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It's Not "Us against the Terrorists" or even the "West against the Rest": It's still "Tribe against the State," just as it's been for over five centuries.
President George W. Bush infamously declared "Mission Accomplished" on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, formally announcing an end to major combat operations – only to discover that the war in Iraq was anything but over, and would soon enter into a chaotic phase as conventional operations transitioned to asymmetrical warfare. President Obama campaigned hard against the tactical and strategic errors of his predecessor, pledging to close down Guantanamo and withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq. But while passionately embraced by an anti-war movement that helped propel him to power, and the recipient of an arguably premature Nobel Prize for Peace, Obama is anything but a dove when it comes to America's continuing commitment to the War on Terror.
Even as he disengages from Iraq, Obama has been increasing America's troop levels in Afghanistan and calling for more aggressive military by Pakistan against its own Jihadist problem – announcing a 17,000 troop surge of his own on February 17, 2009 and less than a month later, considering further troops, to augment his first mini-surge. Today, he appears poised to announced a Lyndon Johnson-sized troop increase of 34,000 more boots on the ground. While engaging in an Afghani surge reminiscent of the very strategy he campaigned so hard against in Iraq, Obama nonetheless declared the "War on Terror" to be over. Not finished, nor won – but in rhetorical terms, the term "Global War on Terror" has been retired. Its retirement sprung to national attention on March 30th when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the press that the new administration had "stopped using the phrase, and I think that speaks for itself," adding that she had not "gotten any directive about using it or not using it. It's just not being used."
Around the same time, Pentagon staff received a memo from DoD's Office of Security Review explaining the White House "prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror' (GWOT). Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.'" This new, less catchy phrase has been publicly used by several top officials – from the DoD to the OMB. But frustration with the GWOT's terminology is not new. Even President Bush came to regret the one-size-fits-all simplicity of the term he made famous, admitting in 2004, "We actually misnamed the war on terror, it ought to be the struggle against ideological extremists who do not believe in free societies who happen to use terror as a weapon to try to shake the conscience of the free world." Obama's rhetorical re-assessment of the GWOT into a series of nameless, and seemingly disconnected, Overseas Contingency Operations (or OCOs) has as much to do with the GWOT's controversial verbiage as it does with his desire to reshape the conflict along a more logical, and sustainable, axis.
Despite this change in terminology, Obama remains fully engaged militarily. The famed architect of the successful Iraq counterinsurgency, General David Petraeus, remains CENTCOM Commander, a post he has held since October 31, 2008; and thus far, Obama is applying America's counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine as developed by the previous administration. To succeed in Afghanistan will require acquiring a detailed cultural knowledge of the war zone, much as was painfully but effectively achieved in Iraq, in order to identify who among today's opponents might become, with proper incentives, new friends and allies – bringing order from the chaotic mix of tribes, sects, and pan-Islamic movements that define Afghanistan's fractious political geography.
Culture, Conflict and COIN
To gain insights into this new phase in the former-GWOT, and current OCO, I spoke with professor Alan C. Tidwell, Director of the Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, who explained that "rather than think about culture as being blocs of history, ideology and practice, on some grand civilization scale, culture should be thought of as a local response or adaptation by people to local conditions and local histories." He referred to the work of David Kilculen, one of the theorists who contributed to America's successful COIN strategy in Iraq, whose work in Afghanistan now "points to a near global rejection of Talibanization of Afghanistan, but an acceptance of Sharia's usefulness in civil, land and family matters." As Tidwell explained: "Commonly in the West we look at Sharia' law and we think of robbers hands being chopped off. Amongst Afghanis many don't care for the extreme ends of Sharia, but they warmly embrace the effectiveness of Sharia courts in non-criminal matters. This is local adaptation of practices to address local needs."
Thus, added Tidwell, "Rather than focus on what elements of culture are objectionable, the focus becomes to what extent does the practice stabilize the situation. From this point of view policy becomes contingent upon the degree to which culture satisfies local humanitarian, population and stabilization needs." Tidwell noted that "the challenge, of course, is to learn from those areas where this clash is being dealt with effectively and apply those lessons appropriately to other contexts." Whether a proper understanding of the underlying tribal governing structures can provide us with a platform for stability, Tidwell observed, "depends very much upon the extent to which both sides to a given conflict are open and willing to engage in dialogue. Enhancing tribal structures through training in modern accounting, management, communication and so on contribute to the strength of tribal governing structures. Equally, however, states and their bureaucrats must be willing to provide for the expression of tribal interests and concerns within the state system."
For example, in Australia and New Zealand, where Tidwell has much experience, indigenous people and the modern state are "creating ways of working through land conflicts. This is not to say that they have resolved their problems absolutely, but they have established the grounds for dialogue on how to best address those conflicts. In each case the legal system has been used to address the question of land title, and legislation has been passed that providing a way forward for addressing this question. Compare this to the situation in the Philippines. There, conflict exists on the question of indigenous land title, and legislation has been enacted to address this question. The promulgation of that legislation, however, has been quite problematic. The key matter of political will remains unresolved in the Philippines whereas the matter of public will has very much been resolved in both Australia and New Zealand." One reason why success can be so uneven across one region, Tidwell explained, is that "in both Australia and New Zealand systems of good governance exist both amongst the indigenous people as well as on the part of the state. Whereas, comparatively speaking, good governance does not feature strongly in the Philippines."
Whether a proper understanding of the underlying tribal governing structures can provide us with a platform for stability, Tidwell observed, "depends very much upon the extent to which both sides to a given conflict are open and willing to engage in dialogue. Enhancing tribal structures through training in modern accounting, management, communication and so on contribute to the strength of tribal governing structures. Equally, however, states and their bureaucrats must be willing to provide for the expression of tribal interests and concerns within the state system. For example, in the context of land management it should be recognized that both tribal people and the state have an interest in environmental sustainability. Recognizing the interdependent interests is a vital step towards establishing the basis for peace and stability." The lessons of Kilculen's work, Tidwell noted "simply put is: 'don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.' Recognize where people prosper through tribal governance, where the indigenous culture effectively manages conflicts and embrace those. The critical element is to understand the root causes and underlying conditions that foster conflict. The only way to really understand those underlying roots is to collect data at the local level and the best way to do that is to go amongst the local people and talk with them."
I also spoke with our colleague Harold L. Ingram, a Senior Analyst in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Office of Strategic, Proliferation and Military Analysis (INR/SPM) who is currently a senior intelligence advisor to the Afghanistan Interagency Operations Group (AIOG), and is a founding member of the Intelligence Community's Afghanistan Analyst Exchange Panel. He has literally gone amongst the local people for many years. From October 2001 to January 2003, he flew over 100 ISR missions over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF); after completing his OEF activation, he returned to the State Department and volunteered to return to Afghanistan, where he helped establish the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and served as political liaison and foreign policy advisor to the 82nd Airborne Division's Task Force Devil and 10th Mountain Division's Task Force Warrior in Kandahar. He returned from a second PRT tour in 2005, serving as primary political officer at both the Asadabad and Jalalabad PRTs in Afghanistan's Regional Command East AOR. "Based on my experiences in Afghanistan, we do see a continuation of tribal systems and governance. Village elders still come together in tribal shuras/councils to gossip, discuss local politics and other topics of interest, to hear and attempt to resolve disputes—ranging from allegations of theft, property rights disputes, and even capital crimes of murder or adultery."
Ingram observes that "tribal dynamics and communal factors have always played the dominant role in rural Afghan society. The current effort to establish a strong central government has largely failed because historically there has never been a strong central government, and the natural local resistance to such an entity has coalesced." He believes tribal governing structures and processes can provide a platform for stability and peace, so long as "we are willing to identify those pre-existing tribal mechanisms and help the central governments adopt those (or at least recognize those) tribal structures"—such as "tribal shuras, jirgas, Arbakai (police), and tribal Lashkars (militias)." Ingram added that "the advantages of incorporating pre-existing tribal structures and processes is that they are typically already largely accepted and proven in areas where the central government does not have (and has not had) an effective presence." In Afghanistan, "we have faced opposition from local tribes who saw us as uninformed interlopers attempting to come into their rural valleys and villages to tell the locals that their centuries old tribal structures and processes for security and dispute resolution are bad and must be replaced—but then we have attempted to replace the pre-existing tribal structures with corrupt local judges or police that only serve their own interests and end up driving a wedge between the local population and the central government rather than endearing the people to their government." He has found that "in most of these rural tribal areas, the people might be willing to tolerate a central government presence so long as it does not attempt to disturb, disrupt or overthrow their pre-existing structures and processes."
Ingram thus believes that "recognizing this aversion to central government 'interference' can help the central government gain more acceptance locally by focusing its limited resources only on areas, activities, and/or structures that the local people are not able to handle themselves"—such as "establishing a national army outpost, helping to build a school, clinic, dig a well, etc." He has identified several methods and processes developed in Afghanistan that could be applied to other battle zones of the GWOT. Among these are demonstrating the government's ability to provide tangible goods, and to deepen its ties to important local actors, building informal and formal mechanisms of consultation among officials and local communities which are all critical to contesting the insurgents'/opposition's claim that government institutions serve nothing more than the best-armed or well-connected. Additionally, he recommends that we focus our efforts on supporting effective local provincial- or district-level governance; promoting and supporting domestic NGOs; correcting tribal and ethnic imbalances—thereby "formalizing and empowering existing tribal governance, security and mediation structures" which is "likely easier and more effective than attempting to remove, combat, and/or dissolve existing tribal organizations;" engaging local religious leaders and formalizing clerical linkages, friendliness to, and/or relationships with the government and government officials; and expanding the reconciliation or re-integration process of "former" insurgents, enemy combatants, and/or enemies of the state like the Taliban.
An anonymous but well informed source who spoke with me on these matters observed that "tribal allies ally themselves with the side that provides the greatest incentives, such as protection and autonomy from corrupt and oppressive central governments. Policy choices lead to support for central governments while military necessity requires provision of incentives for tribes. So American counterinsurgencies persist until Congress and the media decide to stop them." But he added, "Unfortunately, we find ourselves involved in two simultaneous – and interconnected – insurgencies that are being fought as if they were large scale terrorist operations. As such, there are far too many 'black' teams when 'white' SOF is needed. Enormous efforts are made to find and eliminate two extremist leaders rather than create large number of indigenous forces who are trained and led by Special Forces teams."
He recalled the successful Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) program devised in 1961 to counter the Viet Cong in Vietnam's Central Highlands and which effectively organized tribal minorities—and suggested a CIDG-modeled operation "that involved nearly connected areas of responsibility could have closed much of the Afghanistan border with Pakistan where Taliban safe havens exist." But, as he noted, "few lessons were learned from the last insurgency."
As the famed poet and philosopher Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." But as the even more famous poet and philosopher Yogi Berra once explained, "It ain't over 'til it's over." While lacking an inspirational name, the former-GWOT now stands at an important crossroads. As America's military attention pivots from Iraq to Afghanistan, it is essential to look beyond the rhetoric of the conflict, and to focus instead on the underlying roots of this conflict, which can often be traced to the complex tribal mosaic that defines Afghanistan's political topology at the valley- and village-level.
Armed with detailed cultural knowledge and understanding, coalition forces will be positioned to challenge their opponents with more than new terminology—offering up field-tested ideas that have proven their worth under fire, just as they did in Iraq. That way, the day may finally come when America can wind down its final "Overseas Contingency Operation," and genuinely declare a hard-fought, and well earned, "Mission Accomplished" to the long war once known as the Global War on Terror.
Tribal Dimensions of World Conflict
America's Vietnam experience, too often perceived as a military failure or at least an historic failure of institutional learning and military innovation as John A. Nagl has argued, was in fact full of tactical and strategic innovations that proved successful in the field of battle from the conflict's earliest days.
Indeed, even after America withdrew from the fight, weary from the loss of life and determined resistance of its opponent, its abandoned partner, the ARVN, fought on, holding its own for two more years against an opponent that was continuously re-supplied by the Soviets, even as its own military resources were depleted. And after the South fell to North Vietnamese forces, patterns of land ownership did not undergo the same radical transformation as in the North: collectivization simply never happened, even in the face of a decisive military defeat to the Communists. And in the northern highlands of that once-divided country, the tribal Montagnard and Hmong allies of the United States, while collectively punished by Hanoi with a continued lack of infrastructure development in their villages for decades to follow the war, continued to live as they always had, indifferent to Hanoi and never truly conquered. Enduring patterns of political order that were nurtured by the United States thus survived, even after South Vietnam's military defeat, suggesting that with a recommittment of political will to "stay the course," America may well have won a resounding and enduring victory in Indochina.
To some revisionist historians, and to former President Richard Nixon (as recounted in his reflections on the war in his 1987 opus, No More Vietnams) the trend lines in Vietnam were pointing toward a probable victory for the United States at the time of its withdrawal, and the salient lesson to be learned, just as President Bush bravely acknowledged when facing up to the difficult challenges confronting us in post-Saddam Iraq, was that the war could only be lost by our own default. As the surge has demonstrated, even a nominal increase in military power (in the case of Iraq, a restoration of a mere 30,000 men of arms proved enough to defeat an insurgency festering across a nation of 28 million) when smartly applied, in conjunction with the necessary cultural knowledge of the battlespace, can be enough to turn the tide of war from all but certain defeat to a decisive and enduring victory.
An important tool applied in our long war in Indochina and re-applied after major combat operations concluded in Iraq and Afghanistan is currently known as Human Terrain Mapping, or HTM, a mapping of the cultural topography of the battlespace, to help guide warfighters in the violent Sunni heartland of Iraq, a land where our opponent blended in with a populace that seemed inherently inimical to American power, and where determining friend from foe could be challenging in the best of times. As learned in America's successful COIN effort in the Sunni heartland of Iraq, coalition warfare with sub-state tribal entities can turn the tide of war, helping to achieve a military victory in a struggle considered by many to have been a lost cause, and which, through innovation and determination, as well as a crash course on cultural knowledge, could pacify a region universally viewed as hostile territory. HTM, as one component of an approach to coalition warfare at the tribal level, helped to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat, proving that President Bush's intuition as commander was correct, and that the salient lesson of Vietnam was not that the cause was lost, but that a smarter and more committed application of military power, and a quicker process of integrating successful battlefield innovations into evolving doctrine, could change the outcome of the conflict and thus reverse the very flow of history.
The tribal dimension of America's Indochina war effort was notably successful, and can provide later generations with insights on how to effectively wage sub-state proxy warfare or tribe-state coalition warfare. Indeed, in the years since Saigon fell, methods cultivated during the war in Indochina would prove successful time and again, first in protecting the Kurdish and Shi'ite enclaves of Iraq from Saddam's vengeance in 1991, carving out secure republics within the body politic of a decreasingly sovereign Iraq; then helping to secure a Bosniak enclave from the remnants of war-torn Yugoslavia, and later an increasingly sovereign Kosovar-Albanian enclave within the boundaries of Serbia-proper; and now in pacifying the fractious zones of conflict that define the Long War, from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan and beyond.
The tribal foundations of world order, while little studied compared to other pillars of international stability, are an important part of the structure of international politics, and are of increasing salience as the distance from Europe's largely ethnoculturally homogeneous nation-states increases: instead of finding increased anarchy, one encounters weaker manifestations of state power along with smaller units of international durability such as tribes, clans, and sects. Recognizing these tribal components of world order and integrating them into international security policies, is thus an important first step toward understanding the fabric of international relations, and toward achieving an enduring victory in the long but un-named war that has been the focus of our efforts since the day the Twin Towers fell, and with it both our sense of security and our prior conceptualization of international relations.
Barry Zellen is the author of Arctic Doom/Arctic Boom: The Geopolitics of Climate Change in the Arctic (Praeger, October 2009), as well as Breaking the Ice: From Land Claims to Tribal Sovereignty in the Arctic (Lexington Books, March 2008). His next volume, due out in December 2009, is On Thin Ice: The Inuit, the State and the Challenge of Arctic Sovereignty (Lexington Books).


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Gay and lesbian clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are in sexual relationships despite the church's expectation that they remain celibate, according to a report titled "Pulpit Fiction." The study compiled the stories of 35 ELCA pastors identified by "word of mouth." The report identified pastors not by name but by the following information:
The rest of this article is only available to subscribers.
© 2016 Augsburg Fortress, Publishers


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Our two well-loved medicinal Vinegars, Amazon Brew and TOUGH AS NAILS Iron Vinegar, are available now in a Remedy Kit!
AMAZON BREW is formulated specifically for athletes recovering from training or games, our Amazon Brew Herbal Vinegar helps reduce recovery time with its anti-inflammatory, vulnerary, and nervine properties. Reduces soreness and swelling so you can get back in the game!
Take before and after training and/or games. I also take it the morning after a hard training session or game to loosen up my muscles and address any residual swelling.
CHAMOMILE Matricaria recutita: Anti-inflammatory, vulnerary, antioxidant, nervine, and analgesic, Chamomile also addresses arthritis pain, headache, cramps, and exhaustion on a mental and emotional level.
NETTLES Urtica dioica: Nettles are full of iron, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B, calcium, just to name a few of this green beauty's constituents. An adrenal tonic, anti-inflammatory, and detoxifying.
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VALERIAN Valeriana officinalis: With a name derived from the Latin valere "to be in health," Valerian is both a restorative and relaxant. Increasing blood flow to the heart, Valerian improves performance and stamina while also helping promote a better night's sleep, supporting the idea that our ability to completely relax enhances our ability to completely invest in our performance.
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CHICKWEED Stellaria alsine
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Jim Battle
Battle was one of the greatest tight ends in school history. His career record of 1,010 receiving yards stood as a school mark for 17 years. He was named to the IIAC All-League team in 1961. After his Saluki career, he played professionally for the Minnesota Vikings and St. Louis Cardinals.


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OK, I had a turtleing experience on the C & O on Monday. I set off riding on the cold towpath and noticed I wasn't well 'down there' after a couple of miles. When I dismounted and blood began to return to the region I discovered my tights weren't in fact tight. These were a pair I bought last year from Nashbar on sale, and in order to get the right waist size I had to buy a "tall" fit. Well, I must not have noticed the shoulder straps had become too long when I wore them last winter, but they now were, and the butt and chamois sagged instead of fitting close to me. A couple of minutes pulling up the straps and tying a knot in them made everything tight again, and I rode with little problem the rest of the day.
This incident makes me wonder just how often complaints about shorts bothering the rider are due to the shorts being too large or too loose?


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Planing on going big in the park? Pull the trigger on a Giro Revolver, you'll enjoy its wide range of vision—and if things don't go as planned, the high-impact shell will prevent scrambled brains.
- Pads can be fine tuned for fit or removed to make room for a hat or goggle strap
- Interior goggle channel creates room for straps and maintains a low profile
- Included subliner provides next-to-head softness for a comfortable fit
- Stack vent reduces google fogging and maintains an integrated fit
- Compatible with all TuneUps systems, sold separately
- 6 vents move cool, fresh air through helmet
- Reviews
What do you think about this product?
Have questions about this product?
Great Helmet
- Familiarity: I've used it several times
I've used this helmet for 8 days now and I have zero complaints. I hardly notice it's on while I'm riding and it keeps my head warm on everything but the coldest days. Fits well with or without a beanie. Haven't had any gnarly wrecks yet, but I've got lots of confidence with this protecting my dome.
I wear my goggles over my helmet and my Oakley Crowbars fit without any problems.
Good Helmet
I think in retrospect I would've went for a female brand of helmet, but this one works just fine. It fits nicely on my head as long as I wear a bandana under it. It comes with extra padding in case you wear it out as well as audio capability. Its a comfy brain bucket, the chin strap isn't annoying, and my head doesn't overheat! I totally dig the color and design, definitely a way for my friends to spot me down the slopes.
Great Helmet!
I got the Yellow Final Frontier design and it looks great, fits great, and feels just as good. Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a good helmet at a low price.
I have the Santa Cruz Roskopp design, and I get compliments on it all the time. It's super comfy and works great with my smith scope pro goggles. I have the sensor mirror lens, which has a blue tint to it that looks killer with this helmet.
I want to purchase the helmet of giro how to order him
Yes, the small will probably fit you...
I had a Giro G10 before in M and it fit well but I wanted to replace it with something a little more steezy so I got this one on sale. With all the pads taken out a Small fits me perfectly with a beanie on and is very comfortable. No gaper-gap with this one either which was a problem for me with the G-10 - the small front lip covers nicely over the top of my goggles. Overall a great buy!
awesome helmet!!
i really am glad that I got this helmet!!
It turned out to be a little loose, but I can just wear a beanie underneath, and its perfect!!
Great Helmet
Has a lot of leeway in fit: no bandanna, yes bandanna and winter cap. Extremely light and looks pretty good, too. It is a little pricey: may have done as well with Fox product for less.
awesome helmet
I love this helmet it fit perfectly with my dragon rogues and looks awesome. super comfy and warm, killer audio hookup, and this helmet saved my noggin many a time, unfortunately it made the ultimate sacrifice and i had to retire it, broke my heart to see it go.
First Impression;
Received mine promptly with the free 2-day shipping, which was very nice. It was packaged just like it would be at any store, though it rattled around a bit since there was no bubbles in the large shipping box.
Immediately seeing myself after putting it on I felt I looked like a bobblehead. I messed around with the padding, put on my Scott goggles, and thought it looked much better.
As of right now my absolute biggest complaint is that it scratches/gets dirty easily. While fumbling with the goggle clip I must have slid my nails across the back and my nailpolish left a little color that will not come off. But I guess it makes me look a little rough and tough. :P
Tomorrow morning I test it out on the hill and will leave a review of how it felt for me, as a not-hardcore-non-terrain-park boarder.
Went out this morning. It was fairly cold, probably about 28-30°... This helmet kept my head very warm, but not too warm! No beanie needed underneath. Scott goggles fit great and the clip held them there perfectly. I hardly noticed I was wearing a helmet/chin strap except for when the wind picked up on the lift -- it was really hard to hear what my buddy was saying, but I think that would be typical with any helmet.
I took a tumble when a skier cut in front of me a few times and we collided. My helmet kept my head from clanking against his skis, and I was glad I had it.
All in all, this helmet is my first one and I absolutely love it, especially for the price since I am on a limited budget.
Great Helmet
This helmet is clean. I have the matte black version and I love it. Its sleek, fits well, and looks great with goggles. The only thing I think could be improved upon is how the ear covers/warmers velcro to the inside of the helmet. It could be better at attaching but so far for the most part it has up exceptionally well. I'm just worried about when the helmet is older and velcro ceases to work as well. Over all though I'd definitely recommend this helmet for the price.
Good Helmet
Inexpensive helmet that comes in a variety of colors. Kept my head nice and warm during varying conditions on the slopes. my iPhone headphones slipped right into the speaker compatible each cushions so I could listen to my ski playlist if I wanted to. Even sounded pretty good...
Comfortable and didn't give me gaper gap problems with my VZ Skylabs; the attached photo was about as bad as it would get (if I wouldn't check meself everyone now and again)
Safe Style!
Great helmet and really comfortable. The removable pads make it really convenient to be able to change up what you wear underneath in case it's too hot or too cold. Clean lines and overall great look.
is this unisex or just men's?
is this unisex or just men's?
Do the splices fit well with these...
Do the splices fit well with these goggles?
Will they work with electric EG2. I wear...
Will they work with electric EG2. I wear my goggles under my helmet.


text: Charlottesville Police have charged a man with breaking into an apartment building and damaging several cars. Police say 22-year-old William Wallace Frye (pictured) of McMinnville, Tennessee is accused of using a fire extinguisher to smash into a building in the 200-block of Garrett Street. Police say he then used the extinguisher to damage several vehicles that were in the ground-level parking area in the building. Officers arrested Frye at around 4 a.m. Saturday. He was charged with vandalism and breaking and entering with the intent to commit a felony.


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Bloghercon conference proposed
By Charlene Li
Quick – name me five woman bloggers. You probably came up with Wonkette, and if you're reading this post, you've got me on your list. Can you come up with three more?
This is why Lisa Stone's suggestion to develop Bloghercon is such a great idea. (Elisa Camahort has a follow-up post with more details here.)
It's not that there are no women bloggers out there – it's that we haven't built up a network comparable to the "blog-boy's club" that dominates the Technorati 100. This is not to presume that there's a conspiracy – just the reality that for a number of reasons, woman bloggers have had difficulty gaining visibility.
My hope is that the conference (in-person and in an ongoing, virtual meeting place) would 1) provide support and training for woman bloggers; 2) showcase all the great things woman bloggers are doing; and 3) connect women with each other.
Hey, isn't that what all good meetings do? So how would Bloghercon be different? Here's one example: One question raised so far is if there would be child care available. I think this highlights one major difference between male and female bloggers – it's not that we want to bring our kids to Bloghercon, but a reality that women are called upon more often to juggle multiple facets of our lives (men do this a lot too, but admit it, the burden still falls mostly on women). It's that unique point of view, that vantage point that women provide, that I hope Bloghercon will develop.
So let's do it! I can't wait to get together to grow our ranks and the volume of our voices.


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Just another unpopular opinion.
by MsDevinJ
I can't really put my finger on it, or really describe my opinion or mindset on several "hot topic" issues present in our society. Such as gay marriage, healthcare, birth control/abortion, teen pregnancy, politics (specifically political party association) and government assistance. Being a college student with little "real life" experience, I am in no rush to solidify my opinion or stance on any of these topics until I have a broader perspective. (I live in Lincoln, NE trust me, there's not much diversity here) Moreover, it's a bit annoying (to say the least..) when people my age or even younger are so "sure" in their stance regarding these issues. As I personally believe they just adapted their parents beliefs, are going with the majority opinion, or haven't done enough research to even have a substantial backing regarding the issues.
Now, you're probably wondering my opinion on these issues, or maybe you don't care at all and are just aimlessly reading. Whatever your motive, I regret to tell you that I would never post such opinions online and here's why–
1. It's not the place. Social media is not the appropriate forum to declare and argue these issues. Miscommunication is bound to happen and it just leads to more issues then there needs to be, truly. I won't lie, I have posted an opinion or two on my Facebook page and literally each time I regret it. I identify as a fairly conservative person, and therefore my Facebook friends who identify and have more liberal ideals often will disagree with me, leading to a battle of comments. Such scenario leaves me in a tough spot, although most times I disagree with them 100%, I feel obligated to find a happy medium in the argument to maintain a sense of professionalism online. It's silly really, but being that I am so involved and a well known individual, I've found it's better to just keep some opinions to myself..
2. People don't really care. That sounds funny, but it's so impeccably true. People who trust Facebook pages or odd websites for their source of political and social issue stances, really don't care about the issue they are just looking to bicker. These same people will use the most invalid and biased sources to support their ridiculous claims and want to argue about something they aren't even invested in for hours on end. Avoid these people- unfriend, block, and delete! I've discovered that there are some people who just like to challenge your opinion, and while that's fine (as it allows you to become more confident in your opinion) it can be extremely annoying!
3. False perception. Being that one's social media presence is often correlated with who that person "really" is we find that the quote, "Perception is reality" holds extremely true. As stated, I hold some beliefs that differ from a vast majority of my peers, I have no motive to post or share such opinions in a social media setting because I wouldn't want anyone to misinterpret my beliefs and as a result have a false perception of who I really am. Although we may disagree on a hot topic, doesn't make me like or respect you any less.. some people have a hard time understanding that though. (Shame!)
I suppose I wrote this out of irritation with the harsh opinions and rant that I often see as I scroll down a timeline of a social media site. Everyone (not really-lol) feels entitled to an opinion and think that they are the "expert" in their beliefs. There is always room to grow and expound upon a belief, don't settle with just what you know! Explore and get diverse perspectives prior to settling in a particular mindset, especially at such a young age. Just because you can identify or stand behind a particular issue, doesn't make your opinion the only one that matters. Be open to others, be open to grow, have an open mind my friends.
As always,
Devin J


text:
Prison Privatisation Report International
No. 54, April 2003
Published by the
Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU)
This publication is supported by a grant from the Foundation Open Society Institute.
����������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������� � ��������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������� �����������������������
First to legislate against private prisons
The government of
����������� The
Labour Party, which leads the present coalition
government, included in its 1999 election manifesto an undertaking to end the
private management of prisons. In January 2000,
����������� The
Bill makes provision for the contract with ACM to continue until its scheduled
expiry date,
����������� The Bill, which also includes a range of other measures including the extension of prisoners� minimum entitlements to meet international standards, is unlikely to become law before mid-2004.
�More details of the Corrections Bill are available on the internet at www.beehive.govt.nz and www.corrections.govt.nz/policylegislation/reform.htm
Criminal justice
system up for grabs to the
DynCorp International, a subsidiary of Computer
Sciences Corporation, has won a contract worth up to $50m for the first year to
provide up to 1,000 advisors to help organise
����������� Dyncorp is a controversial company. One of the largest
donors to GeorgeW.Bush�s 2000 election campaign, in
November 2002 it was awarded a $31m contract by the Defense Threat Reduction
Agency to assist governments in the former Soviet Union, Eastern European and
Baltic countries to develop programmes to increase
border security and detect weapons of mass destruction. It�s
armed employees are the core of the police force in
Four new prisons are to be commissioned in
����������� A task team comprising correctional services, the national treasury and public works was set up in November 2002 to review the contracts. The team recommended that there should be negotiations with the contractors to improve value for money by reviewing standards, amending fee payment structures, accommodating additional prisoners and renegotiating debt financing.
����������� The treasury also recommended that feasibility studies should be carried out before any new prisons are commissioned. During a discussion at the correctional services portfolio committee on18 March 2003, the department of corrections would not be drawn on how the new prisons would be commissioned. However, a department representative stated that the wish was to have a 50-50 sharing with the private sector, ie, the private sector would provide the structure of the prisons but the department would run the operations. The committee said that �no decisions would be made just yet.�
� The Adam Smith Institute hopes to
reschedule its �high level training course� to encourage prison privatisation in
Private management on the way?
The government of
�There is a property business in
����������� So
began an article in The Business Times,
����������� The
article concludes with the suggestion to �find a local firm with enough
security rating to take over the job, allow it to gain experience in managing Changi and, in time, it could go overseas and run prisons
in other Asian countries. Properly conducted, this could be yet another export
business for
New public prison opens with Group 4's help
The private sector has played a major role in
the development of
����������� Group
4 was involved in the design of Bordelais as well as
the recruitment and training of staff, drawing on expertise from its prison in
����������� The
prison project was handled for the government of
����������� Bordelais is a new concept for the government as well as
being the first of its kind in the
�Group 4 �responds to opportunities�,
the prison business is �not marketing led� and the company �has no marketing
strategy for the
40 year concessions
The government of
����������� According
to Trade Partners UK,
Premier�s latest win
Premier Detention Services Ltd has been awarded
another immigration detention centre contract. The �48m 326 bed facility at Harmondsworth, near
� Serco�s legal battle with Wackenhut over the right to own Premier outright continues. A Serco spokesperson told PPRI that a high court hearing is schedule for the summer.
More problems at child jails
Up to and including 31 March 2003, financial penalties reflecting contract failures at the UK�s three privately financed, designed, built and operated Secure Training Centres were: Medway �910,874; Rainsbrook �155,152 and Hassockfield �74,572 (see PPRI # 48, 43, 40 & 37).� The figures were released by the home office in an answer to a parliamentary question.
����������� The Centres, which hold persistent offenders aged between 12 and 17, were inspected by the social services inspectorate in 2002. Group 4 subsidiary Rebound ECD-run Medway�s inspection took place between 9-11 April 2002 and Premier�s Hassockfield was inspected between 7-16 May 2002. Both reports were published in December 2002.� Rebound-run Rainsbrook STC was inspected in November 2002 and the report is due to be published in May 2003.
This was Medway�s fourth annual inspection. It took place following �a period during which the normal life of Medway was disrupted by a management investigation, disciplinary process and resignations. As a result there has been a complete change in personnel in senior management posts... the effect of the instability was to put on hold or bring to a stop many of the positive aspects mentioned in the previous report.� Staff turnover was �exceptionally high� at 42 per cent.
����������� The report set out some positive features but the inspectors made twenty four recommendations for improvements. Their findings included:
�systematic and focused crime avoidance work has almost entirely slipped from the agenda and timetable;
�equal opportunities and anti racism policies were not firmly embedded into the day to day practices ... the whole way in which valuing diversity was addressed needed considerable attention. �We overheard conversations between staff ...some of the language used to describe young people of differing ethnic and cultural backgrounds could be construed as offensive and racist.�
�the lack of strategic management was identified as a major cause of the difficulties experienced at the centre since its opening (in );
�staff shortages caused staff to
regularly work extra hours. The three week rolling rota
was not popular with all staff.
�very little had been done to create individual targets that could be measured and linked to the assessed needs of the young person. Information was not always shared effectively between departments. There were a number of inconsistencies in the way in which information was stored on the files;
�some young people had complained about some of the distraction techniques used by some staff members ... the use of physical control was now being systematically monitored and information contained in records was analysed. �It is important that this oversight is maintained.� The sue of single separation �was being used as a means of control more widely than was acceptable under national guidance and regulations.�There were three practices which appeared to contravene good practice understandings in relation to single separation;
�progress reported in the last inspection report relating to the use of structured activities had not been sustained.. The use of organised purposeful activities, geared to helping the trainees to develop skills and interests and linked to reduce offending was patchy;
�challenging targets to promote a good practice of learning were not always set. On occasion teaching materials were inappropriate and this resulted in little work being completed..There was too little feedback on what happened to young people moving on to the community part of the sentence to allow the centre to assess the relevance of their work in preparing students for the next stage;
� �Most of the young people we spoke with were not familiar with the concept of crime avoidance work.�
Hassockfield was opened in September 1999 and this was the centre�s third annual report. Remarkably, the inspectors did not mention that the centre is run by a subsidiary of Premier Custodial Group Ltd. However, they noted that �the establishment had a very difficult two years of operations with high levels of staff turnover including two changes at director level which caused major disruption to the development of adequate standards of care and control of the young people.� The inspectors noted that since May 2001 Hassockfield �has been more settled with the result that improved performance has been seen on a number of fronts.� However, there were 23 improvements recommended. Included in the findings were:
�the May 2001 inspection report had recommended that the statement of purpose be updated and extended. Work had taken place although �the revised statement fails to reflects the aims of the STC and the services which are available to support the achievement of them.�
��the central thesis of our last report, namely that there was a shortfall in child care expertise remains fundamentally unaltered....�
� it was intended that staff in the admissions unit carried out a comprehensive social skills assessment with young people, �we found little evidence to suggest that these happened as a matter of routine�
��there were still no fully effective quality assessment and evaluation systems in place and this remains central to the STC�s development.�
�Incident recording procedures had been revised as recommended during the last inspection �however, the procedures were inadequate and further work was needed ... procedures for recording incidents of physical restraint, periods of single separation and use of sanctions particularly needed to be revised.�
� �there was clearly insufficient awareness of the diversity agenda ... and this was an area that needed attention as a matter of priority.�
� the teachers were qualified for their planned teaching roles. �Some 18 lessons were observed: half were good but almost a third were unsatisfactory or poor.� Classroom accommodation was �poor�. Rooms lacked storage space, were poorly ventilated and, because of their size, lacked flexibility. Facilities for teachers were cramped. The staff room was too small and storage arrangements for student records and teaching materials in a narrow corridor were unsatisfactory. The library is a stark room which sometimes doubled as a storage area.
�The health care team �had been very short staffed in the early part of this year and the manager had needed to take part in the duty nurse rota in order to ensure adequate nursing cover ... a review of the terms and conditions of the nursing staff had been undertaken and this had resulted in improved pay and conditions. These ... had made it easier to recruit nursing staff.�
� �previous inspection reports have drawn attention to the inadequacy of the buildings in this establishment which complicates the task of achieving an environment conducive to practice which will positively impact upon young people�s lives. High ceilings, reverberating noise and echoes nd large areas of featureless wall space combine to potentially give the effect of a soulless encampment. We noted the significant attempts to treat these structure and design defects by a refurbishment programme introducing new furniture and different colours.�
Social Services Inspectorate, Inspection of
Medway Secure Training
� The Youth Justice Board has a four year plan to build STCs to provide another 400 places.
Public prisons face contracting out
Two failing publicly run prisons in
����������� Two
further prisons will be performance tested in June 2003. Over the next seven
years all publicly run prisons in
According to UKDS...
�PFI (Private Finance Initiative) in prisons
has proven that it works better when the whole service is given over to the
private sector, with none of the usual boundaries between the public and
private sectors. I�ll oppose any plans by the government to move just towards
service management contracts.�� According
to publicprivatefinance, March 2003, that was
the response of Mr Herb Nahapiet, managing director
of Sodexho-owned UK Detention Services Ltd, to the
possibility that the prison service in
Identifying the potential
A growing number of security firms, research
companies and consultancies are trying to identify new criminal justice markets
for themselves and/or their clients. As well, in June, a conference in
����������� PPRI has learned that one company is �specifically researching the presence of the private sector engaged in the justice and public safety sector in a number of possible areas, such as: police ... prosecution service ... courts ...custody and rehabilitation ... community programmes ... immigration ... to identify to what extent the private companies are providing or could provide services more efficiently at a lower cost ... looking at the international justice and public safety markets in ... the UK, South Africa, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia or any other countries ...�
����������� Another
is reviewing �privatised justice opportunities in a
number of international markets outside of the
����������� A third is �currently researching PFI (Private Finance Initiative), specifically in the custodial sector�. A fourth is �a consortium actively involved in the PFI process operating in the health, education and law and order sectors ... seeking to bid for a central detention centre project...� Yet another is �conducting detailed research into developments in the global privatised justice markets.�
PFI Conference
�Identify the challenges faced by the home office and the prison service... discover where next in the emergency services sector for PPP/PFI ... compare PFI versus conventional prisons ... evaluate PPP/PFI in overseas prisons ...meet and network with leading industry players ...�.
����������� These
are some of the benefits of attending described in the brochure for a PPP/PFI
in prisons and emergency services conference on 11 and
�Private sector more efficient? The SMI conference on prisons and
emergency services clashes with another major event in
How they see it #1: �Like patching pot holes ...�
BBC presenter: [talking about the
Harold Brubaker: I think it�s important to hear their viewpoints.
BBC: But you will concede, won�t you, that the more people that are locked up, the better business it is for private prison companies?
HB: Oh yes, but they�re only about five or ten per cent. If it ever be at 50, 60, 70 per cent then what you say would hold some air but until then it�s just a small pea in the pond.
BBC: But you can see that there may be some sort of vested interest in companies like Wackenhut and CCA� pushing for harder, tougher legislation.
HB: Absolutely. Yes I can visualise the point.
BBC: As speaker of the house in the state congress Brubaker pushed through legislation that opened the door to the prison companies. And he is still convinced that privatisation is the magic panacea.
HB: I was driving down the road one day and I saw the state trucks out there with a state tractor patching a pot hole. And I counted seven people. Four were standing there holding shovels while one guy was on the tractor working. And then the other two were just looking. I picked up the phone and I called a local contractor. I said if you were patching a pot hole, and I gave them the basic dimensions, how many people would you send out to do it? And he said two. I said that�s what I thought. Private can do it cheaper. Privatisation�s the absolute way to go.
BBC: But isn�t the business of running a prison slightly more complicated than patching holes in the road?
HB: I would disagree.
How they see it #2: �enormous increase in juvenile crime over the next 15 years...�
BBC: ...their spokesman in the
Paul Doucette, APCTO: � We are
extremely optimistic about the growth potential for this business. Right now
today in the
Private numbers dropped in 2002
The number of prisoners held in privately
operated facilities in the
����������� As
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, April 2003, NCJ 1988877
APCTO activities update
The private prison industry�s lobby group, the Association of Private Correctional & Treatment Organisations (APCTO, see PPRI # 50, 46-44, 40 & 37) has established a new bi-partisan congressional caucus on public-private partnerships (PPPs) with the aim of protecting and expanding privately run prisons used by federal, state and local governments. The caucus will eventually seek to expand the privatisation of other government services.
�In April 2003 APCTO released a study which claimed that, between 1999 and 2001, states without private prisons saw corrections costs increase by an average of 18.9 per cent while states with at least some private prisons or jails saw costs increase only 10.8 per cent.
Prison Privatisation Report International
Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU)
School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences
30 Park Row,


text:
Got a minute?
Got a minute?
Name: Nikki Meyers Job Title: Yoga Teacher Where: Indianapolis, IN Years of Experience: 10+ years Yoga Teacher Salary: 30K to 35K Employer: Self
I teach yoga classes to groups and individuals. A lot of times people come in disconnected from their physical body, disconnected from their emotions. And then after an hour and fifteen minutes, or an hour and a half, something seems to happen and a transformation occurs. They walk out completely differently than the way they walked in; they are connected. I am offering people a set of tools to bring them into that state of connection.
I was first introduced to yoga in the early 70's and had a sincere interest, but I was pretty young and kinda let it fade in and out. But then I got interested in yoga again in the early 90's when I developed a problem with my sciatic nerve. I went to a physician who said, "I'll give you muscle relaxants, but that's a temporary solution for the acute pain. If I were you, I would find a good yoga teacher and a class because that's what is going to help you the most." I did and it rekindled all that stuff I felt in the 70's.
The yoga teacher that I was working with at the time was also doing some work in the Boston public schools. Then she decided to go to India to be with her yoga teacher. She taught me the teacher training steps to become a yoga instructor, then asked me to substitute teach her class in the schools and that was my first experience teaching yoga. It wasn't a high pay rate, but I really fell in love with being a yoga teacher and with what I saw happening with the kids in my class.
I love seeing transformation happen in every yoga class. I love the relationships that I make and I really want to develop a heart-to-heart relationship with every single student. "Yoga," the word itself, means, in a bigger sense, a relationship with other people, ourselves, our environment and with the "divine," whatever it is that we call that. My prayer is that a sense of deep connection comes through in every relationship in my life.
My mom is 94 today, but when mom was 92, she had to have a colonoscopy. I was with her in the hospital; they had heart rate monitors hooked up to her. You could see her angst, it was registering on the monitors. While mom was sitting on the hospital bed sheet, preparing for the procedure, we began singing hymns and chanting.
My mom could literally see her angst leaving as we were breathing, chanting and praying together in her hospital room. The heart rate monitor changed, the evidence was right there.
My pay rate per walk-in student is $15 dollars. For a private class, my fee is between $45 and $60 dollars. If a special therapeutic style is involved, then my pay rate tends to go more towards the $60 dollar range. A Yoga teacher salary can vary depending whether or not you have a yoga instructors course certification, you know, a certification teaching yoga.
How does your western pay rate compare with this eastern career? Find out with our free salary survey.
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text:
Complete Orion Short tube set
Eyepieces 1.25"
University Optics 7, 12.5, 18, 25 Volcano top Ortho's
William Optics Swan 9mm 72 deg
Meade Super Plossl 12.4, 15 (2), 20, 26 (2),
Meade Series 3000 Plossl 9.5mm
Meade QX wide angle 20mm
Unnamed 32mm plossl
Celestron ultima series 12.5, 30mm, 2X Barlow
Celestron plossl 32mm
Celestron X-Cel 5, 8, 10, 12.5, 18, 21, 25
Eyepieces .96"
Celestron 10, 18mm Kellner
Orion 82A blue
Meade series 4000 no 80A, 58
Meade 9 X 60 Polar Viewfinder
Celestron 8x50 Polaris Finderscope and Mount
Orion 9x50mm Finder scope
Celestron 6x30 strait finder (3)
Celestron JapanOrange 6x30 7° Finder & Bracket
Meade 7x18mm GolfScope
Unnamed polar alignment scope about 8 inches long by ¾"to 1" dia with constellation markings printed in it which you can see as you look through it at Polaris. If anybody can help identify this I can use the help. Vixen Polaris possibly?
Orion diagonal
Lumicon 1.25" Enhanced Diagonal
TeleVue 1.25" Diagonal
Unnamed diagonal
Misc. Hardware
Celestron T-adaptor model 93625
Minolta maxxum T-ring model MEA7377
Celestron visual back
Orion Aluminum focus wheels
Minolta maxxum T-ring model MEA7377
5.5 and 6.75 mounting rings
Various finder mounts, focusers adaptors
Orion LaserMate culminater
JMI Microfocus
Various Meade motor drives (4) ,autostar, starfinder controllers, Meade 8 "D" cell battery pack
I will be selling much of it in the classified, but until I get the rest of it in next week and have time to sort/ price it please refrain from the PM's. Sorry.


text:
Cloud Atlas Hugo Weaving On Ambitious Filmmaking And The Movie's 'Yellowface' Controversy
By Eric Eisenberg 2012-10-24 16:50:38 comments
To talk a bit about your evolution in the film, I actually think that you have the most fascinating path in the movie. Unlike some of your co-stars who get to play on both good and evil characters, throughout this you are always playing someone on the wrong side of right, and what that leads to is Old Georgie, who is not a person but rather more like a manifestation of evil. How do you wrap your mind around that progression?
It was always a character that I loved I loved reading a lot of the characters from the book, but Georgie jumped out at me, and he jumps out of you because hes inside Zachrys head and youre with Zachry and you know whats happened to Zachry. Zachrys in a world where he believes in the devil. Its a futuristic world, but its also a medieval world with medieval sensibilities, and so people are prey to the voices in their head. Were all prey to voices in our head! And this idea that Georgie is just this embodiment of the voice that says no, the voice that tells you that you must do this, you cant do that. That happens to me all the time! So the challenge of playing Georgie was this wonderful thing. Yes, hes a character, but actually hes not hes not a human being. So then how do you shoot that? When I was trying on the costume I thought, Well, this costume is great, but I kept saying, I really love this costume, but the more I think about Georgie the more I think you dont want to see him, in a way. You dont want to notice that hes got a shiny suit you dont want to think about that. It shouldnt be shiny or it shouldnt have this or it should be more amorphous.
So I was talking to Lana and Andy about that we thought, well, he cant come into frame, and you cant see him leave frame because then hes exiting to somewhere else and therefore hes physical. So he can be found. He can not be there anymore. He cant disappear, he can not be there. He can then appear somewhere else when you cut hes there, hes over the shoulder. Its the vocal intention thats important; its what hes saying thats important. He is just Zachry talking to himself. Its just Zachrys fears and preconceptions. Zachrys brain and upbringing is telling him, I cant do this, I cant do that. But I want to do this. Hes conflicted. Zachrys got Meronym, who is here and has all this stuff and he mistrusts her, and thinks she might be bringing about the downfall of his civilization. Hed rather have these cannibals, these nasty warriors on horseback to deal with because he knows them, rather than this mysterious woman who he doesnt know and doesnt understand. And the threat that she poses because he doesnt understand her is the thing that has him saying, I have to kill her and thats Georgie. Stay how you are. Dont change. So hes the voice of absolutely Dont change. Dont be free.
You mentioned that you had input on Georgies look; was it the same situation for your other characters as well?
Georgies look was pretty much there, it was just to do with the shininess. So it became flatter, and it was to do with not the perfect top hat, but the battered one, the more amorphous one. And the way that he appeared on screen. So it was all of that, and it was a good for everyone. And that brought about things with the way they might film Bill Smoke as well. All of the characters have a link, so theres the souls link that may be in the way that theyre shot or how they might appear. When Bill Smoke appears and kills Sixsmith he appears in the back of frame dropping down and then hes not there anymore. And then Sixsmith turns and theres no one there behind the thing. And then Sixsmith and then BANG! So thats like Georgie the way that Tom shot that echoed Georgie. It sort of echoes all the way through.
Back to top


text: Hi, > Since the change to git the numpy version in setup.py is '2.0.0.dev' > regardless because the prior numbering was determined by svn. > > Is there a plan to add some numbering system to numpy developmental version? > > Regardless of the answer, the 'numpy/numpy/version.py' will need to > changed because of the reference to the svn naming. In case it's useful, we (nipy) went for a scheme where the version number stays as '2.0.0.dev', but we keep a record of what git commit has we are on - described here: http://web.archiveorange.com/archive/v/AW2a1CzoOZtfBfNav9hd I can post more details of the implementation if it's of any interest, Best, Matthew


text:
Gard Mega PRO with 200 watt amplifier covers up to 30 acres
Special price:
$2799. List $3500
The Deer Shield Super PRO
uses a deer's natural instincts to repel them from orchards,
crops, landscaping, and gardens. Digital recordings of aggressive,
hostile and territorial deer trigger a primal fear and flee response.
Bird Gard for Crows
© 1998-2014
JWB Marketing LLC 2308 Raven Trail, West Columbia, SC 29169


text:
Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Guardian (original 1993; edition 1994)
by John Saul
Work details
Guardian by John Saul (1993)
No current Talk conversations about this book.
A telephone rings in the dead of the night with shocking news for single mother MaryAnne Carpenter - her friends, the Wilkensons' are killed and MaryAnnes' godchild is orphaned and left as a ward to MaryAnne. Soon she begins to suspect a sinister force at work, for Joey, a sad and silent adolescent seems to harbour dangerous secrets. As winter transforms the ranch a series of murders suggesting a wild animal draws ever nearer and a mystery surrounds Joeys' paternity.
Very entertaining!
book ended horribly! Not the greatest book anyway.
References to this work on external resources.
Wikipedia in English
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0449223043, Mass Market Paperback)"All the right scares in all the right places." The Seattle Times
A telephone rings in the dead of night with shocking news for single mother MaryAnne Carpenter: her friends the Wilkensons are suddenly, inexplicably dead, their only child, Joey, a sad and silent adolescent and MaryAnne's godchild, abruptly orphaned. But as MaryAnne rushes with her family to the Wilkenson's ranch to embrace her young charge, disturbing questions mount. Was it an accident that killed her friends? Or murder?
Now, as winter transforms the ranch into a place of blinding, dangerous storms, a series of horrific murders, killings that suggest a raging animal and defy solution by the local police, draw ever closer to MaryAnne and her young family.
(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:12:00 -0400)
A telephone rining in the night signals the beginning of a journey into fear as Maryanne Carpenter, newly separated and struggling to raise her two children alone, hears the shocking news: two thousand miles away, her friends the Wilkensons are suddenly, inexplicably dead, their only child, Maryanne's godchild, abruptly orphaned.… (more)
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text:
- Binoculars
- Spotting Scopes
- Tripods & Mounts
- Monoculars & More
- Hot Deals
Sales / Product Support
Returns / Repairs
Phase correction is a set of coatings on the prism glass of roof prism binoculars that keeps light in correct color phases. These coatings are only needed on roof prism binoculars to enhance resolution, contrast, and color fidelity.
The top half of this image shows the benefits of phase correction.
Our Eagle Optics professionals are available to answer your questions at 1-800-289-1132 or email@example.com.


text:
Two ships with sophisticated equipment for searching underwater zeroed in Friday on a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean in a desperate hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet's black boxes, whose batteries will soon run out.
An arduous weeks-long hunt has not turned up a single piece of wreckage, which could have led the searchers to the plane and eventually to its black boxes containing key information about the flight. But the searchers have apparently decided to make a direct attempt to find the devices, whose batteries last about a month.
Malaysia Airlines MH370 search ops given greater thrust
A relative of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 cries after attending a video conference with the Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines officials from Kuala Lumpur, at the Lido Hotel in Beijing. The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 resumed, even as senior Australian officials warned that bad weather and a lack of reliable information were seriously impeding efforts to locate the plane's wreckage.(Reuters)
Two ships with equipment that can hear the black boxes' pings were slowly making their way along a 240-kilometer (150-mile) route that investigators are hoping may be close to the spot Flight 370 entered the water after it vanished March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.
But the head of the joint agency coordinating the search acknowledged that the search area was essentially just a best guess _ and noted that time was running out for search crews to find the coveted data recorders.
The locater beacon will last about a month before it ceases its transmissions _ so we're now getting pretty close to the time when it might expire,'' Angus Houston said.
The Australian navy ship Ocean Shield, which is dragging a towed pinger locator from the U.S. Navy, and the British navy's HMS Echo, which has underwater search gear on board, were looking for the black boxes in an area that investigators' settled on after analyzing hourly satellite pings the aircraft gave off after it disappeared. That information, combined with data on the estimated speed and performance of the aircraft, led them to that specific stretch of ocean, Houston said.
The area of highest probability as to where the aircraft might have entered the water is the area where the underwater search will commence,'' he said. ``It's on the basis of


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At least the women are kicking azz!!!!
Score update?
Just in case you didn't know... I'm a girl.
Half 28-13
Bill looks sharp in a bow tie. Team looks very athletic and has gone with a man defense.
Also, Medders is doing a great color - she sounds like a pro.
Last edited by BenEClone; 12-05-2007 at 07:46 PM.
Reason: update
Weve got a pretty good football conference, and weve got a pretty good conference overall. Were still walking around with our heads held high and our chest out, about that. Paul Rhoads
Ross is just killing them inside.
Impressive half-time stat - can this be right?
Turnovers EIU - 9 ISU - 1
yes now they have 10
score again?
I have to leave to go to my D league West Des Moines basketball game (undoubtedly I will vent my frustrations) so someone else will have to give updates.
Come on Sisters..four more 3's please. (I've got 15K riding on the girls getting more than 5 threes. )
32-21 Clones
Ladies throwing up a lot of threes early in the shot clock. We need to get back to the post.
How many 3's so far?
Originally Posted by C.John
Come on Sisters..four more 3's please. (I've got 15K riding on the girls getting more than 5 threes. )
Please shoot the 3s!!!!!!!!!
Originally Posted by ISUFan22
How many 3's so far?
2 of 10 so far.
34-21 now.
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The winning "green," affordable "L Prize" bulb is on the market. It costs $50.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government last year announced a $10 million award, dubbed the "L Prize," for any manufacturer that could create a "green" but affordable light bulb.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the prize would spur industry to offer the costly bulbs, known as LEDs, at prices "affordable for American families."
There was also a "Buy America" component. Portions of the bulb would have to be made in the United States.
The winning bulb is on the market.
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The price: $50.
Retailers said the bulb, made by Philips, is likely to be too pricey to have broad appeal. Similar LED bulbs are less than half the cost.
"I don't want to say it's exorbitant, but if a customer is only looking at the price, they could come to that conclusion," said Brad Paulsen, merchant for the light-bulb category at Home Depot, the largest U.S. seller of light bulbs.
How the expensive bulb won a $10 million government prize meant to foster energy-efficient affordability is one of the curiosities that arises as the country undergoes a massive, mandated turnover from traditional incandescent lamps to more energy-efficient ones.
Energy legislation signed by President George W. Bush in 2007 made it illegal to sell inefficient 100-watt incandescents this year; the sales of traditional 75-watt incandescents will be prohibited next year; 60-watt incandescents will go after that.
When replacing a bulb, consumers must now buy energy-efficient incandescents, compact fluorescent bulbs and LEDs, or light-emitting diode bulbs.
The L Prize was meant to ease this transition by enticing manufacturers to create affordable bulbs to replace the most common type, the traditional 60-watt bulb.
A Philips spokesperson declined to talk in detail about the bulb or its price because the product has yet to be formally launched. It is expected to hit stores within weeks and is available online.
But the spokesperson said the L Prize bulb costs more because, as the contest required, it is even more energy-efficient, running on 10 watts instead of 12.5 watts. It is also reportedly brighter, renders colors better and lasts longer.
Still, the contest set price goals. According to L Prize guidelines, manufacturers were "strongly encouraged to offer products at prices that prove cost-effective and attractive to buyers." The target retail price, including rebates from utilities, was to be $22 in the first year, $15 in the second year and $8 in the third year.
Energy Department officials defended the award, saying they expect the cost of the L Prize bulbs to drop over time.
Officials added that they are working with utilities to provide rebates for consumers. But existing rebates, which max out at about $10, are too small to take a big slice out of the $50 price tag. The typical 60-watt bulb, an old-fashioned energy hog, can cost as little as $1.
"Are there many consumers who will say a $50 bulb is affordable? I don't think so," said one retailer familiar with the new bulbs.
In many ways, the L Prize may have been irrelevant. Other manufacturers offer LED bulbs for far less than the L Prize bulb.
For example, at Home Depot, Lighting Science Group, under the EcoSmart label, offers a bulb for $23.97. It is assembled in Mexico. Another Philips LED bulb on sale costs $24.97. It was made in China.


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Taoism, also spelled "Daoism," is an indigenous Chinese philosophy and religion that advocates a return to a simpler life that is in harmony with nature. The harmony of nature is understood as being the "Tao," or "the way," and is symbolized by the Yin Yang symbol, the balancing of opposites that is at the heart of all life. Taoist funeral customs express a respect for nature, and involve the performance of rituals passed down from antiquity.
Believers chant scriptures for the dead during a Taoist funeral. According to the Daoist Culture Centre, chanting scriptures relieves the spirit from suffering in darkness after death. The "Book of the Jade Emperor," the "Book of the Three Officials" and the "Book of Salvation," which are Taoist religious texts, are often read from during funeral ceremonies.
Taoists also perform a litany before the gods, asking forgiveness for the sins of the departed, and for the gods to grant the deceased a place in heaven or a good reincarnation. Believers may perform the ritual for family members themselves, or ask Taoist monks to perform this ritual for them.
Water and Land Rituals
The most elaborate and longest litany performed by Taoists for the dead is the Water and Land Ritual, which can last as long as eight days. This ritual pays respect to the opposites making up the universe. During the ritual, Taoists pay respect to the spirits in heaven above and the earth and water below, and also pray to deliver the spirit of the dead from suffering in the afterlife.
Lighting Lanterns
Lanterns are lit in Taoist funeral ceremonies to light the way of the departed to heaven. Lanterns may be arranged according to the pattern of the sun and stars on a Taoist altar, to show the deceased's spirit the way to the afterlife by casting light into the darkness. Taoists also place a lantern or oil lamp at the feet of the deceased to light the path after death. Taoists also light water lanterns as part of the funeral ceremony, as they believe that the spirit must pass a dark river to cross over to the afterlife -- paper lanterns with lit candles are placed onto a board, which in turn is placed on the water. If the lantern floats away without turning over, it is a good sign for the spirit.
Photo Credits
- Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images


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Preparing For The Next Disaster
July 3, 2013
A little more than a year ago, West Virginia was struck by devastating straight-line winds that left residents in nearly every county without electricity for a time — some of them for more than a......
Only government could be so incompetent!
"In the event of a power outage and/or natural disaster, please use this E-system to contact us. The E-system relies on internet connectivity and a source of electricity."
Like the idiots at NASA who screwed up Hubble or the morons who failed to account for the metric system and who lost a $350 million satellite, government is full of dolts who have no common sense, no sense of urgency and no accountability.
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Athletes from across the state arrived in Bozeman Saturday morning for the first Bridger Crossfit Showdown at the Bridger Crossfit West facility.
As the whistle sounded and the clock began ticking, competitors began their quest to see who would be the fittest man and woman in Montana.
"We had over one hundred competitors today," said Bridger Crossfit athlete and event organizer Meriah Mcleish. "I'm always a little nervous. It's only my second year running it on my own. It's a new facility so some of the logistics were new but I think it worked pretty well."
There were five workouts in the day the athletes had to compete in with the best of group reaching the fifth and final workout titled, The Fight Gone Bad. The Fight consisted of 3 rounds each exercise a minute long. Each competitors began with one minute of continuous wall balls, then rotating to sumo deadlift high pulls, followed by twenty inch box jumps, push press and finally rows. That was the end of round one before they jumped right back into walls balls to begin the second round.
"Fight Gone Bad. It's just one of those you just got to go and grind it out and that's right up my alley," said Billings competitor Bri Sands.
"That Fight Gone Bad. That's not really my favorite style of workout," said Bidger competitor Mac Curran.
Obviously very differing opinions from every athlete as each holds their own set of strengths and weaknesses. What made it more interesting is that those two competitors were the winners in the final round. Bri and Mac were the leaders heading into the RX final and were able to hold on to their lead to secure a victory in the finale. They both said that the support from the other athletes and fans at the showdown helped push them to the top spot on the podium.
"Whether you're coming in first place or you're coming in last place, you're still gonna get that applause and that support from the community," said Mac.
"You're around a bunch of people and you have the crowd screaming and pushing you a little bit more," Bri said as she smiled.
"Bozeman, Montana, and just the crossfit community in general is so great," said Meriah. "They're so supportive of each other."
One big question I had for these athletes was how do you celebrate after such a grueling event.
"Sleep!" Mac immediately said. "That's the way of celebrating because that last WOD (workout of the day) took it out of me!"
"Hopefully get a burger and maybe another beer," Bri said as she laughed
With the first showdown now in the books, Meriah already has some ideas as to how to make the next Showdown even better.
"It may be a few more people in there," she said. "I've got to get creative and see what I can plot for them. I try to surprise them if I can. It's all about the unknown and unknowable and that's what makes it such a good time."


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Rocco DiSpirito RecipesSee more Rocco DiSpirito content
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These Pigs in a Blanket from Rocco DiSpirito have fewer calories than the traditional version.
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Chef Rocco Dispirito's healthier take on a picnic classic.
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Chef Rocco Dispirito remakes this classic recipe by cutting out more than half the calories.
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From Now Eat This! come completely guilt-free, diet-friendly brownies.
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Chef Rocco's guilt-free fried chicken recipe from Now Eat This.
- Turkey Corn Tacos with Fresh Salsa and Beans
Blame Chef Rocco if you can't stop craving these tacos!
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Rocco shows how to make this Southern favorite, without the fat.
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Enjoy a homemade pizza with significantly less fat and calories than the usual pie.
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A Thanksgiving favorite you can feel good about eating.
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Dip your turkey in Rocco's healthier gravy recipe.
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This photo was taken a few days ago. Yesterday was spent at anchor and by the afternoon it got downright windy. I put on the wind generator as the batteries had gone down quite a bit due to all the computer and other electrical use over the last day or two. It remained windy all evening and into the night and now we are at around 70% capacity in the batteries so we've got plenty for another day or two, not including any solar energy that comes. The wind last night blew out most of the humidity and heat out of the boat so we got to enjoy one of the only bug free, cool evenings Tropical Dreamer has experienced in a long time. It was great. No fans needed. I even pulled my blanket over me this morning, which is something I haven't done in months. I think it will gradually become more and more comfortable during the night and then the day as the fall creeps up on us. Pity Jodi is leaving in a day or so and she won't get to experience that. Well, she'll have a similar cooling down in Tucson. Anne slept out on deck last night and enjoyed the breeze, which is unusual for her as she has pretty much always come inside the cabin at night. The downside to the breeze is some rocking and rolling, which I kind of like anyway, especially when I'm sleeping in the forpeak, my cozy little cocoon. We had a pleasant relaxing day yesterday. After coffee and morning chat we took the dogs for a walk through town and over the hill to this incredible beach that was almost 360 degrees. The dogs had a great time and Jodi and I met this beautiful young woman from England who is summering here with her parents and the family dog they brought from overseas. We bought a fresh baked sweet white bread and ate it along the way and then made sandwiches for lunch on the boat later on. The nice gentleman at the grocery let Jodi use his phone to make a reservation to fly out from Treasure Key to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow. We will either cruise there today or she can take a ferry tomorrow. It's not that far either way. We enjoyed a spectacular sunset on the boat with some nice vintage Phil Collins music and then ended the evening with a dog walk around town in the misting rain and pizza at Sundowners, a local bar and grill type place where I spent some time chatting with a local I met there last night. Then we took the dingy with the dogs in the dark to the sailboat, navigating by the path of shimmering light produced by the anchor light. All in all a great day in the Bahamas. I have to admit there are still times each day when I feel compelled to come home, but there are also times each day where I feel I want to continue much farther and a lot of in between. Day by day. Week by week. It will end when it ends whether that be sooner or later. Regardless, it has been a unique and full on adventure.
I think my favorite stop so far in the Bahamas has been an uninhabited island in the way north called Double Breasted Cay (pronounced key). It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been and I've been to some pretty far out spectacular places. We have been alternating from islands with settlements to uninhabited islands, ideally those with nice beaches for the dogs. There is nothing happier than a golden retriever playing in the clear, cool, shallow white sand beaches here in the Bahamas. Sometimes the heat and humidity and mozzies get us down, but compared to what I experienced trekking down the east coast of the US in July and August, it feels cooler and more comfortable to me here. Electric fans help considerably. This morning I am actually chilly as it starts to become light while Jodi has her fan going full blast. It's all on your point of view and attitude is everything out here. A moment can be comfortable and enjoyable or miserable depending on how the mind handles it. I must say I'm really enjoying myself these days but I give a lot of credit to the people who are cruising around the world for really long periods as they really have to endure hardship from time to time. Living on a boat for years - it takes a special type of person.
It's lobster season in the Bahamas and most of the men we've encountered seem to be fishermen this time of year. They dive down and capture these with spear guns (I purchased one for $50 but haven't used it to kill anything yet) along with conch, a large sea mollusk. Grouper is also a popular fish. We had a number of lobster which we bought and traded for but quickly tired of them. They're not like Maine lobsters and neither Jodi nor I are huge fans anyway. We've also tried cracked conch, which is a lot like fried clams but with much bigger strips. That was pretty good. Overall, I can't say the Bahamas food is out of this world, but we've enjoyed trying things and I'm sure there's a lot more to experience. A fisherman gave me a huge grouper and then cut it into fillets for us and that was quite tasty pan fried. Between the food we're finding and the food we're making, we are still eating fine.
I would have to say that the highlight of the Bahamas so far for me is the people. Yea, the water is clear to the bottom and the sea life is wonderful (we saw huge starfish at our last anchorage - we had to keep the dogs off of them - and sea turtles just swimming along in the water) and the colors of the sea of abaco are amazing when the light hits them. But the people have been so friendly and generous to us. Where I come from people, especially strangers, are kind of mean to each other. People don't connect with each other unless they've gotten to know each other for a long long time. Here people are much more willing to chat with visitors. I've learned so much about the culture of the Bahamas from the locals. As you can see from the picture, the dogs are a huge hit with the kids and they love walking them while we tour a new island.
09/24/2008, Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas
After a week or more of cruising the Abacos, Bahamas from West End until here I finally found another internet connection. What a trip so far. I am fine, the dogs are fine, Jodi is fine although getting tired of living on the boat. The scenery is spectacular. The people have been so friendly and kind. It's not all fun and games cruising out here, but what an experience. I'll see if I can get this to post and then try and upload a few more pictures and blurbs.
I'm presently in the screened sailboat typing with too much incandescent and florescent light but enjoying it nonetheless knowing that this cocoon is almost mozzie proof. Jodi brought a kick-ass oscillating 12 volt fan and I have a smaller but quieter fan and between the two fans and the screened in portholes, we are hopefully in for a quiet, comfortable, and bug free night. The sunset tonight was as beautiful as the one last night except that we experienced it from the beach. I spent most of this afternoon on Skype talking and video chatting with my parents, siblings, Aunt Rhoda, and Guy. Amazing how the internet connection here (at least 2000 feet from shore) is better than anything my verizon card could produce in the US, and for free. Tomorrow we head onto the banks and to our next destination, whatever that turns out to be.
After walking the dogs on the beach this morning we went to the marina to check it out and to call home to let my parents know we arrived safely. While there we each grabbed a clandestine hot shower which felt wonderful. Then we put the dogs inside the sailboat and headed out just the humans to walk to the local settlement. It was hot and humid and we soon tired. We caught a ride into "town" and had a great lunch at a local restaurant. West West End village isn't much to speak of. It seemed mostly run down and there wasn't a lot happening that we could see. We walked most of the way back to the marina and caught another ride with a boat owner before it became too arduous. Our plan is to enjoy the afternoon and evening here and then head out across the banks tomorrow morning. Don't know when I'll have an internet connection again but I'll update when I do - maybe once more before we leave tomorrow.
It was a bit hot and muggy last night and some mozzies found their way into TD even though we are hundreds of yards from shore. Screens tonight. The water, oh my goodness, it is everything they say and more. You can see right down to the bottom. You can see fish. Most incredibly, the colors. Blues, turquoises, light greens. My photos can't truly express this beauty. And the quiet and the warm breeze and the nice people... and the unsecured and surprisingly fast wireless internet that transmits this far from the marina, we are blessed.
09/16/2008, West End, Bahamas
About 1/2 into the passage the seas calmed way down to mostly less than 2 feet and we cruised the remainder of the 11 hour voyage in relative comfort. No problems to speak of. People speak of the cobalt blue intensity of the gulf stream but you have to see it to understand it. So beautiful. We arrived with plenty of light and I went to clear customs while Jodi took the dogs to play on the beautiful beach. I cleared with ease and soon we were all back on the sailboat enjoying drinks and a spectacular sunset.
I am writing from the anchorage outside the marina in West End, Bahamas. We arrived safely after a fairly pleasant crossing. It rained just as we were about to depart in the middle of the night so everything was wet and clammy as we made our final preparations. The waves got pretty large as we left the inlet and went to sea. The rolling of the sailboat made me a little nervous but I determined to press on and after about an hour the seas started to calm. This shot is about 2.5 hours into the journey as the sun came up over the Atlantic.


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I believe that America needs a war to truly purge the divide that has arisen since this election.
"Wars solve problems," as my history teacher once told my class.
What I'm talking about is a war much like WWII, where we were deliberately attacked and the entire country rallied to victory. Political divisions were set aside as everyone united to destory "evil."
I think this probably belongs under the patriotism topic, as everyone who served in that war was a true patriot. Unlike other wars since then when the military was used as pawns in a political chess game, filling only some politican's perverted goals.
Contrary to popular beliefs, the Gulf War wasn't for money (although that was a secondary objective). The main reason was because, as a member nation of the UN, one of our fellow nations was being threatened. Bush felt that we needed to step up and defend our "friend" in their time of need. He was fufilling one of the charters of the UN, the one that says that members shall look out for each other.
He was trying do what the League of Nations failed to do during the Rhinelands conflict.
I'm still undecided as to where the Gulf War shall go. I don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
- Neil Harrison