text:
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
LPs were like the force of gravity
'Folksingers, jazz artists and classical musicians made LPs, long-playing records with heaps of songs in the grooves - they forged identities and tipped the scales, gave more of the big picture. LPs were like the force of gravity. They had covers front and back, that you could stare at for hours.' - Bob Dylan writes in his Chronicles Volume One.
'Hi, I wanted to let you know some exciting news today from Deutsche Grammophon (DG), a division of Universal Music Group, who will become the first major classical record label to make the majority of its huge catalogue available online for download with the launch of its new DG Web Shop. (http://www.dgwebshop.com/
As the world's leading classical music recording company, Deutsche Grammophon will launch its DG Web Shop on Wednesday, November 28th, enabling consumers in 42 countries to download music at the highest technical and artistic standards. This global penetration includes markets where the major e-business retailers, such as iTunes, are not yet available: Southeast Asia including China, India, Latin America, South Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe including Russia. Almost 2,400 DG albums will be available for download in maximum MP3 quality.
Best, Kristina Weise at Cohn & Wolfe' - who are "a strategic marketing public relations firm dedicated to creating, building and protecting the world's most prolific brands."
Call me old fashioned. I like the tangible. You could certainly stare at the LP sleeve above. or the record label here, for hours. Which is more than can be said for the new DG Web Shop logo. The photographer of the Hanson LP sleeve is Christian Steiner, who has photographed many of the world's great musicians. Steiner is an accomplished performer himself as his biography recounts:
'Steiner, after graduating from the Berlin Hochschule fur Musik, won several national competitions in Germany and it was one of these awards which first brought him to New York to further his piano studies. He comes from a long line of musicians. His father was a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and his brothers were members of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Steiner made piano recording with RCA-Reader's Digest, and was a guest soloist with orchestras in Berlin and New York; more recent engagements at the keyboard include performances with the Berkeley Symphony under Kent Nagano, and with the National Symphony or Mexico. He also performed chamber music with members of the Berlin Philharmonic Octet and recitals with his late brother Peter in Europe and the USA.
Among the singers he has collaborated in recital are Jessye Norman and Carol Vaness. In addition, Steiner is the artistic director of The Tannery Pond Concerts, a summer chamber music festival in the Berkshires.'
Less happy images here, from another celebrated photographer.
Again thanks to our son for the 'joiner' on the record sleeve. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
8 comments:
- Scott said...
You could certainly stare at the LP sleeve above. or the record label here, for hours.
Well ... speak for yourself. :-)
I still play LP's, but I have little nostalgia for them. The larger covers did give scope for some lovely stuff, and also for some dreck. And I have no nostalgia for ticks and pops.
I am a customer of several download sites, and my major complaint so far is that it's just too easy and potentially ruinously expensive.
- 5:57 pm
- Garth Trinkl said...
I just reread your important Siegfried Lauterwasser posts.
They made me recall the odd-angled, undercover photojournalist photos that Hungarian-Jewish photographer Martin Munkacsi made in Potsdam-Berlin, in January of 1933, when the Nazis staged a 'High Prussian' ceremony showing Hindenberg appointing Hitler as Chancellor.
These powerful, inexplicable photos were on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art this past September; and, before that, at the new photography museum in Hamburg, Germany.
I wasn't able to find any of Munkacsi's Potsdam 1933 'Coronation' photos
on the Web, which struck me as somewhat sad given their importance and mystery.
I hope that a photo researcher can rectify this.
Less seriously:
LP Retro?
- 8:46 pm
- Garth Trinkl said...
Checked, but not corrected, earlier.
- 9:09 pm
- Pliable said...
Scott, I came to your comment from working on a documentary about David Munrow at Future Radio.
Not all of Munrow's music has been released on CD. So we had LP tracks transferred to CD, which were then encoded as WAV files, which will become an audio stream. We hope to have a podcast so this will mean porting the WAV files to MP3.
I will also do an article about the programme, so the LP sleeves are being scanned as JPGs for uploading On An Overgrown Path.
Wasn't it Olivier Messiaen, who when asked which colour of the rainbow he would choose, said he would choose them all?
- 9:48 pm
- Scott said...
Not all of Munrow's music has been released on CD. So we had LP tracks transferred to CD, which were then encoded as WAV files, which will become an audio stream. We hope to have a podcast so this will mean porting the WAV files to MP3.
I will also do an article about the programme, so the LP sleeves are being scanned as JPGs for uploading On An Overgrown Path.
Interesting. I have a fair bit of Munrow, almost all on LP (and much in big boxes). A very remarkable musician, and I look forward to reading more about this project.
About 2 years ago, I was at a concert in Toronto with Daniel Taylor and James Bowman. Lots of Purcell and such. I asked Bowman to sign a CD which I'd bought at intermission, and commented to him that I'd seen him in Toronto in the early 70's as part of the Early Music Consort (Munrow, Bowman, Oliver Brookes, and James Tyler on that occasion). A good memory, and a pleasure to be able to speak to Bowman 30-some years later about it.
- 10:41 pm
- Pliable said...
Email received:
Dear Pliable,
Talk about nostalgia: I've downloaded Bohm's studio recording of Der Rosenkavalier from the DG site. A bit expensive at 33.99 Euros, but the convenience is huge. And the sound quality is amazing (especially as this is a 1959 recording). I've always wanted to have this again, even though I've got EMI's GRotC Karajan version on CD. Bohm doesn't have Schwatzkopf, of course, but everyone else is amazing: Rita Striech, Imgard Seefried, Fischer-Diskau, and above all Kurt Bohme (who can get all the low notes, unlike Edlemann who had sing some of the alternate higher notes -- check out Ochs' Act 1 exit!). And the booklet and cover artwork (including the original LP artwork) is in high-res PDF, so I can gaze at the front and back as much as I want!
But here's the point: I miss the original format in which I had this recording: 7 1/2 IPS reel-to-reel from Ampex! Ha!
Best Regards,
Michael Richards
- 7:29 am
- Pliable said...
Thanks for that Michael.
The first track on the Munrow programme I mentioned above is the madrigal, Hark all ye. Our source was reel to reel tape!
No clicks and pops on that. Although I have to say that the LP transfer we made of Munrow and John Turner playing sopranino recorders in the third movement of the fourth Brandenburg with Sir Adrian Boult and the LPO is clean and very sweet.
As above, I choose them all.
- 7:40 am
- Don Cox said...
Are we really doomed to hear nothing but MP3 files for ever? I would have thought that by now, as more people are on high bandwidth, we could at least have full CD quality. Really in the 21st century, they should be selling nothing less that SACD quality._____I would never pay for an MP3 file. (I don't like LP clicks either.)
- 8:15 pm


text:
English in Early Childhood: Language Learning and Development
Discover how very young children learn English as an additional language and how you can help them progress.
- Duration6 weeks
- Weekly study2 hours
- LearnFree
- Extra BenefitsFrom $59Find out more
English in Early Childhood: Language Learning and Development
Why join the course?
Teaching English to children while they're still learning their mother tongue is a challenging but rewarding prospect. In this online course, you'll learn how and why children learn best through play. What can parents and practitioners do to enable children to get the most out of a learning experience?
This course for parents and practitioners will explore how young children learn English and investigate many more aspects of early childhood learning and development.
British Council educators will share their insights and experiences, so that you can learn how to best talk to young children; how to create the best environment for them to learn English as an additional language; and how to monitor their progress.
Through articles, videos and live events you will hear from early childhood experts and parents, and see for yourself how young children learn inside the early years classroom. At every stage, you will be offered tips, advice and downloadable resources that will help you at teaching english as a foreign language to children.
You will join discussions and have the opportunity to interact live with our experienced educators.
What topics will you cover?
How children learn
- Early childhood development
- Children and language acquisition
Learning through play
- The importance of play
- Creating the right environment for play
- Developing language through play
How to talk to young children
- Encouraging emotional development
- Developing language through interactions
Learning: English and everything
- Developing the whole child
- Learning English in context
- Guiding the learning experience
Positive relationships and enabling environments
- Helping children feel safe and happy
- The importance of knowing the child well
Watching children learn
- Every child is unique
- Observation
- Assessment in the early years
- Planning: building on what children can do
When would you like to start?
Most FutureLearn courses run multiple times. Every run of a course has a set start date but you can join it and work through it after it starts. Find out more
Available now
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...
- Investigate how children learn and how they acquire language
- Discuss the importance of play and look at language development opportunities
- Reflect on ways to communicate effectively with young children
- Explore meaningful learning and developing language in context
- Demonstrate the connection between learning and a child's well-being
- Identify ways to support and challenge children, and measure their progress
Who is the course for?
This course will be of interest to you if you are: a parent of young children who wishes to support their child learning an additional language; an English teacher or an early childhood practitioner; or someone who is interested in the area of child development and language acquisition.
If English is not your first language please be reassured that this course is suitable for those who have learnt English to around intermediate level (approximately B1 on the CEFR).
The principles of learning an additional language during early childhood apply to all languages, so if you are a parent, teacher or practitioner interested in teaching languages other than English, you will find plenty of relevant methods in the course.
What do people say about this course?
Who will you learn with?
More than 20 years experience working with early years children and young learners in kindergartens, schools and teaching centres. I never stop learning, growing and changing.
I have been teaching languages for over 20 years. I love the creative aspects of teaching and learning, and I now mostly work in the areas of teacher development and materials writing.
Learner reviews
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Start this course for free, upgrade for extra benefits, or buy Unlimited to access this course and hundreds of other short courses for a year.
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Do you know someone who'd love this course? Tell them about it...
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
FIFA World Cup tickets still available for more than 15 matches
SAO PAULO, Brazil — Tickets remain available for more than 15 World Cup matches just a day before the tournament opener, including some involving Germany, Italy and France.
FIFA said it already sold more than 2.9 million tickets, but some were still on sale Wednesday.
There were plenty of tickets for matches between less prominent nations, including Bosnia-Iran and Greece-Ivory Coast, but it was also still possible to attend games with some of the more traditional teams. Fans could still get tickets on FIFA's website for matches such as Germany-Ghana, Switzerland-France and Italy-Uruguay.
Only tickets for the highest-priced categories remained available for the better matches.
FIFA said a total of about 3.1 million tickets will be sold for the first World Cup in Brazil since 1950.
Thursday's opener between Brazil and Croatia at the troubled Itaquerao stadium in Sao Paulo sold out fast. Of the 61,600 tickets available, only about 25,600 were sold to the general public. Nearly 10,000 additional tickets went to fans through promotional activities, but sponsors and local organizers got most of them.
Tickets for the July 13 final at the Maracana Stadium also were hard to get. A crowd of nearly 80,000 is expected at the decisive match.
The game with the most tickets available by Wednesday morning was Bosnia-Iran in the northeastern city of Salvador on June 25, followed by Greece-Ivory Coast a day earlier in nearby Fortaleza. The Nigeria-Bosnia game on June 21 in the western city of Cuiaba also remained available.
Other matches with tickets on sale included Honduras-Switzerland in the jungle city of Manaus on June 24, Russia-South Korea in Cuiaba on Tuesday, and Uruguay-Costa Rica in Fortaleza on Saturday.
Tickets would remain on sale until the day of the matches.
FIFA said it received an "unprecedented number" of nearly 11 million ticket requests for the tournament in Brazil. It sold a total of about 2.2 million tickets directly via FIFA.com to the general public, and the rest went mostly to hospitality programs. About 60 per cent of the tickets went to Brazilians, and Americans were the second-biggest buyers with almost 197,000.
FIFA said last week that nearly 1,400 people were told to change their tickets because they were handed out before work in some of the stadiums was completed. It said seating configurations changed after technical teams established exactly where the media tribunes and broadcast equipment had to be placed in each of the 12 venues.
Follow Tales Azzoni at http://twitter.com/tazzoni


text:
A Twitter GUI Application
This is a simple but full-blown WPF application interacting with the Twitter search API that uses ShowUI.
Compared with C# and XAML, there is much less to learn to use PowerShell and ShowUI. PowerShell allows a higher-level abstraction than system languages, enabling more rapid application development. ShowUI enables the same level of abstractions for creating WPF user interfaces.
The Code
Twenty-nine lines of PowerShell produce the WPF application shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: The Twitter search app GUI written in PowerShell.
Search-Twitter function returns an array of PowerShell objects with properties from the Twitter query. From that data, we extract the text of the tweet and the URL pointing to the Twitter user's profile image. If you look closely at the PowerShell code here, you'll see no loops at all. ShowUI supports WPF's data binding capabilities as well as its templating features.
Import-Module .\ShowUI function Search-Twitter ($q) { $wc = New-Object Net.Webclient $url = http://search.twitter.com/search.rss?q=$q ([xml]$wc.downloadstring($url)).rss.channel.item | select * } $ws = @{ WindowStartupLocation = "CenterScreen" Width = 500 Height = 500 } New-Window @ws -Show { ListBox -Background Black -ItemTemplate { Grid -Columns 55, 300 { Image -Column 0 -Name Image -Margin 5 TextBlock -Column 1 -Name Title ` -Margin 5 ` -Foreground White ` -TextWrapping Wrap } | ConvertTo-DataTemplate -Binding @{ "Image.Source" = "image_link" "Title.Text" = "title" } } -ItemsSource (Search-Twitter PowerShell) }
ShowUI uses a code-generation technique that wraps all the WPF presentation components and their parameters so they fit seamlessly into the PowerShell ecosystem. This code accesses five WPF controls:
Image, and
I set the results of the Twitter search to the
ItemsSource property of the
ListBox, and then let data binding take care of the rest. The
ConvertTo-DataTemplate "reaches" into the data context of the control to find the
image_link and
title properties. To do the styling, I used the
–ItemTemplate parameter and
ConvertTo-DataTemplate function.
–ItemTemplate takes a PowerShell script block, in which I defined a WPF Grid with two columns. The first column will hold an Image control, which shows the Twitter user's picture.
If you set the source of the Image control to a URL, the picture is automatically fetched and displayed. The second column holds the
TextBlock where the actual tweet message is displayed.
Note that the WPF data-templating model provides you with great flexibility to define the presentation of your data. WPF controls have built-in functionality to support the customization of data presentation. They give you a very flexible and powerful solution to replace the visual appearance of a data item in a control like
ListBox. ShowUI integrates with this styling functionality via the
–ItemTemplate parameter and
ConvertTo-DataTemplate function.
Finally, I pipe the Grid "construction" to the
ConvertTo-DataTemplate function that ships with ShowUI. This is where the controls are bound to the Twitter results created in the
DataContext parameter via the
–binding parameter. If you inspect the raw data returned from
Search-Twitter, you'll see that there are in fact two properties on every object, one named
image_link and the other
text. Running the script bubbles up all the data into the
ListBox, which is hosted by the
New-Window, and we get the neat Twitter application.
ShowUI Video Player
ShowUI ships with many good examples, and its developers have blogged and recorded videos demoing ShowUI in action. Definitely check out these links to the videos:
One more simple and powerful app that you can code is a GUI video player that supports drag and drop and runs as a standalone application with only a handful of script.
Import-Module ShowUI New-Window -AllowDrop -On_Drop { $VideoPlayer.Source = @($_.Data.GetFileDropList())[0] $VideoPlayer.Play() } -On_Loaded { $VideoPlayer.Source = Get-ChildItem -Path ` "$env:Public\Videos\Sample Videos" -Filter *.wmv | Get-Random | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Fullname $VideoPlayer.Play() } -On_Closing { $VideoPlayer.Stop() } -Content { New-MediaElement -Name VideoPlayer -LoadedBehavior Manual } -AsJob
New-Window creates a WPF window, then
–AsJob runs the window as a background job. Launching this window from the PowerShell console runs this application without blocking the command line from doing more work. The window gets the video player embedded in the
–Content parameter, and it is named
VideoPlayer. ShowUI makes that name accessible as
$VideoPlayer. You can see this name being used in the rest of the script for properties being set,
Source, and methods being called,
Play() and
–AllowDrop parameter enables the window as a drop target. You can drag other videos to the surface and drop them, and they will play. The
–On_Drop parameter wires up the drop event, reads and sets the file dropped to the video player, and plays it. The
-On_Loaded event is called when the window initially loads and a random .wmv file is selected to be played. Finally, when the window is closed, the
–On_Closing event is called, and
Stop() terminates the playing video.
Notice how it takes more space to explain a ShowUI application than it does to write it!
GUIs are fundamentally gluing applications; they don't really create new functionality, but rather, they make connections between controls and the internal functions of an application. Scripting languages excel at gluing. ShowUI connects the underlying components of WPF and PowerShell to create an environment of exceptional power. Using PowerShell this way is not limited to wrapping WPF and GUI components. However, with this approach, you can develop applications five to ten times faster.
PowerShell is not a replacement for a system programming language or vice versa. Each is suited to solve different problems. Finding that division of labor and combining their strengths leads to more rapid development and more flexible approaches. Enjoy!
Doug Finke is a Microsoft PowerShell MVP. He works in New York City for Lab49, a company that builds advanced applications for the financial services industry. This article was adapted and modified from Doug Finke's book Windows PowerShell for Developers.


text:
The public heavily favors universal background checks for gun buyers, and a majority of Americans approve of a federal database to track gun sales as well as a ban on "assault style weapons," a new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press shows.
In the survey, 85 percent of respondents said they favor background checks for private and gun show sales, while only 12 percent say they oppose such checks.
Sixty-seven percent of adults surveyed approve of a federal database to track gun sales, the poll indicated. A majority -- 55 percent -- back a ban on assault weapons, with 40 percent saying they don't approve of the ban, a measure for which President Barack Obama again voiced support during a press conference today. (The partisan breakdown, however, is stark, with seven in ten Democrats backing the ban compared to just 44 percent of Republicans.)
A major gender gap also remains on the gun issue; women favor an assault weapons ban by almost 20 percentage points over men. Women are also far less likely to support the idea of encouraging more gun ownership among teachers and other school officials.
Overall, the NRA-backed idea of encouraging more armed guards and police officers at schools garners wide support, with just 32 percent opposing and 64 percent favoring the proposal.
But when it comes to arming more teachers, those numbers are nearly flipped, with 57 percent giving the idea a thumbs down.
The Pew survey was conducted January 9-13, with a sample size of 1,502 adults. The margin of error for the total sample is +/- 2.9 percentage points.


text:
Jim Seida / NBC News
Garth Carroll, who also goes by the name of "Professor Gizmo," smokes what he describes as "good, greenhouse organic herb" at the base of the Space Needle in Seattle just before midnight on Wednesday, Dec. 5. Carroll is a medical marijuana patient and marijuana activist in Seattle.
About a hundred pot smokers gathered in the cold at Seattle's City Center on Wednesday night to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana in Washington state. The law, which took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6, does not allow marijuana to be smoked in public, but you wouldn't know it by watching the crowd. As the clock stuck midnight, cheers erupted, followed by lighters igniting pipes and joints.
Jim Seida / NBC News
Dustin, left and Paul, both from Puyallup, Wash., and both of whom wouldn't give their last name, smoke marijuana beneath the Space Needle shortly after midnight on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in Seattle, Wash. Dustin and Paul were two of about 100 pot smokers gathered in Seattle's City Center to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana.
Even though it's still illegal to smoke marijuana in public in Washington, there was no sign of police presence in the smokey crowd. The Seattle Police Department themselves have officially told the public that "...minor marijuana possession has been the lowest enforcement priority for the Seattle Police Department since Seattle voters passed Initiative 75 in 2003." They answer the public's marijuana-related FAQs in their somewhat humorous online guide called "Marijwhatnow? A guide to Legal Marijuana Use In Seattle."
Jim Seida / NBC News
"It's too good to be just for the young," said 67-year-old Pat Edmonson about the marijuana cigarette she smoked just after midnight on Thursday, Dec. 6, in Seattle. Edmonson, of Whidbey Island, Wash., was in Seattle with her daughter to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana.
Seattle police acknowledge that while it's now legal in the state of Washington to possess marijuana, it's still against federal law. For more on federal laws still in effect, check out the Department of Justice statement warning that was issued.
Related content:


text:
As tornadoes ripped through the South, more than a foot of snow was dumped over parts of the Midwest, making for a post-Christmas travel nightmare. NBC's Mike Seidel reports.
A wicked winter storm was sweeping east across the United States Wednesday, creating a post-holiday travel nightmare with more than a foot of snow in some places and thousands of flights canceled or delayed.
"Blizzard warnings stretch for 730 continuous miles due to Winter Storm Euclid," The Weather Channel's Tom Niziol reported.
The white-out came a day after a Christmas storm unleashed heavy snow, deadly winds and even some tornadoes on the nation's midsection, killing at least three people.
As millions of Americans braced for snow, rain, ice or more twisters, nearly 2,000 flights had been canceled and 10,000 were delayed, many at Dallas/Fort Worth, Philadelphia International, and Cleveland's Hopkins International, according to the travel website FllightStats.com. American Airlines had to cancel 500 flights, while Delta scrapped 200.
Read more at The Weather Channel
The forecast called for heavy snow from Indiana to New York and by mid-afternoon it was piling up: The National Weather Service reported 14.5 inches in Marion, Ill.; 11.8 inches in Bloomfield, Ind.; 9 inches in Brookville, Ohio; 7 inches in Bardwell, Ky.; and Frostburg, Md. Up to 3 inches of rain had fallen in North and South Carolina.
The National Weather Service said Wednesday night that spotters had reported up to a foot of snow in some Pennsylvania counties. Forecasters predicted 10 to 12 inches of snow in western and central Massachusetts.
The system was expected to taper off into a mix of rain and snow closer to the coast, where little or no accumulation was expected in such cities as Philadelphia, Boston and New York.
The storm left freezing temperatures in its aftermath, and forecasters also said parts of the Southeast from Virginia to Florida would see severe thunderstorms.
After the storm socked little Albion, Ill., with 18 inches of snow, city worker Renee Galen's SUV got stuck and she got to her office the only way she could.
On one of the busiest travel days of the year, bad weather has forced airlines to cancel or delay flights. NBC's Katy Tur reports.
"One of the city guys came by with a snowplow and I flagged him down and rode to work with him," Galen told NBC News.
"I had to get to work because today was the last day to file for city elections. Believe it or not, I've had three people come in to file."
In Indianapolis, seven inches of snow fell in three hours Wednesday morning, bringing post-Christmas shopping to a halt, the Indianapolis Star reported.
Stephen Canter, 44, ventured out before 8 a.m., and the roads were thick with snow when he headed back 30 minutes later.
"By the time I got home, the street was covered," he told the newspaper. "I don't remember snow like this since Valentine's Day of 2007."
Indiana State Police received 100 calls of crashes or cars sliding off roads before noon and warned motorists that if they got into trouble it could take a while to get them help, NBC affiliate WTHR.com reported.
Cars and several 18-wheelers were stuck in the ice along 1-70, and the snow fell faster than crews could clear the roads.
"The biggest problem is the blowing. We got some high winds and the roads are really beginning to drift bad," Ron Sharp with Wayne County Emergency Management told the station.
Parts of New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania are also forecast to get hit with more than a foot of snow, and New England could get up to a foot.
The blizzard warning in Ohio prompted United Airlines to cancel at least 60 percent of their flights at Cleveland Hopkins Airport beginning at noon on Wednesday, according to NBC affiliate WKYC.com. About 1,000 people spent the night on cots at Dallas/Fort Worth after their Tuesday night and Wednesday morning flights were scrapped.
Hundreds of flights delayed, canceled as holiday storms travel across country
With Rochester, N.Y., slated to get up to a foot of snow, hordes of worried residents descended on the hardware stores.
"Un-freaking-believable! We've sold 225 shovels since 9 o'clock this morning," said Tom Green, owner of Mayer Paint and Hardware. "Rock salt – I couldn't tell you how many thousands of pounds I've sold today. People are very concerned."
Green noted that snowstorms are hardly rare in Rochester.
"But this is the first big one," he said. "And it's happening at Christmas."
The weather system, which started over the weekend, wreaked havoc on Christmas. It knocked out power to tens of thousands of people and was blamed for at least five deaths.
In Enola, Ark., two toddlers were killed when a car lost control on an ice-slicked highway and spun into oncoming traffic, state police said.
Wind-toppled trees killed a pickup truck driver near Houston, Texas, and a 53-year-old man in north Louisiana. NBC affiliate KJRH reported that a 28-year-old woman was killed in a crash on a snowy highway near Fairview, Okla.
Christmas Day tornadoes –- the preliminary count was at least 21, according to the Weather Channel -- battered Southern states. And Little Rock, Ark., didn't just have a rare white Christmas –- it had its snowiest day ever, with nine inches on the ground.
The storms contributed to a 21-vehicle pile-up Tuesday that shut down a major highway in Oklahoma City, as well as tens of thousands of power outages. Emergency service provider MedStar told NBCDFW.com it responded to 71 crashes in the Fort Worth area between 5 p.m. and 9:50 p.m. Tuesday evening.
As it tracked east, authorities were taking the storm seriously.
In Indianapolis, Mayor Greg Ballard ordered "non-essential" workers to stay home and off roads. Cleveland asked businesses to send workers home by 1:30 p.m., NBC affiliate WKYC.com reported. Homeowners in coastal Long Island, ravaged by Superstorm Sandy in October, were told to take precautions to prevent flooding with seas expected to peak at 15 feet, NBCNewYork.com reported.
By the time it leaves the New England coast Friday, the storm will have left snow from coast to coast –- and there could be another wallop coming soon.
Weather Channel meteorologist Guy Walton said a weather pattern with the potential to become Winter Storm Freyr is poised to enter the West Coast on Wednesday and move through the Rockies on Thursday. It could then head for the lower Mississippi Valley, then the Southeast and hit the Northeast on Sunday.
The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Christmas storms spread snow, tornadoes across US, snarling travel
- 4 firefighters shot, 2 killed, in apparent trap
- Video: Police officer jumps in frigid water to save woman
- Residents consider future as demolitions begin in Breezy Point
- Emotions run high as Newtown splits over gun control


text:
Ever since Larry King announced his plans to retire at the end of June, people have made a fun parlor game of speculating about who'll end up replacing him. Most people assumed King's successor would either be Ryan Seacrest or "America's Got Talent" judge Piers Morgan. Now it looks like Morgan will indeed be the one assuming hosting duties for King when he officially ends his run in the fall. The Hollywood Reporter says:
Reports surfaced Tuesday that Morgan is near a deal to land the coveted gig.
Sources caution that Morgan is still under contract and that CNN may be unable to directly negotiate with the TV personality directly. But if a deal could be struck between CNN and NBC, that allows Morgan to take over the position.
Sources say the proposed deal allows for Morgan to remain as a judge on "Got Talent," with the CNN talk show in second position for his schedule.
For a while, many people thought Joy Behar, an occasional King fill-in, would end up getting the gig (Behar has her own show on Headline News). But all signs point to Morgan now. There's no reason for NBC for keep Morgan from taking over the job. It only increases his profile for his appearances on "Talent."
With the hiring of Morgan, CNN is clearly trying to keep the tone and collegiality of "Larry King Live" intact. It's no secret that King has been getting hammered in the ratings of late, unable to keep pace with his more bombastic rivals on Fox News and MSNBC. Behar, who isn't shy about making her liberal views known, would have represented a departure from King's non-confrontational style.
Instead, the original cable news outlet is apparently going with Morgan, who has done plenty of interviewing on his own British talk show, which is recorded in front of an audience. Morgan may ask more pointed questions than King, but it's clear that he shares King's desire to be warm to guests. He won't shout guests off the air, the way Fox's Bill O'Reilly does.
Will Morgan succeed? Truthfully, probably not. It won't be Morgan's fault. CNN has had an identity crisis ever since Fox and MSNBC declared open war on one another. Most people who are going to watch news programming in the middle of primetime are likely to be people with strong opinions on issues, which means picking a liberal network (MSNBC) or a conservative one (Fox) to suit your tastes. Compared to those two, CNN is pretty milquetoast. It's noble to try and be the network of centrists, but that's becoming an increasingly outmoded way of doing business in political media. One day, CNN is going to be forced to take a side, Piers Morgan or not.


text:
knock off
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knock it off
slang To stop doing whatever one is doing. Often used as an imperative. Knock it off, you two! I don't want to see any more fighting. I'm going to go tell those kids to knock it off with the loud music. I know you don't think anyone notices when you come in late, but if you don't knock it off, you're going to find yourself on the unemployment line.
knock off
1. verb To cause something to fall off of a surface by striking or colliding with it, either intentionally or unintentionally. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "knock" and "off." That's the third time this week that I've knocked a glass off the counter. Please don't dance so close to the table, you'll knock off those papers.
2. verb, slang To stop doing whatever one is doing. Often used as an imperative. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "knock" and "off," especially in the common phrase "knock it off." Knock it off, you two! I don't want to see any more fighting. I'm going to go tell those kids to knock off all the shouting.
3. verb, slang To copy or imitate a work or good, often without consent. Whoever knocked off that designer handbag did a good job—you can barely tell the difference. He's made a career out of knocking off the classics.
4. verb, slang To produce or complete something, usually with the main motivation of simply getting it done. If we can knock off a few more of these reports before the weekend, we'll be in good shape for next week. I'm just trying to knock off as many pages as possible so I can get up to the page count before the deadline.
5. verb, slang To rob a physical location, such as a store, house, etc. The same guy has been knocking off convenience stores in the area, and police finally think they've identified him. You've got to be a fool to think you can knock off an ATM inside a police station.
6. verb, slang To take a break or stop working for the day. I'm going to knock off around six. You want to meet me for dinner?
7. verb, slang To murder someone. The mob has been knocking off every witness that has taken the stand, so now people are terrified to come forward.
8. verb, slang To reduce a price by a certain amount. Can you knock off a few bucks for an old friend?
9. verb, slang To defeat or eliminate from contention, as in a sports competition. Every year, some underdog knocks off a top-seeded team.
10. noun, slang A copy or imitation of a work or good, often produced without consent. In this usage, the phrase is usually hyphenated or spelled as one word. You can find all kinds of cheap knock-offs of designer goods being sold in the tourist district. A lot of critics love him, but I find him to be just another Hitchcock knock-off.
knock something off (of) someone or somethingand knock something off
to remove something from someone or something by striking. (Of is usually retained before pronouns.) I knocked the hard hat off of Wally when I hit him accidentally with the ladder. My elbow knocked off the book.
knock something off
1. to manufacture or make something, especially in haste. I'll see if I can knock another one off before lunch. They knocked off four window frames in an hour.
2. to knock off some amount from the price of something, lowering its price. The store manager knocked 30 percent off the price of the coat. Can't you knock something off on this damaged item?
3. to copy or reproduce a product. The manufacturer knocked off a famous designer's coat. They are well known for knocking off cheap versions of expensive watches.
4. Go to knock something off (of) someone or something.
knock off (doing something)
to stop doing something. Knock off shoveling snow now, and come in for a hot drink. I wish he would knock off practicing for a while.
knock off (work)
to quit work, for the day or for a break. What time do you knock off work? I knock off about five-thirty.
knock it off
Quit or stop doing something, as in Knock it off, boys! That's enough noise. This term is often used as an imperative. [Colloquial; c. 1900] Also see knock off.
knock off
1. Take a break or rest from, stop, especially quit working. For example, He knocked off work at noon, or Let's knock off at five o'clock. [Colloquial; mid-1600s] Also see knock it off.
2. Also, knock out. Dispose of or produce easily or hastily, finish, as in A writer of detective novels, he knocks off a book a year, or We can knock out a rough drawing in a few minutes. The first colloquial usage dates from the early 1800s, the variant from the mid-1800s.
3. Get rid of, reduce, as in She knocked off twelve pounds in a month, or They knocked off one-third of the original price. [Colloquial; early 1800s]
4. Kill, murder, as in They decided to knock off the old lady. [Slang; early 1900s] Also see knock someone's block off.
5. Copy or imitate, especially without permission, as in They are knocking off designer Swiss watches and selling them for a few dollars. [Colloquial; late 1800s]
6. Hold up, rob, as in The gang knocked off two liquor stores in half an hour. [Slang; early 1900s] Also see knock the socks off.
knock it offINFORMAL
If you tell someone to knock it off, you are telling them to stop doing something that is annoying you. The look on her face told me she had no idea what I was trying to do, but whatever it was I had better knock it off.
knock it offused to tell someone to stop doing something that you find annoying or foolish. informal
knock off
1. To hit something abruptly and dislodge it or remove it from something else: I accidentally knocked the vase off the shelf as I walked by. Knock off the mud on your shoes before you come in. The low branch knocked my hat off.
2. Slang To take a break or rest: Let's knock off for a few minutes and get something to eat.
3. Slang To stop doing some kind of labor for the day: We knocked off work at noon and went fishing. Let's knock off early today and go out for a drink.
4. Slang To complete, accomplish, or dispose of something hastily or easily; finish something quickly or easily: That author knocks off three books a year. Once we knock the project off, we can eat lunch.
5. Slang To eliminate something; get rid of something: The sales person knocked $50 off the price of the stereo. Knock off 12 pounds in just one month with our exclusive diet plan!
6. Slang To overcome or defeat someone or something: They knocked off the two best teams in the league. They were the better team, but somehow we knocked them off by almost 20 points.
7. Slang To kill someone: The sniper knocked off three of our best soldiers. I was afraid that they would knock me off if I told the police.
8. Slang To rob some place: He went to jail for knocking off a bank.
9. Slang To copy or imitate something, especially without permission: He made a career out of knocking off other peoples ideas. The new car design really just knocks off last year's model.
knock offverb
See knock off work
knock someone off
tv. to kill someone. (see also bump someone off.) The mob knocked the witnesses off.
knock something offverb
knock something off
1. tv. to manufacture or make something, especially in haste. (see also knock something together.) I'll see if I can knock another one off before lunch.
2. tv. to lower the price of something; to knock off some dollars or cents from the price of something. The store manager knocked 30 percent off the price of the coat.
knock it offSlang
To stop doing something. Often used in the imperative: He asked us to knock it off.


text:
Omicron CMM A00I
QC 5000 Software
Travel 28" x 21" x 13"
Item is sold "AS - IS, Where – IS". Items are described to the best of our knowledge; however, we (PM Machines/or Seller) make no guarantees regarding accuracy, errors or omissions in item descriptions, express or implied as to the nature, quality, value or condition of any item. It is the buyer's responsibility to verify all of the information and the accuracy of the descriptions. Payment must be cleared before the machine is shipped. All items are subject to prior sale. All sales are sold F.O.B. collect unless otherwise stated in the agreement. You are welcome to inspect any machine in our facility with an arranged appointment. We will email additional photos as requested. Buyer is responsible for all freight and shipping costs. We are happy to assist in freight and rigging arrangements.


text:
We are not alone dear…
That's what Emilie Mercier might have said to Jean-Baptiste Archambault in St. Joseph Church in Burlington, Vermont, on their wedding day, on September 22, 1853.
Her sisters Mathilda and Rosella were also getting married…
I don't have a lot of readers on this blog, but it does not bother me that much.
Just the pure selfish pleasure of finding about your ancestors and sometimes mine is enough.
Just the pure selfish pleasure of looking at Frank's old tintype pictures or Ed's unidentified photos is enough to make my day.
So when Frank sent me this e-mail with an attachment I just felt another dopamine rush.
Cher cousin Pierre,
Souhaitez-vous s'il vous plaît m'aider?
Attached is an 1853 record of my great-grandfather's marriage to Emilie Mercier. It is in cursive French and I would like to know what it says. There are three entries; would you translate the entry for Jean-Baptiste into English. I personally went to the church (years ago) and the rectory office clerk was gracious enough to make a copy from the marriage journal.
As a side note, would you speculate as to why two of Emilie Mercier's sisters (shown on same page) were also married on the SAME day as Emilie. What the heck: Three sisters getting married on the same day?! What a good day for the Mercier father; getting rid of three daughters, all at once.Was that common, perhaps because of a shortage of nearby priests? Was it because of some political reason (i.e., three Canadian men to marry in America for citizenship reasons — Bienvenue aux États-Unis!)? Were these (God forbid/Dieu nous en préserve!) "shotgun" weddings? Or — most likely – because we Americans are such nice people?? (Especially the French ones!)
Avec nos remerciements,
Here is the attachment…
It's in French.
Next time I will tell you more… and a whole lot more.
By the way, are you addicted to this blog?
You are not alone…
If you have not click on this link yet St. Joseph Church in Burlington, Vermont, you should. You will learn a lot about the history of St. Joseph Church in Burlington, Vermont.


text:
S.F.'s Wells Fargo target of antibank protest
SAN FRANCISCO -- Nearly 200 activists gathered in front of Wells Fargo Bank's corporate headquarters in San Francisco on Wednesday, with some blocking the front door in a protest that slowed downtown traffic and forced workers to use a side entrance.
Pledging to "foreclose the banks," demonstrators marched from the Occupy SF protest site near the Federal Reserve Bank at 101 Market St. to Wells Fargo's headquarters at Montgomery and California streets shortly after 7:30 a.m.
Protesters posted blown-up foreclosure notices on the doors, held up by stickers reading, "We are the 99 percent." A dozen protesters sat down in front of Wells Fargo's side entrance on Leidesdorff Street, while others gathered on Montgomery.
Shortly after 8 a.m., police led away 11 protesters in handcuffs and gave them citations. Many were released and rejoined the demonstration before protesters dispersed around noon.
Max Bell Alper, an organizer with Unite Here Local 2850, was one of those cited. "My parents owned their home for 25 years, and they lost it," he said. "They moved in with my uncle, and his home was foreclosed on as well. Right now, my grandma's home is facing foreclosure.
"It really hurts," he said. "These banks got bailed out and my family, and countless other families, got kicked out."
The federal government bailed out the nation's nine largest banks, including Wells Fargo, under the Troubled Asset Relief Program at the height of the financial meltdown in fall 2008. Wells Fargo, which protested that it didn't need the help, repaid its $25 billion in December 2009.
Other protesters accused Wells Fargo of taking advantage of people in tough times.
"We hope to send a strong message to Wells Fargo that we are demanding that they stop predatory lending, that they modify loans so that they're affordable, and respect our basic human right to housing," said Nell Myhand, 55, of Oakland. She said another bank is threatening to foreclose on her home.
Wells Fargo said it was not guilty of predatory lending.
"Since 2009, we have conducted more than 716,000 active trial or completed mortgage modifications," spokesman Ruben Pulido said in a statement. "In the past year, less than 1.5 percent of homeowner-occupied loans in our servicing portfolio have proceeded to foreclosure sale."
E-mail the writers at firstname.lastname@example.com and email@example.com.


text:
Coach Craig Chalmers has warned some Esher players are playing for their Molesey Road lives over the closing weeks of the campaign.
A half-time dressing down and the introduction of subs Neil Sweeney and Peter Synott triggered a thrilling comeback at Loughborough Students on Saturday.
Chalmers' men came back from 21-3 down at the break to win 24-21, thanks to second half tries from Michael Macfarlane, Andy Wright and Spencer Sutherland.
Esher, without a game this weekend, have slipped out of the National League One title race in 2014, having secured only three wins from seven games since the turn of the year.
They visit struggling Tynedale next weekend and Chalmers has told his players their futures are at stake.
"To be 21-0 down before getting a penalty late in the first half was a big deficit," he said.
"The message from Ricky and myself at half-time was just a few home truths. It was more than just a talk, but the players responded fantastically well.
"It wasn't a nice position to be in, but in the second half we cut out those mistakes.
"We are capable of getting back into the match from so far behind against any team.
"I thought Peter Synott and Neil Sweeney came off the bench and played a huge part in our defence, Sweeney in particular came on and got us on the front foot.
"We're looking to finish as high as possible in the table, whether that's third or even second, you never know.
"Our players are playing for contracts and for pride, so we want to finish the season strongly."
SSE sponsor the RFU's National and Divisional Leagues and have £10,000 worth of mobile floodlights for your club to win. To find out how to enter go to SSERugby.com.


text:
FEPlanet Forums -> Viewing Profile
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RP Data
My Content
18 Jan 2012
Well, some people wanted to do a villainous magical girl game. And I (finally) found a system that works okay enough for it, so...
How It Started
"What if I gave you the power to fulfill your wishes?"
If you heard these words over a month ago, you probably wouldn't believed it. Well, not that you believed them even now. Not when it came from the mouth (?) of some strange stuffed animal that appeared to you one night. But you already heard the rumors, or maybe you saw them yourself. Like something straight out of a frilly-laced cartoon - gorgeously dressed women that wielded amazing powers against monsters and villains from another dimension. Self-proclaimed arbiters of justice and love and every emotion they cared for. Magical girls.
It didn't make sense, then. You didn't really care for any of that. You had a lot of issues, but in the end, you're the type that was angry, frustrated, and carried nothing but apathy to the world. Even if this nonsense turned out to be true, you weren't really the type to become a magical girl. But the stuffed animal picked you, anyway. And it didn't even care what you did with whatever powers you acquired from the agreement. The only clause was that it bounded your for life. There was no backing out from being a magical girl.
There was something behind this. Maybe some dark ploy, or a weird way to bring cosmic balance in the universe. In the end, you didn't care. Neither did the other girls you banded with, an alliance you created against any force of love, courage and whatever else that stood in your way. You gained the power to do whatever you wanted to the city. The stuffed toy asked again,
What are you going to do with it?
What Your World Is Like
Metrocity is where you live, a large industrialized area in the coast of Japan. On the surface, it looks like the city of the future. Tall, shining skyscrapers tower the sky, and the concrete streets are filled in the cusp of technological marvel. Sliding doors, television phones, electric automobiles, you name it. The fashions haven't kept up just yet, though; your school uniform and street clothes are still quite modern.
You've heard a lot of nasty rumors about the city though, that it used to be the site of strange phenomena and mass burial sites from centuries ago. The government tried to cover as much of that up as possible by plowing over the cursed land and placing really, really shiny buildings on top of it. Even its original name is rubbed out from the maps; everyone just calls it Metrocity these days. Despite these efforts, a lot of urban legends from the past persist, all the more magnified with the appearance of "real monsters" in the news.
According to your stuffed animal companion, it's because of this (weakened dimensional border or something) that otherworldly monsters found it quite easy to slip through worlds with Megacity as the entry point. Any time a monster crosses over, it leaves dimensional distortions at its wake. Any mundane door or window becomes a portal between worlds to those powerful enough to open it (like magical girls).
The alternate dimension is both fascinating and bizarre. Each portal will almost always lead to a different world, with its own laws of reality and its own strange denizens. Sealing these portals (by destroying the portal's master) is one of the main objectives of the "good" magical girls, as it keeps reality from destablizing or some such. Of course, nothing should keep you from seizing one of these alternate worlds as your own.
Your companion isn't willing to tell you where it came from, though. Stupid toy.
How Our Game Works
This is a game for Savage Worlds, using the Super Powers companion. Settings rules are as follows: Baseline Environment, Inherent Power (Natural Growth), Knockback, Super Teams, and Unarmed Defenders. The RP will be open-ended, and hopefully PC-driven as they decide how they are going to use their powers for their own ends.
Standard character creation rules apply here: just follow the Super Powers Companion rules where applicable. You get Arcane Background (Super Powers) Edge for free with 15 power points to spend. As a trade off to that, PCs also have to take Gimmick (Magical Girl) as a Major Hindrance, requiring you to switch into your costumed magical girl form before you can use any of your powers. In-game, I'll say it takes a full action for this to work.
And yeah, there's a lot of influence to Madoka. Look at the first picture. That said, the tone of the game is expected to be follow closer to a Magical Girl formula. Not exactly light-hearted, but not overly violent or bloody either (doesn't mean it can't get pretty dark in tone, though). The PCs are self-regarded villains, though none of them are expected (or encouraged) to be morally reprehensible. So as long as everyone's cool with each other's approach to things.
That all clear? I have a few people already interested and working on sheets, but if anyone else wants to join, just let me know and we'll work it out. Here we go, then.
Character Sheet Template: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text
The People We Know
Gaomaru: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text
12 Sep 2011
Name: Ea Rosa Adeline
Title: N/A
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Ilia
Nation/Group of Allegiance: Ilia, as a sellsword
Class: Partisan
Level: 6
Weapon Levels: Lance: E
Weapons: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text
Height: 157 cm / 5'2"
Build: Slender
Artwork: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text
Ea sports the soft shade of pink hair that her family is known for, partly in the style of small twintails on top with the rest going down to her waist in a loose braid. Her blue eyes provoke a curious, cautious tone, while her features remain soft and subdued to compliment them. She is quite pale as an Ilian should be, though to her disappointment, her figure isn't much to be proud of. The girl just finds herself too short, too plain and too frail, even for her young age. She tries to find ways for make up for all of those.
Since she doesn't fight as a pegasus knight, Ea can afford to wear more on herself for protection. She is fond of long-sleeved coats in scarlet dye, plain in design and with a solid black trim. This she wears over her white blouse and bow ribbon on her neck, along with a wooly scarf if the weather forces her to dress heavy. It follows down to her pair of heavy, dark colored slacks, wool leggings, and long boots to make it all look right.
Her size doesn't let her wear much for armor, so she makes do with a leather chestplate, a pair of heavy gauntlets and greaves, and light pauldrons. She has a harness around her waist, with a strap that carries a few of her weapons around in easy reach. Around the wrist of her throwing arm is a strap meant to support the weight of her spear, and apply more force to her throws.
There is little that Ea doesn't like, and those things tend to fall in the unpleasant side anyway. She's a rather sunny young girl, with a voice like sweet sugar and a smile quite infectious to see. Although she's fairly bright for her age, she's also rather unfocused and easily distracted when it comes to work. Her heart and her will is pretty strong though, and she's quite eager to impress and succeed, almost to a fault. Often it happens that she either overshoots her mark or misses it entirely, simply because she didn't pay enough attention to her situation.
Ea has a large range of interests, and she pursues them all with equal, unbridled enthusiasm. Some of them are easy to sort out, like her appetite for sweets, though some things, like her commitment to her family and her pride as an Ilian knight, isn't as simple to get to the root of unless one has enough patience for her. She's a decent soldier with about a few years worth of training in her, and little experience to show for it. There are no fancy tricks in her repertoire, just a set of a spear maneuvers and the boldness to pull them off to great effect.
Ea was born in a small, sleepy village, to a family that has served under the banner of Castle Raemy for as long as anyone cared to remember. As a matter of fact, her family's gone through a long, unbroken tradition of pegasus knights, with Ea's older sisters next in line for their generation. She therefore felt a lot less pressure on her as she grew up, and she even got spoiled a fair bit as the youngest girl. Not that she became exempt from knighthood, of course, so that remained in her mind for a long while.
She did a lot of housework after her mother, mostly with baking. Her childhood was less about drills and training manuals, and more about what to make to get her siblings distracted enough to stop bickering over dinner. And that sort of thing made her happy, really. Ea loved the stories of the pegasus knights, and became proud of what her family's done for years. Still, she didn't seem cut out for that sort of thing. She tried to bond with a pegasus when she was nine, after all. One near-death experience with a bucking winged horse simply turned her away from the whole idea.
But that changed when her sisters returned from their long tour in Etruria. Her second eldest faced the worst from Lord Helter's rebellion, and took a debilitating injury that forced her to ride back with the help of the eldest's steed. In fact, Castle Raemy experienced a lot of losses during that war, that they needed more knights to fill in their numbers. Ea didn't have a choice about it, and her parents couldn't protest. She wasn't about to be the one that broke tradition and all.
For the next years, Ea and many other raw recruits entered a period of basic training. Most of the youths were much like her, very young with little to no experience with arms, horseback or the life outside of Ilia. Still, the lot of them picked up on those qualities quite quickly. Ea knew how to bake, the spear drills somehow came easy for her, though for her life, she still didn't have much with either horses or pegasi. No shame in that, it seemed, though it probably made going around much harder than it should have.
She'd live with it. Even without a mount, Ea became a fairly competent skirmisher, and learned to take her practiced precision to throw spears mostly on the mark. After she succeeded her field exam in the shores of Castle Raemy, she finally became eligible to become a knight. And as all aspiring Ilian knights before her, she now needed to leave the country, and take service in a foreign mercenary band to fulfill what it meant to become a knight of Ilia.
Ea Rosa Adeline soon set off her village to accomplish just that, with a bright smile and the wishes of her family as she left. With the pride of her line behind her, she couldn't fail at the task. She really couldn't.
21 Aug 2011
Name: Evangeline Alashire
Title: Saffron, The Taliver Witch
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Bern
Nation/Group of Allegiance: N/A
Class: Shaman
Level: 10
Weapon Levels: Dark Magic - C
Weapons: Please list the weapons you build with the weapon system inside the spoiler tag below. What weapons you have access to are dependent on your class and weapon level.
Weapons: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text
Height: 179cm / 5'10"
Build: Full-figured
Artwork: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text
Whenever the Taliver Witch comes up amongst the Bern peasantry, the usual mental assumption is that of a old crone in the barest scraps of clothing, who speaks only in the words of madness and delirium. The few that have actually met the said witch, however, know those rumors are mostly borne from the fears of the dark arts and the sort that live in Taliver in the first place. The rumors also happen to partly describe Saffron's late mother, but that's probably not the point.
Saffron herself looks quite well as a lady, and that isn't about to fade any time soon. Her features are soft and attractive, framed by a heart-shaped face that she takes after her mother. The length of her scarlet hair runs brazenly down her form, while her bangs barely part away from her steely, amber eyes. She has a tall, pronounced figure that is difficult to ignore, a trait of her blood and somehow of her lifestyle. The muscle in her form doesn't count for much, though she seems healthy enough with a olive tone in her skin that betrays her mixed heritage. Well, that's what she used to believe, at least.
This all in contrast to much of her attire, which may lend credence to some of the rumors. The shaman likes to dress as simply as she can, wearing light cloths of dark greens and greys. But far too often those same clothes appear in tatters, the result of too many brambles and scrapes without enough thread or patience to mend them back. She knows barely enough needlework to avoid serious affronts to her modesty, though otherwise finds it completely fine to walk about with tears on her blouse and cloak. Needless to say, this doesn't make her look any better than a bandit or beggar. An attractive one, perhaps, but nonetheless.
Even Saffron's not sure anymore where she got the nickname from... but if her books mean anything, it's probably from the spice. A mild fragrance with a bitter taste, and that sounds about right.
She is a well-mannered lady for a witch and an outlaw, formal in speech and manner though rather unfamiliar with the graces that nobility expects. This doesn't actually make her very engaging for everyday conversation, though. While Saffron isn't entirely passive, she does come off as rather taciturn. She speaks tersely when she has to, and tends to push away others when it's more convenient for her.
It's not something that she does lightly, though. She really wants to be kind, but a lack of experience with people really hurts her ability to be too close. Sometimes, she thinks that only the dead are the only ones that listen to her. That's probably the reason that she believes so much in her mother's ability to perform séances. Saffron hasn't gotten her method quite right yet, but she was sure she'll figure out how it works.
When it comes to most anything else, she plays it in rather straightforward and pragmatic manner. Her life was once very simple, so she doesn't really understand much of the higher ideals and allegiances that motives certain people. All that matters most to her is further her own understanding of magic. It's her only real means to make sense of anything in the outside world.
Saffron knew only very little of her life before the Taliver Mountains. She was only a few years of age, when her mother spirited her away from Bern for reasons vague to her. Her father was a terrible man, she heard, a Bern noble that grew to despise his Sacaen mistress when her presence became inconvenient for him. Mother said that she saved her from a life of misery and hate, and why would the girl not believe in her words? As she grew up, those trivial things no longer mattered to her. Taliver was the only home she's ever known.
In this harsh place, the young girl learned discipline here. She lived with her mother in a small hermit house, where she took care of the daily chores such as cleaning house and milking the goats. It was a peaceful sort of work, as seldom did anyone cross the mountains trails to disturb them. On those rare occasions that a traveler came close enough to their home, Saffron usually watched as her mother engaged them in conversation and trade. Or she scared them off in a blast of black magic. Or a bit of both, even. Either way, her mother often came back from those engagement with a gift for her daughter.
Saffron wouldn't have known those were the sort of things that started the rumors of the Taliver Witch. Nor did she hardly make conversation with people herself. All she cared for were the gifts, particularly the books. Her mother taught her to read over time, mostly so that the girl could help read out the recipe of some herbal mix or magical broth. In time, she found a fascination for them as well, and she enjoyed every time a new book found its way into her library. She took all the stories and the poems, all the treatises and essays, and put them all to heart. This is how she knew about the outside world, as much of a patch work as it was.
The knowledge of magic itself eventually followed afterward, when she reached her sixteenth. Saffron learned the basic principles from some of the documents she read, though they meant little to her without context. Her mother moved up her tutelage to that regard, and began to teach her the magic of their people. It was a strange form of magic, the sort the magic essays warned as dark and dangerous to the mind. Men supposedly drove themselves to madness and isolation in pursuit of the power of elder magic. Her mother assured her though, that there was little danger in the art... so long as Saffron followed every lesson to the letter.
Nonetheless, the process turned out as harsh and trying. It started simply at first, when she learned to draw her power from the essence of small creatures and plants. Her mother's magic drew from the cycle of life — a sacrifice that (as she claimed) granted much more power than the ways of the scholars, as it kept her own magical reserves in check. Indeed, Saffron managed to do so much with little. The life of a few violet flowers became enough for a fluxing blast that shattered a large rock, while a rodent or two allowed her to twist a small patch of grass into burned, corrupted glass. It horrified and fascinated her at the same time.
Even as she contemplated the extent of this power, her mother soon led the girl out of the house for a while. After half a day, when ere they crossed a part of a mountain she never entered before, the young shaman smelled something terrible. And then she saw them. The stretch led down on a far off pit, where a mass of bodies stewn down like a pile of discarded toys. Men and women, with bits of armor and weapons stewn along in terrible positions. Some of them looked like they passed away only recently, while most of them decayed long ago. All of them bore some sign of magical damage. Mother's magic.
Bandits and hunters, her mother explained, people driven to the rumors of a witch in the mountains. People that have harassed them for years, but Saffron never realized they did until now. But that wasn't the point of this. The old seer wanted the terrified girl to look at these bodies, stare straight at terrible, senseless death. She warned that this was inevitable, even for Saffron, for the token of blood granted the greatest power in their arts. Saffron sobbed, and only understood much later what mother meant.
A life should never be taken lightly, but she's went far enough on this road to avoid that now. On that realization, Saffron chose to embrace the path. If this is what her mother meant for her, then so be it. For the many years that followed, the redhead became devoted into the understanding of the power of life. She started to visit outside the mountains to the local villages, a daunting idea, but a necessary exercise when merchants traveled there with books to trade.
With new knowledge coming in from her book trips, she came to the idea that perhaps though magic, it became possible for one to still communicate with the recently departed, even for a short while. This of course interested her. Saffron realized that if she could learn this ability, even the people she needed to sacrifice can have some peace in the afterlife. She figured that the dead wouldn't be as awkward to talk with than people, anyway. Sadly, her texts didn't offer any real clues to go about it, but she knew in her heart it was possible.
Around this time, Saffron's mother was at last on her bed. The seer wasn't particularly old, but even with the power of life, the elder arts took a heavy toll on her well-being over the years. Her mother never really smiled much in all twenty or so years of her life, though that night she came to a particularly frightening grin. That was the night that Saffron heard her full name for the first time, the name that her father gave her at birth. Saffron frowned... why did that matter now? Because, the old seer admitted, it was something that she took away from the girl. Just as the woman took her away from her real family.
Saffron was never related to the Sacaen seer. The woman did love the girl's father once, though... that was a time where the two made frequent trysts, away from the attention of Saffron's mother. Her real mother, a pure, blonde Bern noblewoman, who already bore a few children into the Alashire line. The Sacaen mistress greatly wanted a child of her own in Bern descent, so she became the nobleman's mistress for that purpose. When that child died within the year, the seer became mad and spiteful, and her fit of madness, she took one the noblewoman's young, true-born children and took her away to the mountains. And in that way, the seer cackled to Saffron, was how she took all that she wanted from that family. And now the redhead needed to live with that.
Her Sacaen mother died that night. And, of course, Saffron's attempt to contact her spirit didn't work, especially for a soul at peace. The girl wished she responded to her that time... but it didn't matter, did it? It was too long ago, and the only one who cared whether she lived or not was soon buried in a field outside her house. Saffron indeed chose to live with what she knew, and took her mother's place as a hermit in the mountains. For the next several years, she did as her mother always did. She tended to the house, milked the goats, led lost travelers back into the path, and made sure that people that wanted to hunt the witch never came back to tell of her.
Saffron's magic lived on essence and the blood of those fallen, but she tried time and again not to enjoy doing it. The more she used the elder arts, the harder it became to tell what was right. But she remained in pursuit of the study of life and death, even if after all the years, the cheap texts of merchants no longer felt satisfactory. Regrettably, she needed to travel much further than Taliver to find her answers. So it was at her twenty-sixth that she cleared out the house, paid respects to her mother's grave, sold the goats, and went on her way.
Saffron had a vague notion to go west... that's where the nation of magic resided, she thought. There was a pretty picture about it in an old encyclopedia, a land where castles were made of ivory and magicians flew around and about in their own power. Well, she'd find out when she made it there.
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20 Aug 2011
Trident, third planet of the Hoplos System. It was once the site of a Salarian marine biologist station, until human settlers "discovered" and colonized the place in the massive expansion that followed the First Contact War. A sphere of calm, blue oceans and teeming underwater life, the settlers found it the perfect retreat from the overarching grip of the Alliance or the influence of the alien Citadel. That only lasted for a generation, before the pirates and smugglers took notice and entered the system. The small local navy soon became overwhelmed by the sudden rise of violent crimes, organized raids and illegal arms deals under their noses.
The corporations soon entered the picture, who offered the fledgling government their services in curbing the pirate infestation and other advancements in exchange for certain concessions. Before anyone even realized it, many large enterprises from all the over the galaxy seeped all across precious Trident land, taking advantage of the local resources without giving anything back. Corporate troops started to patrol the seas and streets, above the authority of the government, more interested in protecting company interests than the welfare of the locals they hired for their factories. The pirate threat was never curbed, and in fact, some pirates are even known to work under the corporations themselves.
The people of Trident fled the Alliance to find freedom, yet it was taken from them all again. But there's no end to hope just yet.
You are a member of Siren Company, a private firm that hires out military and security assistance amongst the various powers in the Hoplos System. That's on record, at least. What's less known about them is that Siren's members were once part a gang of pirates, famous for a daring raid that left the local navy baffled and a year's shipment of arms stolen and circulated into the black market. Elanus Risk Control Services has placed an interest for these raiders for their abilities and experience and, in exchange for their subsidization and a little tribute, provided them with the credits and equipment to become ERCS's main arm in this system. Aside from their regular operations, Siren performs a gamut of illicit operations from supply raids to infiltration and cyber crimes.
Another corporate tool? Perhaps. But none of you scallywags intended to stay under some faceless conglomerate's heel for very long. With Siren, you have the resources to make a difference. Perhaps tou'll take this planet first, drive out all the competition and the other corporations, and see if the suits are man enough to take it back from you. Maybe return Trident to the government's control, or take it with your own hands? The choice is yours, but you'll have a long way to go before that.
For now, your crew received a missive from one of your regular Salarian contacts. Apparently, an Alliance medical ship has crash-landed in the eastern sea expanse, and he needs those supplies "extracted" in a hurry. He has some valuable information in exchange, but only if you take the supplies intact. It's time to get to work.
Elevator Pitch
A Mass Effect campaign set in high seas and outer space, players are reformed members of a pirate gang engaged against other rogue gangs, corrupt corporations, and alien mercenaries for dominance of a degrading ocean planet and the neighboring worlds.
Game Information
As mentioned, we're using Savage Worlds. Here are the basic rules again, the rules needed for Mass Effect conversation will be here. The following are additional information to all that.
Character Creation: Follow the character creation rules in the Test Drive. Characters will be created with 5 points to raise Attributes, 15 points for Skills, an edge, four free advances (see hindrances for what that means), and the benefits of your chosen race. You can take up to two minor Hindrances and/or one major Hindrance for the usual benefits. Also take note that all characters start with the Arcane Background (Tech) Edge for free, unless you have a good reason not to take it, by which you can trade it for another edge.
Skills: There will be as much seacraft than land vehicles in Trident, but you only need the Driving skill to handle them both. As I figure, VI interfaces are common in patrol craft, making navigation and driving easy. You can take Boating if you want, but it's not likely you'll find too many ships with sails about, even considering fishing trawls. If boats aren't your thing, spending points in Piloting will do just fine too - should be plenty of fighters and interceptors to play with in the planet.
Initiative: Here's how it works: I bought a deck of cards, just for you guys, and I'll do the shuffling and drawing before each conflict. Once turn order is decided, the person who goes first has twenty four hours to post, or else his character will hold and the next person can post. And so on.
Equipment: Disregard prices for now; since the PCs are part of a security company, most if nearly not all equipment as requisitioned from the armory before every operation. That said, only low-end weaponry and first tier shields are the standard right now, while heavy weaponry is limited to the M-100 Grenade Launcher. Your character can start with one Average Weapon, the rest have to be low-end stuff. As the campaign progresses, your company will be given a chance to update the stock of the company armory (Pistols, Shotguns, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Shields, Heavy Weapons), wherefore they'll be available when your characters need them.
I will probably introduce a system for the company's wealth and holdings later on, but that's not important for the start up.
All guns have two slot to install upgrades: one weapon upgrade and one ammo upgrade, while a suit of armor can have one slot for upgrades. During the campaign, your characters may come across high-quality equipment that come with more upgrade slots. The upgrades available for your company are in the Codex below, and will be updated as your party finds new upgrades.
And That's It: Well... if none of this scared you guys away, please make a post declaring your interest in this RP, however much or little you have. You don't need to post a character concept or a sheet right away (the former is nice though), but I would like to get a gauge of how big (or small) this game will be. Also, I'll be working on a Codex to keep track of things, expect the first few bits of that to come up early this week. Thanks, and I look forward to you guys.
11 Aug 2011
Name: Mary Lynn Machall
Title: Pherae Scout
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Pherae, Lycia
Nation/Group of Allegiance: Lycia; sworn lady of Sir Rugal and Marquess Elias
Class: Thief
Level: 8
Weapon Levels: Knife: E (2/5)
Weapons: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text
Height: 168cm / 5'6"
Build: Thin
Mary is, in her own mind, not much to look at, though neither is she close to terrible on the eyes. She is a slight, yet healthy girl with sun-kissed skin, with strong hips and legs that she finds some pride in flaunting. Her raven black hair is short, only going down to her nape but making a scraggy mess of her face nonetheless. She has a sharp face and a small nose, probably bent after one too many bloody smacks. Her grey eyes make a mild contrast to the light brownish strike of freckles across her cheeks.
Her tend is to dress lightly, since that helps with her job and helps the men glance at where it matters. She gets bits of leather armor for protection, though they only matter enough to her to get long bracers for her forearms, a jerkin for her torso, and greaves for her lower legs. Her tunic underneath is a light grey, with a loose hood along over it that comes in a line of fur across the trim. It helps when it's warm, especially since she decides that wearing ragged shorts is more important. After all, she can't show the sway of her gait if she doesn't lay them bare.
Much like her collection of knives, Mary comes in sharp, and cuts. She goes out of her way to make herself difficult to ignore, coming in as fast and as forceful as a hurricane. It comes off in a manner that makes her surly, foul-mouthed, and unsavory, but on the other hand, it does get her attention. Violence is usually her best answer to things, and she certainly has the means to provide it. As easily as she can drive her blade in careful precision, Mary can simply fly off the handle, and Elimine help those that are rend to ribbons by her hand.
That may paint her as some livid berserker, but that isn't entirely true. Mary certainly gets angry a whole lot, though for the few loyalties she has, she will never let that blind her from them. For what means to her the most, she defends it without relent, even at the sake of her self.
As for the things she likes? Aside from men? Well, she does like jewelry, the sort encrusted in gemstones and the like. They make her look pretty, and sometimes, they're even magical. Something less obvious is her interest in literature, particularly in romance and tragedies. She doesn't intend to squander her ability to read, and reading on the failures (and sometimes triumphs) of others makes her feel much better about herself.
Mary Lynn was born in Machall, a small port town along the coast of Pherae province. It was a quiet place that only busied on its own affairs, but that wasn't enough for it to escape the rebellion of that time, nor the mass levy of troops to fight against it. Mary's father left for war when she was only a babe, while her mother took care of things in the household. It was not an easy childhood at all. Machall was not quite the same when most of the men left, that even a girl like her wasn't exempt from the roughness that village boys played at.
So she learned to bite back. Even as young as six years old, Mary took it to herself to get things in order before her father returned. The elders and mothers didn't take well to her methods, though — in their eyes, all the times she finished a fight the boys started on her just made her a bully as well. Her mother needed to detain her at their home more and more often at all the pressure, and taught the girl to read so she can... amuse herself with the little texts they had. Mary certainly passed the time with books, but it didn't do much for her frustration.
The next few years didn't help, when word came that the rebellion finally settled down. Mary's father and his troop soon returned home from duty, seven years after they left. Mary herself waited almost nine years to see her father for the first time, but that moment wasn't going to come. All that she saw return was a quiet, listless man, something in him rattled to his core. He didn't even notice that the girl who greeted and hugged him was his daughter. No broken bone or busted skull even measured to the pain she felt.
His troop explained that he has been like that for a year already, since a massive battle in Laus. It was amazing that they even got to bring him back. Mary didn't know what to think about this anymore, but for some reason, it felt like a betrayal to her very self. All that changed in the house was that there was another mouth to feed, and her mother wept even more. But things were never to get better. Her life was never going to get better if she waited for someone else to do it for her.
Some time passed, and Mary spent her years at the docks to earn more money for house. But when another call for troops rang in Machall, she didn't even hesitate. She took the best chance to live outside the village, and snuck in a caravan to Pherae at the age of fifteen. It didn't matter if that chance was the army. Whatever her father saw there, she knew she had to be stronger than that. There was no choice about it.
Mary went to Pherae castle, where the sight of a city larger than her village already surprised her. Still, she figured her way through, and soon stumbled upon one of the many recruiters around the city. She took her vows as a loyal Phraean soldier (a hard thing they made her do), and fell under the watch of a knight. Her training started there, as did her daily menial tasks of peeling potatoes, passing letters between knights and lords, and sometimes cleaning the floor in the military quarters. At least it paid more than the docks, somehow.
After two years, her liege, Sir Rugal, finally took her with him in his border patrols. She served as a scout and a courier, the girl they sent in case they couldn't spare a horse and needed results quickly. She much preferred to fight though, such as the time se chased a fleeing highwayman after a rout, or smacked down a small camp of thugs on the advance path. Sir Rugal couldn't fault her enthusiasm, especially with Pherae as militant as it was these days. It was nice to have someone at last appreciate her methods.
In a short time, she earned some fame (and infamy) amongst her own troop, and even to some of the other men-at-arms at Pherae castle. That girl from Machall, that spitfire with the hips, Sir Rugal's bloody shadow... names of all sorts. That was fine... fame was good, no matter where it came from. And Mary hasn't enjoyed herself like this in long time, but even now, she still felt that wasn't enough. She wanted a real fight, a real opportunity to prove what she was capable of. She wanted a name so large that even the lords knew of her.
At the north, where Araphen laid wasted, she wanted that chance to prove herself better than every damn ingrate left in Machall. And then...
Last Visitors
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That avatar is really cool.
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Happy birthday!
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You have 5500 posts. Cool
3 Aug 2010 - 14:39
Hey, didn't recognize your name ;) But I'm fine, and how've you been holding up?
5 Jun 2010 - 11:50
|Lo-Fi Version
|Time is now: 5th August 2020 - 07:34 PM


text:
Search News
Wikimedia Foundation joins coalition to promote transversal skills for the 21st century
May 26, 2020
Washington, D.C. – The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, has joined the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) Coalition for Transversal Skills in the 21st Century, centered on ensuring inclusion, equity, and quality education in Latin American and Caribbean countries.
MDB climate finance hit record high of $43.1 billion in 2018
June 13, 2019
An increase of over 22 percent on the previous year, boosting projects that help developing countries and emerging economies cut emissions and address climate risks – joint report.
Artificial intelligence to boost Latin American and Caribbean economies: IDB study
August 29, 2018
Study also urges governments to anticipate consequences of artificial intelligence in labor markets BUENOS AIRES – Artificial intelligence can facilitate trade negotiations and add one additional percentage point of growth to Latin American and the Caribbean economies, according to a study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Chengdu CHINA-LAC Business Summit
October 21, 2010
As prepared for delivery final draft
Scholars stress great integration potential between India and Latin America
July 27, 2010
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) unveiled today a new study calling for India and Latin America to foster closer economic ties in order to tap into "massive" trade and investment opportunities between these two distant partners.
IDB: It is imperative that trade continues to flow in the region to mitigate crisis
May 07, 2009
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno and Director-General of the World Trade Organization Pascal Lamy warned against protectionism at the Second Regional Review on Aid for Trade (AfT) for Latin America and the Caribbean. "The integration of our hemisphere has proven to be one of the most powerful engines of economic growth and human and social development," said Moreno during the opening session of the AfT conference being held today and tomorrow in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
IDB welcomes Banco Agrícola as issuing and confirming Bank under its Trade Finance Facilitation Program (TFFP)
April 06, 2009
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced today that Banco Agrícola of El Salvador joined the IDB's Trade Finance Facilitation Program (TFFP). Under the TFFP, the IDB extends guarantees to cover letters of credit, promissory notes, bid bonds, performance bonds, advance payment bonds and other instruments used in international trade transactions. The TFFP can help Banco Agrícola to further increase its trade finance business and to take advantage of the TFFP's countercyclical effects during times of volatility in trade finance flows. TFFP
IDB Annual Meeting concludes with countries vowing action on crisis
March 31, 2009
Governments approve kicking off process to review IDB capital levels. Seminars, dialogues, exhibitions and debates mark IDB's 50-year anniversary. MEDELLÍN, Colombia – For nearly a week ending today, this picturesque and thriving city transformed itself into the economic epicenter of Latin America and the Caribbean.
IDB Annual Meeting agenda highlights - March 30
March 30, 2009
Second and last day of official sessions of the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank, at the Plaza Mayor Convention Center. Representatives of the 48 member-countries are discussing during the two-day meeting the economic situation of Latin America and the Caribbean and ways the IDB can increase support to the region. In the evening, after the closing session, a socio-cultural event with artist Carlinhos Brown will take place at the Metropolitan Theater. 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
IDB to start reviews for capital increases, boosting financing in short-term
March 30, 2009
MEDELLÍN, Colombia – The Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) today instructed the Bank's management to "start immediately" to review the need for an increase in its ordinary capital, which currently stands at $101 billion, and a replenishment of its concessional lending window, the Fund for Special Operations.


text:
To understand the new unity agreement between the two Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, it helps to recall the story of the village beggar and his cake.
It happened once that the village beggar asked the rabbi for a ruble to buy some food. An hour later the rabbi saw the beggar in the market, eating a slice of cake. Incensed, the rabbi rushed to rebuke him: "When I give you a ruble you should eat a meal, not cake!"
"Excuse me," the beggar replied. "Yesterday I had no money, so I couldn't eat cake. Today I have money, but I shouldn't eat cake. Tell me, rabbi, when can I eat cake?"
That roughly describes Mahmoud Abbas's Hamas problem. Ever since his Fatah party lost control of Gaza in a violent Hamas coup in 2007, the Palestinian Authority chief has been told by Israeli and Western critics that he isn't a viable negotiating partner because he represents only half of a divided people. Whenever he's nearly convinced Hamas to let him speak for Gaza, he's been told he can't be a viable partner if he's tied to terrorists who don't recognize Israel. How can he ever be a viable partner?
His solution has been a series of alternating negotiations, now with Israel, now with Hamas, cajoling each one toward some middle ground where they might coexist. In theory this means getting Hamas to agree to peaceful coexistence with Israel while getting Israel to grant concessions that make peace appealing to Hamas.
In practice, he's been chasing his tail, getting nowhere. He's forged a string of pacts with Hamas, each one touted as the big breakthrough, each one promptly collapsing over Hamas vows never to recognize Israel. The latest deal was signed in Qatar on February 6, followed the next day by the usual Hamas demurral. But this one might work.
Abbas's efforts to win concessions from Israel have aroused deep Israeli suspicion — not surprising, considering his eagerness to partner with terrorists dedicated to Israel's destruction.
Cynics might say Israel is stalling to avoid any concessions. In fact, former prime minister Ehud Olmert offered extensive concessions in 2008. Hamas wasn't in the picture. Abbas didn't make a counter-offer, partly because Olmert was facing indictment and it wasn't clear who would replace him. Equally important, Abbas and his aides were struggling to draft a position on refugees. The Palestine Papers, internal negotiators' memos leaked to Al Jazeera in 2011, show a Palestinian team groping for a formula that could reasonably address Israel's needs without infuriating the Palestinian diaspora.
For all the uncertainties, though, one problem wasn't worrying Abbas that fall: Hamas.
Hamas was on the ropes. A year after expelling Fatah from Gaza, it was economically suffocated and internationally isolated. A wave of rocket attacks on Israel in February 2008 had led to heavy Israeli air and ground reprisals. In April, the organization's Damascus-based secretary general, Khaled Meshaal, sent a message to Washington through Jimmy Carter that Hamas would accept a Palestinian state "within the 1967 borders" and a long-term truce with Israel, "but without recognizing Israel." Meshaal repeated the message publicly in Arabic at a Damascus press conference.
The State Department dismissed the gesture as spin. America's stance, backed by its Middle East Quartet partners — Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — is that Hamas remains quarantined unless it recognizes Israel, rejects terrorism and accepts previously signed Palestinian-Israeli agreements. Meshaal wouldn't play ball.
But behind his rejectionist words, Meshaal's meaning was evolving. While refusing to recognize Israel, he spoke in a 2006 German interview about "examples where 'no recognition' does not mean war. China and Taiwan, for example, have not recognized each other, but they trade and cooperate with each other." In August 2009 he told The Wall Street Journal that Hamas wouldn't "impede" a Fatah-Israel peace pact. In May 2010 he told Charlie Rose that "if Israel would go to the 1967 borders…that will be the end of the Palestinian resistance." He was practically begging for a seat at the table.
Indeed, Hamas was already backpedaling "resistance." In June 2008, as the Olmert-Abbas talks accelerated, the organization entered a six-month, Egyptian-brokered cease-fire with Israel in return for a promise to ease the blockade. In December, after the cease-fire ended, Israel launched the massive, three-week incursion into Gaza known as Operation Cast Lead, leaving 1,300 Gazans dead; it brought Israel worldwide condemnation, but Hamas got the message. Rocket attacks, which were running 550 per month in early 2008, virtually ended: Just 160 rockets launched through the rest of 2009 and 150 for all of 2010, mostly by splinter groups retaliating for Israeli air raids. Attacks in 2011 totaled 680, most during a week in August when the murders of eight travelers on a Negev highway brought Israeli reprisal raids. Hundreds more rockets were interdicted by Hamas security forces cracking down on splinter groups.
In April 2011, Meshaal and Abbas met in Cairo to try reconciliation. They had previously met in Mecca in 2007 and in Sanaa, Yemen, in 2008, each time signing a pact that was dead on arrival. The problem was always Hamas's refusal to endorse Fatah's pursuit of peace with Israel. Fatah feared losing its legitimacy in Israel and the West. Hamas had no reason to prop it up.
This time, though, the winds had shifted. Fatah had no Israeli peace process to protect. Hamas feared losing its home base in Damascus. Hamas consented to a unity government under Abbas, with no card-carrying Hamas members in it. Abbas could continue to seek peace with Israel; Hamas would accept the outcome. Hamas would swear off violence. It wouldn't recognize Israel but could belong to a government that did. The deal collapsed over Hamas rejection of the pro-Western prime minister Salam Fayyad. Hamas hadn't fallen low enough.
A year later, unity might be ripe. Damascus is in flames, leaving Hamas homeless, dependent on the good will of pro-Western Fatah, Jordan, Turkey and the Egyptian military. Fatah-Israel talks are deader than ever. Hamas has gone nearly four years virtually violence-free; a year or two on the inside might soften it to the point where it won't frighten the next Israeli government. Abbas reckons he can have his cake and eat it, too.
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