be involved with such ordinary, everyday questions like: "What shall I wear tonight, what shall I say to him?" that are daily repeated and will one day become meaningless when death comes to him. Which one of these two choices is the more rational, logical and conscientious? You, without doubt, know the correct answer for this man. But, what about yourself?
What leads up to the event of creation is specifically described in certain other verses of the Quran;
"Does man think that he will be left uncontrolled, without purpose?
Was he not a drop of sperm emitted in lowly form?
Then he became a leech-like clot; then Allah made and fashioned him in due proportion. And of him He made two sexes, male and female.
Has not He, the same, the power to give life to the dead?" (Al-Qiyama, 36-40)
"Allah created you from dust; then from a sperm-drop; then He made you in pairs. No female conceives, or lays down her load, but with His knowledge. No man is long-lived, nor is a part cut off from his life, but in accordance with His Decree. All this is easy to Allah." (Fatir, 11)
The human is a being created by Allah and as a created entity, he cannot change this fact. He cannot bring any other explanation to his own existence. Since he has been created, he would not be left uncontrolled and irresponsible as emphasized in the above verses. There is, of course, a purpose for creation. Where then will he find the answer?
There is only one answer to this question and that is in the book that Allah has sent down to him.
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In Mid December, I announced on my facebook page that I was going to do a Carb Detox, but that I wanted to fully enjoy my holiday festivities first. Many of you chimed in asking to join me and while I debated waiting until February 1st, I know that the longer I procrastinate, the harder it will be dive in, and I'm sure you agree.
I will be starting my No Carb, No Sugar Detox this Monday, and I'd love for you to join me.
For me, accountability is key to successfully cutting carbs because those first few days are ROUGH!! I love my carbs and as my body detoxes from their effect, everything in me wants to eat more of them. It's a vicious cycle.
If completely cutting carbs leaves you running for cover, why don't you just pick one healthy living area that you want to focus on during the next month?
Maybe it's cutting all white carbs and white sugar or maybe a baby step like cutting soda is where you land. You decide, but by just making one small choice, you can really make a difference.
I am not into quick fixes or "magic" diets. Over the years, I have tried varying approaches, but it comes down to healthy eating choices and lifestyle change. I admit, when I've splurged on fun foods like I have the last few months, I need to do something a bit more drastic and thus, the no carb and no sugar approach. Those are my downfalls, so I will be following the The 17 Day Diet Plan: A Doctor's Plan Designed for Rapid Results.
If any of you read my blog last year, you'll remember that I shared about it throughout the month of February and March and honestly, I had never felt better. I didn't have to count calories or follow a tricky plan. The philosophy is quite straight forward and it's been amazing to receive emails from many readers who joined me with such amazing success and have kept their weight off.
Yes, I sound a bit like an infomercial, but this is all just my opinion. I have nothing to do with the 17 Day Diet, nor did they hire me to start a challenge. 😉
My husband lost 20 pounds, and I ended up losing 15 pounds just from working my way through two 17 day cycles. I didn't finish the third cycle but jumped into their maintenance mode. I kept the majority of the weight off easily until I decide to have a free for all and eat anything at anytime, whenever I wanted for these last few months.
When I first kicked the The 17 Day Diet off last year, the struggles I shared in my Keeping the Weight Off Post are the same issues I struggle with now, so it was worth repeating.
I "know" that eating fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats and fish are the wisest choice. I know that staying away from the bad white carbs (white bread, pasta, white rice, potatoes and sugar) is best for losing weight and healthy living, but I just haven't wanted to give those things up enough to lose the weight.
For me, it's still all about balance and enjoying those things in moderation, but in order to get this weight off initially, I have to be willing to go without my favorite carbs. I can't just stop at small portions of carbs. I inhale my favorite carbs.
My goal is to adhere to a more unprocessed, low sugar, low glycemic index, low fat, food plan for 17 days (the first cycle) and then gradually add the carbs back into my food choices.
I did that, lost weight, had more energy and it was manageable. Now, don't get me wrong, the first week is the hardest. I had to retrain myself to enjoy veggies. I had to spend more time dicing and chopping and sauteing for stir fries, but after a week or so, I began to crave healthy foods. I shared some of my 17 Day Diet Food Ideas near the end of Cycle 1.
As I mentioned, the plan is fairly straight forward.
"The The 17 Day Diet: A Doctor's Plan Designed for Rapid Results , relies on proven methods to help you take the weight off and keep it off. His revolutionary program adjusts your body metabolically so that you burn fat, day in and day out. Each 17 day Cycle "Accelerate, Activate, Achieve and Arrive" changes your calorie count and the foods you eat."
The plan has four cycles. Each cycle consists of 17 days where dieters vary the carbs, proteins, fruits and other kinds of foods they eat in order to stimulate their metabolism and promote weight loss.
There are "free" foods in which you can eat unlimited amounts of each day: 90% of all veggies (but not the carb based ones like potatoes, avocados and corn), lean chicken breast, turkey breast and lean fish. For me, the key was advanced prep on the chicken. When I had a lot of it cooked up and ready, I was fine to ward off cravings. When I had a craving, I would make a quick salad with grilled chicken on top. (I'll go into my menu plan in a post later in the week.)
I had a LOT of chicken.
Things like Speedy Chicken Cacciatore where I would just eat the veggies and chicken, but serve it on pasta to the kids.
Our family has eaten so healthy and the kids are enjoying it. I do not like cooking two meals, so I get creative.
Since I make this in a pan, it's easy to just avoid putting the ranch and cheese on my portion in my quick Cheddar Ranch Chicken.
Citrus Herb Chicken @10MinuteDinners.com
Then there are the "two/day" foods – two pieces of fruit (before 2:00), two eggs and two servings of probiatics foods. I choose plain yogurt to make smoothies.
While it seems limited in choices, the results are amazing. There are delicious recipes that you can create with veggies, chicken and my favorite seasoning – Herbamare. I buy it through Vitacost.com where I save on many of my health, whole foods and supplement products.(You receive free $10 off your first $30 order.It's one of my favorite sites.)
Once you finish the first cycle of 17 days, you enter into cycle two when you begin adding in additional beneficial carbs and lean beef, as well as some other choice foods.
I ended up losing 15 pounds from working my way through two cycles and then jumped into maintenance mode. I kept the majority of the weight off easily until I decide to have a free for all and eat anything at anytime, whenever I wanted for the last few months.Those who say they gained all their weight back after doing this most likely just went back to eating what ever they wanted, when ever. Of course, no one can keep weight off when that occurs. I was surprised that I kept off what I did with how I was eating.
I've gained half of it back and my goal is to drop additional weight plus another 8 pounds. That's my goal over the next two months, but I am taking it day by day (or I should say, 17 days by 17 days.)
Would you like some group accountability?
I will be posting many of my recipe ideas, sharing them on instagram, as well as doing check ins on my facebook page.
Remember, just pick one healthy living choice. We'll be in this together.
For additional reading, I've shared a bit about my Weight Loss journey, in that category here
and if you want to read the entire book, this is what I'm following – The 17 Day Diet.


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Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It's free!
Tuesday October 30, 2007 7:18 pm
Sidewinder For iPhone
The search for the perfect iPhone case is an arduous task. Screen protection, side button access, clips, card slots, maybe even a stand—the list of secondary duties that a case can perform is growing almost daily. Marware's Sidewinder for iPhone offers another entry in the list of case functions—earphone organization.
If you're using the stock iPhone earbuds (or any other earbud-style headphones), the Sidewinder will keep them tangle free and wrapped around a slide out arm. The arm also sports a cutout that holds Apple's Bluetooth earpiece. The iPhone can be mounted in the holster with the screen facing out or in. The Multidapt clip on the back rotates 360 degrees, can be used as a stand for vertical or horizontal viewing, and can be switched out for any of the other Multidapt accessories.
Sidewinder for iPhone retails for $24.99 and Multidapt accessories range in price from $4.99 to $19.99 USD.
Read More | Marware Sidewinder product page
Latest Gear Live Videos
© Gear Live Inc. {year} – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.


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We recently learned that the 66th World Health Assembly has adopted the World Health Organization's comprehensive mental health action plan (2013-2020). The action plan is the outcome of extensive global and regional consultations over the last year with a broad array of stakeholders including: 135 Member States; 60 WHO CCs and other academic centers; 76 NGOs and 17 other stakeholders and experts.
As one of the 76 contributing nonprofit organizations at the forum, we are proud to have played a role in the development of this Action Plan as we feel it is a critical step in the right direction of eradicating the stigma of depression and meeting the needs of the 350 million worldwide living with the disease.
As part of our ongoing efforts to be leaders and advocates for the disease, we plan to have International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression (iFred) representatives once again at the mhGAP Forum in October to discuss the launch of the plan and its implementation.
The four major objectives of the action plan are to:
- Strengthen effective leadership and governance for mental health.
- Provide comprehensive, integrated and responsive mental health and social care services in community-based settings.
- Implement strategies for promotion and prevention in mental health.
- Strengthen information systems, evidence and research for mental health.
We look forward to continuing collaboration with WHO representatives and working towards solutions that will give hope to millions living with depression.
For more information about the Action Plan click here.


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Geology Club
The University of Maine Geology Club (originally the Rock and Hammer Club, founded in 1947) is an undergraduate run organization that plans a wide variety of activities associated with geology. Past activities include: local hiking and camping trips, a week long trip to the Colorado Plateau, as well as some non-geology related events such as bowling nights and a Department chili cookoff. The club is primarily for Earth and Climate Sciences undergraduate students, but anyone interested in Geology is welcome to join. Check out the Club Archives below to see what activities the club has done in the past, as well as information on how to join.
Club Archives
In recent years, the Geology Club has been on numerous fun and exciting adventures, both locally and afar. Most recently we went on a week-long trip to the Colorado Plateau. The trip had 10 students and three faculty members. While out there, the club hiked the Grand Canyon, explored several state and National Parks, including Petrified Forest National Park, and learned about the geology of the American Southwest. The year before that we also took a week-long road trip down to North Carolina. On the way, the Club did some hiking, lots of camping, went to several museums, and even got to rock climb. A smaller trip earlier in the year took the Club to Grand Manan Island, Canada to explore the geology there.
How to Join
Anybody is welcome to join the Club, Earth and Climate Sciences undergraduate or not. The Geology Club is a great place to learn about the Earth around us outside of the classroom, as well as the perfect opportunity to visit some fun and exciting places! For more information, contact our club advisor, Dr. Marty Yates.


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While NECA rolled out a bunch of impressive Valve-licensed stuff, I was still charmed by the Portal 2 offerings shown by ThinkGeek. Along a Companion Cube cookie jar and talking turrets, they also had Aperture Science cores that also blurted out phrases from the Portal games. But the highlight had to be the Science Fair kit that you could plug into a potato, calling back to one of the best moments in Valve's teleportational sequel. (Potato not included but the poster backdrop is)
ThinkGeek also had Minecraft wares on display, too. Those wall-hangings should keep the Creepers away, no?


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An ancient song repertory will be heard for the first time in 1,000 years this week after being 'reconstructed' by a Cambridge researcher and a world-class performer of medieval music.
Detail from the Cambridge Songs manuscript leaf that was stolen from and then recovered by Cambridge University Library [Credit: Cambridge University] |
'Songs of Consolation', to be performed at Pembroke College Chapel, Cambridge on April 23, is reconstructed from neumes (symbols representing musical notation in the Middle Ages) and draws heavily on an 11th century manuscript leaf that was stolen from Cambridge and presumed lost for 142 years.
Saturday's performance features music set to the poetic portions of Roman philosopher Boethius' magnum opus The Consolation of Philosophy. One of the most widely-read and important works of the Middle Ages, it was written during Boethius' sixth century imprisonment, before his execution for treason. Such was its importance, it was translated by many major figures, including King Alfred the Great, Chaucer and Elizabeth I.
Hundreds of Latin songs were recorded in neumes from the 9th through to the 13th century. These included passages from the classics by Horace and Virgil, late antique authors such as Boethius, and medieval texts from laments to love songs.
However, the task of performing such ancient works today is not as simple as reading and playing the music in front of you. 1,000 years ago, music was written in a way that recorded melodic outlines, but not 'notes' as today's musicians would recognise them; relying on aural traditions and the memory of musicians to keep them alive. Because these aural traditions died out in the 12th century, it has often been thought impossible to reconstruct 'lost' music from this era – precisely because the pitches are unknown.
Now, after more than two decades of painstaking work on identifying the techniques used to set particular verse forms, research undertaken by Cambridge University's Dr Sam Barrett has enabled him to reconstruct melodies from the rediscovered leaf of the 11th century 'Cambridge Songs'.
"This particular leaf – 'accidentally' removed from Cambridge University Library by a German scholar in the 1840s – is a crucial piece of the jigsaw as far as recovering the songs is concerned," said Dr Barrett.
Missing leaf from 'Cambridge Songs' [Credit: University of Cambridge] |
Part detective, part musical time traveller, Barrett's scholarly groundwork has involved gathering together surviving notations from the Cambridge Songs and other manuscripts around the world and then applying them to the principles of musical setting during this era.
"After rediscovering the leaf from the Cambridge Songs, what remained was the final leap into sound," he said. "Neumes indicate melodic direction and details of vocal delivery without specifying every pitch and this poses a major problem.
"The traces of lost song repertoires survive, but not the aural memory that once supported them. We know the contours of the melodies and many details about how they were sung, but not the precise pitches that made up the tunes."
After piecing together an estimated 80-90 per cent of what can be known about the melodies for The Consolation of Philosophy, Barrett enlisted the help of Benjamin Bagby of Sequentia – a three-piece group of experienced performers who have built up their own working memory of medieval song.
Bagby, co-founder of Sequentia, is also a director of the Lost Songs Project which is already credited with bringing back to life repertoires from Beowulf through to the Carmina Burana.
Over the last two years, Bagby and Barrett have experimented by testing scholarly theories against the practical requirements of hand and voice, exploring the possibilities offered by accompaniment on period instruments. Working step-by-step, and joined recently by another member of Sequentia, the harpist-singer Hanna Marti, songs from The Consolation of Philosophy have now been brought back to life.
Added Barrett: "Ben tries out various possibilities and I react to them – and vice versa. When I see him working through the options that an 11th century person had, it's genuinely sensational; at times you just think 'that's it!' He brings the human side to the intellectual puzzle I was trying to solve during years of continual frustration."
While it's unclear whether Boethius ever wrote Consolation's poetry to be sung, the Roman philosopher recorded and collected ideas about music in other hugely influential works. During the Middle Ages, until the end of the 12th century, it was common for great works such as Boethius' to be set to music as a way of learning and ritualising the texts.
There have been other attempted settings of The Consolation of Philosophy across the centuries; especially during the renaissance and the 19th century when melodies were invented to sound like popular songs of the day.
But it was the rediscovered leaf of the Cambridge Songs that allowed the crucial breakthrough in being able to finally reassemble the work as it would have been heard around 1,000 years ago.
Originating in the Rhineland in the first half of the 11th century, the Cambridge Songs makes up the final part of an anthology of Latin texts that was held in Canterbury before making its way to Cambridge University Library by the late 17th century.
In 1840, a Germanic scholar cut out an important leaf and returned home. For 142 years, Cambridge presumed it lost before a chance discovery by historian and Liverpool University academic Margaret Gibson in 1982.
During an unscheduled visit to a Frankfurt library, Gibson enquired as to whether they had any Boethius manuscripts and was told of a single leaf in their collections. Gibson immediately recognised the leaf as coming from a copy of Consolation and its likely importance for the number of neumes it contained.
Gibson then got in touch with Cambridge University medievalist Christopher Page, then a PhD candidate, who realised this was the missing leaf from the Cambridge Songs and secured its return to the city nearly a century and a half after its disappearance.
"Without this extraordinary piece of luck, it would have been much, much harder to reconstruct the songs," added Barrett. "The notations on this single leaf allow us to achieve a critical mass that may not have been possible without it.
"There have been times while I've been working on this that I have thought I'm in the 11th century, when the music has been so close it was almost touchable. And it's those moments that make the last 20 years of work so worthwhile."
Source: University of Cambridge [April 23, 2016]


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Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history and do a complete physical exam. To diagnose CAD or angina , the following may be helpful:
The diagnosis of angina is based mainly on your description of symptoms and precipitating factors. Other medical conditions, such as hypertension or diabetes , increase the risk of CAD.
Physical Examination
Since high cholesterol is a risk factor for CAD, doctors will look for evidence of elevated cholesterol, such as a collection of fatty tissue near the eyes. Your doctor will also listen for extra sounds in the heart, known as murmurs or gallops, which may suggest heart disease.
Blood Tests
Increased levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar are risk factors for CAD, as are increased levels of homocysteine and c-reactive protein. Angina may be precipitated or worsened by anemia , overactive thyroid , and kidney failure. Testing for the presence/quantity of heart muscle enzymes in the blood may indicate heart muscle damage.
Electrocardiogram (EKG)
During an EKG , Electrodes are attached to your skin to record the electrical activity of your heart. This test can identify heart rhythm problems and damage to your heart caused by a previous heart attack . During anginal attacks, the EKG may show specific changes. Using this test to diagnose CAD has its limitations because other heart problems can also cause changes in the heart's electrical waves.
Stress Test
Stress test will show how well the heart is functioning. Depending on your health, you may take a stress test involving exercise (sometimes on a treadmill) or take medication that will increase blood flow to the heart. You may be hooked up to an EKG or other heart monitor. If the exercise or medication causes an increased need for blood flow that the blood vessels diseased by CAD cannot accommodate, the EKG will appear abnormal. Also, a radioactive tracer can be injected so the doctor will be able to see which parts of the heart are not getting an adequate blood supply.
Nuclear scanning
With this test, your doctor can see damaged areas of the heart and examine the heart's pumping action. A small amount of radioactive material is injected into one of your veins, usually in the arm. The healthy heart muscle takes up this material. Then, a scanning camera reads where the material does or does not show up. This determines which areas of the heart muscle have been previously damaged.
A variety of imaging techniques may be used to examine the heart muscle after the radioactive material has been injected. These include: scintigraphy, computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET) scan, and single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) imaging. Nuclear scanning can be performed with the patient at rest, immediately following exercise, or after the administration of a medication that simulates the stress of exercise.
During an echocardiogram , an ultrasound image of the heart demonstrates the heart muscle's movement with each heartbeat. When the heart doesn't get enough blood, the walls of the heart show irregular motion. The echocardiogram can be performed at rest, during exercise, or after the administration of medication that simulates the stress of exercise.
Coronary Angiography
A coronary angiography is the most accurate way to measure the severity of CAD. It is also the most expensive and invasive method. A thin tube (catheter) is put into an artery of the arm or leg and passed through the body into the arteries of the heart. A dye is injected through the catheter and into the heart's arteries. Several x-ray images are taken. These pictures will show the amount of blockage caused by atherosclerosis .
Developing Technologies
Developing technologies include the following:
- Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) —The MRA test uses MRI technology to identify coronary artery blockages. This technique has its limitations and is not commonly used.
- Electron beam CT scan (EBCT) —This is a "heart scan" that uses some radiation to detect tiny calcium deposits in the lining of the coronary arteries. This technique is appealing because it is not invasive, physically exerting, or risky. However, results can often be incorrect or misleading, so research is still being done on EBCT.
- Computed tomography angiography (CTA) —CTA uses 64 slice CT imaging—along with an IV contrast injected in the hand or arm—to image the coronary arteries and look for blockages. This test is similar to coronary angiography, but poses less risk because there is no need for an invasive catheter placement.
American Heart Association website. Available at:
Libby P, Braunwald E.
Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine.8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders; 2007.
HeartInfo.org website. Available at:
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