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If you are trying to buy a car and you have bad credit, then welcome to the club, the majority of American's actually have bad credit instead of good credit. If you don't have enough cash to a buy a decent car, then you may be looking to finance the purchase by getting an auto loan, the problem is, sometimes getting a car loan when you have less than perfect credit, can be somewhat challenging at times. But you will be happy to know that consumers that have bad credit get approved for financing on an everyday basis.
Now, before getting any type of loan, you should first get familiar with the process so that you have a clear understanding of what you are signing up for. In most cases, if you are financing a car, you will not get it at a bargain price, because there are fees associated with the loan that will be added to the financed amount as part of your approval. The types of lenders that lend money to consumers with bad credit are called sub-prime lenders.
With sub-prime lenders you will not get the best rates, in fact, you will definitely get a rate much higher rate, than what you see advertised on television for buying new cars, and this happens for two reasons. Used car rates are higher than new vehicle loan rates, regardless of credit history and then if you have bad credit, you are also considered to be at a higher risk of default, so lenders will charge higher interest rates.
These lenders will typically offer the following:
- Longer loan terms to help bring the payments down
- They may request a larger down payment
- The loan may have a balloon payment due at the end of the term.
It's important that you have realistic expectations when applying for financing for a used vehicle, especially if you have less than perfect credit and a small down payment.


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After the tragic Dodgers Series, the Mets finally saw their offensive need and did something about it.
Losing the first game against the Reds, Mets had to push the red button.
Mets traded Outfielder Ryan Church for another outfielder from the most unlikely source.
Ex-Brave Jeff Francour is the newest Met, and has made his presence felt.
In his debut, he drove in 2 RBI s against the Cinncinati Reds.
The Mets won the next two games and won a series for a change.
He has not only given the Mets the spark they've needed for the past few weeks, but a ray of hope after the All-Star break.
Talking about the All-Star break, David Wright, K-Rod, and Johan Santana have all been voted in and have represented the Mets well.
Now in order for the Mets to avoid the annual September choke, if the get the chance, I have a couple of suggestions...
They can reach the playoffs, and the as bad as the Mets been they're only a few games off the NL East PHillies. Theres hope Met fans, barely, but theres hope.

subset: commoncrawl


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Sky's Cozy Big Boy Room
Name: Sky (2 years old)
Location: Seattle, WA
After transitioning Sky to a twin bed earlier this year, his room called for a facelift on a budget - something less "baby" and more "boy".
His room is comfortable, gender neutral, and a mix of old and new. My favorite thing about this room is that we can rest in bed together and read stories before bed...something that was not possible when he was still in a crib. Many of the items were purchased new or gently used on eBay, Etsy, or antique shops for a homey/lived in feel.
Thanks, Emily! Readers, visit Emily at Peck Life.
(Images: Emily/Peck Life)


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well folks….sometimes it is just called for to have an old fashioned pizza throw down. In this particular instance, it was Mellow Mushroom….
And our SUPER nice waitress who was all about the blog!
Mellow Mushroom is pizza, plain and simple. Sure they have salads, sandwiches…etc, but if I am eating at the Mellow, I am going to SPLURGE!
They are famous for their crazy pizza names/creations….so we decided to get *4*
No, not four pizzas. Two individual pies that were half a specialty pizza each.
- Kosmic Karma – Pesto Swirl, Tomatoes, Cheese
- Hot Potato – Sliced Potatoes (!!!), Ranch, Cheese
- BBQ Chicken – BBQ chicken, BBQ Sauce, Cheese, and Bacon
- Classic White – garlic and oil based with fresh mozz and roma tomatoes
I'm gonna go ahead and let the pictures speak for themselves…
(you know it is a good sign when the pizza makes the pan beneath it disappear)
The best part of essentially getting 4 different pizzas was getting to enjoy mini slices of all of them!
There was SO much pizza domination, that we ended up with an entire (and crazy looking) pizza for leftover domination! (anyone with me on cold leftover pizza being as good/better than hot and fresh?)
I don't think there will be any issues finishing this cutie over the next couple of hours…..errrr…days. 🙂
Whats YOUR favorite pizza?


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Model: HP Officejet 590 All-in-One, Version 1.0
Operating System: (Note: might work with other versions of this os.)
File: 590en31.EXE
ECP Mode Must be ON! (Extended Capabilities Port)
If you plan to connect your HP OfficeJet or HP Printer/Scanner/Copier to your PC via the PC's parallel port, your computer's parallel port must be set to ECP mode to operate properly under Windows 2000. ECP mode allows greater I/O (communications) capabilities through your parallel port and is enabled via the computer's BIOS. Restart your PC, and in most cases, you will be prompted to hit F1, F2, or DEL to Enter your computer's BIOS or "Setup" program. (Check your PC's documentation or vendor's web site for more info).
Once you have entered SETUP, locate the configuration section for your PARALLEL PORT and modify it to read ECP. If ECP is not a choice, use a variation of ECP, such as ECP & EPP, or ECP DMA1. Save changes and reboot. Windows 2000 should recognize this and list the Item ECP Printer port in the Device Manager of the Control Panel/System applet under "Ports". If your PC does not support ECP, it will likely fall below the minimum system requirements for Windows 2000. It is also recommended that you install Microsoft Service Pack 1 for Windows 2000. Please visit Microsoft's web site, www.windowsupdate for more information.
For Windows 95/98, this is NOT a new driver. It is the same driver that was delivered in the box with your product. You need only download this driver if you were directed by your local Call Center to do so, or if the software was missing or damaged in the box when you received your product.
Download and install instructions:
Download the Driver: Download the driver by clicking on it. It will download onto your PC's hard drive. You may be prompted for the location you would like to download the driver to (if so, placing it in the C:/OJ500/OJ500 Series directory is recommended). Otherwise, your internet browser will put it at the location that is set as its default.
Expand the Driver: Go to your hard drive and find the file that you downloaded. Double-click on the file and it will automatically uncompress itself into a directory.
Launch the Driver: Locate the OJ500/OJ500 Series directory, open up disk1 by double-clicking on it, then double-click on the file named setup.exe. This will begin the driver installation process. Follow the installer directions to install the driver.
Delete the Unneeded Files: After the driver has been installed you may delete the driver file that you originally downloaded, as well as the directory called OJ500/OJ500 Series. This will free up space on your hard drive. It is also okay to keep the OJ500/OJ500 Series directory, and its contents, if you feel you have sufficient hard drive space available and wish to keep a backup copy of the printer driver.
You Are Ready to Print!


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About Provence Beyond
The world's oldest, largest (and best) website about Provence
Provence Beyond is about the South of France, to prepare for a trip or for armchair visitors. Beyond is about the places beyond the normal tourist attractions of Provence and the French Riviera. The small perched villages and sites of the "back country". Mountains, gorges, river valleys, lakes and wilderness parks.
About Beyond | Beyond History | Birth of Beyond | Contact | Privacy |
A private, one-man website, from hobby to full-time activity
ProvenceBeyond (aka "Beyond The French Riviera") is a completely private Web, and for the most-part unfunded. Beyond went on-line in Oct 1995, as a small personal project to share our passion with back-country villages and nature of Provence. The web grew, expanded and improved, until it took on a life of its own. Beyond is not part of any government, group, organization, town or tourist office. We started out as a hobby, but since we've grown (accidentally) to a full-time occupation, we're trying to make Beyond at least pay for its costs.
We have received comments that Beyond is too big to have been created by one person. Well, we've been at it a long time since 1995. Oftimes working night and day for days, or weeks, on end.
Beyond Information is First-Hand
If you're reading it in Beyond, we've been there, we've seen it and sampled it, we've photographed it, and we're talking about our own impressions. We do include reference information from outside sources, such a population and historical facts (we weren't there ourselves in the Middle Ages). We occasionally include partial information from Beyond Readers and even the Wikipedia now and again, and we're careful to acknowledge each instance of "outside sources".
While we make an effort not to "bad mouth" the places we like the least, we do give an honest view of our impressions and a visitor's view of the places we visit.
Provence Beyond has information about ...
How to find places (maps) and how to get there (travel).
History - of a region that was old when the Romans arrived.
Provencal gastronomy, local recipes and food dictionaries.
French and regional sports: cycling and petanque, climbing and diving, ...
French wines, with explanations and information.
Photos are All Original, All Beyond
All of the tens of thousands of photos in Provence Beyond are original, personal photographs of Provence and the South of France.
The quality varies, partly due to circumstances of the moment and partly due to the progress of photographic technology. We began with film cameras and converting film to digital, then progressed through the very first, poor-quality digital cameras to the current, excellent mid-range digital single-lens-reflex cameras.
We sacrifice some quality to keep the images small enough to allow faster page-loading times.


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I'm beyond honored and delighted to have been able to cook for the Cinco de Mayo celebration at the White House with Chef José Andrés and his incredible team from Oyamel. I had the opportunity to meet President Barack Obama, take an official photo, and chat with him. I was almost speechless! (You know that's very uncommon for me.)
Watch the President's remarks right here…
You may also see it on the White House Blog, click here.
To read the President's full remarks, click here.


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Instead of raises, state employees would get a one-time $250 bonus this year under a proposal advanced by House budget negotiators Thursday morning.
House members of a six-legislator conference committee on the budget also proposed $500,000 in grants to the Department of Commerce to promote world trade and information technology.
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The offers came as the committee tries to hammer out details of an approximately $14.6 billion budget.
The talks are being held in the wake of news that April income that fell about $93 million short of projections.
Overall this year, the state has taken in about $480 million less than last year.
Gov. Sam Brownback blames the national economic climate and President Obama's policies for the shortfall.
Democrats say the blame lies with deep income tax cuts made by Brownback and the conservative Republican-dominated Legislature.
Brownback originally proposed a 1.5 percent raise for employees.
The bonuses proposed in the conference committee would be in lieu of raises.
Under the proposal, state employees with at least one year on the job would get an extra $250 in their pay in December, conferees said.
The bonuses would cost the state $11.3 million overall, $4.5 million of that from the state general fund.
The proposed grants to the Commerce Department would be $250,000 each.
The global trade grants would be used to help market Kansas products to the world.
"We make a lot of fine products in this state," but small manufacturers have difficulty navigating world markets, said Rep. Gene Suellentrop, R-Wichita and chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
The other grant would go to help Kansas companies catch up with Missouri firms in information technology, said Rep. Marvin Kleeb, R-Overland Park and vice chairman of Appropriations.
Wyandotte and Johnson County firms would be the prime beneficiaries, Kleeb said.


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We inspire girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.
Girls on the Run® is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.
Meeting twice a week in small teams, we teach life skills through dynamic, interactive lessons and running games. The curriculum is taught by certified Girls on the Run coaches and includes three parts: understanding ourselves, valuing relationships and teamwork and understanding how we connect with and shape the world at large.
Running is used to inspire and motivate girls, encourage lifelong health and fitness, and build confidence through accomplishment. Important social, psychological, and physical skills and abilities are developed and reinforced throughout the program. At each season's conclusion, the girls and their running buddies complete a 5k running event which gives them a tangible sense of achievement as well as a framework for setting and achieving life goals. The resultmaking the seemingly impossible, possible, and teaching girls that they can.
Click here to visit the Girls on the Run International site to find cool GOTR gear!
Please enter our council code PA-2-256 when purchasing so that Girls on the Run York will receive a percentage of proceeds!


text:
Page content
January 20, 2014
An Unforgettable Colonial Williamsburg Getaway Awaits with Two Affordable PackagesColonial Williamsburg inspires romance and family fun this winter, inviting guests to enjoy the season's offerings in Virginia's colonial capital. Guests can learn about the role of 18th-century-style chocolate at R. Charlton's coffeehouse while exploring the Revolutionary City, discover "Threads of Feeling" and "Painters and Paintings in the Early American South" exhibitions at the art museums, savor scrumptious fare at one of the many restaurants or a historic tavern, or relax and restore at the spa after a busy holiday season. Two tempting packages make a winter escape effortless and affordable.
Couples looking for an intimate rejuvenating vacation can escape with the Couples Getaway Package. In addition to enjoying the hospitality of a Colonial Williamsburg hotel and complimentary admission passes, guests who choose this package receive a special treat upon arrival, ranging from champagne paired with strawberries and cream to an artisan microbrew and snacks basket. Starting at $115 per person, per night, the package includes:
• Two nights at one of the Colonial Williamsburg hotels,
• Daily breakfast at the hotel,
• Admission tickets to the Revolutionary City and art museums,
• A carriage ride for two through the city, and
• A getaway delight upon arrival.
For families planning a Colonial Williamsburg visit this winter, the Revolutionary Experience Package is a great option. Adults and kids alike can enjoy immersing themselves in the Revolutionary City, dining in 18th-century style at a historic tavern, or exploring the art museums. The two-night package starts at $79 per person per night and includes:
• Nightly accommodations at a Colonial Williamsburg hotel,
• Daily breakfast at the hotel, and
• Admission tickets to the Revolutionary City and art museums.
The package rates start at $79 per person per night for a two-night stay at the Williamsburg Lodge.
Both packages are available until April 10, 2014. More information is available at www.colonialwilliamsburg.com or by calling 855-296-6627.
Media Contact:
Prerana Swami
(212) 528-1691


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US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation lying again on Google search of my name:
They're at it again. Thanks to the Internet, smearing and lying one's way around for anti-Semitic and terrorist groups is just so easy. The latest google search under my name apparently leads to an image and link of a "cease and desist" letter from Huwaida Arraf's and Josh Ruebner's anti-Israel ISM propaganda campaign in Washington where they claim I misrepresented them. You see, these people are inveterate liars for Arab and particualrly Saudi money. I really don't like blogging. This site came into existence from what once was another anti-Israel activist's smear site called Lee Kaplan Watch. I sued the creator and collected monetary damages as well as this blog.
Anyhoo, the ISM gang thinks that by pushing their phony "cease and desist" letter up the ranks of the Google search that they can discredit me. Below is a reprint of my response to that letter. Feel free to email me at firstname.lastname@example.com if you wish to comment:
Lee Kaplan's Blog
Investigative journalism, foreign policy, Israel, Iraq, the Middle East, Homeland Security and the War on Terror. Exclusive material to read. News unseen in mainstream media but needed to know in a dangerous world.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation recently sent me a
"cease and desist" letter due to my exposure of them as part of
the ISM and how they will be holding another Jew hatefest at
George Mason University. You can read their letter at:
Below is my response:
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
P.O. Box 21539
Washington, DC 20009
RE: "Your cease and desist" letter:
Dear Sirs:
The article of mine, that appeared on The American Thinker web log, "George Mason University to Host Next ISM Conference" (http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/07/george_mason_university_to_hos.html) that the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation refers to, as written, is neither inaccurate nor defamatory, unless you consider the activities of your organization as defaming itself. I, on the other hand, consider your letter as a threat and attempt at intimidation to my rights of free speech.
The American people are not fools, but certain organizations do seek to fool them. When an organization such as yours presents itself as seeking "peace" but in fact supports and works closely with myriad organizations that openly advocate for war on and the destruction of the democratic and pluralistic state of Israel, I feel it is my journalistic duty to alert the public to these events.
Your claims notwithstanding on your website that you only seek to end the "occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem" are belied by both your organization's actions, as well as the actions and admitted positions of your own representative leadership and close affiliates as I will expose in this letter. I submit that your leadership and organization are guilty of something known as "lying by omission," or leaving out just enough information to convey a false impression while presenting a kernel of truth in a statement. In this regard, the authors of your letter, particularly Mr. Ruebner, do not mention they support unconditionally the Arab "Right of Return" in addition to the creation of a Palestinian state, a concept whereby 5 million Arabs would be allowed to move within Israel's 1949 borders so as to demographically overrun the Jewish population and dismantle the state. You can read more about Mr. Ruebner here:
(http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2111 ).
Responding to your bullet points:
Bullet point number 1:
You take issue with the statement that the International Solidarity Movement is "scheduling" your conference.
According to the personal explanation of Adam Shapiro, who Lee Kaplan personally interviewed at the 2003 Ohio State Divestment Conference and the husband of your chosen leader, Huwaida Arraf, both of whom are co-founders of the ISM, The International Solidarity Movement is the name used by the Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) when it operates in the West Bank and Gaza and is comprised of myriad anti-Israel groups (one of which is yours). The ISM and PSM are not official groups or corporations, but represent all of these groups working in unison-"solidarity" toward a common goal in opposing Israel's existence as a Jewish state and replacing it with Arab-dominated "Palestine." Among these groups are many who call themselves ISM, but also groups such as Al Awda, SUSTAIN, Students for Justice in Palestine, Women In Black, as well as the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
Shapiro explained that the ISM is an umbrella organization. As such, if one segment is closed down by the authorities, the others can continue operating. In addition, if one arm of the umbrella makes statements such as was done by Charlotte Kates (See: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=944)
who I believe is affiliated with your organization as well, and who stated that Israeli children are "fair game" for terrorist attacks, the others can deny she speaks for them. Hence, the fact this conference is an organizational meeting of the multiple layers of leadership of the ISM, be it under the name US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation or not, it is still an ISM organizational meeting according to the attendees. In fact, you bill it as a National Organizer's Conference meeting in solidarity to promote divestment against Israel, an ISM program.
By your own admission in your letter, your elected leader and President is in fact a self-admitted co-founder and current leader of the ISM, Huwaida Arraf, who has admitted she works in cooperation with Hamas. The Hamas charter calls for the annihilation of Israel as a Jewish state and the expulsion of all Jews from what is today the state of Israel. See: http://www.mideastweb.org/hamas.htm .
Nice company you keep.
Other individuals who belong to the ISM, yet curiously are also listed as members-at-large in your organization include Ms. Kates, Abe Greenhouse, Joseph Carr and others who have been exposed as higher level activists within the ISM.
Regarding earlier conferences held by your organization: (See: http://www.adl.org/Israel/israel_protest_calendar_2004.asp )
From an announcement of a conference held by your organization in Kansas City, Mo.
Saturday, November 13, 2004 - University of Missouri--Kansas City, Missouri
Regional Conference to "End the Occupation"
Sponsored by the U.S. Campaign to the End the Occupation and the International Solidarity Movement .
Citizens for Justice in the Middle East, a regional anti-Israel group based at the University of Missouri—Kansas City, is bringing the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, the International Solidarity Movement and other anti-Israel activists together for a regional conference devoted to changing U.S. policy toward Israel. The event will feature speakers who support divestment from Israel, the elimination of U.S. aid to Israel and contesting Israeli security measures. Notable speakers include Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies, Huwaida Arraf of ISM and the U.S. Campaign's Josh Ruebner.
I note the following statement from your own website about your first conference (see:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=29 ):
"Coordinating with the work of the ISM…" An activity your organization has done
since its alleged inception per your website.
Following are some of the activities of the ISM with whom you "coordinate":
(1) The ISM says openly that it has direct contacts with Foreign
Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) as defined by the U.S. State Department
(2) The ISM says openly that it recruits American college students in
the hope of getting them hurt or killed in confrontations with Israeli
military forces, for propaganda purposes (e.g. Rachel Corrie).
(3) An ISM affiliate (Al-Awda) have allegedly solicited acts of
terroristic violence on the Internet: specifically the suicide bombing
of Ariel Sharon's hospital room.
(4) The ISM has provided "safe house" assistance for actual terrorists.
(1) The International Solidarity Movement has direct contacts with
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorists. We direct your
attention to "Huwaida Arraf" on the Steering Committee of U.S. Campaign
to End the Occupation. Note that this is from their own Web site.
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/downloads/2006conferencereport.pdf says,
Current Steering Committee members of the US Campaign, followed by the
year in which their terms end, are:
* Huwaida Arraf (2007) - International Solidarity Movement
* Phyllis Bennis (2009) - Institute for Policy Studies
* Felicia Eaves (2009) - Black Voices for Peace
Now we have Huwaida Arraf's letter to the Washington Post (February 2007)
Eric Adler and Jack Langer disparaged the
International Solidarity Movement(ISM),a movement
that I co-founded in the spring of 2001
in the occupied territories of the West Bank,
the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem to help draw
attention to the human rights abuses suffered by
Palestinians as a result of Israel's occupation.
The ISM also is a resource for Palestinian nonviolent
resistance to the occupation. The ISM believes that
average civilians can bring about change, and it tries
to unite Palestinians, Israelis and other people in
nonviolent resistance to Israel's occupation policies.
When I "acknowledged" that the ISM
"cooperates with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,"
I was offering concrete examples of the ways
in which these groups were engaging in nonviolent resistance.
Both the ISM and the Palestine Solidarity Movement
advocate nonviolent resistance to Israel's human rights abuses
-- the ISM through organized action in the occupied territories
and the PSM by promoting international divestment from
companies that profit from occupation.
(2) The International Solidarity Movement recruits
American college students for the purpose of getting
them hurt or killed in confrontations with the
Israeli Defense Forces. This is what happened to
Evergreen College student Rachel Corrie in
March 2003. Two ISM members stated openly that
they had a motive for wanting her dead. While GMU
students are legal adults, is this an activity to
which GMU really wants to expose them?
"Recently, the Director of the Solidarity Movement,
George Rishmawi, explained to the San Francisco Chronicle
that the recruitment of American student volunteers
is useful to the Palestinian Movement because
'if some of these foreign volunteers get shot or
even killed, then the international media will
sit up and take notice.'"
Joseph Smith, a.k.a. Joseph Carr, who was present
when Corrie died, and whose highest priority was
apparently to take pictures, said
(see: http://www.freepalestinecampaign.org/Stranger%20article.htm)
"The spirit that she died for is worth a life.
This idea of resistance, this spirit of resisting
this brutal occupying force, is worth anything. And
many, many, many Palestinians give their lives for
it all the time. So the life of one international,
I feel, is more than worth the spirit of resisting
oppression." (Rachel Corrie's life, as opposed to his
own, of course.) Read more on Joseph Smith/Carr here:
A Hamas terrorist said openly that Rachel Corrie
was worth more dead than alive.
"'Her death serves me more than it served her,' said one
activist at a Hamas funeral yesterday.
'...Her death will bring more attention than
the other 2,000 martyrs.'" Making of a Martyr
by Sandra Jordan, Guardian Newspapers. Ms.Arraf,
your elected President, admits to working with Hamas.
(3)An ISM and US Camapign to End the Israeli Occupation
affiliate(Al-Awda) has allegedly solicited acts of terrorist
violence on the Internet: specifically the suicide bombing
of Ariel Sharon's hospital room.
A member of Al-Awda (Right of Return), an International Solidarity
Movement affiliate, allegedly posted a solicitation for a "martyr" to
bomb the Hadassah Hospital in Israel, where Ariel Sharon is being
treated for a stroke. (This was, incidentally, forwarded to law
enforcement when we saw it.)
From: raja chemayel
Sender: firstname.lastname@example.com
Mailing-List: list email@example.com
; contact email@example.com
Delivered-To: mailing list firstname.lastname@example.com
Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2006 19:35:29 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: [AL-AWDA] open letter to the next Suicide-Bomber
Reply-To: firstname.lastname@example.com
Open letter to
the next
Dear Abou el Fidda' ,
If you are next Martyr on the waiting list
get started and pack your heavy-stuff ,
kiss the hand of your mother
kiss goodbye you bothers and sisters
kiss the hand of your father
put on that heavy-jacket.......
Take the Express-Bus to Jerusalem-Central
and then take bus Nr. 17 which takes you to Haddasah
then step out at the Bus-Station called the :
"Hospital for War Criminal"
Show you Fake-Press-Card to the Security
and speak with an American-accent
walk slowly and do not attract attention......
Enter the main-Hall and walk straight to the VIP- elevator
tell them Mr. Wolf Blitzer has sent you.....!!
Go up to the seventh floor........
look for the room 714........ (intensive care)
and then slowly but surely hold on to that detonator
under your jacket.......
Once you reach that very-well-guarded-room # 714
stop and turn left.....
you will see a large "VIP-Waiting-Hall"
with the many Dignitaries from many countries
including ,unfortunatly, some Arab-countries......
who came to pay their respect to their dying-Hero.
Show again your fake-Press-Card and start
interviewing those "well-wishers".........
and ask them what made this man a Hero ??
and how come he became a "Man of Peace"
Then , order for yourself a cup of coffee,
sit down , rest and think for a while.......
If by then ,
you are still not convinced by the arguments you have heard
from those well wishers.....
then release that detonator !!
This man under intensive care will anyhow die,
with or without your suicide , my brother ,
your real enemies are
those who have called him a "Hero"
and could not convince you why.
( nor me)
Raja Chemayel
8th of Jan.06
Al Awda's founder, Mazen Qumsiyeh was quoted at the Duke ISM Conference as saying that Jews who live in Israel are "a disease" and "must all leave." Qumsiyeh
is on the steering committee for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
and, according to ex-PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat, Qumsiyeh is a former member of the PFLP, recognized as a terrorist group by the US State Department. He was also
denied tenure at Yale after sending out what was deemed an anti-Semitic email on
the universitys servers. See: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1158
(4) The ISM has provided "safe house" assistance for actual terrorists.
"Susan Barclay, the
ISM organizer deported by Israel after she hid Islamic Jihad terrorist
Shadi Sukiya in the ISM office in Jenin, told the Seattle Post
Intelligencer that, "she knowingly worked with representatives from
Hamas and Islamic Jihad— terrorist groups that sponsor suicide bombings
and exist, according to their charters, to demolish the Jewish state
entirely." (Seattle Post Intelligencer, Thursday March 20, 2003,
"Activist's death focuses spotlight on Mideast struggle," By Sam
Skolnik, Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter.)
"Days before a British suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt in
Mike's Place, a bar in suburban Tel Aviv, the bomber and an associate
took tea with members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a
pro-Palestinian group that promotes non-violent resistance to Israeli
"The immediate goal
of the ISM is to hamper the ability of the IDF to prevent terrorist
attacks on civilians." "The ISM sees itself as working in tandem with
the terrorist organizations: Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Al Aksa Martyrs
Brigade. Those organizations use violent means, while the ISM undertakes
such aggressive non-violent actions as blocking the progress of Israeli
soldiers on their way to arrest terrorists. The intention of the ISM in
these actions is to protect terrorists from interference by the IDF."
Paul LaRudee of Norcal ISM, another affiliate of your campaign, was arrested
and deported by Israel for suspected links to Hamas. LaRudee, who like Joseph Carr
has admitted to entering Israel more than once under an assumed name has boasted about sleeping in the bed of a suicide bomber and most recently was a human shield for the Hizballah in Lebanon during the last war. (See: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6233 )
The suggestion that people should view your conference as a Jew Hate Fest is accurate. As part of the Boycott Israel campaign, the Palestine Solidarity Movement, of which your organization is a part, held workshops identifying various Jewish-American organizations to be boycotted as well allegedly for their support of Israel. Since all groups and individuals participating at these conferences agree to the same points of unity and solidarity with the same goal, it certainly applies to your organization as well. I am aware the three of you, or at least two, who wrote the letter may be of Jewish descent, however, this does not mitigate activities that are targeted against Jews. The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were rounded up by the Nazis by the Jewish Police and many Jews were turned in by fellow Jews known as "Jew catchers" by the Nazis for money. In addition, you state your campaign is "committed to organizing an anti-racist framework and working to counteract manifestations of racism in all forms." This flies in the face of your chosen leaders willingness to work with Hamas as she has freely admitted to. We recommend you read the Hamas Charter. It specifies the annihilation of Jews in Israel and propagates the blood libel of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. If you were unaware, then would you please write us that you condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization that should be closed down and ask Ms. Arraf to resign as the "President" of your organization? In addition, I can find no condemnations of Jews in Israel being murdered via terrorism or suicide bombings on your website.
You state that your organization was not founded by Huwaida Arraf, but others in 2002. Can you produce for me corporate documents to that effect? Ms. Arraf herself announced the opening of your offices in Washington DC as well as your new website whereas your previous offices were in New York. Prior to your receiving nonprofit corporate status in 2006, were you ever a legal entity? Please send us proof of your incorporation as a legal entity in 2002. While you are at it, can you send me your foundation's grants records and other sources of funding
Your organization promotes divestments and boycotts of Jews in Israel through starving them out financially. These activities of yours and your ISM and associated anti-Israel allies result in 30% of Israel's children and the elderly going to bed hungry at night or forced to eat in soup kitchens. This is indeed hatred of Jews and the same tactic of economic boycotts of Jews was the first tactic of the Nazis in 1933 that ultimately led to the Holocaust. The code talk you use is fairly obvious and we at The American Thinker do not fall for it.
If someone using the same technique were to say Black people cannot live in Washington, DC where your offices are, yet does say they can live anywhere else in the world, and that they should be boycotted and starved until they leave, it does not make them any less racist against Black people. The same applies to your organization's alliances and support for a campaign to starve out, dispossess or even kill the Jews residing in Israel or in the disputed territories of the West Bank, while claiming you will embrace Jews who will help you dismantle the Jewish state.
One of your authorized representatives has openly spoken out for the destruction of Israel. Noura Erekat, who is listed on your website as an official "grassroots organizer"and legal advisor (see: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1307 )for your campaign sent another email out recently stating that all of Israel even within the 1948 armistice lines is "occupied" and should be dissolved and asks for volunteers to help her do so. See( http://www.stoptheism.com/?M=&T=200). Do you intend to force her resignation along with that of Ms. Arraf as a result these revelations? Mr. Erekat can also be viewed on You Tube at these addresses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw89UDZay4M&mode=related&search and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtsbZ8LZ0m8 where she refuses to condemn a call by Bin Laden to kill Jews and is introduced as your campaign's "legal advisor" (also listed as such on your website (see: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1307 ).
At the same time you mention Al Awda as a "member organization" of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. Al Awda advocates nothing less than the end of Israel. In addition, Al Awda was recently revealed to have connections to the Aryan Brotherhood,an anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi organization by me that resulted in UC Riverside canceling their "international" conference there. Do you intend to demand their removal from your "non-racist" organization? (See: http://184.108.40.206/search?q=cache:VmdIG-pddAEJ:www.al-awda.org/alert-eoc.html+US+CAMpaign+to+end+the+ISraeli+occupation+%2B+AL+Awda&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us ).
We also note that your elected President, Ms. Arraf, has spoken on behalf of the Council for the National Interest that is openly known to be anti-Semitic and run by Paul Findley.
Your organization has also opposed congressional action to try and stop Palestinian terrorism: (see: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/modinput4.php?modin=92 ).
Your website was indeed registered to a Nadil Ghaith from the UAE at the same time Ms. Arraf announced the organization's offices were opening in Washington DC in 2005. Originally registered at www.endtheoccupation.com , (see: http://www.omdurman.org/columns/NidalGhaith.doc ) your organization deleted that domain name on April 7, 2005, only days before creating the new domain name www.endtheoccupation.org with Radical Designs (see: http://www.expiresoft.com/domains/available/2007-04-07-288.htm ) Mr. Ghaith lists his residence in the UAE but has also turned up in Jerusalem. If your organization was originally involved with someone in the UAE who registered the domain name, and also represents the interests of the Palestinian Authority, then you definitely should be registered as foreign agents. I speculated in my article that Suleiman Ghaith, a top level al Qaeda operative, may belong to the same clan as Nadil Ghaith .
You deny that your organization undertakes strident attempts at promoting a boycott of American Jewish groups and to economically cripple Jewish businesses. Yet on your website you single out the Estee Lauder company, Ron Lauders' business for a boycott among several other American Jewish-owned businesses. Your "member organizations" (your own description) also held a seminar at Duke University given by Mr. Abe Greenhouse outlining American Jewish businesses to be boycotted or even infiltrated as part of a campaign against Israel.
You state in your letter to us that you respect international law, yet do not condemn terrorism against Israelis. International law per Resolution 242 does not make the Jewish communities in the West Bank illegal, yet you recommend boycotting Jews and Jewish businesses in the US and abroad to force these Jews to lose their homes as somehow being necessary per international law. Eugene Rostow who helped author the resolution has stated the Israeli communities in the West Bank and Gaza are not illegal per his own resolution. We were wondering where you all earned your degrees in International Law and if you were aware of these discrepancies?
We note you take exception to our stated opinion that the activities of your organization only serve to make the Israeli/Palestinian dispute an unending affair. We note that in his official capacity as a leader in the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Josh Ruebner is mentioned as being on the steering committee of Leslie Cagan's United for Peace and Justice Coalition (see: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=1757 ). UFPJ is in fact the revamped Communist Party USA (see: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6166 ) and Mr. Rubener seems to have had more than a passing association with over the last several years. The Communist Party USA platform is against the existence of Israel and its replacement by an Arab- dominated state called Palestine.
The above information, merely scratching the surface, reveals both the inaccuracies of your letter to me and facts that you do not seem to want the American people to know.
Finally, your website and organization falsely states that Israel is an "apartheid state" like South Africa used to be. Apartheid in South Africa was based on racial laws, Blacks were forced to live in certain areas and had fewer civil rights than Whites. This is not the case with Israel where all minorities have equal civil rights by law. Israeli Arabs enjoy the same civil rights as Jews and even have affirmative action programs giving them more rights than some Israeli Jews. At the same time, in the Palestinian Authority it is a death sentence to sell land to a Jew and Sharia Law is part of the constitution the same as in Saudi Arabia or Iran. While 20% of Israelis are Arabs with equal rights, the Palestinian Authority insists the West Bank and Gaza must be "Jew-free." That is the only true apartheid going on in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, and your organizations twisting of these facts only further reveal an attempt at deception among those whose opinions you seek to sway against Israel. We at American Thinker find your racist attitudes against Jews residing in the Middle East objectionable and reveal deception in your alleged anti-racist platform.
Given the above information, and the plethora of other information I have, I must reject your request for an apology and retraction. However, I would like to know since given the information I have provided you, if you intend to do any housecleaning in your own organization?
Lee Kaplan
Posted by Lee Kaplan at 10:05 AM
1 comments:
Winged Hussar 1683 said...
Re: "At the same time you mention Al Awda as a "member organization" of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation." Contrary to the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation's claim that it seeks only to end Israel's "occupation" of the West Bank and Gaza, Al Awda maps show "Palestine" as extending "from the river to the sea."
The difference between "Where's Waldo?" and "Where's Israel in the Al-Awda maps?" is that Waldo is actually IN those pictures somewhere, while Israel appears nowhere on Al Awda's maps. This is simply one of many pieces of evidence that the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is lying.
As for boycotts...I have a screenshot of a page in which the US Campaign advocates an "international boycott of Israel." Another of their Web pages says they might try to coordinate these efforts with the Arab League. "Boycotts and divestment: It was felt that we should work for CAT-free-zones all over the country, pushing boycotts and/or divestment on every entity that builds/owns stock. There was also support for approaching Arab and Muslim contractors here and abroad, as well as the Arab League and various governments to boycott CAT equipment."
"In cooperation with a foreign government" might violate antiboycott laws and be cause for revocation of their tax exemption.
Posted by Lee Kaplan at 8:56 AM


text:
MiniDLNA is server software with the aim of being fully compliant with DLNA/UPnP clients. The MiniDNLA daemon serves media files (music, pictures, and video) to clients on a network. Example clients include applications such as totem and xbmc, and devices such as portable media players, Smartphones, Televisions, and gaming systems (such as PS3 and Xbox 360).
MiniDLNA (ReadyDLNA) is a simple, lightweight alternative to MediaTomb, but has fewer features. It does not have a web interface for administration and must be configured by editing a text file.
Install minidlna from the official repositories.
The MiniDLNA daemon can be run as either a global (config:
/etc/minidlna.conf) or per-user instance (config:user-defined), these are the necessary common settings:
#network_interface=eth0 # Self-discovers if commented (at times necessary to set) media_dir=A,/home/user/Music # Mounted Media_Collection drive directories media_dir=P,/home/user/Pictures # Use A, P, and V to restrict media 'type' in directory media_dir=V,/home/user/Videos friendly_name=Media Server # Optional db_dir=/var/cache/minidlna # MiniDLNA Media_DB dir needs to be un-commented log_dir=/var/log # Log dir needs to be un-commented inotify=yes # 'no' for less resources, restart required for new media presentation_url=http://www.mylan/index.php # or use your device static IP http://192.168.0.14:8200/
MiniDLNA scans your Media_Collection at startup and creates or updates database Media_DB browsable via media players. Set database cache and logging dirs in config, so the db and album art cache won't be re-created on every restart. By default MiniDLNA runs as nobody user without shell access as set in /etc/conf.d/minidlna, unless you set your own. That user needs rw permissions to cache and log directories you specified in conf. Create the required directories and
chown them to
# mkdir /var/{cache,log}/minidlna # chown nobody:nobody /var/{cache,log}/minidlna
If you change MiniDLNA user, you can login as that user and create a symbolic link in the default Media_DB directory to a mounted in the system external Media_Collection drive, just make sure to set the user's rw permissions and other mount options for the drive in fstab if present at boot, or udev automount rules if attached after boot:
# ln -s /media/MyDrive/Media_DB /var/cache/minidlna
The minidlna service can be managed by the minidlna daemon.
Troubleshooting service autostart
Sometimes the minidlna daemon fails to start while booting. NetworkManager#Enable_NetworkManager_Wait_Online solves this issue. See [1]
Create the necessary files and directories locally and edit the configuration:
# install -Dm644 /etc/minidlna.conf ~/.config/minidlna/minidlna.conf # $EDITOR minidlna.conf
Configuring should be as above, specifically:
media_dir=/home/$USER/dir db_dir=/home/$USER/.config/minidlna/cache log_dir=/home/$USER/.config/minidlna
A local daemon script to stop, start... MiniDLNA is available in the AUR (minidlnadAUR) along with an autostart .desktop file. To run:
# minidlnad minidlnad [start|stop|restart|rescan] - actions for the MiniDLNA daemon
Alternatively you can autostart by adding in your
.bash_profile :
minidlna -f /home/$USER/.config/minidlna/minidlna.conf -P /home/$USER/.config/minidlna/minidlna.pid
Automatic Media_DB Update
Kernel adds one inotify watch per each folder/subfolder in Media_Collection Directories set in
/etc/minidlna.conf to monitor changes thus allowing MiniDLNA to update Media_DB in real time. When MiniDLNA is run as a regular user, it does not have the ability to change the kernel's inotify limits. If default number of inotify watches is non-sufficient to have MiniDLNA monitor all your media folders, increase inotify watches through
sysctl (100000 should be enough for most uses):
# sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=100000
To have it permanently changed, add to
# Increase inotify max watchs per user for local minidlna fs.inotify.max_user_watches = 100000
inotify performance may depend on device type. Some don't rescan media drives on a consistent basis or at all. If files are added/deleted to monitored media directories, they may not be noticed until the device DLNA client is restarted.
Check inotify updates via MiniDLNA presentation_url by comparing files count. If it doesn't change, make sure the user running MiniDLNA has rw access to the DB folder. If the issue persists, copy or download new files first to a non-watched by inotify Downloads folder on the same drive, and then move them to appropriate media folders, since lengthy media files copying or downloading may confuse inotify.
You can also clean or rebuild MiniDLNA DB manually after stopping MiniDLNA daemon, or analyze its debug output (Ctrl+C to exit):
Stop the MiniDLNA daemon:
# systemctl stop minidlna
To rebuild Media_DB forcibly:
$ sudo -u nobody minidlna -R
Stop the daemon after rebuilding Media_DB e.g.
killall minidlna.
To run in debug mode:
$ sudo -u nobody minidlna -d
Template:Keypress to exit it.
Other aspects
Other aspects and MiniDLNA limitations may need to be considered beforehand to ensure satisfaction from its performance.
If using a firewall the the ssdp (1900/udp) and trivnet1 (8200/tcp) ports will need to be opened. For example, this can be done with arno's iptables firewall by editing
firewall.conf and opening the ports by doing:
File System and Localization
When keeping MiniDLNA Media_DB on an external drive accessible in both Linux and Windows, choose proper file system for it. NTFS preserves in Windows its Linux defaults: rw access for root user and UTF8 font encoding for file names, so media titles in your language are readable when browsing Media_DB in terminal and media players, since most support UTF8. If you prefer Vfat (FAT32) for better USB drive compatibility with older players when hooked directly, or your Media_Collection drive is Vfat and has folder & file names in your local language, MiniDLNA can transcode them to UTF8 charset while scanning folders to Media_DB. Add to Media_Collection and Media_DB drives' mount options your FS language codepage for transcoding to short DOS file names, and iocharset for converting long file names to your terminal's locale, i.g. codepage=cp866,iocharset=utf8 (or ISO-8859-5). Set rw permissions for all users, since Vfat doesn't preserve Linux access permissions:
UUID=6140-75F7 /media/MyDrive/Media_DB vfat user,rw,async,noatime,umask=111,dmask=000,codepage=cp866,iocharset=utf8 0 0
While your iocharset would be present in the system with a matching locale, if your terminal or player supports only short file names, check if the set codepage is also present and enabled (like ru_RU.CP866), i.e. was included in system config when ArchLinux release was compiled, or consider recompiling the release to add it:
ls /usr/share/fonts/encodings
MiniDLNA lists Movies and Photos by file name in its DB, and Music entries by ID3 tags instead of file names. If Music collection wasn't tagged in UTF8 but in a local charset, MiniDLNA might not identify and transcode it correctly to UTF8 for display in media players, or the original tags codepage(s) may be absent in your system, so the tags won't be readable even when media file names are. In this case consider re-tagging your collection to UTF-16BE or UTF-8 encoding with an ID3 Tag Converter.
Picking the "right" file system for your Media_Collection is a trade-off: XFS and EXT4 show fast read/write for HDs and lower CPU load critical for small Plug Computers with attached storage. NTFS is most compatible with Windows when plugging a drive directly for faster copy, while network file systems like Samba, NFS or iSCSI allow import to Windows any Linux FS with slower data copy. As file fragmentation affects playback, store your Movies on a non-system drive formatted in XFS (prevents fragments), NTFS (fragment resistant and easy to defrag), or EXT4 (uses large file extents), and avoid EXT3 or less resistant FAT32. For smaller Flash drives with seldom fragmented Music and Photo files, VFAT (FAT32) and EXT4 show faster writes with less CPU load, but EXT4 may affect memory wear due to journaling, and less compatible with media players. Proper drive partitioning, block alignment and mount options (i.e. async,noatime...- choice depends on file system and memory type) can greatly accelerate flash and HD drive speed among other advantages.
Media Handling
MiniDLNA is aimed for small devices, so doesn't generate movie thumbnails to lower CPU load and DB built time. It uses either thumbs in the same folder with movie if any, or extracts them where present from media containers like MP4 or MKV with embedded Album Art tags, but not AVI. One can add thumbs (JPG 160x160 pxl or less) to media folders with a Thumbnail Maker, and miniDLNA will link them to media files after rescan. Larger thumbs will be resized and stored in Media_DB that slows scan. At one movie per folder, follow thumb naming rules in minidlna.conf. For multiple show episodes per folder, each thumb name should match its episode name without ext. (<file>.cover.jpg or <file>.jpg). To handle MS Album Art thumb names with GUID, add * to the end "AlbumArt_{*".jpg . MiniDLNA will list on screen only chosen media type (i.e. Movies), but won't other files in the same folder.
When viewing photos, progressive and/or lossless compression JPG may not be supported by your player via DLNA. Also resize photos to "suggested photo size" by the player's docs for problem free image slideshow. DLNA spec restricts image type to JPG or PNG, and max size to 4096 x 4096 pixels - and that's if the DLNA server implementation supports the LARGE format. The next size limit down (MEDIUM) is 1024 x 768, so resizing may help to show photos correctly.
To decrease system load, MiniDLNA doesn't transcode on the fly unsupported media files into supported by your player formats. When building Media_DB, it might not correctly identify whether certain formats are supported by your player, which may play via UPnP a broader formats choice. DLNA standard is quite limiting UPnP subset in media containers and codec profiles allowed. If you don't see on TV screen or can't play some media files listed in Media_DB, check if your HD started spinning or try connecting to your media player via USB for their playback. MiniDLNA might not support choosing audio tracks, subtitles, disk chapters, list sorting, and other advanced playback features for your player model.
Building a media server
Media served could be based on lightweight and cheap system like development board (Raspberry Pi, CubeBoard, etc.). You do not even need to put X Server on this board.
Automount external drives
To make external plugged drives mounted automaticly the following scripts could be used:
Rules for udev
KERNEL!="sd[a-z]*", GOTO="media_by_label_auto_mount_end" ACTION=="add", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="partition", RUN+="domount %N", GOTO="media_by_label_auto_mount_end" ACTION=="add", KERNEL=="sd[a-z]*", PROGRAM="/sbin/blkid -p -o value -s TYPE %N", RESULT!="", RUN+="domount %N", GOTO="media_by_label_auto_mount_end" ACTION=="remove", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="partition", RUN+="doumount %N", GOTO="media_by_label_auto_mount_end" ACTION=="remove", KERNEL=="sd[a-z]*", RUN+="doumount %N", GOTO="media_by_label_auto_mount_end" LABEL="media_by_label_auto_mount_end"
This rule call domount script each time drive is plugged. Script doumount called when you unplug your drive.
It mounts drive in /mnt/media and create symlink to /media
#!/bin/sh #edit the following variables to suit your needs MYUID=1001 # your user uid MYGID=1001 # your user gid MYLOGIN=share # your login TMPFILE=`basename $1` MYUUID=`blkid -p -o value -s LABEL $*` if [ "x$MYUUID" = "x" ]; then MYUUID=`blkid -p -o value -s UUID $*` fi FSTYPE=`blkid -p -o value -s TYPE $*` EXT4_OPTS="" if $FSTYPE = "ext4" ; then EXT4_OPTS="defaults,noatime,data=writeback,barrier=0,nobh" fi DIR=/mnt/media/$MYUUID DIR1=/media/$MYUUID mkdir -p /mnt/media mkdir -p /media cat > /run/m.$TMPFILE << EOF #!/bin/sh echo "$* will be mounted on $DIR. " mkdir -p "$DIR" chown $MYLOGIN:$MYLOGIN "$DIR" if [ "x$EXT4_OPTS" = "x" ]; then /bin/mount -o uid=$MYUID,gid=$MYGID $* "$DIR" else /bin/mount -o $EXT4_OPTS $* "$DIR" fi rm "$DIR1" rmdir "$DIR1" ln -s "$DIR" /media EOF cat > /run/u.$TMPFILE << EOF #!/bin/sh echo "$* will be unmounted on $DIR. " /bin/umount -f -l "$DIR" rmdir "$DIR" rm "$DIR1" EOF chmod a+x /run/m.$TMPFILE chmod a+x /run/u.$TMPFILE at -f /run/m.$TMPFILE now + 1 min
You need to change MYLOGIN and MYUID/MYGID to your IDs
Unmount script
#!/bin/sh TMPFILE=`basename $1` echo $TMPFILE> /run/doumount /run/u.$TMPFILE
Now you could put something like "media_dir=V,/media" in your
/etc/minidlna.conf file
Media server based on MiniDLNA could face the drive re-scan issue. Ex.: external HDD you have plugged will be scanned each time again and again. This happens due to MiniDLNA removes DB records for unplugged drive. If your drive plugged all the time it is not a problem, but if you have "pluggable" media library on large external drives this could take a big while till you start watching your video.


text:
One could do worse than devote some time during Lent to reading the Scriptures prayerfully. One very useful, readable and accessible book introducing that method of lectio divina that I often recommend is Michael Casey's Sacred Reading: The Ancient Practice of Lectio Divina (Liguori/Triumph, 1996). Casey, an Australian Trappist monk, is an excellent writer who wears his considerable learning lightly. His book would act as a pedagogical prelude to engaging the Word of God not for information or instruction but as a platform for prayer that leads to contemplation. If one wishes to partake more deeply of the life of prayer, one might read that book in tandem with his other work, Toward God: The Ancient Wisdom of Western Prayer (Liguori/Triumph, 1996) in which his discussion of lectio is subsumed under his more general treatise on prayer. I have often used the latter book in a little course I teach on prayer for undergraduates who, uniformly, have found it instructive and, in the best sense of the term, edifying.
In recent years, perhaps as a reaction against the limitations of historical-critical approaches to biblical scholarship, there has been a renewed interest in reading the Bible as the church's book. Two different publishers have been issuing volumes that provide the biblical text along with commentaries from the tradition of the church: the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (InterVarsity Press), under the general editorship of Thomas Oden, and The Church's Bible (Eerdmans), with Robert Louis Wilken as general editor. Each of the series has its own merits, but I prefer the Eerdmans series for the capaciousness of the commentary material. Along this same line, Brazos Press has just begun a new series in which noted theologians comment on a single book from the Bible. The initial volume, on the Acts of the Apostles, written by the late Jaroslav Pelikan, has set a very high standard for the volumes to come. Any book from any of these series would make a very good companion for the Lenten season and beyond.
Of course, Lent is also an opportune time to go back and read some of the great spiritual classics. So many of these texts are now available in affordable and reliable translations that it is hard to know where to send a willing reader. On my own bookshelf I have over 60 volumes of the estimable series Classics of Western Spirituality (Paulist Press) and perhaps an equal number of volumes from other series. In addition, secondary literature and/or biographies of the spiritual writers roll off the presses in such numbers that it is a task just to separate the wheat from the chaff (there are mountains of bad spiritual books out there!), which is why my own penchant is to go back to classic texts and read them in their own right. After all, one definition of the classic is that it has a surplus of meaningsaying something new every time the text is engaged. I cannot count the times I have gone through Augustine's Confessions, but each time it speaks to me from a new and different angle.
One conspicuous benefit of the contemporary interest in spirituality is that it is now possible to build a library of spiritual classics in excellent editions for very little expense. A good reason for this accessibility is that many religious communities have been assiduous in making available foundational works of their school of spirituality. The catalogs of Cistercian Publications, the Institute of Carmelite Studies and Liturgical Press, for example, are fair evidence of this trend. I especially like the offerings of New City Press (underwritten by Focolare), which have given us not only the excellent volumes of early Franciscan writings but also the exemplary ongoing translations of the works of Saint Augustine.
Let me cite just a few of many examples that can be found from such specialty presses. TheComplete Works of Saint John of the Cross (ICS, 1991), in the estimable translation of Kieran Kavanaugh, is a great bargain for under $30. New City Press has just issued in paperback format a collection of Augustine's treatises on Christian doctrine including his little commentary on the Creed under the title On Christian Belief ($24.95), while Cistercian Publications, now distributed by Liturgical Press, has a translation of Guigo II's The Ladder of Monksthe classic medieval exposition of the practice of lectio divinain paperback for about $16. From those same presses one can find a nearly complete library of Carmelite classics (Teresa of Avila, Elizabeth of the Trinity, Thérèse of Lisieux, Edith Stein and others), an ongoing series of the Cistercian writers from Cistercian Publications, as well as new translations of the works of Saint Augustine from New City Press.
I suppose it would be dereliction of duty to skip a specific recommendation in the broad area of spiritual classics, so let me simply forge ahead and suggest the Parochial and Plain Sermons of John Henry Newman (Ignatius Press, 1997). I read all eight volumes a few years ago and have found myself going back to them regularly. All of the sermons were preached by Newman in his Anglican years (that is, before 1845) but some of the volumes were published after he became a Catholic. The sermons were based on the scriptural texts of the liturgical calendar of the Book of Common Prayer, and it was a rare occasion when Newman strayed from the appointed biblical text. What makes the reading of these sermons so effortless now is that a few years ago Ignatius Press bound all the volumes into one. Though the print is a bit small, the binding is substantial and there is both a scriptural and topical index.
It would take a great deal of free time and disciplined labor to work through all of Newman's sermons in a single Lent, but one could manage the six sermons he devotes to the season. If one likes smaller, tidier texts to use for spiritual rumination, one might engage in a close reading of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Deus Caritas Est. The first part of the encyclical provides a cornucopia of biblical texts to ponder, so a reading of the encyclical, Bible in hand, would be an exercise in scriptural appropriation. Part Two has an extended meditation on the three basic functions of the church in witness, worship and service. It is a brief summary of ecclesiology within the context of thinking about the church as mysterya salutary remedy for those who carp at the church only for its institutional failings.
The pope, of course, is a very fine professional theologian, and his work over the decades is marked not only by technical competence but also by a deeply felt faith. It should come as no surprise that many theologians are also profound spiritual writers whose works, while classified as spiritual, are at the same time also quite learned. I have in mind books like Hans Urs von Balthasar's Prayer and Karl Rahner's early work, Encounters With Silence. To overlook the work of professional theologians is to limit the field of spiritual reading considerably.
There are some theologians writing today who exhibit both scholarly sophistication and deep commitment to the historic Christian faith. I have been instructed and edified by the many fine volumes of N. T. Wright on the Bible. Wright is not only an excellent scholar who operates with the hermeneutics of trust but also an active church person (he is an Anglican bishop) who understands that the Bible can be read at an intellectual level but should also be a never-failing source of nourishment. Wright is a prolific authorour library contains nearly 40 of his titlesand it is hard to say where to begin, although I am partial to his Following Jesus (Eerdmans, 1995), which is a beautiful meditative work on Christian discipleship and, as such, an apt work for Lenten reading.
Anyone interested in a hefty volume to take on as a Lenten penance should consider working through Larry Hurtado's Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Eerdmans, 2003). Hurtado, a New Testament scholar who teaches in Scotland, examines Jesus in the New Testament and in the early church from a particular angle: how was Jesus worshiped in the earliest period of Christian history? Contending that the worship of Jesus is a primordial key to understanding the New Testament, Hurtado pursues that theme with rigor and persistence. It is one of the more illuminating books I have read of New Testament scholarship in some time.
The Middle English root reden, from which our English verb to read derives, had the wide sense of grasping, understanding, catching on. We have hints of that old usage in such phrases as to read the situation or to read the look on his face. Lenten reading, then, could plausibly encompass the idea of looking steadily or gazing attentivelypractices very close to an ancient meaning of the word contemplation. The present market is awash in books on icons and, as is commonly asserted in the iconic tradition, one looks at and through the iconic image to the reality behind. It might make an instructive Lenten practice to acquire a volume of icons and simply look at them attentively and prayerfully as a daily practice. In an age when our images come at us fast, furious and pixilated, it would be a wonderful practice to slow down and gaze prayerfully. One book that might inspire such a practice is Icons From Sinai (Getty Museum, 2006), the catalog of icons on display at the Getty culled from the collection of the monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai. They are helpful works of classical Byzantine artsome dating back to the period before the iconoclastic controversy in the eighth century.
Whatever path you take this Lenten season, try to be obedient to the voice of the children once heard by Augustine in the garden of his friend Alypius: Tolle et lege!pick up and read! It proved to be the time of conversion for Augustine, as he tells us in the Confessions, and it may well be ours today.
It is good that you mention Ludolph the Carthusian's Vita Christi. This work in its French translation by Pere Broquin published between 1870 and 1873 requires SEVEN volumes of Octavo. The Folio Edition of 1642 published in Lyon (a copy of which is held by the British Library) is 754 pages.
In other words this is a substantial work and took many years to complete. The work itself uses extensive quotations from the Church Fathers and includes many meditations by Ludoph himself on the life of Our Lord.
The work must have influenced St Ignatius greatly. Ludolph uses a visual method inviting his readers to see Jesus. It is a great pity that apart from Sr Bodenstadt there has been little scholarly work done on this work - see the Wikipedia entry for further biographical details.


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Said By Takoyakii want some green tea !
Said By HiyayakaI draw 24/7... I'll be in the middle of a class, and suddenly the urge kicks in, I pull out a piece of paper, totally ignore the teacher and start drawing like hell...
Yesterday I made a Naruto Character I am designing...
The only drawings I have done that aren't mine originally was a Trunks Drawing, A Naruto drawing and a Sasuke Drawing... Everything else is totally my own originals(No I don't do the DevianTART skill that most idiots do)
The DevianTART skill is when somebody takes a drawing offf the internet, switches it around(So that if the face was to the left it is now to the right), add/delete something to/from the character, recolor it with your own unique colors and then go into Gimp and give it your signature
I nicknamed it the BS skill, seeing as not all DevianTARTists do that... and becuase it is a bullshit way of drawing used by posers XP
I'll show my drawings as soon as I get my Scanner back X__X
Said By HiyayakaOh, and Chai Tea OWNS ALL!!!


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Ocean & Earth Aircon Shortboard surfboard bag 10mm 7ft 0 - Black
Product Details
This Aircon series features the innovative, Aircon ventilated tail system, a feature built-in to prevent your board from overheating and will also allow your bag to dry.
Constructed from a durable 600D polyester with 10mm of shock absorbing foam. You get heavy duty non-corrosive zips, an internal wax and fin bag, extra protection at the nose on both sides and a stowable, padded shoulder strap, plus a removable storage hook.
Great quality travel bag offering heaps of protection when travelling long-haul or to and from the beach with your board strapped to the roof of the car.
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Paragon 58 Backpack S/M Omega Blue ♂
If a weekend in the woods is on your list, don't let a heavy pack keep you lagging behind. The Paragon 58 gives you room to haul the gear you want without making sacrifices, while simultaneously shaving weight to keep you light on your feet. A lightweight 7075 aluminum chassis and matrix ventilated foam backpanel drop ounces without dialing back on support, and you'll wonder if we used magic to pack in so many features (we did).
This model exists in small/medium and medium/large. All measurements shown on this page are taken from the standard medium/large.
A size-specific custom 7001 aluminum alloy chassis and ventilated, mesh-encapsulated matrix foam backpanel design make Aerolon suspension the lightest, most supportive suspension in its weight class. Aerolon's exceptional airflow and dynamic load management system give the Paragon and Maven packs more stability and on-trail comfort than competing lightweight backpacks.
System on shoulder harness allows a quick, secure and scratch-free way to store your shades on the go
Raincover stows in zippered compartment beneath front stuff pocket and doubles as accessory pocket
Adjustable backpanel height for the perfect fit everytime
Provide a unique adjustment allow the hipbelt pockets to move with the adjustment to maintain easy pocket access
Foam-matrix backpanel structure encapsulated by breathable mesh to provide air flow and moisture evaporation
|1.62 kg
|20 x 70 x 36 cm
|Stripped Weight
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|0.122 kg
|Max. Carry
|23 kg
|210D cryptorip nylon & 100D high-tenacity nylon
|210D high-tenacity nylon w/135D high-density polyester reinforcement layer
|135D high-density embossed polyester
|135D high-density embossed polyester
More details
- Sidekick Pack included Combination hydration reservoir sleeve and ultra-light removable daypack, perfect for unscheduled day trips, summit hikes or supply runs into town during a thru-hike
- Main access top loader | sleeping bag access


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All Forms
National Forms
Official court forms approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States for use in all Bankruptcy Courts can be found on the U.S. Courts home page.
Bankruptcy Forms on uscourts.gov
Forms Modernization Project Overview for Attorneys
Click here for the PDF document.
Local Forms
All documents are provided in PDF format. Users downloading these documents are warned that the type of printer being used could result in the documents looking slightly different than the original documents issued by the respective office. Some national forms are also made available on this site for convenience. Users are further warned that these documents are subject to change without notice. Users should always refer to this site for the current version of local forms, and should always refer to www.uscourts.gov for the current version of the national forms. You may also request a printed copy from the respective office.
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text:
McHENRY – Crews are laying the groundwork to work over the winter on the Charles J. Miller Road bridge.
The construction is part of a larger project that involves widening Miller Road to four lanes from River Road to Route 31 and adding turn lanes on River Road.
The project initially was brought before McHenry County residents in 2009, but land acquisition held up the timeline, said Wally Dittrich, design manager for the McHenry County Division of Transportation.
Instead of doing the entire length in one go, the county decided to move ahead with the portion from River Road to the McHenry wastewater treatment plant, Dittrich said.
Work on the actual road isn't likely to start until spring, but between environmental restrictions and boating season, the best time to do the work that requires being in the water is the winter, he said.
If the area sees another mild winter, work such as moving dirt and laying the groundwork could be done, Dittrich said. Contractors are laying temporary pavement now, just in case.
The $12.1 million project will be funded in part with $5,288,000 million in federal funds, according to county documents. The remainder will be paid with county funds.
The county is still in the process of acquiring land needed to do the remainder of the Miller Road project, which makes any timeline on when the rest of the project could move ahead tentative, Dittrich said.
The transportation division will release more information today, and it plans on setting up a separate project website like it has done for other road projects.
For information, visit www.co.mchenry.il.us and click "Departments," and then find "Division of Transportation" under the "D" heading.


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Teed Rockwell
Lecturer (2002)
email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Although Teed Rockwell began his philosophical studies with a strong interest in Continental philosophy, especially Heidegger, Nietzsche and Hegel, he now studies how philosophical presuppositions about mind and reality affect the practices of scientific researchers, especially in biology, psychology and the cognitive sciences. Much to his own surprise, he has become a philosopher of science in the Anglo-American Analytic tradition. He sees the American pragmatists, especially John Dewey, as the root that connects these two allegedly conflicting traditions.
Teed has had articles published in Behavior and Philosophy, Philosophical Psychology, Minds and Machines, the Journal of Consciousness Studies, The Journal of the John Dewey Society, and in the Dictionary of the Philosophy of Mind. He has presented papers at meetings of the American Philosophical Association, The Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and the Southern Society of Philosophy and Psychology, among others. His MIT Press Book Neither Brain nor Ghost (2005) rejects both dualism and the mind/brain identity theory, and argues that the mind is a ³behavioral field² that fluctuates within the brain/body/world nexus.
Teed was an invited speaker at a conference on Mind and Reality sponsored by the department of religious studies at Columbia University, where he presented a commentary on a paper by Buddhist Scholar Robert Thurman. He is currently working on an Essay called "God, Freedom, and Darwin", which is designed to teach high school biology students the difference between Darwinian Scientific facts and the atheist Darwinian philosophy which is often derived from them.
Many of Teed's philosophy papers can be found at his Website Cognitive Questions.
Teed is also a musician, and the only person to play Hindustani Ragas on the Touchstyle Fretboard (aka Chapman Stick® or Warr Guitar ®) You can hear samples of his music.


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Welcome to the forum, barney_d_93.
Do you have a specific question for us?
Student or Learner
Dear Sir or Madam,
First, I would like to express my appreciation for giving an opportunity to apply for this exchange program. I am currently in my second year of undergraduate studies in Computer Science at the Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Jordan and I am writing to you to show my great interest in studying within the Erasmus program.
It is often said that no education is complete without experience, and through this program I will gain sufficient experience; I will get a chance to interact with students of different backgrounds and perhaps with different beliefs and values, it will help me represent the positive image of my country and promote Jordan among fellow students. I am sure that it will enrich me both personally and academically.
I was delighted to find the opportunity to study Software Development at the Cardiff Metropolitan University. I chose England as my preferred destination because I would love to experience the English culture and their amazing educational system.
I have always wanted to go on an exchange program and have a look at the computing field in a country other than mine as it differs considerably from one country to another. So far, I have had the privilege of being taught by the best Jordanian professors in this field, but Jordan is still a young country with a new heritage of computer science, it is very important to me to visit and to study in a place which is technologically advanced and is popular in this field.
Studying abroad is a big challenge because you need to be independent and adapt to a new environment. You need to adapt to a different language, different culture and different people. This is a challenge I would love to take on, I am determined to make the most out of its benefits, I would like to gain new skills and knowledge during my exchange period as well as improving my English; it will improve my self-confidence and communication skills. This will help me to work not only in my homeland but also on the international level. Also, it will help me in the programming competitions I intend to participate in.
I would describe myself as a helpful person as I always help my friends with their studies and I am interested in helping students with courses that I have already taken. Being given a chance to gain new knowledge will allow me to share it with people.
When I heard about the possibility to go study at a European country, I know I had to take this opportunity. This is a once in a lifetime chance that I should take with both hands, not going would be a missed chance I will regret for the rest of my life. I hope I can experience this unique opportunity as I am sure that this program is perfect for my future plans. I am grateful for considering my application and looking forward for a favorable reply.
Yours faithfully,
Welcome to the forum, barney_d_93.
Do you have a specific question for us?
Remember - if you don't use correct capitalisation, punctuation and spacing, anything you write will be incorrect.


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Farm organizations are calling on the Senate to follow the lead of the House and pass the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement in December.
But a major manufacturing group claims the PTPA is a waste of time and a diversion from more pressing issues.
The Peru Trade Agreement, which passed the House by a vote of 285-132 Nov. 8, could increase U.S. agricultural trade by $705 million per year after full implementation, according to economists with the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The agreement also is the first to incorporate the enhanced labor and environmental protections set out in the May 10 bipartisan agreement between the Bush administration and the Democratic and Republican leaderships of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
"American farmers, ranchers, manufacturers and service providers will at last have preferential access to this growing market," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said following the House vote.
"Peru's people will be able to enjoy continued economic growth and greater economic and political stability by cementing a trade relationship with the world's largest market."
Schwab said the "conventional wisdom" was the president and the Democratic-controlled Congress would be unable to reach an agreement on the growing number of bilateral free trade agreements being promoted by the Bush administration.
"At the time — almost one year ago — I said that divided government means shared responsibility, and that we should look forward to the future as partners — because the world is watching. Today, the hard work and risk-taking of many are bearing fruit."
"Passage of the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement by the House signals the importance the United States places on free trade in this hemisphere and our support for trade partners that share our economic and societal values," said acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner. Peru, he said, is already an important market, accounting for $209 million in agricultural sales in 2006.
"We look forward to recapturing the market share in bulk commodities that we have lost to our competitors and to creating new opportunities for consumer-ready and higher-valued products."
Once the new agreement is fully implemented, U.S. officials said, 90 percent of U.S. food and agricultural exports to Peru will enter duty-free, and all U.S. exports will eventually enter duty-free. Peru will also benefit from the agreement, which makes permanent Peru's market access to the United States.
Corn growers are expected to be among the winners in the agreement. Economists with the National Corn Growers Association estimate the increased exports to Peru could add an average of 1 cent per bushel to the price of corn.
"In addition, the increased demand in beef, pork and poultry converted into bushels of corn would likely mean another one-half cent," the NCGA said. "The Peru FTA would also improve U.S. corn growers' ability to compete with regional competition such as Argentina."
The PTPA also provides reciprocal access for American farmers and ranchers, as many of Peru's agricultural products have little or no tariffs upon entry into the United States through the Andean Trade Preference Act.
"Currently, Peruvian import duties on corn are bound at 30 percent, with an applied rate of 12 percent," it said. "Upon implementation, the FTA provides for immediate tariff elimination under a 500,000-metric-ton corn tariff rate quota; in year 10, the TRQ would be increased to 844,739 metric tons; and in year 12, the TRQ would be eliminated.
The American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition said the agreement is diverting attention from real trade issues such as how to deal with the loss of American manufacturing jobs and the "predatory trade practices" of the People's Republic of China.
"Evidently, a key message from the last election — stop offshoring good middle-class U.S. manufacturing jobs — still has not registered with the new leadership in this Congress," said Auggie Tantillo, AMTAC's executive director.
"Congress spending the entire year focusing on an unpopular Peru FTA instead of passing a strong anti-currency manipulation bill is an enormous disappointment to U.S. manufacturers desperate for relief from China's predatory trade practices.
"The value of the illegal currency subsidy used by China dwarfs the trade covered by the proposed Peru FTA several times over."
Noting that the United States has lost more than 3.1 million manufacturing jobs since 2001 and is projected to run a trade deficit with China in excess of $270 billion in 2007,
Tantillo said U.S. trade officials should be focusing on significant trade problems and not on a country that "only could afford to buy 0.28 percent of U.S. exports in 2006."
Trade between the United States and Peru totaled only $8.8 billion in 2006, but the U.S. trade deficit with Peru was $2.95 billion because Peru exported approximately twice as much to the United States as it imported from the United States.
"To expect Peru to become a major consumer of U.S. finished products is a ludicrous assumption," said Tantillo.
"Peru has a much greater capacity to export to the 300 million-person, $13 trillion U.S. market than it does to buy finished U.S. products.
"Like every U.S. free trade agreement before it, the Peru FTA only will add to the U.S. trade deficit."
AMTAC officials listed several problems that need the immediate attention of U.S. trade officials:
- Eliminating the $379 billion disadvantage to U.S. producers and service providers caused by foreign value-added (VAT) taxes by passing H.R. 2600, the Border Tax Equity Act introduced by Reps. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., Mike Michaud, D-Md., and Walter Jones, D-N.C.
- Combating currency manipulation by predatory trading partners like China by passing H.R. 2942, anti-currency manipulation legislation introduced by Congressmen Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.
- Vigorously enforcing existing U.S. trade laws to stop illegal transshipping, illegal subsidies, dumping, and copyright, trademark and patent infringements.
- Ensuring the safety of foreign-made products sold to U.S. consumers.
"Fixing these problems would do far more to help the U.S. economy, its companies, and its workers than continuing the fatally flawed concept of adopting free trade agreements with countries that can export but have little capacity to import U.S. manufactured goods," said Tantillo.


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Despite Lip Scrubs (even home made ones!) my lips are still incredibly dry and chapped.
So when I saw this Skinfood Honey Lip Treatment on eBay, I had to have it! Costing around £6 including shipping, I thought it was a rather cute investment.
Honey is hydrating and indeed a very nice treatment for this skin. A nice one to do is to just cover your lips in some good quality honey and cover it with some cling film for 10-15 mins. You can just lick it off afterwards (diet pending!).
But that kind of treatment can be messy – the Skinfood Honey Lip Treatment is convenient to use and can be applied whenever your lips are dry, or last thing at night.
The treatment is 50% real honey! And you can tell – the texture is a sticky and smells very…well, honey! It feels runnier than real honey but still thick in terms of your average lip gloss.
The runny texture means that the product is easy to apply, unlike real honey which is gloopy!
It comes in a pretty standard lip gloss type tube.
Seriously no issues at all applying this, but it is still sticky like normal honey. You could wear this as a lip gloss but prepared to have hair stuck on your lips all day.
The honey lip treatment isn't overly yellow – just a tinge. Just generally looks like a clear gloss – I would never use this as a lip gloss anyway it would drive me insane, so I am happy with it being clear:
Here it is on my lips. I can't stand anything this sticky on my lips for long – so I left it on for a while, had a hot drink, and voila – it had disappeared! Good – saves me licking it!
After the lip treatment:
Fairly Cheap
Tastes and Smells nice (like honey!)
Easy to apply
Leaves lips feeling softer
Very sticky and leaves that tacky feeling long after its gone
Very much a treatment only – I seriously would hate this texture on my lips if it was a lip gloss
Overall, it looks like the pros outweighh the cons but I'm not convinced by this product. The change in my lips were good but very temporary – the dryness returned soon after.
I would stick to a good scrub (I like Benefit's scrubbing treatment) and then a thick, super nourishing lip balm (like La Mer's) on top.
Or, if you want to do a honey treatment, just do it with some honey – after all this stuff is 50% honey so it's almost the same thing, bar the texture.
So yes, this is good for a play but there are better ways to treat your lips out there.


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WHEN LINDA MASON was growing up in the 1950s and '60s, her hometown, Homer, New York, wasn't exactly a gateway to the world. Her father, Sam, had chosen this quiet dairy farming community far north of New York City to open a medical practice. He became the small-town physician who knew everyone's name, making house calls until the day he retired.
Sam Mason, though, had a sense of duty and adventure that took him well beyond Homer. He occasionally put the practice on hold and traveled the globe to volunteer his medical skills to needier places such as Honduras, Guatemala, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (then known as Zaire).
Although Linda Mason didn't go on those trips, she was captivated by the stories he brought back. One year he even returned with a Congolese nurse, who lived with the family for a time. Her father, through his experiences, became her window abroad. "It just had a profound impact on me," she says.
For decades, Mason, who is 57 and lives in Belmont, has built on his example. Since cofounding child care company Bright Horizons Family Solutions in 1986, Mason has become a luminary in humanitarian work. Now board chairwoman of the worldwide relief organization Mercy Corps, she and her organization have documented atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan and aided civilians in Congo, a place she once described as "ripped apart by brutality and lawlessness." They helped Indonesians rebuild huts and fishing boats after the 2004 tsunami. And they trained adults to comfort traumatized children in Haiti after its 2010 earthquake. When disaster calls — and it frequently does — Mason often answers.
In each place, those who have known and worked with her say, the mother of three displays entrepreneurial spirit, a big heart, and steely grace. Her calm demeanor, they say, obscures a gritty determination and fearlessness. "You can't travel with everyone to a war zone, but you can travel with Linda Mason," says the Rev. Gloria White-Hammond, a Boston physician, activist, and minister who accompanied her to Darfur in 2005.
Mason's first true taste of international aid work came after she earned her MBA from Yale in 1980. That summer, she and two friends — including Roger Brown, who would later become her husband — traveled to the Thai-Cambodian border to help manage camps for refugees reeling from the deadly reign of the Khmer Rouge. Many Cambodians had no means of supporting themselves. "They did not have enough food," says Phlong Than, a Cambodian with whom Mason and Brown worked and who is now 73 and living in Oregon. (Than features prominently in the 1983 book Mason and Brown co-wrote about their nearly yearlong stint, Rice, Rivalry, and Politics: Managing Cambodian Relief.) "I just never saw the world the same after that experience," Mason says.
After a few years working in management consulting in the United States, she and Brown went back overseas to build a relief program for Save the Children in Sudan, which, like other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, was hit hard by famine in the mid-1980s. The conditions were tough — there'd been a coup, and they worked in 120-degree heat and had little contact with the States — but Mason and Brown stayed on for the better part of two years, returning in the summer of 1986. Exhausted, they sought a new social mission, but closer to home.
That mission became Bright Horizons, a for-profit company whose innovations — establishing top-quality child care centers at big employers and treating employees far better than the industry norm — would earn them wide acclaim. Soon after founding the company in their Cambridge kitchen — with some help from partners, including Bain Capital, then led by Mitt Romney — Mason and Brown launched a companion nonprofit called Horizons for Homeless Children, to help struggling parents find a pathway to economic stability. Bright Horizons, which Bain Capital took over in 2008 in a $1.3 billion deal, now serves some 150,000 children at 750 locations. Mason and Brown (who together held $4.6 million worth of Bright Horizons shares at the time of the acquisition) remain on the company board, Mason as chairwoman.
The success of Bright Horizons, which has centers in several countries and has been ranked among this nation's best employers, established Brown and Mason's reputation as something of a super-couple. Over the last decade, each has sought out new ventures. Brown was appointed president of Berklee College of Music in 2004, and Mason began working intensively with Mercy Corps, becoming its board chairwoman in 2007. (Mason has served on several other boards, including a Boston Globe advisory board from 2001 to 2006. She also authored the 2002 book The Working Mother's Guide to Life.) Gary Hirshberg, cofounder of the Stonyfield Farm yogurt company and a fellow pioneer in socially responsible business, says he has long admired Mason's consideration of what he calls the "social footprint" of her work. "The impact on employees, on the constituents, on the community is right at the top of her mind," he says.
White-Hammond recalls both the boldness and humility Mason showed in Darfur, where they, along with former Boston TV news anchor Liz Walker, aimed to draw attention to the rapes, murders, and torture committed by government troops and allied militias. It was a delicate situation, and some Mercy Corps officials — ostensibly there for humanitarian, not political, purposes — were leery of the interviews Mason and the others planned to conduct with local women. Mason appreciated the sensitivity, but she wouldn't back down, White-Hammond says. "She said: 'Look, you don't think we came all the way here just to hold women's hands? There's a story to be told.' " That trip helped publicize the crisis in Darfur.
More recently, Mason has been working in the Middle East, helping chart courses to democracy and stability. She will soon return to the West Bank and Gaza, where Mercy Corps is trying to spark the Palestinian technology industry. Fostering business relationships among Israeli and Palestinian IT firms, she hopes, will build "an economic bridge to peace." After Moammar Khadafy's government fell in Libya, Mercy Corps began training tribal leaders in negotiation and mediation and opened "civil society resource centers," to help establish a new class of nonprofit and social service leaders. "There's this thirst to build the country from the bottom up," Mason says. She will also travel to Myanmar soon and is hopeful of getting back into Syria, which has been ravaged by civil war.
Mercy Corps CEO Neal Keny-Guyer marvels at Mason's versatility — how she can assist a grandmother in a refugee camp one day and meet with the first lady of a country the next. "She has this amazing ability to be present, to be real, across the socioeconomic strata," says Keny-Guyer, who worked with Mason and Brown in Southeast Asia years ago. Susan Whitehead, a friend who serves on the Horizons for Homeless Children board, adds, "I've never seen anybody occupy their space in quite the same way."
Those who have known or worked with Mason attribute her success in business and aid work to her pairing of two impulses: a deep empathy for people, especially women and children, and a strong belief in private-sector values: efficiency, professional management, and empowering solutions that work. Indeed, Mercy Corps often seeks out what's proved successful on the ground and builds from there. It is a departure from the traditional top-down approach to relief: collect resources and dump them into a disaster zone. That, Mason says, can backfire by gutting local markets and dampening people's impetus to help themselves. "Where we get most excited is where we see these incredible pockets of initiative," Mason says.
In their book on Cambodia, Mason and Brown wrote, "Relief organizations have no armies, no large staffs, no resources on a grand scale, and very little formal political power." What humanitarian efforts must do, they said, is "capitalize upon the few sources of strength that are theirs." Mason insists that no success has been hers alone, but it's evident she has long been a wellspring of strength for so many.
How is she not overwhelmed by the persistence of need, the vast and stubborn crises? First, she's an optimist; she says she couldn't do the work otherwise. Mason also keeps in mind something she heard decades ago from Mother Teresa, with whom she volunteered at homes in Calcutta that each served 90 destitute and dying people. A journalist said to Mother Teresa: Great for the 90, but what about the millions dying in misery outside your doors? Her reply, Mason says, was this: "Son, one by one by one."
These days, Mason travels abroad every two or three months. When she returns, her refuge is a community of friends and family in Belmont. She treasures the restorative walks with her girlfriends through Mass Audubon's Habitat sanctuary. She also treasures exposing her three children to the world, transcending what her own father did with her. Each of them — 16- and 23-year-old daughters and a 21-year-old son — has accompanied Mason on relief trips. Her oldest daughter spent a year before college volunteering with Mercy Corps in Jordan. They are all humanitarians-in-training. It's hard to imagine Mason having it any other way.Scott Helman is a Globe Magazine staff writer. E-mail him at firstname.lastname@example.com, and follow him on Twitter @swhelman.