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Courtesy of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
Gen. Sidney Berry offered a Christmas update to his wife from Vietnam in 1966.
Across three pages — typed on Christmas Eve 1966 from a village in South Vietnam — the soldier's words to his wife dance seamlessly from a description of singing carols in the jungle to his latest enemy kills to, finally, a vow of eternal affection.
"Last night we had a candle-lighting ceremony ... Gasoline drums welded together end to end with a white Noel on the side. Electric light on top covered by red cellophane ... Reindeer and Santa Claus at front. It was raining," Army Gen. Sidney B. Berry wrote to his wife. He next reveals how he recently had perched in a helicopter door, firing his rifle at men below: "We all were shooting. And we killed several ..."
"Lovely Anne, I love thee," Berry closed. "Perhaps the best aspect of this whole period of separation is our increased appreciation and understanding of each other. I love thee, and I will devote the rest of my life to making love to thee." He signs off: "Thy wearied professional, Sid."
This time of year, communication from combat lines has long provided a poignant piece of Christmas.
Today's troops, for the most part, send their holiday wishes via email or Skype video chat sessions. But life was much different before technology began shadowing service men and women so far from home.
At the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pa., thousands of notes, authored by service members from conflicts past, are painstakingly stored in acid-free folders, tucked inside protective boxes, and categorized by family, forming numerous narrow rows flanked by shelves 10 feet high. Many of the correspondences, once jammed in attic boxes, have been donated to the archive. Museum directors retrieved several dozen Christmas missives for NBC News to review.
From the Civil War to the Vietnam War, troops ranging from privates to a general struck the same literary chords — no matter the success of their conflict, their era, or the location of their last battle. They often chronicle violence during a moment meant to celebrate peace. They typically express humor, perhaps to put families at ease. And they reveal yearnings to be back with gathered families and friends.
"A lot of people wrote letters to their mothers at Christmas. I guess it's a time you really start to think about home, really start to think about where you come from," said Conrad Crane, chief of historical services at the Army Heritage and Education Center.
Some of the letters offered to NBC News were were originally mailed to nieces, parents and wives.
Courtesy of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
John T. Cheney, an officer in the U.S. Army during the Civil War, wrote to his wife from Mississippi in 1862.
On Dec. 28, 1862, five months before the U.S. Army's siege of Vicksburg, 1st Illinois Light Artillery Capt. John T. Cheney sat at a humid encampment, he wrote, near the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi and scribbled some lines to "My Dear Wife." Her name was Mary. He also had two children at home at the time, including an 11-year-old son, military archives show. On now-yellowed paper in cursive style, Cheney mentioned to Mary that he was, "waiting to retreat" — revealing, however, he believed his unit "ought not to be compelled to do so." He told her that he and his men were living off of half bread rations and three-quarter meat rations but he reassured her that he was "not yet out of medicine." And he acknowledged that on Dec. 24 he had procured three gallons of whiskey for his men: "We had a very pleasant Christmas Eve."
"I am quite well and could I only know that you were well at home I would be thankful," Cheney wrote. Less than two years later, he would accompany Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's famous march on Atlanta. "I wish I could step in and stop with you all tonight ... Give my love to all of the friends and kiss the little ones for me a time or two ... Good night."
Courtesy of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
While training to head to combat in World War I, Adam F. Glatfelter offered some soothing words to a niece.
Not surprisingly, the intended audience of each letter, Crane said, generally shaped the tone of words from the front. The museum has "steamy" notes from husbands to wives, he said, and fatherly notes to children.
On Dec. 26, 1917, Adam F. Glatfelter penned some thoughts to his niece, Carrie, from Camp Gordon in Atlanta. The training center was built to prepare men to head to the trenches of Europe to fight during World War I. In cursive hand, using a pencil, he told her of spending Christmas Day playing music with his military orchestra for the local bishop. He joked that his ensemble was quickly becoming "pretty popular" with folks in Atlanta. He listed his holiday meal: two turkey dinners. And he thanked her for sending a spool of thread.
"Do not worry about me," he wrote, signing as "Uncle Frank."
Holiday menus — and pleas not to fret — color many Christmas letters home. On Dec. 25, 1944, Navy Pfc. Clark S. Crane dashed off a one-page note to his parents in a V-mail, short for "Victory Mail." The system offered troops templates bordered by red ink. Their words would be censored by the military — a stamp in one corner validated the content had been approved — then copied to film and printed back to paper before being placed in the U.S. mail.
Courtesy of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
A V-Mail from Navy sailor Clark Crane, sent at Christmas 1944 to his parents.
Crane was anchored near the Philippines at the time, according to the Army Heritage and Education Center, although his letter notes he was "Somewhere at Sea." He tells his parents how he had "just finished extending season's greetings ... good natured but well felt" to other men on board via a Christmas poem that he authored with another sailor. He offered one line for his folks.
"'Shed a tear in your Christmas beer since there ain't gonna be no egg in it this year.' Pretty corny, eh?" Crane wrote, noting that was his third Christmas spent at war and away from his parents' house at 285. N. Maple Ave. in Kingston, Pa.
"Lined up ... for Christmas dinner with tender turkey and cranberries on the menu," he wrote. "All of it was very good but there was a deficit of brown skin and the savory smell of a Christmas turkey at good old 285 North Maple. Lots of Love, Clark."
Another poem — albeit a modern, bloody take on the classic "A Visit from St. Nicholas" — formed a Christmas letter home from Douglas G. Anderson, then stationed in Korea. Neatly hand-written on green paper, the note contained no date or location. Records show he was an Army sergeant who would have been about 23 at the time.
Courtesy of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
A Christmas poem - about a battle - penned by Douglas G. Anderson from Korea.
"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the tent was the odor of fuel oil. The stovepipe was bent. The shoe pacs were hung by the oil stove with care in hope that they'd issue each man a new pair. The weary GIs were sacked out in their beds. Visions of sugar babes danced through their heads," Anderson wrote.
"When up on the ridge-line there arose such a clatter, a Chinese machine gun had started to chatter. I rushed to my rifle and threw back the bolt, the rest of my tent mates arose with a jolt." Staying in rhyme, Anderson described the orders shouted by his platoon sergeant, Kelly. " 'Get up on that on hilltop and silence that red and don't you come back till you're sure that he's dead.' Then putting his thumb in front of his nose, Sergeant Kelly took leave of us shivering Joes. But we all heard him say in a voice soft and light 'Merry Christmas to all, may you live through the night."
After the birth of the Internet and as modern service members waged war in Iraq during two conflicts and, now, in Afghanistan, the art of the Christmas letter home has largely been replaced by Skype sessions, said Col. Matt Dawson, director Army Heritage and Education Center.
In historic missives from combat zones, "people bared their souls," Dawson said. Some of the authors couldn't be sure that those words wouldn't be the last their families would receive from them.
Today, such intimate moments are shared during one-one-one cyber chats that rarely, if ever, are saved — unless the troops use a new service called TroopTree.com in which they can record, upload and send personal video messages for family or friends, and do so at no cost.
In most cases, however, sweet sentiments shared during Skype sessions from war zones are simply here and gone.
"So in 20, 30 or 40 years," Dawson said, "when we're looking for this kind of stuff from the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, it will be more difficult to find," — unless a service member takes time to mail a post card home, as Marine Sgt. Brian Snell did this month. He sent the card to his wife Liz and their two daughters. The front shows a red Christmas ornament stamped with an "Operation Enduring Freedom" logo, atop an American flag.
"Hey love, Hope you girls have a Merry Christmas and New Year. I miss you all," Snell, 30, wrote to his family, who live in the San Diego area. This is his first deployment. He was sent to Afghanistan in autumn.
"There is something about being able to read his handwriting to make the world feel a little smaller, like he isn't on the other side of it," Liz Snell said. "Unlike a phone call, a letter lingers. You can have a bad day, pick up the card, and he is here."
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Under the trees lies the beautiful home of artist Viljo Syrjämä. The artist designed and built his house himself. Even the bricks in the wall are self-made. The only bought piece of furniture is the piano. The model and the idea for the building came from a photograph presenting the Byzantine covenant San Marco in Florence. The Byzantine style can be seen in the cupolas, vaults and golden-based mosaics of the building. The works of artist Syrjämä remind many of us of the pieces by Akseli Gallen-Kallela.
source: http://www.loimaanseutu.fi/Default.aspx?id=355277
More info (finnish) http://www.oripaa.fi/?id=394B1662-018046E997CF-D7C5AD85764A
More panoramas also at www.panoraamakuvat.fi
Finland is the jam. It came from an exploding egg, the egg of a water bird, the top half of which you can still see in the shape of the starry canopy that hangs over the earth.Finland is the most sparsely-populated country in the EU with only 5 million people. It's also been ranked the second most stable country in the world, after Norway.Historically, Finland has been a part of Sweden and later, Russia. It was an autonomous Grand Duchy during the Russian Empire's reign and lasted as such until their declaration of independence in 1917. Subsequently Finland survived a civil war and wars against both Russia and Nazi Germany to eventually settle down as an EU member circa 1955.Finnish language is cool, it's totally unrelated to the whole Latin-root thing. Its closest relative is Hungarian. Linguistic historians estimate that it came from northern central Russia from 3000BC.If you're in Helsinki, the museum at Suomenlinna has some interesting bunkers and military wreckage, including a submarine!Caught on camera! Here's your long-awaited proof. Santa Claus comes from Finland.Apart from Lappland, the other thing most people are familiar with out of Finland is aquavite. Literally it translates to "water of life" but it may make you feel more like you are dying when it hits your throat.Text by Steve Smith.

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FRISCO, Texas — FC Dallas may have caught a break in the 69th minute of the first leg of their Western Conference semifinal — in which they defeated RSL, 2-1, at Pizza Hut Park — when referee Kevin Stott sent RSL midfielder Javier Morales to the showers with a second yellow card.
Just like that, the defending MLS Cup champions lost one of their key offensive cogs for the final 21 minutes of the match. Worse still for RSL, Morales will now miss the second leg at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night.
The consensus is that RSL head coach Jason Kreis will plug Will Johnson in for Morales in the center of midfield, and he's a player with whom Dallas are more than familiar.
"[Johnson] has got a little bit more of a work ethic than Morales," FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman said. "He may not have the technical ability to get the killer pass or the ability to pull people out of position to get himself free. I think Will does a very good job. He's a two-way player that may bring us more problems. Time will tell. I know he's a competitor and will be fighting to the end."
In his career against FCD, Johnson has tallied one goal and one assist in six appearances against the Texas side. But Hoops captain Daniel Hernandez knows his contributions could come in more ways than just on the scoresheet.
"Will is a guy that is going to have a lot more movement," Hernandez said. "Of course, he's not the player that Morales is and that definitely will hurt them. But this is professional soccer and you have guys that have to step in and do their job. Will has done well this year."
And he's clearly not expecting the game to be any easier just because Morales won't be there making things happen for RSL.
"Our game plan is not going to change," Hernandez said. "It's not going to change in there whether Morales is in there, Will Johnson or anybody else. We still have to defend as a team. I think that's why we're going to have success, doing those things as a team."
Hyndman predicted RSL's midfield will look more or less the same as it did last weekend, but thought that the champs' approach would change for the second leg.
"I think you'll see [Kyle] Beckerman just a little bit more aggressive getting forward because the game's going to demand it," Hyndman said. "I think you'll see [Chris] Wingert and [Robbie] Russell getting forward because the game will demand it. I think it's going to be a heck of a game."
But one thing Hyndman won't do is devote extra attention to Beckerman. He'll essentially expect his players to execute a similar game plan that helped Dallas defeat the reigning MLS champions last weekend.
"What we'd like to do is replicate our game," Hyndman said. "The way we played in the second half, we'd like to do that again. I think one of the things you saw that as the game went on, it became more and more difficult for them to keep up. I think the big reason was because they were defending so much, it was hard for them to get forward and defend."
Johnson Set To Replace Morales
FRISCO, Texas — FC Dallas may have caught a break in the 69th minute of the first leg of their Western Conference semifinal — in which they defeated RSL, 2-1, at Pizza Hut Park — when referee Kevin Stott sent RSL midfielder Javier Morales to the showers with a second yellow card.


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UnNews:Slayer announce new tour with the Temptations
This article is part of UnNews, your source for up-to-the-microsecond misinformation.
16 February 2012
HUNTINGTON, California -- In a surprising move that has the metal world all shook up, thrash pioneers Slayer have announced that the opening act for their upcoming summer tour will be... The Temptations. Yep, you read that right: The legendary 1960s Motown group will open for the band known for such sunny oldies as "Raining Blood," "South of Heaven," "Seasons in the Abyss," "War Ensemble," and, ironically, "Temptation."
I was lucky enough to sit down with both groups and discuss this acid trip of a publicity stunt.
Whose idea was this anyway?
Kerry King (Lead guitar, Slayer): We [Slayer] were just playing the shit out of "Temptation" when we heard that Kool & The Gang would be opening for Van Halen on tour. Not to be outdone, [Slayer lead singer and bassist] Tom [Araya] said, "Why the fuck does Van Halen get to do cool shit like this? Who can we get to open for us on tour?" and I said, "Uh, I dunno, The Temptaions?" [Laughs]
Were you guys [The Temptations] surprised that Slayer had asked you to open for them?
Otis Williams (Last survivng original member, The Temptations): Hell yeah, we were surprised! You Damn right! We don't even know who the hell Slayer is, but their music would make my mama hang her head in shame. When we found out they were a metal band, I kept singing to myself, "It's just my imagination." I tried slapping myself repeatedly with a bass [the fish] until I realized I wasn't dreaming. Then we called them back and reluctantly said yes; we figured this would be a golden opportunity to introduce ourselves to a younger audience. Plus, we needed the money.
Are either or you gonna make changes to your sound or set?
Tom Araya: Nah. We're putting the pedal to the metal, brother!
Otis Williams: We know this audience well enough to know that we can only do three minutes of "My Girl" before they boo us off the stage. We'd never make it even two minutes into "Just My Imagination," "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," or "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch."
Joe Herndon (Bass singer, Temptations): We didn't do "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch." That was The Four Tops!
Otis Williams: Another thing! How many years can I keep singing "My Girl" without sounding like a pedophile? It shouldn't be "My Girl," it should be "My Woman." We're gonna be a little more PC about that this time around.
Kerry, aren't you afraid you're gonna piss off a lot of Slayer fans?
Kerry King: Bah, who gives a fucking shit? We're just hear to have a good time, right?
The Slayer & Temptations Just Your Imagination Tour kicks off in June 2012.
- Gary Graf "Slayer & Temptations tour! Please tell me it's "just my imagination"" Billboard Magazine, February 08, 2012


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Use of Automatic Doors
I've seen this not only on my college campus but on the ones I've visited, too. I see kids go up to doors and, instead of taking 2 seconds to open them, they press the disabled access button. It would be totally justifiable if they were a.) carrying something so they couldn't use their hands or b.) actually disabled but most likely they're not.
Excessive Cell Phone Use
When I got to school I used to put my phone on airplane mode so nothing would make any sounds during class. Then I realized what a waste that was and I turned my phone off instead. I see students constantly on their phones during class time when they should be paying attention but I can't see what could be so exciting.
Smart Phones
Why do kids have smart phones? Do they run a business? Do they have a job so important that they need to be able to check their email any time, anywhere? More than likely, no. They're playing fruit ninja and checking their Facebook. The most exciting thing my phone can do is play tetris. I can't even take video.
Chewing Gum
I don't really see as many people chewing gum in college since I guessed it stopped being cool once it was allowed. High schoolers are crazy about gum. But why though? It's not like real food. The flavor lasts for maybe 15 minutes and then you have this wad of flavorless gunk that you have to chew. People constantly get in trouble for it in high school, and even though they were told to throw it away they'd pop another stick in. It doesn't even make any sense.
The Friend Zone
It's classic; boy and girl are friends, boy likes girl, girl wants to remain friends. Now some cases for the friend zone I understand but others I don't. If a girl hugs, kisses, cuddles, or otherwise acts in an affectionate way towards a boy, why are they surprised when he starts to like her? What the heck women, make up your mind.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Things Teenagers Do That I Don't Understand
Use of Automatic Doors
Posted by Haven at 8:26 PM 9 comments
Saturday, February 9, 2013
New Year
The second semester started near the end of January and a lot of things have changed since my last post. I got my driver's license, I got a car, I'm taking 5 classes this year instead of 4, and I got accepted to every college I've heard back from (which is only half of the ones I've applied to). I'm taking Calculus II, Literature, Astronomy, and Environmental Science with Communications as an online class. So far it's been okay but it's definitely more work than last semester.
I'm also looking a job so I can have some money next year but not a lot of places want to hire a minor without a high school diploma. And of course I'm worried that more school work + actual work = less time with my friends. Right now we're just floating along, not sure of what we're going to do next year.
I'm sure choosing what school I'm going to go to won't be too hard. Right now my deciding factor is money. I hear student loans are not fun to pay back. After college might be hard though. I'm still not settled on what I really want to do. I know I want to do computer science but that subject can be broad. I definitely need to narrow it down.
All in all, regular teenage uncertainty.
Posted by Haven at 9:33 PM 1 comments


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The giant wheel of doom!
If you've been reading my blog you already know what Mickey's Fun Wheel (above) did to my family. Here's a brief recap: In March of this year my family and I went to Disneyland and California Adventure. We rode the Fun Wheel (or "Evil Wheel" as my family came to refer to it). I enjoyed it and my daughter and wife went to their mental happy places and my son screamed and cried.
Why am I posting it today? The high school year is coming to a close (here in British Columbia, Canada) and I'm wishing that we were going back to Disneyland and California Adventure for the holidays. I'm also planning a trip to "Playland at the PNE" here in Vancouver for all of my Wolf Pack students (student leadership group) as a reward for their hard work throughout the year. We'll ride the roller coasters and take a trip on the Hellevator (or eight as I usually do). My favorite ride is the Coaster, a wooden roller coaster built in 1958; my favorite because it's the only coaster I've ever been on where I thought I might die.
Only three more days before exams. Here's hoping I make it.
Pentax K20D; Pentax DA 18-55mm AL II; f16; ISO 100; 1/80 sec.
7 responses
ferris wheels are rolling hells for me. i feel physically unstable. those metal beams cannot hold me, i say!
that sounds like a splendid trip for your students though- rather envious.
June 21, 2010 at 10:44 pm


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"I can't allow the US Government to destroy privacy and basic liberties"
And yet he goes it work for the National Security Agency
- who do literally nothing else...
On the same day that Qusayr fell, the British and French governments hysterically demanded that Obama undertake a total bombing campaign against Syria, whatever the consequences in regard to Russia and other powers. To his credit, Obama is continuing to say no to this lunatic Anglo-French neocolonial adventure.
On that same June 5, the London-based daily The Guardian, in an article by the expatriate American Glenn Greenwald, hyped a court order from the secret FISA panel of federal judges showing that the US National Security Agency was routinely monitoring the telephone records (including time, locations, call duration, and unique identifiers, but not the contents of the conversations) of possibly unlimited millions of Verizon phone subscribers. Back in the US, reactionary talk show hosts began screaming
"Obama taps your phones!"
On June 6, again in advance of every other newspaper in the world, The Guardian published another article by Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill revealing that the National Security Agency, under a program called Prism, had obtained direct access to the servers of Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple, Youtube, Skype, AOL, and Microsoft, and was busily monitoring the content of e-mails, file transfers, and live conversations. Back in the US, reactionary talk show hosts began screaming,
"Obama reads your e-mail!"
Forget the B.S. stories about Snowden, there is only ONE that applies and you will not hear about it in the press, which has protected the NSA with a great big white wash. Snowden worked out at Kunia. He had an extensive training program he had to go through before being allowed in. He HAD TO have been 99th percentile, the story about high school drop out is B.S, and so is the rest of the washing of his background. After hearing his conscience out at Kunia, he left Hawaii, defected, and told the truth.
There is also a rumor that Snowden worked for a contractor for $122,000 a year. I doubt that seriously because the NSA is so secretive it is extremely wary of contractors, and during my time with the NSA, I saw only 2 people EVER that were contractors, and they were never out on the operations floor. So yeah, I buy $122,000 a year, but NOT with a contractor. People who get to see enough to reveal what Snowden did have million dollar background checks, involving interviews with practically everyone in their past, and the interviewers do not identify themselves, they just talk as friends over a beer or whatever. So no one knows when they are being asked questions about someone the NSA intends to hire. These background checks take a year or so to complete and contractors can't afford to do that, the FED does. What Snowden revealed proves through emperical evidence that he was not employed by a contractor, he was just straight up NSA. The entire High School drop out story is pure B.S., because if during one of these checks any of the secret questioners comes up with even a little whiff of something wrong with your past, YOU ARE OUT.
Unlike the CIA, which has over a million spooks, the NSA is so secretive that very few people break the barrier to entry, which limits the size of the NSA to below 50,000 people total, a majority of which are highly talented super geeks. The expense of the background investigations alone seriously limits the number of people the NSA can hire.
Don't expect anything that is now claimed to be said by Snowden as actually coming from him. They are whitewashing this as fast as possible, while making false posts and statements to the web and media that claim to be from him. By now he has been replaced with the public image of someone else. For starters, it is ERIC SNOWDEN, not EDWARD as we are now told and this subtle name change will be used to deflect meaningful search into his past.
My own experience in the NSA is enough to prove what little I have said about Snowden to be true. There is ONE OPTION - Snowden was BRILLIANT, had extensive back ground searches done on him, went through a very difficult school, got assigned to Kunia where he lived in the same location as many other NSA people who have families do, drove to Kunia daily, and finally could not take what he was seeing there anymore and ratted them out. THAT IS THE ONLY STORY. Snowden did not have a girlfriend. He had a wife, and any reference to him "leaving his girlfriend behind" is another lie. You cannot live where Snowden did and have a "girlfriend", the NSA will not put you in the premium government family housing in Waipahu for only a "girlfriend".
Furthermore, stories about the house being sold now are B.S., because Snowden was in government housing the same as all lower level NSA people are given. Unless you are an outside contractor (and those are very few in number), The NSA does not leave it's people to run with the general public, they all get assigned a living area where like minded people are. And from these few mistakes the press made, we can assume that the entire background they are presenting on Snowden is a lie. The house he was in was never owned by him and DID NOT get sold.
To see a long list of B.S. my own experience proves to be lies, just google "where snowden lived"
Furthermore, the "leaked documents from anonymous" are PURE B.S. and are all readily available public documents. I see this as an attempt to muddy the waters with regard to Snowden's legitimate leak.
Watch for story creep in the mainstream and portions of the alternative press regarding what I have said here, since I am former NSA telling it like it is I have noticed that the story keeps getting regular tweaks to counteract what I say here, the latest being "it was his girlfriend's house". Don't buy into the tweaks, what is above is a truthfully rational assessment of HOW IT HAD TO BE, from someone who simply knows how things are. Granted, when I was with the NSA they were not spying on Americans, but their procedures and methods were anchored in stone and for what I have said above to not weigh out now would mean something massive regarding hiring policy, housing policy, contractor policy and other things changed there, which I doubt, especially if this is the first big leak and Kunia is still misrepresented on Google maps, with the real entry obscured by a cloud.
Where Snowden worked (see my comments following this article) and in case you are new here, I am former NSA and have toured this facility. To pull this up on Google maps, type Kunia Oahu into Google.
If there is one thing we have learned from this, it is that if they can do it they will do it, so this report is going to show you what the capabilities have GOT TO be right now and what to expect from the NSA in the future.
1. Recording of all conversations occurring in cars manufactured after 2004 and sold in the United States via an always on cell connection which is built into the engine control computer. Engine control computers are always placed in the passenger compartment where they can hear everything, though in the past they did not have ears. The fact that they do now was mandated by the Federal government and became a legally required component of all cars from year 2005 on. This started in the late 90's with GM's Onstar. You may have seen an onstar commercial where the Onstar representitive is talking to the driver through the radio speakers. ALL new cars have at least one side of this capability - the outgoing microphone -installed in them NOW.
2. Recording of all conversations happening in the vicinity of a computer equipped with an Intel CoreVPro or Sandy Bridge processor, even if it is not "online" and even while "turned off". Intel evidently thought it was a good security choice to have full time cell connectivity built into the heart of every CPU they produce, and I bet you don't know that new Intel laptop you just bought is ALWAYS online, even when turned off. YOU don't get to use that connection though, which leaves the question, WHO DOES?
3. All cell phones have been and will continue to be (this started in 2005) in speech to text mode, where the phone listens to nearby conversations, converts them to text, and loads the text to an NSA server during cell phone tower updates which happen frequently during the day as part of normal cell operation. In the past, whenever they put full time monitoring on cell phones, the batteries would die in a couple of hours and the phone would always be hot. People noticed this, so to circumvent that all cell phones were equipped with speech to text software and though it is not perfect, it still gives pretty good "intelligence" about the user without draining the battery at all. Once again, as it is with the new Intel processors and their always on cell connection, you don't even know that software exists
4. Recording of all conversations in the vicinity of computers that are turned on and have an internet connection even if they have no CoreVPro or Sandy Bridge CPU, but that's old news.
5. Video and sound recording of household activities within view of a Samsung SmartTV, any of the new video gaming consoles, or any smart meter compliant appliance which can communicate with an electrical smart meter. All electrical smart meters have wifi, 3g, and sometimes 4g connectivity for the sole purpose of "receiving daily energy related instructions". Yeah right.
6. Possible now - ALL cell phones which have cameras most likely are, right now, constantly taking a sequence of photos while out in public, and uploading them during cell tower updates to hide battery usage and the cell phone's owner never realizes this.
People need to recognize the importance of what Edward Snowden did. He gave us a fixed reference point for what the NSA was capable of in 2005, and from there we can calculate what they can do NOW
Moore's law, and what it means for the NSA
Most everyone knows about Moore's law which states that computers will double in power once every 18 months as technology advances. Moore was partially right, because in reality computers ended up doubling in power more frequently - once every 13 months. But let's just use 18 months as a reference standard anyone could agree on. If in 2005 the NSA was able to record and permanently store every phone conversation, video chat, internet record for everyone, every text, every e-mail, and store it forever BACK THEN, let's see how many times that capability just went into that NSA data center in Utah.
2013-2005=8 x 12 = 96 / 18 = 5.3 doublings of processing power since 2005. First doubling will be 1 plus 1, then after that x2. So we have 1+1x2x2x2x2, which equals 32 times the processing power available in 2005. If we take 100 percent and divide it by 32, we can see how strong in percent what they had in 2005 will compare to that new data center in Utah. 100/32 = 3.125% Now, I would like to ask you to appeal to your logic - If they were already permanently recording every phone call, financial transaction, video chat, e-mail, text message, and whatever else with a system that was only a little over 3 percent as powerful as what they just put into Utah, WHAT NEW CAPABILITIES DID THEY JUST GET?
How about:
Every vacation picture you take with any Wifi equipped digital camera instantly uploading to an NSA server for permanent storage as possible future evidence? How about every music project you ever worked on with a PC? How about every family video you ever shot, every place your car ever went and everything you said while driving? How about your smart microwave, via your smart meter, sending out all the audio in your house, to corroborate what your cell phone is sending out, to corroborate what your smartTV is sending out, to corroborate what your PC sent out, to corroborate what your land line sent out, to corroborate what your game console sent out and having ALL of those recordings of what went on in your house being permanently stored on the NSA server, just in case the microwave did not hear it clearly? THAT is what 32 times the capability of what they had in 2005 means, and if we learned anything from Edward, it is that If they can do it, they will do it, which is an affirmation of what I have said all along
I got called a wacko by a few when I said ALL phone conversations were being permanently recorded and stored on an NSA server, as well as all texts and e-mails, regardless of who made them and ended up being right, even if I was behind in saying this by 6 or 7 years. Now I am taking that a step farther, and I would like to ask you, do you think I am wrong this time?
The bottom line is that the surveillance state has gotten so powerful that even a creative mind could never dream up what it is really capable of. There is no doubt a lot I missed
Kunia is geographically isolated yet ideally located for electronic warfare operations in the Pacific theatre. It was the largest NSA center on American soil prior to Utah, (there are bigger ones elsewhere) and employs approximately 7,000 people. Now here is the kicker
Because Kunia was geographically isolated, the fact that they could record all phone conversations from there means that the NSA center in Utah, which is on what could be argued as the strongest part of the internet back bone in the world, - that added bandwidth potential with no bottlenecks, means that the data center in Utah will dwarf the abilities of Kunia by at least 200:1.
This also has other damning ramifications - that the NSA really did shift missions after 9/11 because if you wanted to spy on the American mainland, your pride and joy system that recorded everything should not be located in Hawaii. Yet it is confirmed - Edward Snowden worked at Kunia, which as young as he was would have been his only facility. This means that the system of compartmentalized clearances would have prevented him from knowing about PRISM if it was NOT LOCATED AT KUNIA.
And on that note, I have this to say to the NSA:
You traitorous bastards, HOW DARE YOU convert a legitimate defense facility for THAT TYPE OF USE. If you don't like me ratting out Kunia, you can * OFF.
Additionally About the NSA - an important note
The NSA has NO GOONS, NO AGENTS, NO ONE working outside of their secret facilities. IF ANYONE CLAIMS TO HAVE BEEN VISITED BY THE NSA, THEY ARE FRAUDS, THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN. The NSA has nothing but geeks at data terminals, that do ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY - WATCH AND LISTEN. If you have read online about someone who has been visited by the NSA, they are full of B.S., that is the job of the CIA, FBI, or whatever other agencies have active agents working out in public. The NSA is behind closed doors only.
If you have read anything online about someone getting visited by the NSA, throw it straight in the trash. It's an outright lie.
This article was first published on Jimstonefreelance.com.
Under George Bush, warrantless wiretaps and similar illegal programs were revealed by various media organs. These revelations had minimal impact on Bush, whose base was indifferent to civil liberties.
Obama's base, by contrast, cares very much, and has been visibly upset by these new reports.
While strongly condemning these totalitarian programs, we must also not lose sight of who is putting these reports into circulation, and why.
Phone taps are bad, but a general war in the Middle East leading to a possible Third World War is far worse.
The British and French defense and intelligence establishment (they have virtually merged) want Obama and the American people to take the lead and shoulder the risk in a perilous attack on Syria, in time to preserve the death squads so they can fight another day in another country.
London and Paris, of course, see themselves as the principal beneficiaries of the breakup of Syria.
Since Obama is currently blocking their plans, they are bringing up their big guns of scandal, with the center-left Guardian evidently chosen to take the point, doubtless to obtain more attention among Obama's leftist supporters.


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A recent article by Paul Rosenberg in Salon contends that Paul Ryan, the Republican congressman from Wisconsin and erstwhile running mate of Mitt Romney, exhibits many of the hallmarks of a psychopath. Rosenberg claims that Ryan is "arrogant, manipulative, deceitful, and remorseless." Whether Ryan is guilty of any or all of these sins or not, they seem to fit the bill of another prominent figure in Washington, DC: Barack Obama. Is the president a psychopath?
"Coolidge's greatest feat had been to restore the dignity and prestige of the presidency when it had reached "the lowest ebb in our history.'"


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Sherri McMillan, M.Sc. has been inspiring the world to adopt a fitness lifestyle for over 20 years and has received numerous industry awards including 2006 IDEA Fitness Director of the Year, 1998 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, 1998 CanFitPro Fitness Presenter of the Year and 2005/2006 ACE Fitness Educator of the Year - Runner up. As a fitness trainer, fitness columnist for various magazines and newspapers, author of five books and manuals including "Go For Fit - the Winning Way to Fat Loss", "Fit over Forty" & "The Successful Trainers Guide to Marketing", and featured presenter in various fitness DVDs, she is a spokesperson for Nike, Twist Conditioning and PowerBar. She has presented hundreds of workshops to thousands of fitness leaders throughout Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, England, Spain, South America, Asia and the U.S.A. She is the owner of Northwest Personal Training, two training studios in Portland OR and Vancouver WA that generated over $2,000,000 in revenues in 2009 and was awarded the 2006 BBB Business of the Year. www.nwFitnessEducation.com ... read more.


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Sunday, January 15, 2012
Traveling Woman Shawl (para mi madre)
Malabrigo Rios, in Aguas to be exact. It is no surprise that I'm a huge fan of Malabrigo, so it was only fitting that I used it to make something for my mom - since I'm a huge fan of her too!
Traveling Woman Shawl, by Liz Abinant. I know it looks a little intimidating with all those purl rows, but this pattern was wonderful. It was my first time working a lace pattern, so I did have to go to the LYS to get some help on how to read it. Once they explained it to me, I was off to the races. I guess I was just a little over-excited to be making this because within three days, I was out of yarn and waiting for a new skein to arrive. Thank goodness I had ordered it from Mr. Yarn, and they still had a skein in the same dyelot available.
I think it turned out lovely! I really debated if I should give it away or keep it for myself ;-) I decided my mom would probably love it more than I ever could, so I wrapped it up for her Christmas.
When I called on Christmas morning to see if she had opened it, my niece (she's almost 5!) told me "Mamaw really likes her cape." Too cute!~
Raverly Page
Pattern - Traveling Woman Shawl, by Liz Abinant.
Date started - 11/20/11
Date Finished - 12/7/11
Made For - Mi Madre
Yarn - Malabrigo Rios in Aguas
Needles - US 10, 40" circulars - Addi Turbos
Pre-Blocked Size- 52" wingspan by 14" tall
Finished Size - 80" wingspan by 24" tall
8 comments:
- mamaw said...
Mamaw really LOVES her cape!!!!!
- January 17, 2012 at 3:34 PM
- Greg and Karianne said...
Wow that is beautiful! I have no idea how you make things like that. It looks really complicated.
- January 18, 2012 at 12:50 AM
That is so beautiful...almost makes we want to go to church just to see it.... I guess I will just ask to see it next time I'm at her house.. Church might be dangerous.
- January 22, 2012 at 2:46 PM
- BrItTneEanN said...
You've got talent woman!! See my other comments I have made on your other stuff:)
- February 2, 2012 at 2:55 PM
- Crafty Christina said...
That turned out beautifully!
- February 4, 2012 at 12:15 PM
- Unknown said...
Hello. my name is Shari new to your blog. This is just beautiful! I crochet, but love looking at this that are knitted. I can not master this talent for nothing so I guess I will just crochet. Please come visit me if you can and I will be back soon. Thanks for sharing... it's just beautiful. Shari
- April 15, 2012 at 7:59 AM
- Catalina Barnes @Split-site PhD said...
Thank you for the photo of the shawl, it is difficult to really get a sense of the size and fit without a photo of it being worn. I think that this green is still a very versatile color which can go with many outfits. That sounds like a great Christmas gift.
- July 17, 2013 at 3:34 PM
- القمر السعودى said...
- October 15, 2018 at 8:13 PM


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Train Amsterdam → Prague
Duration 14h16 - From Rs4,083
- Departure station : Amsterdam cs (Stationsplein 15 1012 AB Amsterdam)
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Amsterdam, capital city of the Netherlands
Amsterdam, capital city of the Netherlands Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands, is located in the province of North Holland. The city got its name from a dam in the river Amstel and was a small fishing village at its creation. Nowadays Amsterdam is a busy seaport and one of the top European financial centres as well as a major cultural hub. The canals, world-famous museums and historical sights makes Amsterdam one of the most romantic and beautiful cities in Europe. It has all the advantages of a big city: culture, nightlife, restaurants with international cuisine, good transport system. However, the city has also a quiet and relaxed atmosphere largely thanks to its extensive canals, low road traffic, small green parks and flower fields. In Amsterdam, places of interest are never far away, get a bike or hop on a tram for an authentic local experience. Amsterdam can be reached easily by train from other European capitals - Paris, London or Brussels. Learn more about Amsterdam
Have a Pra-ha moment in the city of spires
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Practical information
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A Passion To Be Bad
Passion Brooks, the stripper, tattoo artist and new model is back quickly for the high, hard one courtesy of stud Carlos. The word about Passion Brooks from XLGirls.com guys who first saw her in her solos: Eli commented: "You mention that Passion found out about you through your website. I am so glad she did, Passion is just simply a knockout, so, so beautiful. Looking at Passion will definitely be a passion of mine. I love a true redhead and from this photo shoot I can see that Passion is indeed a true redhead---top and bottom. I would love to take her out on a basic date and have a good time. If her personality is as beautiful as she looks, she is definitely a little QUEEN and I would treat her as such. Thanks to you, Passion, for rocking my world and DO please cum back and rock my world some more." Well, Eli, here's Passion and she's fucking hard to please and pleased to fuck hard for you. Dave2's prediction came true. "Can't wait for this one to be bent over and fucked with a nice hard cock." Dave2 didn't have to wait long because that's exactly what Passion is here for. Show Passion some love for her bed-bouncing talents and comment below.


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KEY EVIDENCE IN A NCIS MURDER INVESTIGATION LEADS GIBBS AND THE TEAM TO McGEE'S GRANDMOTHER, ON A REBROADCAST OF "NCIS," ON A SPECIAL NIGHT, FRIDAY, OCT. 12
Editor's note: This replaces the previously scheduled programming.
Emmy, Tony and Grammy Award Winner Lily Tomlin Guest Stars as Penelope Langston, McGee's Grandmother
"The Penelope Papers" - The line between McGee's personal and professional life is blurred when NCIS uncovers a connection between his grandmother and the murder of a Navy lieutenant, on a rebroadcast of NCIS, on a special night, Friday, Oct. 12 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Lily Tomlin guest stars as Penelope Langston, McGee's grandmother. (Originally broadcast 10/4/11.)
Mark Harmon (NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs)
Michael Weatherly (NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo)
Cote de Pablo (NCIS Special Agent Ziva David)
David McCallum (Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard)
Pauley Perrette (Abby Sciuto)
Sean Murray (NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee)
Rocky Carroll (NCIS Director Leon Vance)
Brian Dietzen (Jimmy Palmer)
Lily Tomlin (Penelope Langston)
Sam McMurray (John Westfal)
David Clennon (Max Ellswood)
Hillary Tuck (Justine Booth)
James Connor (Andrew Pike)
Matthew Alan (Navy Lieutenant Paul Booth)
WRITTEN BY: Nicole Mirante-Matthews
DIRECTED BY: Arvin Brown
RATING: To Be Announced


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First of all, I want to thank all of you who linked up with the Third Annual St. Patrick's Day Crawl yesterday! I am working my way through your great posts. I also want to thank those who left a comment. I saw so many of you who crawled through the links and left comments! That is definitely what makes it fun!
PLEASE NOTE...If I haven't been to your entry yet, I will be! Might take me all week end, but I will visit! :)
There's still time to enter the 60 dollar CSN give away here. Winner will be announced Sunday.
My guests for the 17th will dine at this table. It is still cold here in NY, so I went for a warm and wooly :) table.
There will only be 6 of us, so it is easier for me if I do it at the kitchen table. That way I can be in on the conversation while I am serving.
The square bowl on the table is Rosenthal.
I think I found it in the Noritake Outlet years ago for 2.00!
One of my guests in German, so I wanted to make him feel at home surrounded by the rest of us who are Irish.
Oh wait, DH isn't Irish... I think he forgets that, as he has been married to me for so long and puts up with the whole St. Patrick's Day thing!
I used a black tablecloth with a black with green wool cloth on top. I tied up the corners with some Irish lace. Not really, but it's lace and I am Irish. :)
Here I was playing with the charger and glasses. The green glass chargers and the green glasses are by Gorham by way of the Lenox Outlet. I wasn't going to buy the green glasses as I have a different color green, but I gave in to peer pressure from The Tablescaper! :)
I decided to use a Waterford wine along with a green water. Lenox eternal plate
The delicate cream soup cups and under plate are a gift to me from Marigene from In the Middle of Nowhere.
They are marked Noritake, Nippon. A little whiter than the Lenox Eternal, but close enough
She knew I had been wanting some, and sent them to me for my birthday. They are made by Noritake, and about 80 years old. They are just beautiful! Thank you, M!
I used a dark green napkin and gold trimmed flatware by Wallace.
I used a cream cut work pedestal bowl filled with fresh greens and mums for my centerpiece, and snuggled it in an Irish wool placemat.
I stuck some curled satin ribbon and a top hat in for a little color.
Waterford water pitcher was a gift from my dear friend ,Marie. It was her mom's. Individual butter pats from Wm Sonoma Outlet..
A Belleek tray will hold the bread.
So Waterford, Belleek, Lenox and Christmas Tree Shops and Savers all grace this table. And they get along just fine, no dish snobs allowed here! :)
I will sprinkle some green sugar, just a wee bit, on the cupcakes to dress them up for the party. I also made an apple crumb pie and baked individual pound cakes to serve with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
I hope my guests enjoy themselves, I tucked a lottery ticket under each plate to see if they have the luck of the Irish!
Happy St. Patrick's Day, Spring is marching in!
I wanted to join Lynn at Happier Than a Pig in Mud for her Cook Along. Ina was the featured cook.
Since Easter is coming and every year I try to get those eggs perfect, I tried her method.
Place the eggs in a saucepan and add enough cold water to cover.
Bring the water to a boil and immediately turn off the heat. Let the eggs sit in the pan for 15 minutes.
Remove the eggs to a bowl and allow to rest for at least 2 minutes. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, crack the eggs on each side and then roll them back and forth with your hand, breaking up the shell. Remove and discard the shell.
I should have read the reviews before! It didn't work for me either. The shells stuck to the egg, which really ticks me off, and the inside wasn't cooked!
I hope those of you who have a tried and true method will share. I always buy the eggs 2 weeks ahead, as I have read in many places that older eggs work better.
Do yours come out perfectly? Please share your method!
I did make her Lemon Pound Cake awhile ago, and it was delicious.
Go check all the other Ina recipes at Lynn's! Can't wait to see who she picked for next month!
Thanks again to everyone who crawled or commented! Let's do it again next year!
See you Sunday to announce the winner!I am joining Susan for Tablescape Thursday and Gollum for Foodie Friday.
Thank you to all the hosts!


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Fall fruits and vegetables like apples, pears, squash, and cabbages go beautifully with pork: a little sweet-sour sets off rich fattiness so well (or maybe that's fatty richness?).
Anyway, I was wrestling (as usual) with what to make for dinner tonight earlier today, and I remembered I had a nice piece of pork shoulder (also known as pork butt) left from a recent CSA-share pickup. The idea of a little pork with some apple cider syrup and mustard in a low-slow braise started simmering. One thought led to another, and I threw together a quick braising liquid and let the pork cook over low heat all day long, which was especially nice as the rain came in with colder air. Is fall finally really here? It doesn't seem to want to make up its mind.
Although it takes hours to make, this dish is one of the easiest things you can imagine. Just combine the ingredients in a Dutch oven, set it on the stove, and leave it alone. All day. If you are so inclined, you could flip the meat over at some point, maybe pour some of the liquid over the top of it a few times. You know, just to stir things up a bit. Or maybe to grab a quick taste of the braising liquid, make sure you added enough salt. That kind of thing.
Here's the recipe:
- 1 4-5 lb piece of pork shoulder
- 4 Tbsp apple cider syrup (if you don't have this, replace the syrup and the water with 1 cup of fresh apple cider)
- 1 cup water
- 1 onion, halved and sliced
- 4-5 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- salt
- pepper
- smoked paprika (optional, but it's good)
- Place pork shoulder in the Dutch oven, season (very liberally) with salt, pepper, and paprika
- Place onion slices and garlic cloves around the pork
- Mix apple cider syrup, water, mustard, soy sauce, and apple cider vinegar in a bowl and put it in the Dutch oven with the meat, onions, and garlic cloves
- Bring the liquid up to a boil on high heat, then cover the Dutch oven and lower the temperature to the lowest setting on your stove
- Let it cook over slow heat for 4-5 hours; check on it from time to time (mostly to waft lovely smells into your kitchen). When the meat starts sliding off the bone, it's done.


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Saturday, November 07, 2009
When I first began eating a vegan diet, over 4 months ago now, I began each morning with a smoothie of dark greens and fruit. Many mornings I am still consuming these, however, I am now juicing regularly, too.
By juicing I am removing all of the fiber of the fruit and vegetable. With the fiber removed, fresh juice digests very easily, so I am not expending as much energy on digestion. This extra energy then becomes available for my body and mind.
Remember when I posted how difficult afternoon runs were for me; that I felt out of energy and my legs felt very tired? I really couldn't figure this out. I assumed it was just the change of schedule-from AM summer vacation runs to PM afternoon runs. The weekend rolls around and I have alive legs and all is well on the weekend AM runs.
Well, the past few weeks-two weeks prior to Javelina and this week-I found that my afternoon runs no longer sucked. Three weeks ago I was still running a high mileage week. I was running 5 in the AM and another 5 in the PM. I was surprised that the 5 in the PM were good, energized runs. I couldn't figure it out. I went to the gym 3 weeks ago and lifted a few PR's. The week prior to the race I cut back on mileage, thereby figuring that the energy I felt during PM running was due to the taper.
This week I recovered so quickly from Javelina 100 that I was back to running AM/PM again, something I have never been able to do post 100.
I finally realized that a large part of the reason for the great PM runs and the recovery is due to the juicing. It has to be. Another part has to be due to the raw diet. I had absolutely no bloat/swelling at all. I went back to work on Tuesday in heels .. I never have been able to do this before. I had no soreness or stiffness whatsoever. Of course I do have the horribly dry skin, hair that falls out and cold sores that I normally have post 100. Yes, I always suffer these maladies post 100.
Back to the juicing...I usually juice approximately 32 ounces for a morning breakfast. I like to begin with a sweet base so I use 4-5 medium-sized carrots and an apple as a base for a 32-oz juice (one quart). By using carrots and apple as my base I am sure to have a sweet tasting juice no matter how many greens I add.
Carrots and apple are high in natural sugar. When I first began juicing I used few dark greens because the taste of the greens was so strong. I usually used the sweet base of carrot and apple and added celery, romaine, and cucumber as they are alkalizing and very mild in flavor. Over time I cut back on the carrot and apple and have increased the dark greens as I have adjusted to the flavor and find it wonderful and refreshing.
When I want a large supply of juice I'll use whole heads of celery as they have a high water content so I can get a lot of juice out of them.
After juicing the fruit base and the alkalizing vegetables I'll add the dark greens. My favorite dark greens to add are now kale and spinach, sometimes collards. I usually save my collards for wraps, using only the ripped ones for my juices and shakes.
Finally I'll add lemon or lime and ginger root. I juice the skin of the lemon or lime too, and about 1" of ginger root. I find that the citrus juice adds a zing to the juice, the ginger adds a great spike of flavor.
After accepting a part time position with Macy's a few months ago, my first purchase using my employee discount was a Breville Juicer. It works very very well. I place a plastic grocery bag or large Ziploc bag into the pulp container to catch the pulp, thereby making clean up even quicker. It stores nicely under my kitchen sink and clean up is a snap. It takes me less than 15 minutes to clean the fruit and vegetables, juice and clean the juicer.
Since juicing my desire for morning coffee has plummeted. I can't believe it. I have always enjoyed grinding my own beans each morning and preparing french press. I found that I now have desire for juice and not coffee! I didn't go through a caffeine withdrawal but I do find that I still want coffee one or two times a week..so I have it. Eventually I'll probably just give it up altogether. Again, this shocks me.
Today after my run I juiced 3 carrots, 1 apple, 1 head of celery, 1 head of romaine, about 2 cups of spinach, 1 lemon and 1" of ginger root. It is pictured above. Tasty!!
4 comments:
- SteveQ said...
I think a lot of the coffee craving in the morning is really just thirst; if i switch from my pot (yes, pot) of morning coffee to something else, I don't miss it.
- Londell said...
I have the same machine... Have you tried this for the family. For the fiber in the evening meal, I take the pulp (Mostly just carrots, beets and celery pulp) and mix one to one with my 97/3 burger. Now Vegan would not do this, but I love it... I have also taken the pulp and used it in a variety of muffins... But have to use it quick as it spoils fast.
Other favorites for me is watermelon rind and whole tomatoes.
I do agree, I feel better with my morning juice and love the Ginger zing! Some may not like it.
Hi, Julie!
I have always thought fruit juice was the enemy since it removes all the fiber and leaves you with just the calories, but your experience has me intrigued. Do you think you're able to get as much fiber this way, or at least as much as you need? I'd be interested in your comments.
- Julie B said...
The fiber is removed, you get none of it, this is why the digestion is so easy and swift. We still need fiber, I get a ton from the remainding 3-8 pounds of fruit and vegetables that I eat each day!


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SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Anger and protests over the execution of a Kashmiri man convicted in a deadly attack on India's Parliament have stirred fears the volatile Himalayan region could again descend into a cycle of violence after two years of relative peace.
Kashmir has been rocked by anti-India protests, despite a rigid curfew, since Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged in New Delhi early Saturday. Three protesters have died so far in clashes with security forces.
Tens of thousands of troops patrolled the streets of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday, confining residents to their homes.
Shops, businesses and government offices were closed, streets ringed with barbed wire were deserted, and the region's nearly 60 newspapers were unable to publish for a third day. Cable television and mobile Internet services were shut down in most areas.
Violent clashes and rigid curfews were long routine in Indian-held Kashmir, where insurgents have been fighting for more than two decades, demanding either a separate state or merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan. The region is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in its entirety by both.
However, a slew of measures ranging from a harsh security crackdown to the government's use of sports, economic development and culture to promote goodwill toward India have helped authorities maintain relative calm in Kashmir over the past two years. During that time, the region received a record number of tourists.
But the region remains a tinderbox, and many fear Guru's execution could be the match that lights it. Many Kashmiris believe Guru did not get a fair trial, and the government's surprise execution of the man — with his family only finding out afterward — only exacerbated the anger here.
"Please understand that there is more than one generation of Kashmiris that has come to see themselves as victims, that has come to see themselves as a category of people who will not receive justice," Omar Abdullah, Indian Kashmir's top elected official, told reporters.
"Whether you like it or not, the execution of Afzal Guru has reinforced that point that there is no justice for them, and that, to my mind, is far more disturbing and worrying than the short-term implications for the security front," he said.
Separatist politicians called for a mass funeral prayer for Guru to be held Friday at a large square near Srinagar's Martyr's Graveyard, where hundreds of separatists and civilians killed in the conflict are buried.
"This hanging has magnified manifold the sense of alienation and dejection and has plunged Kashmir into new cycle of uncertainty," said Sheikh Showkat Hussain, an international law professor at Central University of Kashmir. "This has also closed the doors of any reconciliation for those who wanted to be a bit moderate toward India."
Unknown residents have, meanwhile, put up a tombstone as a mark over an empty grave for Guru in the main martyr's graveyard in Srinagar. The epitaph reads: "His mortal remains are lying in trust with the government of India. Kashmiri nation awaits its return."
Since 1989, an armed uprising in the region and an ensuing crackdown have killed an estimated 68,000 people, mostly civilians. But in recent years, as the uprising waned, Kashmiris took a different tack, taking to the streets to protest, often in response to an event that triggered anger across the region.
In 2008, a government decision — later revoked — to transfer land to a Hindu shrine set off a summer of protests.
The next year, the alleged rape and murder of two young women by security forces set off the violence.
In 2010, the trigger was a police investigation that accused soldiers of killing three civilians and then staging a fake gunbattle to make it appear the dead were militants.
In all three years, hundreds of thousands of young men took to the streets, hurling rocks and abuse at Indian forces.
In 2010 alone, 112 people were killed as troops fired live ammunition into the crowds, inciting further protests in a deadly cycle of violence.
Though the last two years have been relatively calm, the violence after Guru's execution — with troops firing tear gas and bullets and using batons to chase away rock-throwing protesters — brought back memories from a time many here had hoped was over.
Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, a former Indian home minister who has also been the chief minister of Indian Kashmir, said Guru's hanging was a "serious setback to peace."
At least 40 separatist leaders and activists have been detained and put under house arrest to prevent them from leading anti-India protests, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a top separatist leader, told reporters in New Delhi that the hanging damaged hopes for any future negotiations with the government.
"Once you push people to the wall they have no other way but to respond with equal aggression," he said Saturday, after the hanging. Soon after, he was placed under house arrest.


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just to say hello to you all - I have just registered on this site after visiting Warsop today.
On visiting the local pet shop I was given the name of this web site. The lady there was very helpful - many thanks
I have posted a request for help re family history on local history section and would appreciate any info re family
Many thanks


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Fachbereich Mathematik
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (6) (remove)
- Algebraische Geometrie (6) (remove)
This dissertation is intended to give a systematic treatment of hypersurface singularities in arbitrary characteristic which provides the necessary tools, theoretically and computationally, for the purpose of classification. This thesis consists of five chapters: In chapter 1, we introduce the background on isolated hypersurface singularities needed for our work. In chapter 2, we formalize the notions of piecewise-homogeneous grading and we discuss thoroughly non-degeneracy in arbitrary characteristic. Chapter 3 is devoted to determinacy and normal forms of isolated hypersurface singularities. In the first part, we give finite determinacy theorems in arbitrary characteristic with respect to right respectively contact equivalence. Furthermore, we show that "isolated" and finite determinacy properties are equivalent. In the second part, we formalize Arnol'd's key ideas for the computation of normal forms an define the conditions (AA) and (AAC). The last part of Chapter 3 is devoted to the study of normal forms in the general setting of hypersurface singularities imposing neither condition (A) nor Newton-Nondegeneracy. In Chapter 4, we present algorithms which we implement in Singular for the purpose of explicit computation of regular bases and normal forms. In chapter 5, we transfer some classical results on invariants over the field C of complex numbers to algebraically closed fields of characteristic zero known as Lefschetz principle.
Tropical intersection theory (2010)
This thesis consists of five chapters: Chapter 1 contains the basics of the theory and is essential for the rest of the thesis. Chapters 2-5 are to a large extent independent of each other and can be read separately. - Chapter 1: Foundations of tropical intersection theory In this first chapter we set up the foundations of a tropical intersection theory covering many concepts and tools of its counterpart in algebraic geometry such as affine tropical cycles, Cartier divisors, morphisms of tropical cycles, pull-backs of Cartier divisors, push-forwards of cycles and an intersection product of Cartier divisors and cycles. Afterwards, we generalize these concepts to abstract tropical cycles and introduce a concept of rational equivalence. Finally, we set up an intersection product of cycles and prove that every cycle is rationally equivalent to some affine cycle in the special case that our ambient cycle is R^n. We use this result to show that rational and numerical equivalence agree in this case and prove a tropical Bézout's theorem. - Chapter 2: Tropical cycles with real slopes and numerical equivalence In this chapter we generalize our definitions of tropical cycles to polyhedral complexes with non-rational slopes. We use this new definition to show that if our ambient cycle is a fan then every subcycle is numerically equivalent to some affine cycle. Finally, we restrict ourselves to cycles in R^n that are "generic" in some sense and study the concept of numerical equivalence in more detail. - Chapter 3: Tropical intersection products on smooth varieties We define an intersection product of tropical cycles on tropical linear spaces L^n_k and on other, related fans. Then, we use this result to obtain an intersection product of cycles on any "smooth" tropical variety. Finally, we use the intersection product to introduce a concept of pull-backs of cycles along morphisms of smooth tropical varieties and prove that this pull-back has all expected properties. - Chapter 4: Weil and Cartier divisors under tropical modifications First, we introduce "modifications" and "contractions" and study their basic properties. After that, we prove that under some further assumptions a one-to-one correspondence of Weil and Cartier divisors is preserved by modifications. In particular we can prove that on any smooth tropical variety we have a one-to-one correspondence of Weil and Cartier divisors. - Chapter 5: Chern classes of tropical vector bundles We give definitions of tropical vector bundles and rational sections of tropical vector bundles. We use these rational sections to define the Chern classes of such a tropical vector bundle. Moreover, we prove that these Chern classes have all expected properties. Finally, we classify all tropical vector bundles on an elliptic curve up to isomorphisms.
This thesis is devoted to two main topics (accordingly, there are two chapters): In the first chapter, we establish a tropical intersection theory with analogue notions and tools as its algebro-geometric counterpart. This includes tropical cycles, rational functions, intersection products of Cartier divisors and cycles, morphisms, their functors and the projection formula, rational equivalence. The most important features of this theory are the following: - It unifies and simplifies many of the existing results of tropical enumerative geometry, which often contained involved ad-hoc computations. - It is indispensable to formulate and solve further tropical enumerative problems. - It shows deep relations to the intersection theory of toric varieties and connected fields. - The relationship between tropical and classical Gromov-Witten invariants found by Mikhalkin is made plausible from inside tropical geometry. - It is interesting on its own as a subfield of convex geometry. In the second chapter, we study tropical gravitational descendants (i.e. Gromov-Witten invariants with incidence and "Psi-class" factors) and show that many concepts of the classical Gromov-Witten theory such as the famous WDVV equations can be carried over to the tropical world. We use this to extend Mikhalkin's results to a certain class of gravitational descendants, i.e. we show that many of the classical gravitational descendants of P^2 and P^1 x P^1 can be computed by counting tropical curves satisfying certain incidence conditions and with prescribed valences of their vertices. Moreover, the presented theory is not restricted to plane curves and therefore provides an important tool to derive similar results in higher dimensions. A more detailed chapter synopsis can be found at the beginning of each individual chapter.
In the first part of this work, called Simple node singularity, are computed matrix factorizations of all isomorphism classes, up to shiftings, of rank one and two, graded, indecomposable maximal Cohen--Macaulay (shortly MCM) modules over the affine cone of the simple node singularity. The subsection 2.2 contains a description of all rank two graded MCM R-modules with stable sheafification on the projective cone of R, by their matrix factorizations. It is given also a general description of such modules, of any rank, over a projective curve of arithmetic genus 1, using their matrix factorizations. The non-locally free rank two MCM modules are computed using an alghorithm presented in the Introduction of this work, that gives a matrix factorization of any extension of two MCM modules over a hypersurface. In the second part, called Fermat surface, are classified all graded, rank two, MCM modules over the affine cone of the Fermat surface. For the classification of the orientable rank two graded MCM R-modules, is used a description of the orientable modules (over normal rings) with the help of codimension two Gorenstein ideals, realized by Herzog and Kühl. It is proven (in section 4), that they have skew symmetric matrix factorizations (over any normal hypersurface ring). For the classification of the non-orientable rank two MCM R-modules, we use a similar idea as in the case of the orientable ones, only that the ideal is not any more Gorenstein.
In this dissertation we consider complex, projective hypersurfaces with many isolated singularities. The leading questions concern the maximal number of prescribed singularities of such hypersurfaces in a given linear system, and geometric properties of the equisingular stratum. In the first part a systematic introduction to the theory of equianalytic families of hypersurfaces is given. Furthermore, the patchworking method for constructing hypersurfaces with singularities of prescribed types is described. In the second part we present new existence results for hypersurfaces with many singularities. Using the patchworking method, we show asymptotically proper results for hypersurfaces in P^n with singularities of corank less than two. In the case of simple singularities, the results are even asymptotically optimal. These statements improve all previous general existence results for hypersurfaces with these singularities. Moreover, the results are also transferred to hypersurfaces defined over the real numbers. The last part of the dissertation deals with the Castelnuovo function for studying the cohomology of ideal sheaves of zero-dimensional schemes. Parts of the theory of this function for schemes in P^2 are generalized to the case of schemes on general surfaces in P^3. As an application we show an H^1-vanishing theorem for such schemes.
In this thesis the combinatorial framework of toric geometry is extended to equivariant sheaves over toric varieties. The central questions are how to extract combinatorial information from the so developed description and whether equivariant sheaves can, like toric varieties, be considered as purely combinatorial objects. The thesis consists of three main parts. In the first part, by systematically extending the framework of toric geometry, a formalism is developed for describing equivariant sheaves by certain configurations of vector spaces. In the second part, homological properties of a certain class of equivariant sheaves are investigated, namely that of reflexive equivariant sheaves. Several kinds of resolutions for these sheaves are constructed which depend only on the configuration of their associated vector spaces. Thus a partially positive answer to the question of combinatorial representability is given. As a particular result, a new way for computing minimal resolutions for Z^n - graded modules over polynomial rings is obtained. In the third part a complete classification of the simplest nontrivial sheaves, equivariant vector bundles of rank two over smooth toric surfaces, is given. A combinatorial characterization is given and parameter spaces (moduli spaces) are constructed which depend only on this characterization. In appendices a outlook on equivariant sheaves and the relation of Chern classes to their combinatorial classification is given, particularly focussing on the case of the projective plane. A classification of equivariant vector bundles of rank three over the projective plane is given.


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Over at WND.com, some eye-opening news:
Some military analysts and human rights groups say that the Syrian civil war may soon be over – but that reassurance isn't enough to prevent the country's Christians from fleeing from the violence.
Dutch journalist and human rights analyst Martin Janssen reports from Jordan that Christians are fleeing Syria in record numbers. Janssen says the Christian refugees first fled because of an ultimatum.
"An exodus of Christians is taking place in Western Syria," Janssen said. "The Christian population has fled the city of Qusayr, near Homs, following an ultimatum issued by the military chief of the armed opposition, Abdel Salam Harba.
"This is what local sources told Vatican news agency Fides, pointing out that since the conflict broke out, only a thousand of the city's 10,000 faithful, were left, and they are now being forced to flee immediately," Janssen said.
Janssen says the city's mosques have reissued the ultimatum for the Christians to leave.
"Some of the city's mosques have issued the message again, announcing from the minarets: 'Christians must leave Qusayr within six days, ending Friday,'" Janssen said. "The ultimatum therefore expired on June 8 and spread fear among the Christian population."
Open Doors USA spokesman Jerry Dykstra confirms the Christians' desire to flee the violence but says there are few places to which they can go.
"Although Christians in Syria and leaders do not desire or want to leave, yet the question still prevails, 'What is the free world doing to prepare for that exodus?' a Christian from Syria asks," Dykstra said.
"Who is going to welcome the Syrian Christians?" Dykstra asked. "One Syrian source says that the churches in Syria know very well what happened to the Iraqi Christians.
"They were in many countries not really welcome, so we are afraid that the same will happen to Syrian refugees, and that would be a disaster,'" Dykstra said, quoting the Syrian source.
Dykstra says the pressure to flee comes in many forms.
"Protests, assaults, bombings, thefts [and] kidnappings are all part of daily life in Syria," Dykstra said. "The almost 10 percent Christians of the Syrian population fear for the future, many are already thinking of leaving the country.
"Christians in Syria wonder what will happen with their daily life, when a new government will come to power," Dystra continued. "This uncertain and unknown future might lead to an exodus of Christians from Syria (like what happened to Iraqi Christians), and that is what Syrian Church leaders do expect."
Dykstra compares the Syrian Christians' plight to the Iraqi Christians who fled Iraq after Saddam Hussein was overthrown.
"In Iraq hundreds of thousands Christians left that country due to all the violence targeting them. But where will a Syrian exodus lead to? Which country will welcome hundreds of thousands Christian refugees in a period where borders seem to become more and more closed borders?" Dykstra asked.
Terrorism and foreign policy think tank Gerard Direct stated in a report recently released that the battle for Syria's second largest city could determine whether Assad's regime stands.
"The battle for Syria's second city, Aleppo, is a crucial fight that could determine the direction of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad," the report said.
Reports coming from Aleppo say the rebels survived an offensive by the Syrian army.
Janssen believes the fight for Aleppo is key in Assad proving that his government can stand. Janssen adds that Assad's problems are being compounded by large numbers of fighters coming from outside Syria.
"At this moment the biggest problems are in Aleppo. I heard that more than 5,000 rebels entered the area across the Turkish border," Janssen said.
Janssen also says ethnic Kurds are entering the fight: "It seems that the Kurdish Democratic Union party (the Syrian branch of the PKK) controls great swaths of land in Syrian Kurdistan. They are at the same time fighting with the Syrian Army and the Free Syrian Army."
"There is some talk about the presence of Peshmerga fighters from Iraqi Kurdistan," Janssen said.
Janssen adds the outside support signals that the rebellion has become a "holy war."
"Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia invented the idea of in indirect military intervention in Syria and the West followed and approved. Money and weapons poured from across the borders into Syria and with them thousands of foreign fighters," Janssen said. "This last development changed the nature of the Syrian crisis profoundly. The crisis became a full-blown, internationally-sponsored, civil war.
"These foreign fighters consider themselves to be holy war warriors, jihadists fighting against an atheist regime. They are not interested in democracy and human rights for minorities. It paved the way for a dangerous and growing presence of al-Qaida inside Syria," Janssen said.
Christian human rights group Open Doors USA confirms Janssen's conclusion, saying that al-Qaeda has joined the fight.
"According to Reuters News, the rebels include the Free Syrian Army, al-Qaeda-style jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood and local pro-democracy Sunni liberals," the Open Doors report said.
The Open Doors report also says that while Assad is unpopular, Christians aren't supporting Assad's overthrow.
"While the defeat of Assad and the military would be welcome news to most, the sizeable Christian community of over 1.5 million is fearful for its future," the Open Doors report said.
"Under Assad, Christians enjoyed a measure of freedom to worship in Syria, which is 90 percent Muslim. In fact, Christians were granted a degree of religious freedom not seen in most other Middle Eastern countries – before and after Arab Spring," the Open Doors report also said.
"If Assad falls, Christians in Syria are fearful of what will happen when a new government – probably a radical Islamic one – will come into power," says Open Doors USA President and CEO Dr. Carl Moeller," the report said.
"Will their freedom to worship end? Will persecution increase? Will they have to flee Syria with their families as have thousands of believers in Iraq?" the report asked, quoting Moeller.
Reports of an end to Assad's regime, however, may be premature. Janssen reports from Jordan that Assad still controls Damascus.
"Currently the situation in Damascus seems to be under the control of the Syrian army despite some fighting in certain neighborhoods," Janssen said.
Related articles
- 'We're Too Frightened to Talk': Christians Flee from Radical Rebels in Syria (spiegel.de)
- Syrian Islamist opposition casts out Christians (rt.com)


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– I saw a cow being born today! For a city girl like me, seeing something like that at the county fair is a completely amazing thing. And they really are not lying with those little signs above the mama cow pens that say that the cow may give birth at the fair, LOL.
– Do you think the Cup handler assigned to supervise Lord Stanley and Patrick Kane yesterday was in need of a medicinal cocktail by the end of the day? Stanley was in some pretty precarious positions yesterday from Cave of the Winds to the steel girders behind Buffalo General to getting stuck in a fire truck.
– Zach Parise was in Buffalo on Thursday for a signing at Great Skate. I've heard through the grapevine that Roy-Z was in town this week as well. Please tell me that the hockey gods went all Freaky Friday on us and swapped these two number nines. It would be a win-win situation for all!
– Jersey Shore is back! The sequence of the boys playing with a "chicken cutlet" that had floated loose in the hot tub was one of the most genuinely hilarious things I've seen on TV in a long time. I'm still shocked that they didn't know what exactly they were dealing with, especially since they're supposed to be such notorious ladies men.
– Judging by the release announcing Puck Drop, it sounds like the Sabres are mimicking the format of Puck Drop from a couple of years ago, rather than the "hey, watching paint dry is more entertaining than this" format of last year. Good move. Yes, I realize the jersey reveal has a lot to do with it, but if you're going to promote something as an event, it has to be something that people want to attend.
If you've visited Sabres TV recently, then you've noticed that there is a new look & feel to this portion of the site. If this is going to be the template for a redo of sabres.com, then I like where they are headed.


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Course Description
FIN 201 Introduction to Risk Management 4 cr.
- Offered: Contact Department for Information.
- Prerequisite: Instructor permission.
Introduction to risk management; including: insurance, loss exposure, regulation, insurance carriers, reinsurance, marketing, underwriting, and claims adjusting. This course helps prepare students for the INS 21 national examination administered by the Insurance Institute of America.
Note: Formerly FIN 301 Introduction to Risk Management.


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Managing Director & Senior Partner
Yvonne Zhou leads BCG's Industrial Goods and Public Sector practice in Greater China. She is also a leader of BCG's real estate and city development sectors in Greater China and a member of the firm's Global Advantage, Marketing, Sales & Pricing, and Strategy practices. She also leads BCG's Beijing office.
Since joining BCG in 2004, Yvonne has worked primarily in the areas of corporate strategy, zone and economic planning, go-to-market strategy, organization structure, and operational optimization in the technology, media, telecommunications, real estate, and city development sectors.
Yvonne leads BCG's digital engagements in China, which includes partnering with clients across industries to design digital strategies, set up online portals, and create digital growth strategies. She has worked extensively in the telecom, software, and mobile financial-services sectors and has authored a number of publications on digital consumers in China.
Before joining BCG, Yvonne worked with ZS Associates. She has also worked with Y.D. Communication in Switzerland as a television producer and with Rhone-Poulenc (now Sanofi) in China as a sales and marketing assistant.


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United Kingdom Map Ring
This map ring captures the spirit of the adventurer and is ideal as a gift before a new voyage. Map jewelry is especially popular right now because it instantly transforms you and your wardrobe into a wanderer with style. This adjustable ring also channels a certain bohemian chic flair with its vintage map print meticulously preserving a snapshot of the United Kingdom.
The purchase of this listing is for one world map statement ring with the following specifications and options:
Ring base color: Rose gold, silver, or antique brass
Sizing: Adjustable (fits US/CDN 6, European 52, and UK/AUS L ½)
Please note these map rings are not waterproof and should not be worn while showering, bathing, or swimming.


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OpenLog is an open-source data logger that is simple to use and simple to change. Power up this device and it will start logging any received serial data at up to 115200bps (set to 9600bps by default). Sending Ctrl+z three times will drop out of logging and into command mode. new will create a new file. md makes a directory. ? brings up the list of commands. OpenLog doesn't do a lot, but it does log serial streams extremely well. For example:
>new testfile.txt >append testfile.txt <(send large amounts of text followed by three Ctrl+z characters)
That's really it. OpenLog firmware is open-source and is based on Bill Greiman's sdfatlib. OpenLog runs off of an on-board ATmega328 running at 16MHz thanks to the on-board crystal. The OpenLog draws 6mA when recording a 512-byte buffer, but as that process takes a fraction of a second, the average current draw is closer to 5mA. Keep in mind though that if you are recording a constant data stream at 115200bps, you will approach that 6mA limit. All data logged by the OpenLog are stored on a microSD card (not included). OpenLog currently supports FAT16 and FAT32 microSD cards up to 64GB.
All the design files (schematic, PCB layout, firmware) are open-source released under the CC-SA v3 license and are available through the OpenLog GitHub repository.
You will need a USB-to-Serial interface such as the FTDI Basic. You'll also need to download and install the Arduino IDE be sure to get the slightly older version 1.6.5. Then download the Serial Port Libraries from the GitHub page. Extract those two libraries into your Arduino libraries folder, then start the Arduino IDE (if already started, close and re-start). Correct file placement can be verified by finding SerialPort and SdFat under the File→Examples menu.
Now use the Arduino IDE to compile the OpenLog firmware sketch (remember that OpenLog sketches will not compile in the latest Arduino IDE; use Arduino IDE 1.6.5). Connect OpenLog to your USB-to-Serial adapter (e.g. FTDI Basic as mentioned above), making sure to cross over the RX/TX lines, and select Arduino Uno under the Arduino Boards menu. Select the correct COM port for your FTDI Basic or other serial adapter, then you can upload the code.
For details, see the user manual below.