text:
February 18, 2012 - The British Empire didn't just have a fleet that projected its hegemonic will across the planet, it possessed financial networks to consolidate global economic power, and system administrators to ensure the endless efficient flow of resources from distant lands back to London and into the pockets of England's monied elite. It was a well oiled machine, refined by centuries of experience.
While every schoolchild learns about the British Empire, it seems a common modern-day political malady for adults to believe that reality is organized as their history books were in school - in neat well defined chapters. This leads to the common misconception that the age of imperialism is somehow a closed-chapter in human history. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Imperialism did not go extinct. It simply evolved.
Imperialism is alive & well.
There are several pertinent examples illustrating how imperialism is still alive and well, and only cleverly disguised with updated nomenclatures. What we know today as "free trade" actually derives its origins from economic concessions the British frequently extorted from nations under its "gunboat diplomacy" strategy - that is, anchoring gunboats off the coast of a foreign capital, and threatening bombardment and military conquest if certain demands were not met.
In the mid-1800's, Thailand, then the Kingdom of Siam, was surrounded on all sides by colonized nations and in turn was made to concede to the British 1855 Bowring Treaty. See how many of these "gunboat policy" imposed concessions sound like today's "economic liberalization:"
1. Siam granted extraterritoriality to British subjects.
2. British could trade freely in all seaports and reside permanently in Bangkok.
3. British could buy and rent property in Bangkok.
4. British subjects could travel freely in the interior with passes provided by the consul.
5. Import and export duties were capped at 3%, except the duty-free opium and bullion.
6. British merchants were to be allowed to buy and sell directly with individual Siamese.
A more contemporary example would be the outright military conquest of Iraq and Paul Bremer's (CFR) economic reformation of the broken state. The Economist enumerates the neo-colonial "economic liberalization" of Iraq in a piece titled "Let's all go to the yard sale: If it all works out, Iraq will be a capitalist's dream:"
1. 100% ownership of Iraqi assets.
2. Full repatriation of profits.
3. Equal legal standing with local firms.
4. Foreign banks allowed to operate or buy into local banks.
5. Income and corporate taxes capped at 15%.
6. Universal tariffs slashed to 5%.
Nomenclatures aside, nothing has changed since 1855 as far as imperialist "wish-lists" go. The Economist argued, as would any 18-19th century imperialist, that Iraq needed foreign expertise to catch up, justifying the evisceration of their national sovereignty and the foreign stewardship (theft) of their resources. Unlike Siam, Iraq refused to concede to the "gunboats" of modern-day Wall Street & London, and often as the British did during the "glory days" of the empire, they made good on their threats.
Image: The Anglo-Zulu War. Causus belli - diamonds & imperial expansion.
And just as the British did when they found diamonds beneath Zululand during the late-1800's, spurring them to invent a causus belli to justify the destruction of the Zulu Kingdom, the schemers of modern-day global imperialism likewise invented a dubious pretext to invade Iraq before commencing its plundering.
Image: Anglo-Zulu War. Mission accomplished. The city of Ulandi burns and the British go about dividing Zululand into 14 chiefdoms led by compliant, obedient proxies. The British took great care to cultivate rivalries between the 14 chiefdoms to ensure they would never again unite and challenge British hegemonic ambitions throughout the region.
At the conclusion of the Anglo-Zulu War, the British despoiled Zululand, divided it into 14 separate cheifdoms, each led by a proxy obedient to the British Empire. The British ensured that these 14 cheifdoms harbored animosities toward one another and fostered petty infighting between them to ensure British interests would never again be challenged by a unified Zulu threat. Today we see what seems to be the "accidental" consequences of military interventions leadeing to vicious, protracted fighting and in some cases civil wars, in Iraq, now in Libya (which also had a direct proxy installed as PM), Pakistan where plans exist to literally carve up the nation Zululand-style, and Syria. These are not accidental but intentional. Divide and conquer is a classic military stratagem that has not escaped the interests and attention of Wall Street & London.
Video: Dwight D. Eisenhower exit speech on January 17, 1961, warning us of the military industrial complex.
Video: Iraq For Sale. Remember that military industrial complex President Dwight Eisenhower warned America about? The ultimate bottom line with the Iraq War was that it should never have been fought in the first place.
....If people can study history and see today's events are simply the relabeled repeating of what empire has been doing for centuries, the public as a whole will be less likely to go along with what is in reality an exploitative, murderous crime spree of global proportions - merely sold to us as justified intervention. One need only look at how Iraq has been despoiled and the profits that have been garnered by Fortune 500 corporations, while soldiers and Iraqis alike pay the price with their minds, bodies, blood, futile destinies, and lives.
Part II: British Imperial Administration (proto-NGOs)
A book of invaluable use in understanding British imperial administration is "Colonial Georgia: A Study in British Imperial Policy in the Eighteenth Century." Published by the University of Georgia Press and written by Trevor Reese, it successfully endeavored to illustrate "practically every facet of British colonial policy" using Georgia as a case study.
The colony of Georgia, in what is now the southern United States, was founded by what is essentially a proto-NGO - and in this case an organization dedicated to "prison reform." What it really did, was assess suitable prisoners in London who could be sent to Georgia to fulfill the needs of the Crown. Beginning as the "Associates of Dr. Bray" and later becoming the "Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America," or simply the Georgia Trustees, it encapsulates perfectly the use of noble-intentioned networkers to exploit human tragedy for the benefit of the elite.
Image: One face of the Georgia Trustee's seal. It featured the Latin motto, "Non Sibi Sed Aliis" which means, "Not for self, but for others." Truly a proto-NGO, a "system administrator." The significance of the mulberry leaf, the silkworm, and the cocoon? The silk that Britain's new colony of Georgia was going to export to London to enrich the empire. "For others" indeed.
While many may argue that prisoners in London were better off being shipped to Georgia, the underlying point is the dictation of one's destiny for the benefit of another, regardless of whether or not such exploitation results in a thriving new life in Georgia, or death defending British expansion in the New World. The same cost/benefit analysis could also be made for slavery, but done so in spite of its essential immorality.
Protestantism for England was also a precursor to modern day NGOs. Religious denominations were divided directly along political lines in 18th century Europe, and when shiploads of Protestants were sent to Georgia, so followed the political networks they represented. Again, noble-intentions were, and to this day are, in the forefront of many devoted to these political functionaries, and much good has been done in their names, but ultimately the purpose of each empire's church was to establish a bottom-up network of people who believed they were fulfilling noble, higher intentions, when in reality they were simply serving the elite of their respective empires. Unfortunately, despite the noble intentions and great works of many of these people, when the time came for the Crown to use these networks for less than noble causes, organizational indoctrination was used to marshal men to it. And just like modern NGOs today, Protestant organizations interfaced with and supported directly the primary regional administrators, in Georgia's case, the Georgia Trustees.
In Reese's book, he even notes on page 21, "in sanctioning the Georgia project the British Government was not motivated by any such charitable intentions as inspired the Trustees. The Ministry was not much interested in the plight of insolvent and unemployed debtors, but it was concerned about the defense of the empire." Similarly today, NGOs have truly dedicated people "inspired" as the "Trustees" were, but ultimately they are carrying water for their sponsors, who almost always end up being George Soros, the OCED, the US State Department's National Endowment for Democracy, and other purveyors of global corporate-fascist imperialism.
The British Empire's interests in Georgia were economic, while the rouse used to fill and administer the colony was altruistic. Another key characteristic to imperialism is keeping subjects dependent. Reese offers on page 27, "the danger of these [private or charter provinces] lay in the scope they provided for the construction of independent authorities, and this was contradictory to the whole principle of colonization."
This, within the contest of mercantilism - essentially the exportation of raw materials from the colonies, which would be refined in Europe, and then imported back into the colonies as manufactured goods - meant servile dependency, both politically and economically - despite the fact that even then, many features of "democracy" could be found throughout the colonies. Today's concept of "free-trade" agreements ensure that resources, manufacturing, refinement, and consumption are equally interdependent on a global scale despite the fact that technology now exists to make any state or province, let alone nation, fully independent economically.
Image: Despite the good intentions, the religious causes, and loyalty to the crown, the ultimate destination of all these good intentions wrought was the "Board of Trade" which managed the unending flow of wealth out of Britain's colonies and into London.
Like NGOs of today, the administrative networks that made up the British Empire were in many cases entirely dependent on grants from London, as local contributions were almost never adequate. Reese notes on page 39, "constant need of money made the Trustees permanently dependent on Parliament, without whose support their colony could not be maintained." The British Empire maintained a careful balancing act to ensure that its networks received enough resources to fulfill their purpose, but never enough to become independent. Financial policy conformed to imperial standards and while local policy was set by local administrators, it interlocked with the Board of Trade back in London - just as local NGOs now interlock with international organizations in accordance to rule and norms defined by international institutions.
Reese quotes Vincent Harlow in his epilogue, who said of Georgia's eventual independence from Great Britain, "men's minds indeed conceive new thoughts and plan new projects, but out of ancient thinking and under potent influence of long-established characteristics."
Part III: Re-imagining Imperialism for the 21st Century
We have already seen some examples of how imperialism is very much alive and well. We also saw how imperialism was implemented by the British, but how exactly is it being implemented today? And why are people willingly going along with it?
Video: Thomas Barnett describes the building of an army of "system administrators" (aka civil society) to expand into "peace spaces" while US global military conquers "battle spaces." Soros' Revenue Watch along with the National Endowment for Democracy have created just such an army of NGOs. And just as soldiers witlessly promote imperialism believing they are fighting for "freedom," these NGOs expand Wall Street and London's global hegemony, believing they are promoting "human rights."
The term "system administrators" was used by US military strategist Thomas Barnett before a cackling audience at a 2008 TED Talk titled, "The Pentagon's New Map for War & Peace." At about 18 minutes into his talk he begins explaining a concept of reforming the military into two separate forces, the "US enabled Leviathan force" and the "system administrators."
One takes down the existing networks of targeted nations through air campaigns, special operations, or invasions, and consists of military assets including armor, fighters and bombers. The other consists of system administrators who then build upon the ashes left by the "Leviathan force" or the chaos sown by a foreign-backed destabilization. The system administrators consist of everything from NGOs, international organizations, and contractors, to civil affairs officers (psychological warfare), and when necessary, soldiers and Marines.
Barnett warns that if anyone attempts to interfere with the construction of the West's "system administrator" networks, the "Marines are going to come over and kill you." This perhaps like British garrisons did to tamp down dissatisfaction amongst their colonies.
Image: The Boston Massacre. Resistors to the "system administrators" beware, try to stop them and "the Marines are going to come over and kill you."
The talk was given in 2008, and already we see solid steps being taking to expand and utilize just such a force. Barnett said of the special operations "trigger pullers" that he wanted the rules to be "as loose as possible." Just recently, the Corbett Report and Media Monarchy reported the expanded role proposed for "elite" military forces. Admiral William McRaven of Special Operations Command was said to be seeking "more autonomy to position his forces and their war-fighting equipment where intelligence and global events indicate they are most needed."
Video: Special Operations Command is looking for more "autonomy" in deploying where "intelligence and global events indicate they are most needed." This "loosening of rules" was part of building the double edged sword of neo-imperial conquest, the global army & system administrators.
Additionally, between 2008 and 2011 before the outbreak of the Arab Spring, the US State Department and its network of global facilitators embarked on a campaign to raise a literal army of NGOs and opposition groups to begin overthrowing governments and building the very global administration network Barnett presented at TED. It was just recently reported in, "Soros Big-Business Accountability Project Funded by Big-Business" that a similar army of NGOs is being mobilized to erect system administrators focused on managing the resources of targeted nations. Called Revenue Watch, and focused primarily on Africa and Southeast Asia it represents the "system administration" approach complimenting aggressive moves made by AFRICOM in Africa, and the declaration of America's "Pacific Century" in Asia.
It is quite clear that Barnett's proposal doesn't necessarily need the "US-enabled Leviathan force" to tear down targeted networks as seen in the US-funded Arab Spring. Fomenting unrest, up to and including armed insurrection falls short of overt military intervention and utilizes assets Barrent descibed in the Levithan force such as "trigger pulling" special operations, as well as civil affairs units, NGOs, and contractors from the system administration side.
In Libya for example, NGOs and civil affairs advisers began the unrest in February of 2011 while weapons were covertly moved in to arm fighters to overthrow the Qaddafi government. International organizations like the ICC were used to poison public opinion against the Libyan government using information supplied to them from NGOs, while NATO began preparing for a full scale air campaign. Once the bombing began, it was only a matter of incrementally increasing the torrent of special operations forces, arms, and other facilitators to fill in the void left by NATO's relentless air campaign. Thus the forces of Leviathan and the system administrators worked in tandem, one clearing a path through the old, the other building new networks to facilitate the installment of long-time US resident and Petroleum Institute chairman, Abdurrahim el-Keib, as PM.
In nations where military options like this are not an option and would be difficult if not impossible to ever justify, like Thailand for example, the full weight of Wall Street and London's support is thrown behind system administrators and suitable opposition movements that will make appropriate proxies if the targeted sovereign networks can be torn down.
In Thailand's case, that proxy is Thaksin Shinawatra, a former Carlyle Group adviser, and recipient of extensive US backing, including lobbying services from fellow Carlyle member James Baker and his firm Baker Botts, Bush's personal envoy to Iraq Robert Blackwill of Barbour Griffith & Rogers, and PNAC signatory Kenneth Adelman of Edelman. During Thaksin's term in office from 2001 until a coup ousted him in 2006, upon the eve of which he was literally reporting to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, he had committed Thai troops to the US invasion of Iraq and allowed the CIA to use Thailand for its abhorrent rendition program.
He now currently leads the forces of a "color revolution," the stand-ins for Barnett's occupation force, since such a Western force is untenable. This included his documented use of armed militants in 2010 during an attempted insurrection. They are billed the "red shirts" or United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and have met with Soros' Open Society-funded Human Rights Watch, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and the U.S.–ASEAN Business Council in an April 2011 Washington D.C. visit.
Image: It is clear that NGOs and opposition movements many believe are spontaneous, indigenous, and independent are in fact part of a larger network for the sole purpose of imposing and maintaining global system administration. This is not a web of elaborate, vague associations. In each case there is direct path of funding leading back to Western foundations and the think-tanks that devise policy for them, all funded and chaired by the Fortune 500 of Wall Street and London. (click image to enlarge)
There are also circles of academia being produced to support efforts to undermine and overthrow Thailand's sovereign indigenous networks, most notably "Nitirat" or the "Enlightened Jurists" whose audiences consist almost entirely of Thaksin's red shirts, and even included Thaksin's US registered lobbyist, Robert Amsterdam sitting in the front row.
Finally there are the NGOs like propaganda outfit Prachatai, which receives 1oo's of thousands of dollars a year from the US State Department via the National Endowment for Democracy, George Soros' Open Society, and USAID. NED also funds the Campaign Committee for Human Rights, the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), and the Environmental Litigation and Advocacy for the Wants. In addition to sharing the same foreign sponsors, each cross-posts the other's work, each signs petitions on the others behalf and each perpetuate identical agendas. While their mission statements claim to promote "freedom," "democracy," and "human rights," one cannot help but wonder how they reconcile the backgrounds of their sponsors and the "international" organizations they interlock with, with the causes they allegedly promote, with the work they actually carry out.
Image: Clearly there are "strings attached" to NGO Prachatai's funding from the National Endowment for Democracy and Freedom House who regularly contributes posts, support, and award nominations to the Thai "independent journalists." It is also clear how these same interests are involved in the support of Thaksin Shinawatra, the imperial proxy of choice for Thailand. (click image to enlarge)
The National Endowment for Democracy and its subsidiary Freedom House features boards of directors much resembling a revolving door, with current and former members of Congress, the US State Department, corporate lobbying firms, and corporate board members of some of the largest corporations on earth including Exxon, Boeing, Ford, and Goldman Sachs constantly shifting in and out of government, big-business, and NGO positions. They are, just as the British were, "not motivated by any such charitable intentions," as inspire the well-intentioned people drawn into the cause of NGOs like Prachatai they fund.
Their hope is to eventually diminish the power and influence of Thailand's own indigenous networks, by gradually building up the capacity of Wall Street & London's system administrators. Just like in the example of Georgia, ignorance and good intentions are used to swell the ranks of these networks, and just like in Georgia, they are kept purposefully dependent on the constant and substantial support provided by Wall Street & London, as local contributions are almost never enough. And while many of these people may believe they are committed to a "higher cause," they are simply soldiers of another kind within an imperial system perfected over centuries of trial and error.
The activists on the ground may be of genuine good-intentions but surely there are some who realize the conflict between their stated mission and the insincere intentions of those funding them from abroad. Just like the army, this system of NGOs perpetuates itself on the ignorance of the general population - of those drawn in by their good intentions to contribute to what they believe is a noble cause, and those throughout society who see these networks spreading across the planet with no idea of what their true purpose is.
Trevor Reese leaves us with one more relevant observation concerning the state of imperialism in the 18th century that still very much applies today:
"In the Eighteenth century, colonial affairs were subsidiary issues in English political life; Sir John Seeley's dictum that the British people founded an empire in a fit of absence of mind is true in the sense that imperial expansion seldom commanded public attention. Although there were always a few critics in the country who expressed anti-imperialist sentiments and feared that the empire would ultimately escape from the control of the mother-country, they represented only a small minority. Generally, when people thought about the colonies, which was not often, they regard them with mild approval, and believe in the advantage of an empire even though they knew little about it."In the same way, today many people remain in the dark about what Wall Street & London do overseas. While military interventions grab headlines and create a brief but confusing diversion for most, they are but mildly aware of the concept of NGOs, let alone how they work in tandem with the creeping war machine making its way from Tunisia to Thailand and everywhere in between.
While today's media is able to project images onto our perception of what an NGO is, with pictures of smiling Africans clutching bags of USAID rice, thriving wildlife, and sprouting, dew covered seedlings, in reality it is a centralized operation built to tear down the old world, and replace with a new one. One that does not answer to the people that inhabit it on anything but the most superficial of levels, but rather to the people that rule over it - the monied elite, as they always have, with the most vicious feeding their competitors ruthlessly into their maw and gladly expanding into the place left at the table.
Part IV: Empire's Weakness is Independence
Empires require subjects. Without subjects there is no empire. There is no fleet, there are no Marines, there are no imperial administrators. There are no laborers to gather and send resources back to be refined, no one to refine them in the factories and send them back, and surely no one to buy these manufactured goods when they arrive.
Empire requires subjects to be preferable ignorant, easily manipulated, indoctrinated in a manner that motivates them to carry out their necessary function within the empire reliably. They need subjects that believe in the empire and most importantly, they need subjects who are hopelessly dependent on it. It is no coincidence then that nations declared their "independence" from England in pursuit of their freedom.
Image: By boycotting the British system, the Founding Fathers were already free and independent men by the time they signed the Declaration of Independence. The coming war would be to defend that freedom.
Before the great battles of the American Revolution took place and the victory that followed, the Founding Fathers took it upon themselves to declare their independence not only by writ, but also by action. Our Founding Fathers ceased the import of British goods, they created their own monetary system, they assembled their own militias, and most importantly they formed their own government based upon their own values, not King George's self-interest.
This truly measurable independence turned out to be the key to their success, for independence is freedom, and freedom from tyranny is victory. The battle they fought was not one to free themselves, instead, it was fought to defend the freedom from the British system they had already achieved.
In "Naming Names: Your Real Government" a list of the most common, reoccuring corporate-financier interests and the think-tanks they use to create, promote, publish, and execute their policy was provide. The article concluded by stating:
"These organizations represent the collective interests of the largest corporations on earth. They not only retain armies of policy wonks and researchers to articulate their agenda and form a consensus internally, but also use their massive accumulation of unwarranted influence in media, industry, [across a global network of NGOs,] and finance to manufacture a self-serving consensus internationally.
To believe that this corporate-financier oligarchy would subject their agenda and fate to the whims of the voting masses is naive at best. They have painstakingly ensured that no matter who gets into office, in whatever country, the guns, the oil, the wealth and the power keep flowing perpetually into their own hands."
Video: Voting is not an option. Noam Chomsky in 1993 regarding NED: "It's about what you would expect from a bipartisan democracy campaign - it's an attempt to impose what is called democracy, meaning rule by the rich and the powerful, without interference by the mob but within the framework of formal electoral procedures."
This is confirmed in a talk given by Noam Chomsky in 1993, where he stated or the National Endowment for Democracy's work, "it's an attempt to impose what is called democracy, meaning rule by the rich and the powerful, without interference by the mob but within the framework of formal electoral procedures." Quite clearly it is, along with Open Society, and the vast network of system administrators being built up across the planet, working in witless tandem with NATO, building in the swath of destruction it leaves behind the homogeneous workings of a global corporate-financier-run empire.
If the world is indeed run by corporate-financier interests, and voting is not only futile but gives the population a false sense of security, what can we do instead to declare our independence from modern empire?
On a daily basis, across the planet, billions of people witlessly pay into this empire, buying their products, paying them their attention on diversions like TV, radio, and at the theater, and participating in systems, organizations, and causes that like the "Georgia Trustees" may have started out working for prison reform, ended up handing the empire another thriving colony to exploit. It is clear then that vast campaigning, elections, rallies, and protests are not necessary or even viable options in dismantling this system - rather our daily decisions to boycott their corporations, pull the plug on our TVs, switch off the radio, leave the theaters empty and refuse to recognize the legitimacy of corporate-backed institutions and organizations on both national and international levels.
Video: The Fab Lab. Turning consumers into producers with manufacturing technology, open source collaboration, and innovation. It also opens the doors for communities to work together and solve their own problems, rather than waiting for them to be solved by disingenuous elected representatives.
Instead, find local solutions, pursue self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and leverage technology to do for ourselves tomorrow what we depend on corporations to do for us today. We can start today, by simply "voting" local with our wallets, "voting" to read, watch, and listen to truly independent media instead of Hollywood - or better yet - creating our own content ourselves. The same could be said with the news. Stop humoring the professional liars on BBC who get caught in serial scams involving paid-for documentaries, biased reporting, and flat out lying to their audience. There is a thriving alternative media that already proves the merits of doing more, doing better, and doing it all ourselves.
As concluded in "The Real Revolution,"
"They need us, we don't need them. That's the big secret. We get our freedom back as soon as we take back our responsibilities for food, water, security, the monetary system, power, and manufacturing; that is independence. Independence is freedom, freedom is independence. We'll never be free as long as we depend on the Fortune 500 for our survival.Fixing these problems unfolding overseas starts with fixing the problems in our own backyards. Boycott the globalists, cut off their support, undermine their system, and they lose their ability to commit these atrocities. That will be a real revolution and it can start today. Not burning cities and masked rebels waving flags, but communities no longer dependent and fueling a corrupt system we all know must come to an end."


text:
If The Muppet Show was still on today, we suspect it would produce awesome viral videos with hipster bands on a regular basis. The video for OK Go's cover of the "Muppet Show Theme Song" off the new tribute album provides a taste of what we're missing. Prepare to have your mind blown by the sight of muppets operating human puppets.
Earlier: Listen To The New Muppet Tribute Album In Its Entirety

subset: commoncrawl


text:
S. Boston man allegedly tried to 'train surf' on Red Line
A South Boston man is facing charges for attempting to "train surf'' on a Red Line train early Friday evening, MBTA Transit Police said.
Justin Green, 29, was trying to hang onto the top roof rail of a train as it was pulling out of the North Quincy Station just after 5:30 p.m., Transit Police said, forcing MBTA personnel to stop the train to bring Green to safety.
When confronted by an officer, Green said he had a "God-given right to do anything he wants,'' Transit Police said.
Witnesses told police that Green had allegedly tried to surf on other trains at the Wollaston Station, roughly a mile away, moments earlier.
Green pleaded not guilty today in Quincy District Court to a charge of disorderly conduct. The next hearing in his case was slated for July 24, said Norfolk district attorney's spokesman David Traub.


text:
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge has cancelled a hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday in the case of a 13-year-old girl declared brain after tonsil surgery.
United States District Court Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong of the Northern District of California writes in an order issued Monday that the request for the hearing is moot because the issue that would have been addressed has already been resolved.
The mother of Jahi McMath had sought a court order requiring Children's Hospital Oakland to maintain Jahi on a ventilator and to insert a gastric tube and a tracheostomy tube before transferring the teen from the hospital to another facility.
But on Sunday, the family announced that Jahi had already been moved to an undisclosed location for long-term care.


text:
You haven't heard of a "guitar pull"? That's OK, lots of folks haven't.
Of course, it's a country music term, with undocumented origins. Basically, it means "let's-sing-and-share-and-take-turns."
Five country stars will take the stage at Hard Rock Live 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, for the third annual 99.9 Kiss Country Stars and Guitars concert. All three Stars and Guitars shows have followed the guitar-pull format, meaning the performers rotate songs, almost like an informal get-together of songwriters testing out their material on each other — a popular pastime in Nashville.
"It's all-stripped-down, very informal, and you get the personalities of the artists, because it's not a big production," WKIS-FM program director Ken Boesen says. "Because it's not a big, produced stage show, it's more of a discussion, talking about the music and the songs."
Boesen warns that those people expecting a concert with, say, fireworks and singers employing big bands and speakers will be disappointed. However …
"This is a 'have a beer and enjoy the music,' concert," Boesen says. "It's not a 'drink-too-much-and-get-loud' show."
The performers include:
Phil Vassar, who racked up radio hits as a songwriter long before he began his recording career. Said hits include "Little Red Rodeo" (for Collin Raye), "My Next Thirty Years" (Tim McGraw) and "I'm Alright" (Jo Dee Messina). His own hits include "Carlene," "Six-Pack Summer" and "Just Another Day in Paradise." His latest single is "Don't Miss Your Life."
This year's American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina, who hit the charts with "Like My Mother Does."
Thompson Square, which last year saw "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" spend five weeks at No. 1 and went on to win the Academy of Country Music's vocal duo of the year.
Easton Corbin, who has had two No. 1 singles ("A Little More Country Than That" and "Roll With It") and was named top new country artist of 2010.
Lee Brice, whose debut album "Love Like Crazy," was released in 2010.
The concert benefits Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood.
firstname.lastname@example.com, 954-356-4725


text:
News from the world of Maths
March 17, 2015
Your frustrating commute in technicolour glory!
March 14, 2015
Happy pi day!
March 10, 2015
Here are some of the most inspiring women we've worked with or learnt about in the last year....
February 26, 2015
If you're in need of some love, look at our images of the week.
February 25, 2015
Come to the home of Plus and see some live maths!
February 9, 2015
If you thought that billiards was a harmless game to play in the pub, think again. It's a breeding ground for chaos!
February 2, 2015
How to make people levitate.
January 28, 2015
Two mathematicians' visit to the desert sheds new light on avalanches.


text:
I feel like there are not many people out there who like coconut as much as I do, but Mr. Vittles is an exception.
As I told you last year, he loves coconut patties in particular. I was reminded of this at Easter last month when his mom gave him one of his childhood favorites, a giant coconut egg, and he refused to share with me. He claimed that she gave it to HIM not "us."
While I highly doubt this (and he did eventually offer me a slice regardless), I can understand his desire to covet the coconut egg. Coconut drenched in chocolate - especially of the dark variety - is a magical experience. Not much can beat it. Except maybe coconut drenched chocolate... on top of a fudgy brownie.
Mini Smalls better get ready to love coconut or she's going to have a tough childhood.
But alas, since we don't even have teeth yet, we're still working on things like watered-down peas and bananas. Though I am happy to report that she has gotten over her aversion to most "1st foods" (except oatmeal - still brings tears to the Mini's eyes) since my last post.
In fact... she turned 6 months this week!
"Who, me?"
Time flies when you're eating coconut patty brownies. (Which, let's face it, is one & the same as "having fun.")
Coconut Patty Brownies
- an 8"x8" pan of your favorite brownies (I like this recipe; you could also use a mix)
- 3 oz. sweetened condensed milk
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1/4 C. confectioners sugar
- 1 1/2 C. loosely packed sweetened, shredded coconut
- 1 1/2 C. chocolate chips
- 1 T. coconut oil (optional)
Combine sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and confectioners sugar in a medium bowl. Add coconut and mix until evenly distributed. Using a rubber spatula, spread thinly over surface of cooled brownies. (If the mixture is too sticky, spray the spatula with a little nonstick spray before spreading).
In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate chips in 30 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted. (The coconut oil is optional, but imparts a slight coconut flavor & also makes the mixture more runny & therefore easier to pour/spread). Spread melted mixture over coconut layer. Allow to set (you may place the brownies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to speed this up) and cut into small squares. Makes 16 brownies.
Original Recipe


text:
Many men enjoy including self prostate milking in their masturbation. By touching their own prostate, men can engage more of their sexual system, thereby enjoying more sexual sensation and improving health in the entire pelvis.
Self prostate stimulation can be achieved internally or externally, with or without toys. The most direct way of milking your own prostate is via anal penetration. If you are flexible and can reach, you should be able to feel your own prostate. Be sure to massage the anal sphincters first and only proceed to penetration when you are relaxed and aroused.
Using a toy such as the Aneros will help you with internal prostate stimulation and may feel more comfortable than using your hand. Many men enjoy using the Aneros in the shower. Again, be sure to stimulate the external anal sphincters so you are relaxed and the toy penetrates easily. There never needs to be a moment of pain during anal stimulation.
External prostate milking can be done via the perineum. You need deep pressure to reach the prostate through the sling of muscles that comprise the pelvic floor. Push deeply along the perineum and see if you can feel sensation in and around your prostate. Do this while stroking your penis for maximum pleasure.
However you choose to do it, manually stimulating your prostate can be a pleasurable and healthy part of your masturbation. At TheHealthyProstate.com explicit videos guide you in self and partnered prostate milking so you can discover new massage techniques and skills to pleasure your prostae, penis and entire sexual system.


text:
WESTERN SPRINGS – As expected, the Lyons Township girls track and field team put on a dominating display Friday as sectional hosts.
The Lions won the meet with a whopping 226 points and qualified 21 entries to the Class 3A state meet. Second-place Mother McAuley came in well behind with 91.4 points.
Sophomore Emma Haugen qualified in all three jumps and the 100-meter high hurdles. Haugen is the defending state champ in the high jump.
All four relays also qualified for state, including wins from the 4x400 and 4x800.
Senior Makayla Hubbard continued her unbeaten season in the shot put with a first-place throw of 40 feet, 2 inches. Hubbard qualified with the ninth-best throw in Class 3A and will be among the favorites to qualify for the state finals in the shot put.
Other winners included Grace Flynn (pole vault), Jessica Stabnow (high jump), Haley Prokaski (3,200), Miranda Speir (800), Sarah Kreikemeier (400), Amy Bazzoni (300 hurdles) and Vanessa Flaherty (1,600).
Also qualifying were Erin Szczepaniak (triple jump), Hannah Dutler (3,200), Mayra Baeza (100), Elaine Smith (800), Natalie Jaramillo (1,600).


text:
Madeleine Stowe Long Wavy Cut
Madeleine Stowe kept her look sophisticated and mature with long waves at the 'Revenge' event.
Madeleine Stowe Pink Lipstick
A touch of pink lips made Madeleine Stowe's evening look super-feminine and super-soft.
Browse: Madeleine Stowe | Long Wavy Cut | Pink Lipstick
Popular Lookbooks see all looks »


text:
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
Centennial Celebration and Tourch Tour
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority | 7/3/2013, 7:50 p.m.
Nation's Largest African American Female Organization Scheduled to Light Up Dallas!
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority - Centennial Celebration
On the campus of Howard University, in the fall of 1912, twenty-two young women united and chose to use their collective strength to promote academic excellence; provide scholarships and support to the underserved; educate and stimulate participation in the establishment of positive public policy; and to highlight issues and provide solutions for problems in their communities.
Academic scholars, each of these 22 held leadership roles in various organizations, though Howard in the early days was a male-driven campus where only the best and brightest were accepted and enrolled. Education and the ministry were the highest professional callings at the time for the university and the students had one main purpose, "communal uplift."
The country and Howard University were undergoing dynamic changes in 1912 and 1913. Women across America were continuing to insist on their place in society as their voices grew louder. And, the women at Howard, including these 22 strong African American women, were demanding the school hire a female dean of women.
These 22 young women were: Osceola McCarthy Adams, Pauline Oberdorfer Minor, ZephryChisom Carter, Edith Motte Young, Edna Brown Coleman, Bertha Pitts Campbell, Frederica Chase Dodd, Myra Davis Hemmings, Ethel Cuff Black, Winona Cargile Alexander, Marguerite Young Alexander, Ethel Carr Watson, Florence Letcher Toms, Jimmie Bugg Middleton, Jessie McGuire Dent, Madree Penn White, Wertie Blackwell Weaver, Olive Jones, Naomi Sewell Richardson, Vashti Turley Murphy, Eliza Pearl Shippen and Mamie Reddy Rose. The founders of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., on January 13, 1913 at Howard University created a sisterhood that has flourished for 100 years. These pearls were the stones upon which Delta Sigma Theta Sorority has grown to over 940 chapters of college-educated women who are committed to public service, with a focus on sustaining the growth and development of the African American community.
Less than two months after the sorority's founding, on March 3, 1913 the founders began their political activism by participating in the historic 1913 Women's Suffrage March on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. The founders marched with honorary member Mary Church Terrell under the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority banner on the day prior to Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. Delta Sigma Theta was the only African American women's organization to walk in the march.
The founders believed that African American women needed the right to vote and to be protected against sexual exploitation. They strived to promote quality education, assist in the work force, and empower their race. These college students were filled with fortitude. They were powerful, driven women with a purpose, who answered their call to lead.
Although the young founders were criticized for their participation in the suffrage march, none found regret. Founder Florence Letcher Toms commented, "We marched that day in order that women might come into their own, because we believed that women not only needed an education, but they needed a broader horizon in which they may use that education. The right to vote would give them that privilege."


text:
Charlie Thompson, NOCS
A poster with more details about the project is available in pdf format under useful downloads.
We use cookies to
ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.
If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies
on the University of Southampton website.


text:
The Cary Institute Environmental Monitoring Program is a long-term research program. The purpose of the program is to monitor environmental parameters that affect natural ecosystems. The program includes monitoring of weather and climate, air, precipitation and streamwater chemistry, solar radiation and water, including stream flow and temperature, soil moisture and temperature and sap flow in sugar maples.
Cary Institute also hosts sites for three additional programs:
- The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Ambient Air Monitoring Program, for ground level ozone.
visit site >>
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN), a program designed to provide long-term homogeneous observations of temperature and precipitation that can be coupled to historical observations for the detection and attribution of climate change.
visit site >>
- The City University of New York NOAA CREST program for Remote Sensing of Hydro-Meteorological and Land Surface Processes for monitoring soil moisture and freeze/thaw state of surface soils as well as regional soil moisture variability and sap flow in sugar maples.
visit site >>
The program began in 1984 with collection and chemical analysis of precipitation and stream samples. Equipment to measure stream temperature and height was installed in 1987 although data for most years prior to 1993 are incomplete. Temperature, relative humidity, wind, and solar radiation instruments were added to the program in 1987.
Air sampling using low-volume filter packs similar to those used in the US EPA CASTnet program began in 1988. The New York State DEC began measuring ground level ozone at Cary Institute in 1988. Ultraviolet radiation measurements began in 1999. And the USCRN program began making air temperature, surface temperature, precipitation, wind speed, wetness, and solar radiation measurements in October 2004. Relative humidity, soil temperature, and soil moisture measurements were added in April 2011.
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies is located in the Hudson River Valley near Millbrook, New York, roughly 113 km north of New York City and 24 km east of Poughkeepsie.
Data are often compared with a long-term database from Millbrook School, which is 13 km east of Cary Institute or with the 1981-2010, 30-year normal data from Poughkeepsie, which is 24 km southwest of Cary Institute. The precipitation and air chemistry sampling equipment as well as the meteorological and solar radiation instruments are located in a flat, open field at an elevation of 128 m. GPS coordinates for the site are: N41.785823 W073.741447. The station has a small building (9 ft. x 20 ft.), which is shared with the NYS DEC Ambient Air Monitoring Program.
Stream gauging equipment is located on the East Branch of Wappinger Creek in the Fern Glen on the Cary Institute property. Stream samples were collected from 4 locations on the East Branch of Wappinger Creek on the Cary Institute property from 1985 to 1995.
Sample collection was reduced to two locations in 1996. One site is located in the Fern Glen with the gauging equipment (GPS coordinates N 41.78707, W 73.73317) and one site is located in the Lowlands (GPS coordinates N 41.79235 W 73.74937).


text:
Accelerate Integration with your Cloud, On-Premise and Legacy Applications with Oracle Integration Adapters.
|Oracle Integration Adapters provides a critical foundation for the Product, providing a Unified Connectivity Architecture, facilitating integration of information from several on-premise, legacy and cloud based applications and systems into a Service Oriented Architecture.They enables creation of Reusable service assets that publish to and extract information from disparate Cloud and On-Premise Applications such as Oracle E-Business Suite, SAP or Salesforce.com to simple but key technology assets such as FTP Servers or Databases. Oracle Integration Adapters facilitate an Integration and Extension Platform for your Applications.
New Cloud Adapters for Oracle Sales Cloud, Oracle Eloqua,
Cloud Adapters
Cloud Adapters aim at simplifying and accelerating integration with your SaaS Applications. Oracle Cloud Adapter for Salesforce.com that was just announced as GA is first in a series of Cloud Adapters that will be released on top of Oracle SOA Suite. These adapters provide value to your integrations in three dimensions namely lower costs of implementation/maintenance, improved developer productivity & ease of use, and faster time-to-market.
Cloud Adapters Catalog
Enterprise Application Adapters
Oracle Integration Adapters help accelerate integration with your on-premise ERP systems and enterprise applications such as E-Business Suite, SAP, Siebel and J.D.Edwards through it's catalog of Enterprise Adapter Adapters.All of these adapters are standards-based industrial strength components with rich design-time introspection capabilities.
Enterprise Application Adapter Catalog
Mainframe and CDC Adapters
The Mainframe and CDC Adapters provide real-time connectivity and integration with legacy and transaction-Processing systems such as IMS, CICS, VSAM or Tuxedo. It also integrates enables performing changed data capture from legacy/mainframe and other popular data sources such as Adabas, DB2, SQL Server or IMB/DB.
Mainframe and CDC Adapters Catalog
Technology Adapters
Technology Adapters are one of the most popular and heavily employed mechanisms to integrate with several enterprise and home-grown applications with minimal investment and extreme ease of use and maintenance. These category of adapters enable bidirectional integration with data sources such as File/FTP, Databsaes, JMS Destinations, Sockets etc and several more.
Technology Adapters Catalog
SOA Suite Adapters
SOA Suite Adapters enable integration with Microsoft MQ, Coherence Data Grid and LDAP V3 Directory servers.
SOA Suite Adapters Catalog


text:
The OKCC is a group of boaters in the Portland area who have banded together to pursue a common interest in whitewater boating. Our primary focus is to organize river trips at all skill levels, while strengthening the boater community.
OKCC coordinates many events each month, check out the calendar to see what's scheduled. Events include pool sessions, and beginner, intermediate and advanced progressions. There are also specific skills training such as slalom, boofing and playboating.
Check the OKCC news page for current information on upcoming trips, trip reports, club announcements, as well as the occasional member submitted article.
In addition to supporting the club and the quality of what it can offer to the boating community, members receive many benefits, including: free participation in all trips and clinics, discounts on pool sessions and at local stores.


text:
J.R. Williams is still the same, quick running back that New Bern fans came to know when he was a senior in high school in 2009.
J.R. Williams is still the same, quick running back that New Bern fans came to know when he was a senior in high school in 2009.
But off-the-field, mentally, he's matured, and physically, he's gotten tougher.
Williams had a breakthrough with Chowan University last season, hauling in 32 passes for 412 yards, while rushing for 251 yards.
Now, with last season's starter Elliott Smalls gone, Williams is ready to assume a larger role in the Hawks' offense.
�Mentally, I am anxious, but ready,� Williams said. �I'm taking it day-by-day. I've been putting in the work, so I feel fit and ready for the season.�
Williams, entering his junior year, scored four touchdowns last season, and was a dynamic kick returner (20 yards/return). He had his best receiving game against Virginia State on Oct. 27 when he caught for 111 yards and a touchdown.
He runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds, and he has a relentless work ethic. Williams gained more than 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason alone.
�I'm still that fast running back, but I added power, a couple more moves and I know the playbook better,� Williams said. �I'm an all-around better player.�
Williams admits he's come along way since when he started school at Chowan in 2010. He sat out for a redshirt year his first year in college, then as a freshman Williams led the Hawks with 290 rushing yards, and snagged 22 passes for 228 yards.
�My first year, I was hot-headed. I came in and did pretty well, but I got big-headed,� he said. �My sophomore year, it was a humbling experience because I would do well, then I would make a mistake.
�I've had to mature, and those thing make you better. I realize it's more of a team aspect now.�
Williams has the team's success in his best interest.
If Chowan wins a championship, Williams' personal prosperity will fall in place.
�I want to rush for 1,000, but I want to get a ring,� Williams said. �That's the only goal I am looking at. If we get a ring, my stats will look pretty good.�
Chowan is picked to finish fourth in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and second in the North Division.
The offense includes All-American wide receiver Robert Holland.
�Offensively, we have a large amount of pieces and people who can play,� Williams said. �We are real deep on offense.�
Williams starts practice on Tuesday.
Chowan kicks off its regular season at UNC-Charlotte on Sept. 7.
Adam Thompson can be contacted at 252-635-5669 or at email@example.com. Follow Adam on Twitter @Adam_matic.