text:
Summer Sprinter
$35.90Wood Prints are covered with a resin high gloss coating - SEE VIDEO OF PRINTS
Photo depicts size 5 x 5 inches wood prints.
Order does not include all the prints shown in the photo.
Order includes the image shown on the left half of the photo in the size you select.
Drop down selections are for one single print with the exception of the option,
'SAVE - Two 5 x 5 prints'


text:
Feel free to leave a comment with sizes you'd like to see! I started small with the general sizing my kids are, but I'd love to expand. Also: sharing is caring! See something someone you know might like? Pass along a link!
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
The Witching Hour Baby Shop
So it has taken me a bit to really get into the swing of things, but my kids clothing line has officially launched! I am starting very small, just a few pieces, but plan to expand very shortly. It feels so wonderful to be in the design game again and I hope ya'll feel the same about the pieces I am producing. Here are the goods...please click the link below the image to start shopping!
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Weirdo Mom Gift Guide to: Mother's Day
Alright weirdo moms! You aren't interested in the typical shit the rest of the year, so why should your Mother's Day gifts be typical? Got a mom who is more NIN than PTA? Well, I've put together some fun (and occasionally useful) items to ask for this year come May 13th. From cool tees to dark gardens, this list runs has something for every spooky mom. This list is also keeping budgets in mind, with the highest priced item running $44.
*affiliate links used*
Weird Mother Tee sizes S-XXXXL by Drawings by Nicole
Goth Mom tee (XS - 4X) by Baby Teith
Black Rose seeds by TDMITROV for all mom's with a black thumb
*affiliate links used*
Rose Gold Elixir Beauty Serum by ZoliaVera (they also have a new mom + baby kit here)
Diaper Bag is Dark Pin by Witching Hour Baby (my new Etsy shop for goth families!)
Geometric Mini Planter by Minimum Design
Weird Mother Tee sizes S-XXXXL by Drawings by Nicole
Adopt a Bat at Bat World Sanctuary
Gem Placemats by Gray Green Goods
Whiskey Candle by Wax & Wick...for those days when coffee just isn't enough but moms with DUI's are not cute
Goth Mom tee (XS - 4X) by Baby Teith
Black Rose seeds by TDMITROV for all mom's with a black thumb
Darkness Descends Whole Bean Coffee by Cold Fire Coffee (because let's be honest: moms always want coffee)
baby teith,
black roses,
drawings by nicole,
goth mom,
goth to mom,
home decor,
mom's day,
mother's day,
weirdo moms
Monday, February 12, 2018
Red is the color, there's no other, red velvet tap your veins
Red is the color, red is the lover, red as drippin' stains
Red as the lips the wet tongue licks, red as the eyes that weep
- Red by Jarboe
Outfit Details:
Dress - Amazon
Harness - Leather Coven
Sunglasses - Amazon
Cuff Rings - Rannka
Bra - Torrid
Shoes - ASOS (old style...similar one here)
alternative curves,
leather coven,
plus size,
Sunday, November 12, 2017
#gothtomom Gift Guide
So I have many elements to my life that inform my purchases. I am (very) plus size. I am a mom of 2 small children. I am interested in counter culture style and art. These factors often fight with each other and make shopping for myself challenging. With the holidays coming, gift giving is fresh on everyone's mind, so I carved out some time to come up with a list of incredibly cool products to buy for the goth mom in your life...even if that mom is you! All clothing comes in standard to plus size, so this guide is for every body! *This post contains affiliate links*
Rituel de Fille Eye Soot in Exuviae and Lip Sheer in Swarm
Morte Mistress Tunic (one size plus size)
Aakasha Cashmere Asymmetric Hoodie (sizes XXS-4X)
Adeptt Dress Maxi Dress in sizes XS-3X
fat goth,
gift giving,
gift guide,
goth girl,
goth to mom,
kat von d,
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
This is Halloween
This Halloween the family dressed up as characters from Nightmare Before Christmas. I was Oogie Boogie, Remy was Jack Skellington, Zara was Zero, and my husband Joe was Barrel (one of the trick or treaters). I based my costume around this Amazon dress (super comfy, btw...I will be getting one in black!) and Joe's around these jammies. The girl's outfits are all detailed on my kid's fashion blog, the Witching Hour Baby. We had so much fun this October and I am already awaiting next year!
Monday, June 19, 2017
The End Where We Start.
Outfit Details:
Dress - SWAK Designs (my summer MUST HAVE!)
Sweater Vest - Forever 21 (So ancient it is actually "Faith 21")...similar item here
Necklace - Etsy
Shoes - Easy Spirit
Ring - Bloodmilk
Bracelet - Fitbit Flex2
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Put Your Photo On Custom Photo Boxers & Create the Perfect Gift For Him!
- Custom-design. Our design team works hard to get a perfect cutout of your face from your uploaded photo.
- Machine-wash safe; our unique printing process results in vibrant colors that will never fade or peel!
- 100% Soft polyester fleece finish.
- Soft elastic waistband for a comfortable fit.


text:
1.1 What these terms cover. These are the terms and conditions for Xexec Limited ("we", "us", "our") and its agents, whose services are represented within this website and on other third-party websites and marketing material. These terms are the basis on which we supply Reward and Recognition or Discounts benefits to you. For the purposes of consumer protection laws, these benefits are services which include making tickets or vouchers for events, experiences, discounts or digital content provided by third-party operators or suppliers available to you on our website pursuant to your employer's Reward and Recognition or Discounts Program (the "Services").
1.2 Why you should read them. Please read these terms carefully before using our Services. When using these Services for Reward and Recognition or discount benefits, you are consenting to your personal data being used for MI and reporting analysis subject to the provisions of applicable laws and the provisions of our Rewards and Recognition Portal Privacy and Cookies Policy and/or our Discounts Portal Privacy and Cookies Policy, depending on the type program your employer has signed up to. These terms also tell you who we are, how we will provide Services and Vouchers to you, how you and we may change or end the Services, or cancel a Voucher, and what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss.
By registering on our website and/or by purchasing Vouchers, you are agreeing to these terms and conditions.
1.3. Definitions. "Operator" means: an independent third-party supplier we have partnered with running any given event, experience, service, discount or scheme for which a Voucher is applicable.
"Retailer" means: an independent third-party retailer, online or instore seller we have partnered with and provide goods and services to which a Voucher relates.
"Voucher" means: any individual offer we make available to you to download via our website, including any discount, ticket, access, reward or other benefit giving you access to sales or events or experiences run by Operators and/or Retailers. You may buy or redeem Vouchers as part of the Services we provide to you, and in accordance with these terms and conditions and within the limits of your registration and/or your employer or benefit provider's scheme.
2.1 Who we are. We are Xexec Limited, a company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 04009440 and our registered office is at 88 Crawford Street, London, W1H 2EJ, UK. Our registered VAT number is 766 1273 20.
2.2 How to contact us. You can contact us by telephoning our customer service team at 020 8201 6483 or by writing to us at Mountcliff House, 154 Brent Street, London NW4 2DR.
2.3 How we may contact you. If we have to contact you, we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provide to us. Any contact made with you or any of your contact data will always be done in accordance with our Rewards and Recognition Portal Privacy and Cookies Policy and/or our Discounts Portal Privacy and Cookies Policy, as applicable.
2.4 "Writing" includes emails. When we use the words "writing" or "written" in these terms, this includes emails.
3.1 When a contract comes into force. A contract based on these terms and conditions between you and us will come into existence between when your registration on the Rewards and Recognition Portal or on the Discounts Portal is completed by us. Any Vouchers or Services shall be provided to you under these terms & conditions and within the limits of your employer or benefit provider's scheme. Please check via the my account tab on our website or contact your employer or benefit provider directly to find out more information about the scheme applicable to you.
3.2 If we cannot accept your registration. If we are unable to accept registration for any reason, we will inform you of this and will use reasonable efforts to provide you with a solution or explain any reasons why as it is not possible to complete your registration request. Reasons for unaccepted registrations might be due to erroneous information provided by employers or benefits providers, or because the overall agreement between us and your employers or benefits providers (our clients) has expired.
3.3 If we are unable to provide you with Services or a Voucher. If we are unable to provide you with our Services or a Voucher for any reason, we will inform you of this. Reasons for us being unable to provide you with Services might be because of unexpected limits on our resources which we could not reasonably plan for, because we have identified an error in the availability or description of the Voucher or because we are unable to meet a deadline you have specified.
3.4 Availability. Some of the Vouchers we sell include "closed dated vouchers" (expiry dates vary). You are free to book your preferred date or purchase your preferred item before the "closed dated vouchers" expiry period. In order to avoid disappointment, we recommend that you book or purchase items or experiences well in advance and DO NOT organise travel or accommodation until the booking has been confirmed by the Operator.
3.5 Validity. The validity of Vouchers vary depending on the Operator or Retailer. It is your responsibility as the end user to check the expiry date (which should be printed on the Vouchers) and ensure your Voucher has been used by then. Vouchers cannot be extended or returned once issued, subject to your statutory rights, or as set out below.
3.6 Tracking your purchases. We will assign each purchase a Confirmation Number and tell you what it is when we accept your purchase. It will help us if you can tell us the Confirmation Number whenever you contact us about your order.
4.1 Items may vary slightly from their pictures and/or descriptions. The images of the Services or Vouchers on our website and the descriptions and pictures contained within these media and on gift vouchers themselves are for illustrative purposes only. Although we have made every effort to display the colours accurately and to ensure that they are a true reflection of the Services and Vouchers (including the events or products), we cannot guarantee that a device's display of the colours accurately reflects the descriptions and pictures given and may vary from the "real life" version. As such any descriptions or pictures do not form part of these terms and conditions, nor do they form part of a contract. This does not affect your statutory rights.
4.2 Our communications with you. In order to provide you with our Services, we will need to communicate with you by sending you tailor made emails relating to the benefits and discounts that your employer or benefits provider has made available to you via their agreement with us. These emails are purely service based. You will nonetheless be able to manage your communications preferences via the Preferences Portal.
If you wish to make a change to the Voucher you have ordered, please contact us. We will let you know if the change is possible. If it is possible we will let you know about any changes (price, timing of supply or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change) and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change. If we cannot make the change or the consequences of making the change are unacceptable to you, you may want to cancel your order, which will be subject to your rights to do so as set out below.
6.1 Minor changes to the Services or Vouchers. We may change the Services or Vouchers to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements or based on our business requirements.
6.2 More significant changes to the Services, Vouchers and these terms. In addition, as we informed you in the description of the Services and Vouchers on our website, we may make periodical changes to these terms, our Services or the Vouchers, but if we do so we will notify you and you may then contact us to end the Service before the changes take effect and receive a refund for any Vouchers redeemed or paid for but not received.
6.3 Updates to digital content. We may update or require you to update digital content, provided that the digital content shall always match the description of it that we provided to you before you bought it.
7.1 Delivery costs. The costs of delivery, if any, will be as displayed to you on our website.
7.2 When we will provide the Vouchers. During the order process we will let you know when we will provide the Vouchers to you or any documentation or confirmations you require to use the Voucher.
7.3 If the Vouchers are:
• One-off Vouchers. We will begin the Services to provide you the Voucher once your order is accepted by us. We will make the Voucher available for download by you as soon as we accept your order. The Services shall be completed once the Voucher is made available to you for download.
7.4 We are not responsible for delays or events outside our control. If our supply of the Services or Vouchers is delayed by an event outside our control then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay.
Provided we do this we will not be liable for delays caused by the event, but if there is a risk of substantial delay you may contact us to end the Service and receive a refund for any Vouchers you have paid for but not received.
7.5 When you become responsible for the Voucher. A Voucher will be your responsibility once we make the Voucher available to you to download.
As such, please do not arrive at a venue expecting to redeem your Voucher without first obtaining a Confirmation Number or letter from the Retailer or Operator. This is your responsibility. We will not be held liable for costs incurred if you do not follow the procedure set out in these Terms and Conditions.
7.6 When you own a Voucher. You own the right to a Voucher once we have received payment or redemption in full.
7.7 What will happen if you do not give required information to us. We may need certain information from you so that we can supply the Services or Vouchers to you. If so, this will have been stated in the description of the Services on our website and in our Rewards and Recognition Portal Privacy and Cookies Policy and/or our Discounts Portal Privacy and Cookies Policy, as applicable. We may contact you to ask for this information where it has not been supplied by you or your employer. If you do not give us this information within a reasonable time of us asking for it, or if you give us incomplete or incorrect information, we may not be able to perform the Services for you. We will not be responsible for supplying Services or Vouchers late or not supplying any part of them if this is caused by you not giving us the information we need within a reasonable time of us asking for it.
7.8 Reasons we may suspend the supply of Services or Vouchers to you. We may have to suspend the supply of a Voucher or the Services to:
• Deal with technical problems or make minor technical changes;
• Update the Voucher to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements;
• If you do not pay. If you do not pay us for the Vouchers you order when you are supposed to and you still do not make payment within 3 days of us reminding you that payment is due, we may suspend supply of the Vouchers until you have paid us the outstanding amounts. We will contact you to tell you we are suspending supply of the Vouchers. In this case, we will not be responsible if the Voucher expires, any event passes or is no longer available or if any special offer or flash sale lapses during the time that we waited for you to pay. In this case, we or you may decide to cancel your order.
8.1 You can always end your contract or order for any Voucher with us. Your rights when you end the Services or Voucher order will depend on what you have bought, whether there is anything wrong with it, how we are performing and when you decide to end the contract:
• If what you have bought is mis-described you may have a legal right to end the Services or cancel the Voucher (or to get some or all of your money back);
• If you want to end the Service or cancel the Voucher because of something we have done or have told you we are going to do;
• If you have just changed your mind about the Voucher. You may be able to get a refund if you are within the cooling-off period, but this may be subject to the conditions as set out below.
8.2 Ending the Service or purchase of a Voucher because of something we have done or are going to do. If you are ending the Services or purchase of a Voucher for a reason set out below, our relationship with you will end immediately and we will refund you in full for any Vouchers which have not been provided to you and you may also be entitled to compensation. The reasons are:
• We have told you about an upcoming change to the Vouchers, Services or these terms which you do not agree to;
• We have told you about an error in the price or description of a Voucher you have ordered and you do not wish to proceed;
• There is a risk that supply of the Vouchers may be significantly delayed because of events outside our control;
• We have suspended supply of the Services or Vouchers for technical reasons; or
• You have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong.
8.3 Exercising your right to change your mind (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013). For most products bought online you have a legal right to change your mind within 14 days and receive a refund. These rights, under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, are explained in more detail in these terms.
8.4 When you don't have the right to change your mind. You do not have a right to change your mind in respect of the use of the services (i.e., the provision of Vouchers), once these have been completed, even if the cancellation period is still running.
8.5 How long do I have to change my mind? How long you have depends on what you have ordered and how it is delivered.
• Have you bought Vouchers? If so, you have 14 days after the day we email you to confirm we accept your order. However, once we have completed the services (i.e., provided the Voucher to you for download) you cannot change your mind, even if the period is still running.
Further, once you book a specific date with an Operator or Retailer (e.g., for events or experiences) you are bound by their terms and conditions regarding cancellations. Once a date is confirmed with an Operator or Retailer, it may not possible to change this date unless the Operator or Retailer deems this possible. You should liaise with the Operator or Retailer directly in the event of any query. Furthermore, we strongly recommend that you contact the Operator or Retailer on the day before your experience or event to ensure everything is in order. In the event of cancellation by the Operator or Retailer, we will not be held liable for the cost of lost insurance premiums, travel expenses, pre-booked accommodation costs or any other costs incurred. This does not affect your statutory rights.
• Have you bought digital content for download or streaming? If so, you have 14 days after the day we email you to confirm we accept your order, or, if earlier, until you start downloading or streaming. If we delivered the digital content to you immediately, and you agreed to this when ordering, you will not have a right to change your mind.
9.1 Tell us you want to end the Services or cancel the Voucher. Subject to the provisions at Article 8 above (and your statutory rights) you can request to end the Services with us or cancel a Voucher by letting us know via:
• Phone or submit an online enquiry. Call customer services on 020 8201 6483 or submit your enquiry here, providing all relevant information in the form.
10.1 We may end or suspend the Service or the provision of any Voucher if you do not respect these Terms & Conditions. We may end our relationship with you at any time by writing to you if you do not make any payment to us when it is due and you still do not make payment within 3 days of us reminding you that payment is due or you do not, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with information that is necessary for us to provide a Voucher you have ordered.
11.1 How to tell us about problems. If you have any questions or complaints about our Services or Vouchers, please contact us. You can telephone our customer service team at 020 8201 6483, submit your enquiry here or write to us at Mountcliff House, 154 Brent Street, London NW4 2DR.
11.2 Summary of your legal rights. We are under a legal duty to supply Services and Vouchers to you that are in conformity with this contract. See the box below for a summary of your key legal rights in relation to the Services or Vouchers. Nothing in these terms will affect your legal rights.
Summary of your key legal rights
This is a summary of your key legal rights. These are subject to certain exceptions. For detailed information please visit the Citizens Advice website www.adviceguide.org.uk or call 03454 04 05 06.
If your product is digital content, for example a mobile phone app, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says digital content must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality:
• If your digital content is faulty, you're entitled to a repair or a replacement.
• If the fault can't be fixed, or if it hasn't been fixed within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, you can get some or all of your money back.
• If you can show the fault has damaged your device and we haven't used reasonable care and skill, you may be entitled to a repair or compensation.
If your product is services, for example tickets to a concert or a Voucher, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says:
• You can ask us to repeat or fix a service if it's not carried out with reasonable care and skill or get some money back if we can't fix it.
• If you haven't agreed a price beforehand, what you're asked to pay must be reasonable.
• If you haven't agreed a time beforehand, it must be carried out within a reasonable time.
12.1 Prices. We take reasonable care to ensure that all prices (which includes VAT) are displayed on our website and on third-party agent websites (Operators and Retailers) and on any other marketing materials are correct to the best of our knowledge and are maintained on a daily basis. In the event of an order being placed against an accidental incorrect price, we will use reasonable efforts to inform you of the error within seven days of the purchase being made.
12.2 We will pass on changes in the rate of VAT. If the rate of VAT changes between your order date and the date we supply the Services of the Voucher, we will adjust the rate of VAT that you pay, unless you have already paid for the Services or Voucher in full before the change in the rate of VAT takes effect.
12.3 What happens if we got the price wrong. It is always possible that, despite our reasonable efforts, some of the Vouchers we sell may be incorrectly priced. We will normally check prices before accepting your order so that, where the Voucher's correct price at your order date is less than our stated price at your order date, we will charge the lower amount. If the Voucher's correct price at your order date is higher than the price stated to you, we will contact you for your instructions before we accept your order. In the event of an order being placed against an accidental incorrect price, we will use our reasonable efforts to inform you of the error within seven days of the purchase being made.
12.4 When you must pay and how you must pay. We accept payment with Visa Debit, MasterCard Debit only for Vouchers. For Vouchers or Services, you must pay for them before you download them.
12.4 What to do if you have been incorrectly billed. If you think you have been billed an incorrect amount, please contact us promptly to let us know.
13.1 We are responsible to you for foreseeable loss and damage caused by us. If we fail to comply with these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen, for example, if you discussed it with us during the sales process.
13.2 Third-Party Liability and Operators. Although we have sought to select highly experienced Operators and Retailers to assist you with Vouchers, products and bookings, we shall not be responsible for the safety standards or the quality or delivery of the experience, or any loss or damage suffered by you whilst participating in the experience or event for which an Operator or Retailer shall be solely responsible. We do not undertake any technical examination of equipment, facilities or services in order to minimise personal risk. You should raise any issues regarding this with the third-party Operator or Retailer directly.
13.3 Restrictions. Some of the Vouchers may have restrictions, for example the Voucher may not be valid during sale periods. If restrictions apply, these will be mentioned in the Services and Voucher description. Please abide by these restrictions as we are not responsible for any event where the Voucher is not accepted by an Operator or Retailer due to restrictive periods. If you are unsure of the restrictions or have any questions, please submit your enquiry here and we will advise you accordingly.
13.4 Our Liability. Except where stated below at 13.5, our total liability in all cases for any claim whatsoever in connection with the Services or Vouchers or any experience or any issue arising out of these terms shall be limited to the price that you paid for the Services or Vouchers in question.
13.5 We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights.
13.7 We are not liable for business losses. We only supply the Services or Vouchers for domestic and private use. If you use the Services or Vouchers for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.
How we may use your personal information. We will only use your personal information in accordance with applicable privacy and data protection laws including the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) and any applicable national implementing laws, regulations and secondary legislation in England and Wales relating to the processing of Personal Data and the privacy of electronic communications, as amended, replaced or updated from time to time, including the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive (2002/58/EC) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/2426) and as set out in our Rewards and Recognition Portal Privacy and Cookies Policy and/or our Discounts Portal Privacy and Cookies Policy, as appropriate.
15.1 We may transfer this agreement to someone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation.
15.2 You need our consent to transfer your rights to someone else. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree to this in writing. You may not make any changes to these terms unless we agree in writing, and our consent may be withheld for operational or business reasons.
15.3 Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
15.4 If a court finds part of this contract unlawful or invalid, the rest will continue in force. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
15.5 Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to provide the Services or Vouchers, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.
15.6 Which laws apply to this contract and where you may bring legal proceedings. These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the Services or Vouchers in the English courts. If you live in Scotland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the Services or Vouchers in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the Services or Vouchers in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.
Updated 24/05/2018


text:
Location: France
The Autan is a south-easterly,
föhn-type wind deriving from the Mediterranean and blowing across the
Languedoc into the Tarn and Garonne valleys affecting the Lauragais and the
Toulouse area. It has a more southerly component in the Cantal region.
The Autan is caused by high pressure moving NE from the Azores or the Eastern Mediterranean to the Baltic. Starting as a damp maritime wind, the Autan is blowing over the Languedoc into the Aquitaine, channelled and intensified by narrowing of lowlands between the Montagne Noir and Pyrenees and undergoes sudden acceleration between Corbieres and the south of the Massif Central.
The wind has distinct föhn characteristics when descending in the west and may easily reach gale force. The gustiness is enhanced along the steep and narrow valleys of the River Aude and Thauré, north of the Pyrenees and the Montagne Noir. Gusts can exceed twice mean speed, possibly enhanced by lee-wave activity. The effects on humans is similar to the föhn: a warm and close wind, sweltering and oppressive, causing headaches and general indisposition.
The name is also applied to other winds in SE Aquitane that may or may not be related to the Autan, such as the L'autan blanc (white Autan), described as of continental origin, bringing heat in summer and cold in winter, and l'autan noir (black Autan), a warm wind, precursor of intermittent rain and being less frequent than the 'white Autan'.


text:
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Can I Follow My Lead?
I've also been working on these. There are 30 blocks stacked here. It started with the fabric on top. I made 3 blocks from that fabric, pulled another fabric made 3 blocks from that, and so on until I had 30 blocks from 10 fun fabrics. It's a mix of Michael Miller, Amy Butler, Flea Market Fancy, and some assorted fabric from my stash. They all need to be squared and then these are ready to become a quilt top.
I have a few thank yous to pass along. First, I received these goodies from Rachel at 2nd Avenue Studio. Thanks so much Rachel. I'm using the needle book already! My hubby appreciates that...no more needle danger on the sofa! I'm also going to love the Q tools. Haven't tried them yet, but both assist in areas that I need help, cutting and scant 1/4 inch seams! Also, I received a box from Liz at The Quilted Turtle. I won a box of tulip bulbs. Sorry Liz, no picture. They're already safely tucked away in my basement sleeping, waiting for fall planting. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving! Thanks!
Thanks also to Madge of It's a Mad Madge World for this award. You make my day too! Thanks so much. It means so much that folks are visiting, reading, enjoying. Pass on some bloggy love to these ladies. They all have great blogs that are fun, inspirational reading. You may even learn some science...isn't that right, Liz! Lastly, a former Tallgrass lurker contacted me. She's a lurker no longer and now she's a blogger. Yup, took the plunge. Good for her and good for all of you too. She's got five children, loves to craft and has no space to really do what she loves. So, she's organizing and purging and believe it or not, giving away some of her excess supplies including stash. You can get fabric for free and at the same time welcome a new blogger. So head on over to Jennifer's blog. Sign up for her giveaways, but more importantly become her blog friend.
33 comments:
- Elizabeth said...
I LOVE those red and white blocks. The bias print gingham is especially great.
- July 15, 2008 at 7:17 PM
- Rebekah said...
your red and white quilt is really beautiful! I can't wait to see what the patterned blocks look like when they're part of a quilt top
- July 15, 2008 at 7:52 PM
- Liz said...
So glad the blubs arrived... hopefully they'll make you smile next spring. And yes, I am a science geek at heart :)
- July 15, 2008 at 9:27 PM
- Madge said...
love the red and white blocks and can't wait to see the other squares as a top.
- July 15, 2008 at 9:29 PM
Red and white, always so fresh and striking. Looking forward to see what your new blocks will end up being a part of.
- July 15, 2008 at 9:53 PM
- Blondie said...
I love the red and white! Looking forward to seeing what you're creating from the other blocks, too!
- July 15, 2008 at 11:33 PM
Glad you found your groove again! Can't wait to see the finished products. :~)
- July 16, 2008 at 7:13 AM
- MichelleB said...
Those red and white blocks are FABULOUS. I can hardly wait to see the other blocks, too.
- July 16, 2008 at 9:10 AM
- Doris said...
I love your free-form, no pattern quilts! You are very talented!
- July 16, 2008 at 10:02 AM
I love the red and white. I can't wait too see if finished.
- July 16, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Red and white are my favorites, and I'm wanting to make a quilt from these colors too! I also love the 30 squares with the browns, oranges, greens, etc. How pretty!
- July 16, 2008 at 11:00 AM
- May Kristin said...
Love your red and white blocks. The quilt will look great! You are teasing us with the other blocks! look forward to more!
- July 16, 2008 at 11:30 AM
- Yummers! said...
I love, love, love the red and white quilt. Of course red is my favorite color. But the quilt looks so clean and crisp and fresh. And I think you did a wonderful job of making a quilt that isn't perfectly symmetrical. So much more interesting!!
PS Project Runway starts tonight... yea!!! - July 16, 2008 at 1:38 PM
- Amanda Jean said...
I can relate with losing the groove you were in. I have done that many times. (too many to count, actually...I think it may be the one and only drawback of improvisational piecing.)
that being said, I adore that quilt. - July 16, 2008 at 1:43 PM
- bettyninja said...
Great work- red and white long rectangles looks fabulous
- July 16, 2008 at 2:16 PM
Oh My gosh!! A friend sent me your link and I just love your blog! I have it bookmarked so I can find my way back - I feel totally motivated to get off of this computer and go sew! Love your circle quilt - on the back of the couch - my quilt group has been in a "circle rut" for quite some time now! Love the new red quilt too! My parents used to live in Lake Quivira - do you live near there? Thanks! Nan
- July 16, 2008 at 2:29 PM
- Unknown said...
I am so glad that you got your groove on! Your blocks look great - and now I am anticipating seeing more of your 30 blocks. All those fun prints are bound to be a fun quilt :)
- July 17, 2008 at 12:03 AM
- Heidi said...
You mean there is a pink version of the "Atoms" pattern! That would be the lovely fabric in your yet-to-be-squared-off picture that has the pink background. I have the blue version of it. It totally reminds me of those clocks from the 60's that were wood and also looked like someone took a giant Tinker Toy set and made a clock with it.
The red and white quilt is lovely. I am sure it will be well loved as a graduation present. I hate loosing my place in a project too. I have to be diligent about writing stuff down or my poor brain doesn't know what to do to pick back up where I was. - July 17, 2008 at 7:20 AM
I really cant wait to see how that second quilt turns out. Love the fabric.
- July 17, 2008 at 7:53 AM
- The Calico Cat said...
Still love the red quilt. (I am going to do mine with the patterns - one less thing to forget.)
- July 17, 2008 at 8:33 AM
- beki said...
Ooo, I'm sure both those quilts will be stunning! I've been feeling the urge to make another quilt. I think I want to do it totally from my scrap basket, which is overflowing. I keep holding on to those scraps thinking that I'll do something with them, but it's time to give them new life. It's all about playing...
- July 17, 2008 at 8:44 AM
- KateKwiltz said...
LOVE the red & white! Glad you're back in the groove, it looks wonderful! Thanks also for your kind words yesterday -- I'm looking forward to blogging!
- July 17, 2008 at 12:27 PM
- Alison said...
I adore your red and white blocks!! I have always wanted to have a red and white quilt!
- July 17, 2008 at 5:11 PM
I love the red and white. I definitely know what you mean about setting a project aside and when you pick it back up it takes a while just to figure out where you left off and what to do next.
- July 17, 2008 at 6:30 PM
- ellen said...
Your creativity never ceases to amaze me!
- July 17, 2008 at 8:43 PM
- Marie' said...
Seeing your projects helps me while I miss my fabric and machine. The red quilt looks great!
- July 17, 2008 at 10:54 PM
- dutchcomfort said...
Love the blocks.
I had a funny experience the other day, while working out on the rowing machine at the gym I looked at the rectangle hole in which the chain runs... I immediately saw a quilt-block shape in it... and your blocks look a lot like it!
So my mind is suffering from some distortion! - July 18, 2008 at 6:01 AM
- Leanne said...
You are really amazing .... just winging a quilt top.....I love the combination of the red and white.
- July 18, 2008 at 6:29 AM
- MightyMom said...
ah yes, little cheat sheets are a must as it takes me forever to finish these things....but making it up as you go along can be sooo fun!!
catching up with you, sorry I've been away. - July 18, 2008 at 10:21 PM
- Lady Beekeeper said...
I nominated you for one of those online awards - I know you've already received one but your blog is just too good to let that stop me from naming you. Details are on my blog - stop by when you get the time. Cheers!
- July 19, 2008 at 6:42 AM
- jovaliquilts said...
I know what you mean about improvisational things getting away from you. Good luck picking up where you left off! And the red & white blocks are great.
- July 19, 2008 at 9:36 AM
- Solveig said...
I love your red and white blocks! Looking foreward to see the finished quilt!
- July 20, 2008 at 11:26 AM
- Jackie Russell said...
I love the red & white blocks!
- July 22, 2008 at 11:52 AM


text:
Seventh graders can now be vaccinated without parents knowledge or permission.
Vaccine marketers scored a landmark victory in California in October 2011 when Jerry Brown fetched the stick and signed into law a new bill allowing schools to vaccinate 12 year olds without informing their parents.
That's right. Kids now choose.
Falling into step with other compliant governors like Rick Perry and WA state's Christine Gregoire, Jerry Brown demonstrated once more his allegiance to the bottomless coffers of the drug industry lobby. Common sense, putting children in harm's way, running roughshod over parent's rights, responsible science – not relevant. Seems the world just got a little worse.
As a masterpiece of Bernays misdirection, the brilliance of this new approach to vaccine sales must be acknowledged. There can be no doubt that the underlying motive behind the new law was the promotion of the controversial Human Papilloma Virus vaccine [see HPV chapter] [1].
But the new law never mentions HPV.
Although this vaccine has been on the adolescent Vaccine Schedule for 5 years now, many parents are losing confidence in it lately and have been opting out of the vaccine for their 12 year olds. The primary reasons are
Lack of demonstrable necessity
Lack of scientific testing
Verifiable and admitted harmful side effects
The reader is referred to the above chapter [1] for the details of the confused rationale that has always haunted the marketing of this strange vaccine, as doctors struggled to justify the vaccine's necessity at all.
But with this new law, now they have done something unprecedented in vaccine promo by allowing the state to come between parents and their own children.
The whole science discussion is a study in confusion and misdirection, which is just the way Merck wants it – Merck being the inventor of the Gardasil HPV vaccine, and the ultimate beneficiary of the new law. To try and grasp what they have just accomplished by this bill, the parent must first review some basic facts about
1. cancer of the cervix,
2. its relation to Human Papilloma virus
3. the HPV vaccine
Cancer of the cervix now affects some 13,000 American women, 4,000 of whom die. [1] Most deaths are in the worst living environments in the US, among the most immune-suppressed groups. But like with all cancers, the cause of this one remains unknown.
Cervical cancer has been declining dramatically in the United States, from nearly 15 cases for every 100,000 women in 1975 to nearly 7 per 100,000 in 2008. [12] Nothing to do with vaccines.
In the 1970s, herpes simplex virus was proposed as a possible cause, but that hypothesis was soon abandoned after studies proved inconclusive.
In the 1990s the next candidate suggested was Human Papilloma virus. [2] But the link was never proven.
For this the first cancer vaccine, the PR department at Merck was hard put to come up with a convincing scientific rationale – how any HPV vaccine could possibly prevent cancer of the cervix.
The primary obstacle was that HPV could not be proven as the cause of any cancer. Or any disease at all, for that matter. But is it precisely this claimed causation between HPV and cervical cancer that necessitates the vaccine at all, right? Without hard evidence, the vaccine is exposed as a useless sham.
Here's the short version of how the HPV supposedly causes cancer of the cervix, according to Merck scientists.
First of all, in any cancer, we're talking about a normal cell that mutated and then began to make copies of itself, unchecked.
The creators of the HPV/ cancer myth are pretending that the HPV came along and attacked some normal cells and mutated those cells and caused them to begin replicating themselves out of control cancer. And that this is happening on a mass scale even though we just discovered it. And worse, that a vaccine can neutralize that type of attack on normal cervix cells.
Any scientist not on the payroll of Merck will see the problem with this new 'hit-and-run' theory right off the bat. The simple fact is that viruses don't replicate in cancer cells. [Duesberg, 3]. Before this marketing campaign for HPV vaccine, no virus was ever claimed as carcinogenic.
But it gets even worse than that. The HPV vaccine doesn't even contain HPV! True. Just some particles. Look it up. [1, 2]
Apparently this fact is not considered worth knowing by the majority of parents, who obediently line up their children for whatever shots the Vaccinators will command. "They must be good for kids or they wouldn't be giving them," is the standard substitute for thinking, adopted by the
uninformed parent. Don't bother me with the facts.
More and more parents possessing a bit more refined powers of intellect however have been looking behind the veil in the last two years, and realizing the indefensibility of the preposterous 'viral particle theory' which is supposed to explain the Gardasil HPV vaccine's mode of action in preventing cancer. (see chapter for details [1]) This steadily growing subset of informed parents began opting out – signing the forms which exempt their child from the vaccine.
The vaccine industry freaked. But first they had to deal with a more obvious PR problem.
Why has a vaccine claiming to be for cancer of the cervix – why has this vaccine been routinely given also to boys ever since it came out?
Excellent question. It is answered completely in our June 2011 Newsletter
Short answer: A spurious shotgun 'study' was hurriedly done for New England Journal of Medicine which provided the required rationale. Serendipitously, we just found out that boys need the same vaccine as girls, but for genital warts. [4,5]
What a coincidence.
So with the spotlight suddenly on HPV after 5 years, with the vast majority of kids routinely getting the shots, people were finally starting to take a look at the vaccine. The warts thing, even though ridiculous, satisfied the undiscriminating silent majority.
But that wasn't enough to cover up all the bad press. After the Sept 2011 Michelle Bachman ambush of Rick Perry on CNN, [6] where his well known financial connections with Merck were yet again aired on national TV, HPV vaccine looked really suspect. More people began opting out.
Vaccine industry double freaking now.
In today's version of E.L. Bernays journalism [7], new life can be injected into virtually any story by framing it in one of the Holy Trinity issues. If the underlying facts are unclear, boring, or just inconveniently true, no problem – we can forget about those details. We'll just hide the underlying story and make it about sex or blood or racism. Now it pops. Better yet, we buried the lead. Framing the issue is everything; substance is a passing myth.
For HPV, they chose Sex. Obscure the main facts of the issue, which are:
– HPV virus has never been proven as the cause of any disease
– HPV virus has never been proven as the cause of cancer of the cervix
– HPV vaccine has never been proven to have the slightest effect on any cancer at all
– By no stretch of the imagination can cancer of the cervix be regarded as an STD
Let's ignore these worrisome facts and bury them behind an emotional smokescreen under Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Wow. Now we have a story about teenage girls and STDs – fantastic. Now that's newsworthy!
And that's precisely what they've done. Read any story about HPV in mainstream media, and even in some of the websites and health sites that are appalled by the political issue of having parent's rights obliterated – even they accept as real the erroneous fiction that cancer of the cervix is an STD. It isn't! STD's are infectious! Remember? Sexually transmitted
infections. No cancer is infectious.
So much for background on the vaccine. Now, about that new bill.
"This bill would allow a minor who is 12 years of age or older to consent to medical care related to the prevention of a sexually transmitted disease.
"The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
– – SECTION 1.- Section 6926 of the Family Code is amended to read:
– – – (a) A minor who is 12 years of age or older and who may have come into
contact with an-infectious, contagious, or communicable disease may
consent to medical care related-to the diagnosis or treatment of the
disease, if the disease or condition is one that is-required by law or
regulation adopted pursuant to law-to be reported to the local health
officer, or is a related sexually transmitted disease, as may be determined
by the State-Director of Health Services Public Health Officer.
– – (b) A minor who is 12 years of age or older may consent to medical care
related to the prevention of a sexually transmitted disease.
– – (c) The minor's parents or guardian are not liable for payment for
medical care provided-pursuant to this section."
Whew! So much dissimulation, so much deliberate misrepresentation, so much not saying what they really mean. Where does one begin?
OK, let's roll up our sleeves and just do it.
All the uproar we see against this new bill correctly relates it to the HPV vaccine, which is given to 12 year old girls. The bad press the vaccine was getting, loss of confidence, the lawmakers' financial entanglements with Merck, etc. – this bill was the response to all that. Without HPV vaccine, this bill would have never been drafted.
But lawmakers funded by huge drug cartels can employ the most sophisticated techniques of Bernays PR ever conceived. They can spin anything. In this case, the new law never mentions HPV vaccine itself, distancing itself from that entire discussion – as though this is not a law to sell HPV vaccine for Merck but rather a way to better protect our defenseless teenage girls against the ravages of STDs. Who would argue with something like that?
The new press copy for the bill focuses on the emotional sensation of the STD hook. We must protect our innocent virginal 12 year olds from the unregulated STDs rampant across the nation… They keep repeating that myth over and over, and now most people believe that's what HPV vaccine is for because they never read anything else. The media repetition alone has created the reality of the public perception – 180 degrees opposite from physical reality.
Again, the STD thing is irrelevant – a calculated distraction, diverting attention from the bedrock fact that cervical cancer is simply not an STD. That's what the vaccine was originally approved for, and still claims to prevent: cancer of the cervix.
But it doesn't even do that. [1]
The reader by now, it is hoped, will start to doubt HPV vaccine's efficacy – why it cannot do what it claims to do.
Wouldn't be so bad if it were ineffective and harmless. But this vaccine is also very dangerous, as the manufacturer states.
Let's start with the side effects cited by Merck:
- fever
- nausea
- pharyngitis
- dizziness
- bronchospasm
- Gastroenteritis
- appendicitis
- upper respiratory infection
– [2] 2007 Physicians Desk Reference [213] p 1987
Additional side effects discovered later include loss of consciousness, loss of vision and seizures. (Lopes, [8]) And oh yes, paralysis.
By 2008, the British media began to report still other effects of Gardasil among young girls, like the 30 deaths, which American media never mentioned. [10]
An additional symptom from the HPV shot is Guillain Barre syndrome, an autoimmune condition resulting in paralysis. There have been several such cases both in the UK and the US, including a high profile case in Oct 2008 of a 12 year old British girl who collapsed 2 days after the Gardasil shot and was subsequently paralyzed from the waist down. [10] Her first symptoms came on within 30 minutes. Again, no US media.
American media missed the followup story a year later when England suspended HPV vaccine altogether after another 14 girls died from the vaccine.[9]
Newer data just released from the VAERS database – the government tracking system for vaccine injuries since 1991 – this data makes public the 26 American girls who died from the Gardasil shot in 2010. Believe me this has never been in any mainstream media source. But you can easily find these documents [11], although scrolling through them to find the 26 deaths will require that you do a search for the word death. Or you can take the word of Judicial Watch, the group that recently unearthed the data through Freedom of Information. Again, mainstream media is not allowed to run stories like this, even though the data is right there in the VAERS files where anyone can see it.
Is this story newsworthy?
If 'they' can get the majority of the population to comply so easily to such a groundless threat as this and strip away basic parental rights in the bargain, what's next? If this flies, which it is, why not just say that 12 year olds can now make their own decisions for any of the 68 vaccines, irrespective of parental exemption forms. Cut the parents out of the equation entirely. Show the kids a glitzy scary Merck movie, then take them all next door and ask who doesn't want to be protected. Peer pressure kicks in, everybody gets a shot, and then take them all out to McDonald's. Is this any stretch at all from where we are now?
Show any parent the Vaccine Schedule and ask what any given vaccine is. What is DPT? What is H. influenzae? What is HPV? Why are you taking your kid in for these shots? They have no idea, most of them. And they are reassured that they don't have to know – it's not their job. Trust your doctor.
From now on when you read anything about HPV vaccine, Gardasil, or the new CA bill that allows 12 years olds to be vaccinated without parental knowledge, keep this little checklist of facts in front of you:
– HPV virus has never been proven as the cause of any disease,
– HPV virus has never been proven as the cause of cancer of the cervix.
– HPV vaccine has never been proven to have the slightest effect on any cancer at all.
– By no stretch of the imagination can cancer of the cervix be regarded as an STD.
This article then is for 2 groups:
1. Parents of 12 year olds who think they should have more say about what their kids are injected with than the politics of state government
2. Parents who are sending their kids to get the HPV vaccine.
With media solidly in the pocket of their biggest advertiser – the drug industry – the parent who gets all the information about HPV vaccine from Fox News, Yahoo News, Newsweek magazine, or the local newspaper is going to be told some untrue mantras, over and over. It only takes a little bit of reading to demythologize these issues and learn the truth.
So for the small percentage of parents interested enough in their child's future to actually do that, their progeny will be immune enhanced. Natural selection will favor them. And the human race will have some small advantage for the next generations over the majority of children who are being immune suppressed by ingredients in the 68 vaccines now mandated. [13]
As you might suspect, this article is only the tip of the iceberg. HPV vaccine is much more dangerous than presented here, the underlying science is much weaker, and the economic entanglements between drugmakers and political entities are much more complicated. So the first thing a parent can do is to find out a little more. Rather than doing a blind google search on HPV which is going to turn up 100,000 hits, most marketing the safety of the vaccine, instead follow up on some of the references below. See if they make sense. Vet this article. Get enough information on your own to make an informed decision whether or not your teenager's blood should be the battleground for this political wordgame. Satisfy yourself that the vaccine meets 3 criteria:
If you then decide that this vaccine is a bit too experimental for your child, and you wish to opt out, first of all sign the standard Exemption Form and turn it in to the school.
Next, click to the Parents Letter To the School. [14] Follow the directions and send the certified letters letting the school know who's really in charge of your kids, them or you.
I think most of us would agree that many horrifying things are taking place every day in the world today. But we do have the power to keep at least some of them out of our homes. So obviously the first step is education from sources not vested in the wholesale marketing of vaccines.
Aren't your kids worth the effort?
1. Human Papilloma Virus: The First Cancer Vaccine
2. Medical Economics Physicians' Desk Reference
1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008
3. Duesberg, P, Schwartz J Latent Viruses: No Evidence for Pathogenicity
Progress in Nucleic Acid Research and Molecular Biology 43:135-204, 1992.
4. Kim, J – Weighing the benefits and costs of HPV vaccination in young men,
New England Journal of Medicine p 393 – 3 Feb 2011
5. Giuliano, A – Efficacy of quadrivalent HPV vaccine against HPV
infection and disease in males, NEJM p 401 – 3 Feb 2011
6. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsEC77qZHbo
7. The Doors of Perception: Why Americans Will Believe Almost Anything
8. Lopes, G Vaccine center issues warning WASHINGTON TIMES Feb 3, 2007.
9. Martin, D NHS Trust suspends cervical cancer vaccinations after girl, 14, dies within hours of jab
10. Foggo, D Sunday Times. UK Mystery illness paralyses girl given cervical cancer jab
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5337885.ece 14 Dec 2008
11. Judicial Watch Uncovers FDA Gardasil Records Detailing 26 New Reported Deaths Washington, DC — October 19, 2011
scroll down to Documents Uncovered
– VAERS reports of deaths, Sept 1, 2010 – Sept 15, 2011
– VAERS reports, Sept 1, 2010 – Dec 31, 2010
– VAERS reports, Jan 1, 2011 – Apr 30, 2011
– VAERS reports, May 1, 2011 – Sept 15, 2011
12. AssociatedPress
Annual Cancer Screening Tests Urged Less and Less October 19, 2011
13. O'Shea T Vaccination Is Not Immunization 2012 edition , advance
14. Parents Letter
15. Exemptions Forms for all 50 States
Photo Credit: Spirit-Fire


text:
Editor's Note: After many years of managing the Scott Kelby Guest Blog Series, this will be the final guest post. I wanted to end the series with my first guest post from 2008, the telling of my insane trip to Mexico with Joe McNally. Thankfully I haven't had any trips as bad as this one since, and I don't think any of Joe's other assistants have either! Thanks for reading all these years, and I hope you enjoy this final guest post.
As most of you know, before coming to work with Scott, I was Joe McNally's assistant. When Scott asked me to be his guest blogger for this week, I thought it might be a good opportunity to both finish the story and share it with a (much) larger audience.
Before you begin, a word of warning. It's a bit long, so I've parsed it into four parts to make it a little easier to get through. As you're reading, you'll be thinking, "How can this get any worse??" I assure you, it can and it does. I hope you enjoy!
Part I – Always Double-Check Your Carry-On
The second job that I assisted Joe on was a portrait for AARP in Washington D.C. The subject was a lawyer who had taken up pottery in his retirement. Since it was only the second shoot I'd been on with Joe, I was still getting the hang of packing gear in the Suburban… Still learning the best place for each item to go. Location work being what it is, we had to park about half a block away from the pottery studio and walk the gear over. Of course, it also started pouring the rain.
This meant that I had to walk back and forth from the studio to the truck, in the rain, to retrieve gear that I had forgotten to bring on the initial trip. Multiple times. One of these items was a knife. The cameras have these L-brackets on them that partially cover the USB port, making it difficult to access when shooting tethered, and thus requires a knife to pry it open. "Hence", Joe informed me, "the knives always travel with the cameras." Okay, point taken.
The shoot went well, and Joe worked his magic to create what looked like daylight pouring in through the studio screen door when it was anything except sunshine and kitty cats outside.
Photo by Joe McNally
From D.C., we continued traveling and began working on the NCAA Basketball preview issue of Sports Illustrated. Seven colleges over the course of about two or three weeks to do portraits of the "big freshmen."
Fast forward a week or two, and Joe and I are flying to a different city every other day. This was a new experience for me, seeing that I'd flown a total of three times in my life before this trip.
We were going through security at Salt Lake City Airport one early morning, en route to Tucson, when the TSA agent pulls my camera bag (Joe and I each traveled with one) and says he needs to look through it. Sure, whatever. Nothing out of the ordinary…
So, he begins digging through it, and pulls out a knife. A Leatherman to be exact.
TSA Agent: "Sir, did you realize this was in here?"
Me: "Oh, crap. I wasn't even thinking about it…"
The searching of the bag continues… He pulls another knife. Swiss Army. Suspicious look…
TSA Agent: "Sir, is there anything else in here I should know about?"
Me: "Um… I think there might be one more."
Yep. Another Leatherman.
Me: "Just a second, let me get my boss. He's coming through the other line." I turn around. "Joe…"
TSA Agent: "Sir, is this your bag?"
Joe: "Yeah…?"
TSA Agent presents knives.
Joe: "BRAD!! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!? YOU CAN'T BRING KNIVES ON A PLANE!!!"
Me: (very sheepishly) "But… You said the knives… always travel… with… the cameras…?"
At this point, I think the TSA Agent realized it was an honest mistake and explained our options. They can either confiscate the knives, or they could allow us to ship them back home via the Hudson News right next to security that happens to sell packaging and stamps and ship things.
So Joe goes over to package them up and ship them home, while I sit down and feebly attempt to tie my shoes with trembling hands. A kind gentleman sitting beside me who saw everything tries to assure me that it'll be okay.
I finish putting my shoes back on as Joe comes back over, and we begin walking toward our gate. I'm not really sure what to do or say, so I muster up enough courage to glance over and say, "I'm so sorry."
Joe just begins laughing. LAUGHING! After I almost got arrested.
I'm slightly befuddled as to why he's laughing instead of yelling at me. He explains that he's pulled his share of bonehead moves during his career, so he has to have patience and be forgiving. You have to learn from your mistakes and move on.
I finally muster a bit of a smile and we make our way to the gate. Little did I know that before the trip was over, I would test his patience, grace, and forgiveness as much as humanly possible…
Part II – Check and Double-Check Vital Items along the Way
We finished shooting for SI and retreated to Coronado Island, outside of San Diego, for a few days rest before heading south to cover the Baja 1000 for Micron. Needless to say, this differed immensely from the previous job I had in college, working part-time for a mid-size daily newspaper. Joe reminded me of this as we sat having breakfast on the patio one morning, overlooking the harbor and city, surrounded by palm trees and beautiful weather.
I was enjoying my stay on the island, walking around the nearby area snapping pictures, driving down to the village and shopping for flip flops, and visiting the beach at The Del.
Yes, all was going well until the day before crossing the border to Mexico…
As I'm getting things organized, preparing to cross the border, I decide to ahead and pull my passport out of the camera bag pocket I had packed it in. I unzip the pocket, stick my hand in, and don't feel anything.
What. The. Crap.
I proceed to empty every single pocket of every single bag I have with me. Every zipper unzipped, every pocket emptied, every nook uncrannied. Nothing. It's official…
I… have lost… my FREAKING PASSPORT!
The passport that I had just gotten for this trip. The passport that had never been outside of the United States. The passport that had no stamps on any of the pages. Gone.
I go down to meet Joe for breakfast, having absolutely no idea what I'm going to do or how he will react. He walks in and greets me, but sees the look on my face and immediately asks what's wrong.
"I can't find my passport."
He looks displeased, to say the least, but gains his composure and immediately begins thinking about how we're going to pull this off. Luckily, it is 2006, and I can still get into Mexico with a U.S. driver's license.
Once we figure this out, we breathe a potential sigh of relief (you never know for sure what's going to happen until it happens). We enjoy the rest of our time in Coronado, then prepare to venture south of the border.
The next morning, we awake, load our rental vehicle, and drive south. We arrive at the border and pull out the instructions that have been emailed to us on how to get our visas (the process involves a lot of going from one office to another and then back to the previous office, and it has to be done in a very particular order).
At one point, I am asked for my passport. I smile and say, "Driver's license?" as I hand it toward the officer.
Big, friendly smile. "Driver's license…?"
He rolls his eyes and accepts my license, finishes processing the paper work, and we're on our way.
Sweet! I made it into Mexico without my passport! It was a big moment of joy for me. Unfortunately, it would be short-lived…
Part III – Be Very Careful, But Don't Always Use Your Head
"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay… Wait. Son of a… Is that blood?! Oh, $%*^! This did not just happen! I did not just crack my head open on a TRACTOR FREAKING TRAILER!! Seriously! This can NOT be happening! Not after all I've already been through!"
This, along with a stream of obscenities, is what was going through my head (besides the tractor trailer) at the end of the same day I crossed the border. Let's rewind a few hours…
When Joe and I arrived in Ensenada a couple of days before the race, we met up with the Micron people we were working with, and they guided us up into the mountains to the Wide Open Horsepower Ranch, where their team was staging. They were getting the cars ready, making sure everything was in order, and it also served as their party grounds. Not like a frat party or anything, but they were definitely having a good time.
We sat down to eat while different people came up on stage and made presentations and speeches, all the usual thank-you-for-everything-we-couldn't-have-done-this-without-you-yay-for-us kind of stuff. As we were sitting on the folding chairs, my butt started hurting because of my wallet. So I took it out and stuck it in my jacket pocket. The night wore on, Joe snapped some more pictures, then decided to call it a night and get back to the hotel. So we hop in the rental, along with someone to help guide us back down out of the mountains and into Ensenada safely.
We arrive at the hotel and try to check in, but they're overbooked. As Joe attempts to work his New York, uh, "charm" on the guys behind the desk, I realize that my wallet isn't in my back pocket. Oh, but I stuck it in my jacket pocket, and I left my jacket in the truck.
"Hey Joe, can I get the keys from you to get my jacket? I forgot it in the truck."
I go out to the truck, grab my jacket, and feel around in the pockets…
No wallet.
Therefore no driver's license, no work visa, no debit/credit cards, no cash… nothing. Yet again, crap.
I go back in and hand the keys to Joe, very much unsure of how exactly I'm going to handle this, especially since he's already tired and still trying to get rooms for the night. He keeps talking to the guys behind the desk, but finally glances over at me and sees the very worried look on my face.
"Brad, what's wrong?"
"I lost my wallet."
"You… lost your wallet?? Brad, I can't get you out of the country without your ID."
"I know. But I think I know where it's at! I stuck it in my jacket pocket when we were eating dinner, and it must've fallen out right around where we were sitting! I'll go back and find it, and take him (the guy who guided us to the hotel) back since he has to go anyway! I'll find it, and everything will be okay!"
I honestly don't remember what Joe's reaction was at this point, but he says that he was ready to leave me in Mexico to fend for myself. I can't blame him.
I made the half-hour drive back up to the ranch and dropped off our guide, then parked the truck. Now, one of the other team sponsors was Monster Energy Drinks, and they had a big tractor trailer with a stage set up between where I parked and where we had eaten dinner. So, I decided that it would be faster and easier to go through a gap between the stage and trailer than to go all the way around it. Wrong.
I ducked down to go underneath the trailer, thought I had made it to the other side, and raised up too early too quickly. My forehead hit the metal edge and knocked me on my rear. I regained my composure, hoping that I was okay. I didn't feel any pain, other than my neck being jarred from the impact. I thought I was okay, until blood started dripping onto my glasses. Then an internal string of curses started going through my head. As I made it out from under the trailer, a young guy saw me and came over.
"Dude, are you okay??"
"Yeah, I think I'm fine. I just need something to stop the bleeding."
"No, man, you need stitches! That's a nasty gash!"
"NO NO NO, I do NOT need stitches. I can't need stitches!"
"Just sit down over here and let me get the medics…"
Cue examination and questions… Yes, I did actually realize the tractor trailer was parked right there. No, my head doesn't hurt for some reason (I think I managed to cut through the nerves or something). My neck hurts. Is a neck brace really necessary? Okay, fine. Yes, I have insurance. No, I don't have proof. I lost my wallet. Yes, I do realize that I am royally screwed, thank you.
This all takes place as a crowd of people gather around to see why an ambulance with flashing lights just pulled up and take pictures of the idiot who just cracked his head open on a tractor trailer. The medics get me onto a stretcher, load me into the back of the ambulance, and off we go down an entirely-too-bumpy road to the hospital. Luckily, the Micron guys were able to make sure I get taken to a private hospital, so that put my mind a little more at ease. I know it's a half-hour drive back to downtown, so I decide to kill some time and text my old college roommate on the way…
We arrived at the hospital, and it was indeed private; they turned the lights on as we came in. The doctor did x-rays of my neck to see if it was injured, but it wasn't. Then he began stitching up my head.
Back at the hotel, while this was happening, Joe has finally gotten a room and is settling in for the night when he gets a knock at the door…
"Joe, sorry to disturb you, but your assistant is in the emergency room with a big gash in his head."
I can only imagine his reaction, and I'm not sure I even want to do that. Thankfully, he didn't shut the door and leave me to fend for myself… He got dressed and came to the hospital.
Because the gash was so deep (down to the skull), the doctor had to do three stitches inside, then six outside. While he's working on me, Joe shows up. I'm lying on the gurney and see him come in out of the corner of my eye. The whole time, my biggest fear was how he was going to react. I could've given a crap about my head at this point, I was worried about whether or not I was going to have a job after this trip was over!
Joe walks over and asks, "How ya doin' there, Brad?" He describes this next part as a There's Something About Mary moment, the scene where Ben Stiller gets, um, "stuck" in his pants zipper and everyone who tries to help says, "Oh, it can't be that bad…"
Joe leans over to see how my head looks, thinking, "It can't be too bad… OH MY GOD!! I CAN SEE HIS CRANIUM!" Thankfully, that's his internal reaction and not his outward reaction, as I had not actually seen the wound at this point. He just says, "Well, you gave yourself a pretty good gash there, Brad."
This how my head looked about a week after it happened:
Joe consults the doctor to make sure I can still work in the hot sun over the next few days, and the doctor says it's okay as long as I take my antibiotics and wear a hat. As they're talking, I sit up on the gurney and look back at where my head had been for the past hour or two. Blood… Lots and lots of blood. Pretty much the entire top 1/4 of the gurney was red with the former contents of my head.
We wrap things up at the ER, and Joe drops me off at the hotel and goes to the pharmacy to get my prescription filled. I go up to my room and grab a very careful shower. Once I'm cleaned up, I send a text message to my mom back in Tennessee, thinking that she'll get it when she wakes up in the morning.
"Can you cancel my debit and credit cards for me? I lost my wallet. Also, I have 9 stitches in my head, but I'm okay."
Unfortunately, this awoke my mother at 3 a.m., and she called as I was lying down to sleep. "Mom, the signal here sucks and I can't hear anything that you might be saying. But I promise that I'm okay and will call you in the morning. I need to sleep, so please don't call back. I love you, goodnight."
Of course, right before my alarm goes off the next morning, my phone rings again. It's my mom, wondering if I got mugged or something. I explain what happened, what I needed her to do, assured her that I was okay, and got ready to go scout the race course with Joe.
Part IV – Sometimes, It Just Comes Down to Luck
The scouting went well and was pretty uneventful, other than Joe hanging out the side of the truck going down the highway to take pictures of the Micron tractor trailer while it was driving down the road. We figure out that we're going to have about two or three chances to intersect with the cars since we're only covering the first day of the race and not the whole thing. Each of those times will come and go very quickly since the cars aren't exactly slowing down to pose for a picture, so we have to be right on with whatever we shoot.
On race day, we get to our first shooting location, a hill where the cars will get air as they come across, and set up amidst all the drunk and rowdy race fans along the sides of the road. Keep in mind that these are public roads and not closed off. There is minimal police presence to keep things under control, other than a cop at an intersection to stop traffic for the race cars when they come through. As we're setting up, civilian cars occasionally across the hill and are met with cans, bottles, and even chairs. We do our best to avoid any flying debris, though I think Joe may've caught some spray from a not-empty beer can.
Joe goes up the road a short distance to the next hill with a long lens and puts me at the bottom of the jump with a wide lens (this isn't the ideal situation to set up a literal remote camera, so I acted as a "protective" remote, if you will). As I mentioned before, police presence is quite minimal, and these drunk race fans aren't being held back by any sort of barricades or anything. Joe and I aren't the only ones there with cameras, so everyone tries to get as close as they can to get good pictures. One man in particular got too close…
I'm not sure what happened to him, but he was airlifted out by helicopter. After this happened, everyone backed up a few steps.
From here, we loaded up and raced to the next location. I don't think I've ever driven as fast as I drove down that two-lane Mexican highway that day, passing every car I could when I had the chance. We made it to the next location, Joe did his thing, and off we went to the final location.
We didn't make it in time, though. Joe got out and made some snaps (his personal favorite of the day, actually), and we turned around to head home. As we stopped to get gas, I realized that my face was feeling really weird. Particularly my forehead… I asked Joe if my face looked swollen, and he didn't even answer.
"Give me the keys, I'm driving."
See, I had forgotten to bring my antibiotics with me, so my forehead was swollen to the point that I could barely see out of my right eye. But we made it back to the hotel and I took my medicine and went to bed.
We woke up early the next morning, as Joe and I both were ready to get the heck out of Mexico. I drove most of the way back, but pulled over to swap places with Joe so he could drive across the border.
As we got to the border crossing, I started to pull out the police report I had filed for my "stolen" wallet. Joe saw it and told me to put it away immediately as it would cause the border patrol to ask questions unnecessarily. As we got closer, I became more nervous on the inside, but didn't let it translate into any body language. Finally, our turn came to cross…
Joe rolled down his window and showed the officer his passport.
"Everybody in the vehicle American citizens?"
"Yes sir."
"What was your purpose for visiting Mexico?"
"We're photographers who were covering the Baja, sir."
"Do you have any drugs, alcohol, or firearms in the vehicle?"
"No sir."
"Alright, you gentleman have a good day."
"Yes sir, you too."
And with that, I was back in the United States! Now all I had to do was get on the plane without any form of official ID.
The plan all along was for Joe to take a few days of relaxation in LA when we were done, and for me to fly back home with all the gear. So I dropped him off at Hertz where he got his new rental and drove north, and I went back to take care of the rental then hopped on the shuttle to the airport.
I arrived at the airport and made my way to the Delta counter. As usual, the man behind the counter asks where I'm going and to see my ID.
"Well, I'm going to New York LaGuardia, but, um… I lost my wallet in Mexico. All I have is my pass from the Baja 1000 and a copy of my birth certificate (that my mom and Lynn, Joe's studio manager had emailed to me)…"
"Oh, no problem. Happens all the time! Here's your ticket. Have a nice flight!"
"Um… Okay, thanks. But what about security? Won't they need to see my ID?"
"I've got you covered. Come with me."
We walk over to security, and he says, "This guy lost his wallet in Mexico, but he's good."
They shrug and say, "Okay."
I empty my pockets, go through the metal detector, gather my things, and go to my gate.
Everything was smooth sailing from there. I was very happy to get back to a familiar bed and be able to relax for a few days. My family was also glad to have me home in one piece for Thanksgiving a couple of weeks later.
Over the next two years, I made other mistakes, but never again anything on the level of what happened on this trip. Now I'm working with Scott, and I'm pretty sure that he has his fingers crossed every day, hoping that I got all of my mishaps out of my system when I was with Joe. So far, so good, but I'm sure you'll hear about it if I do anything royally stupid.
One of Joe's favorite sayings is something along the lines of, "Don't run away from your mistakes. Embrace them. Take them out to dinner and become friends so that you can learn from them and grow." I think I took this idea a few steps further and had little mistake babies on this trip (named 'em Dangit, Darnit, and Jimbob). But I did learn from them, and that is what's important.
For those who actually read this whole thing, thanks for hanging in there! I hope that you found it was worth it :-) And if you want Joe's side of the story, you can read it here. Have a great rest of the week!


text:
GROHE launches first international lifestyle magazine
Leading faucet manufacturer presents water-themed mix of entertainment and information, starting mid-June
Highlights in the first issue include a travel guide to Paris focusing on items of interest related to water. From spectacular fountains to a nightclub on a boat, from a floating swimming pool to a unique aquarium, the new GROHE Magazine is packed with insider tips, some of which come courtesy of Oliver Jahn, the editor of Germany's Architectural Digest magazine.
Lovers of unique architecture and modern interiors will devour the project reports from all over the globe. For all those who cannot travel to the FIFA World Cup themselves, a feature on a stadium in Rio de Janeiro offers an exciting insight into the latest off-pitch designs. Hotel stories from places as far afield as Vietnam and Canada stir readers' desire to travel. Music fans can look forward to a tour of the legendary Abbey Road Studios where such artists as Adele and Liam Gallagher benefit from the washroom comforts afforded by GROHE water fittings.
Readers will also learn what makes the world's leading manufacturer of branded faucets and fittings tick. An interview with Thomas Fuhr, the GROHE Management Board member in charge of technology, provides insight into the precision work at all GROHE plants and their commitment to the highest standards of quality. In addition, Paul Flowers, head of design at GROHE, shares his views of modern consumer-centric design.
Jan Peter Tewes, Marketing Director at Grohe AG, says:
"This magazine is not a product brochure but first and foremost an entertaining medium which invites readers to explore the many facets of the vital element that is water. Our ambition is to inform and inspire our customers and show them how our GROHE products can contribute to their relaxation and well-being in the comfort of their own homes. Our customers should feel the same fascination for water that drives our work on a daily basis. We believe that the launch of our new GROHE Magazine represents a new and exciting form of communication."
We believe that the launch of our new GROHE Magazine represents a new and exciting form of communication.


text:
The United States Constitution, as Seattle police officers
pretend to understand it, extends to police an unqualified right to the
discretionary use of aggressive force, and prohibits "second-guessing" by those
who are not members of the State's coercive caste.
Inhibiting the exercise of that entitlement, the
officers claim in a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Justice Department and the City
of Seattle, would be a "violation of the Second, Fourth, Fifth, and
Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution."
In 2012, after a Justice Department investigation concluded
that Seattle police officers routinely use unnecessary force, the City of Seattle
implemented a new use-of-force policy and agreed to the creation of an
independent police monitor. The current lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of
more than 100 Seattle cops, complains that those trivial and inadequate restrictions
created "vaguely defined, newly protected classes of suspects" and violate the
officers' supposed "right not to be required to take unnecessary risks."
An "unnecessary" risk, on this construction, would occur any
time a police officer is required to use "significantly less force than is
being threatened against them by suspects … [who] appear to be or are
engaged in threatening and dangerous conduct." (Emphasis added.) Police are
trained to believe that they put their lives at risk in every encounter with a citizen, and to
regard any gesture of non-compliance as an immediate and impermissible risk to
that most sacred of all considerations, "officer safety."
At present, in most of the country a police officer who
brutalizes or kills somebody without moral justification can take refuge in the
"totality of circumstances" test. In practice, this is nothing less than an
unalloyed entitlement to kill first, and devise a suitable rationale after the
Seattle's new use-of-force guidelines, the police lawsuit
objects, require officers – who,
as a class, are selected on the basis of limited intellectual agility – "to
engage in mental gymnastics wholly unreasonable in the light of the dangerous
and evolving circumstances we face every day. This creates unnecessary and, therefore,
unconstitutional risks to Plaintiffs' safety."
Just as unconscionable, from the cops' perspective, is the
fact that their violent actions would be subject to what they call "the very
second-guessing prohibited by the Constitution" – that is, their actions would
be scrutinized by people who are not part of their privileged class. This
distant possibility of accountability "places unconstitutional risks and
burdens on the Plaintiffs' lives and livelihood," pouts the civil complaint.
Those unacceptable risks can be avoided, of course, if
police officers unwilling to deal with the modest dangers associated with that
vocation would pursue other employment. The vexatious and complicated
conditions imposed by official "use-of-force" guidelines would be unnecessary
if police officers were subject to the same non-aggression standard that
applies to everybody else. But extracting aggressive violence from law
enforcement would be as futile as attempting to dehydrate water.
The use-of-force approach preferred by the Seattle police
plaintiffs was displayed in the August 30, 2010 murder of John T. Williams on a
street corner by Officer Ian Birk.
Williams, a partially deaf, 50-year-old
alcoholic woodcarver who suffered from psychological problems, was shot four
times by Birk within a few seconds of the encounter.
Birk claimed that he had been "threatened" by Williams, who was carrying two small, closed knives at the time of the incident. The autopsy, however, documented that Williams wasn't facing Birk when he was shot: The officer approached him from behind and to the right, and Williams was shot in the right side of his body from an estimated distance of about ten feet. In addition to being partially deaf, Williams was wearing headphones at the time he was killed.
The victim's non-cooperation, which was interpreted by Birk
as hostility, most likely meant that he never heard the demand to drop his carving
knife. Since the knives were legal under Seattle's municipal code, Birk's
demand was not a "lawful order" in any sense.
In his
testimony, Birk mentioned that he and other police are taught the "21-foot
rule," which dictates that a knife-wielding subject should be considered a
lethal threat within the prescribed distance. Williams was carrying two small
knives, but he wasn't "wielding" them.
Rather than moving aggressively toward Birk, Williams was walking away
from the officer: Birk said under oath that "I motioned for him to come
over and talk to me. He walked away."
During the January 2011 inquest into the shooting, Birk
stated that he gunned down John T. Williams on a Seattle street corner because
he didn't like the way the 50-year-old chronic alcoholic looked at him.
"He had a very stern, very serious, very
confrontational look on his face," Birk testified during the inquest. "His
brow was furrowed.... His jaws were set."
Birk's description of Williams as displaying a countenance like
that of the legendary Celtic warrior Cu Chulain (whose "eyes were dark, his
expression sullen") wasn't confirmed by any of the several non-police
Although Birk and his defenders invoked the "reasonable officer"
standard to justify the killing, no reasonable person would have considered
Williams a threat to Birk. We know this because there were several reasonable
people who witnessed the incident, none of whom perceived the pathetic man to
pose a risk to anybody. This is because none of them had ben indoctrinated to
perceive even a momentary lack of cooperation by a Mundane as a
"pre-attack indicator," or marinated in the conceit that officer
safety always and everywhere trumps every other moral or practical
"Why did you shoot
him? He wasn't doing anything!" exclaimed one woman after Birk killed Williams.
It took just seconds for Birk to escalate an incidental
encounter to the point of homicide. His reflexive reaction was to kill someone
who was demonstrably harmless – and the programmed response of the first fellow
officer on the scene was to commend Birk for doing so. Officer William Collins,
who arrived in response to Birk's "shots fired" report, told him, seconds after
the killing, that he had done a "good job." All that Collins knew at
the time was that a fellow member of the punitive caste had just killed a
Mundane -- and that's all he needed to know. No "second-guessing" would be
necessary, or allowed.
During the January shooting inquest, Seattle police brutality lawyer Tim Ford asked Collins if a closed knife constitutes a threat to "officer safety." A closed knife is "a major threat," Collins insisted, "just as big as an open knife.... It's extremely dangerous, and you have to treat the person with utmost caution.... [I]f you don't drop it, you may be shot" -- even if it is closed at the time, the officer maintained.
During the January shooting inquest, Seattle police brutality lawyer Tim Ford asked Collins if a closed knife constitutes a threat to "officer safety." A closed knife is "a major threat," Collins insisted, "just as big as an open knife.... It's extremely dangerous, and you have to treat the person with utmost caution.... [I]f you don't drop it, you may be shot" -- even if it is closed at the time, the officer maintained.
"We don't get paid enough to be hurt," simpered Collins on
the witness stand.
Detective Jeff Mudd, who also testified at the inquest, also applauded Birk's decision: "We're trained to shoot people who pose a threat to us."
Detective Jeff Mudd, who also testified at the inquest, also applauded Birk's decision: "We're trained to shoot people who pose a threat to us."
The alleged "threat" posed by Williams consisted of a dirty
look the decrepit old alcoholic had supposedly given a young, healthy, but lethally craven police officer.
resigned after the Seattle PD's firearms review board ruled that the
killing of Williams was "unjustified and out of policy." Police
Chief John Diaz referred to Birk's actions as unjustified and "egregious." Therefore
it was an act of criminal homicide, correct? Not according to King County
Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, who declined to file charges. Significantly, the
Obama-Holder Justice Department, which devised the new use-of-force standard
that is supposedly suffocating the bold and valiant officers of the Seattle
Police Department, also
refused to file civil rights charges against Birk.
Seattle-area tax victims were forced to pay a $1.5 million settlement to the family of John T. Williams. The only "punishment" Birk received for the unlawful killing was his compelled resignation from the police force.
According to the plaintiffs in the Seattle police lawsuit – who, remarkably,
are not being supported by the local police union – this was an atrocious
violation of Birk's civil rights.
Most people believe that the purpose of the Bill of Rights
is to protect citizens against abuses of their rights by government officials. The
incurably self-preoccupied people behind the Seattle police lawsuit apparently believe
that the Bill of Rights exists to emancipate law enforcement officers from
restrictions on the use of lethal force, and immunize them against legal,
civil, and professional accountability when they kill people without legal
Dum spiro, pugno!


text:
Access Denied!
This video is currently not available for you to view. This could be for one of the following reasons:
- The video is currently not published
- The video is pending approval from the website moderators
- The video has been deleted
- You need to login to view the video
- Your account does not give you access to this video


text:
OpenEyes is a collaborative, open source, project led by Moorfields Eye Hospital. The goal is to produce a framework which will allow the rapid, and continuous development of electronic patient records (EPR) with contributions from Hospitals, Institutions, Academic departments, Companies, and Individuals.
The initial focus is on Ophthalmology, but the design is sufficiently flexible to be used for any clinical specialty.
- Read more about OpenEyes
- Log in to post comments
- 8551 reads


text:
- Zentangle Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) in White or Black
- Zentangle Tiles in Black
- White pencils and gel pens for tangling on black paper
I've also added:
- a Sakura Microperm Permanent Pen Set (these are great for tangling on slick or non-porous surfaces)
- an Official Zentangle Kit... with some EXTRAS
- a Total Addict's Zentangle Gift Bag (you want it all, right!?)
I don't have examples yet using the new products, but there are samples and tips in my Yoga for Your Brain book (pages 45-47), that use white on black paper.
I also have lots of copies of all my books, including the "vintage" AlphaTangle and YogaFYB (which Amazon lists as "out-of-stock" and someone is selling for $30 - wow!)
- AlphaTangle (vintage, black cover)
- AlphaTangle (revised, red cover)
- Totally Tangled (the classic)
- Yoga for Your Brain (the workout)
- Inspired by Zentangle (the fabric book, I have one project in there)
- Zentangle for Kidz! (teasing! It's coming soon...)
AND, in other news, my real-life, brick and mortar store, WINGDOODLE, celebrates its 10th Birthday this Saturday!!! How amazing is that!?! There is a Munny decorating contest (I'll write more about that this weekend) and food and merriment - so if you are around Sat. afternoon (in NH!), please stop by and help us celebrate this momentous occasion.
So to use this as an excuse for free stuff... and to reward you for reading all the way through this post... here are some Birthday Presents for you (good through this Sunday night at midnight - or whenever I check my email on Monday). :-D
There are no special codes, but you must mention your freebies in your note when purchasing on Etsy, OK?
- Buy Inspired by Zentangle, get a free Fabric Gel Pen
- Buy any two of my books, get a free vintage AlphaTangle
- Buy any Zentangle products, get a free tangled 2.25" button/pin


text:
A teen accused of dozens of cases of graffiti in San Diego County was busted for vandalism after he allegedly tagged the inside of the San Diego Superior Courthouse, leaving behind a moniker that led investigators straight to him.
Officials say the brazen, prolific tagger had even left graffiti in the very courtroom in which he was being prosecuted for vandalism.
Francisco Canseco, 18, was recently arrested after officials with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Court Services Bureau Investigations Unit executed a search warrant at his home, finding evidence tying him to graffiti vandalism.
According to officials, the investigation into Canseco began on April 25 when a deputy noticed fresh graffiti of a moniker tagged at several locations inside the San Diego Superior Courthouse.
The deputy used a Graffiti Tracker System to document the vandalism and check for other related cases and found that the San Diego Police Department had arrested Canseco in the past in connection with more than 60 cases of graffiti involving the same moniker.
As a result of the investigation, officials obtained a search warrant for Canseco's home. There, they discovered more evidence supporting the courthouse vandalism. Canseco was arrested again on June 12 on five new felony counts.
He's scheduled to appear in court Tuesday and again on June 25.


text:
As you know by now, European President Jean-Claude Juncker had a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May last Friday morning to agree a historic deal defining the terms of Britain's divorce from the EU. If all that was agreed on December 8th comes to pass, the UK has essentially committed to a soft Brexit.
Ireland has done well in Phase 1 of the Brexit negotiations, including preserving the Common Trade Area, protecting the Good Friday Agreement and, crucially, obtaining a guarantee that there will be no hard border. It is now for the European Council to decide today if sufficient progress has been made to allow the negotiations to proceed to Phase 2, which is a significant step forward in the process leading towards UK withdrawal from the EU in March 2019. It is expected that a transition period would last two years ensuring Britain will remain part of the customs union and single market (including being subject to EU law) until 2021.
Thereafter, the risks and unknowns for your business need to be carefully considered. Most proactive businesses have started to document Brexit assumptions within their Brexit action plans, supporting their planning and strategy work. Whether importing directly or indirectly from the UK, the impacts to your operating model, supplier base, cost base and working capital requirements needs to de analysed, to understand where the areas of greatest risk are (so as to develop suitable mitigating actions to reduce the impact of Brexit on your business).
Specifically focusing on your supply-base and imports, can you answer the following 5 questions to identify risks and resilience steps for your business?
- What suppliers will impact the business most if they cannot supply you tomorrow?
- Do you know what % of your goods and services are coming directly or indirectly from the UK?
- Have you researched alternative non-UK suppliers?
- Are there contracts, licenses or regulations restricting your global sourcing strategies?
- Are you aware of the potential additional costs to import from Europe in terms of hubbing, logistics partners, Minimum Order Quantities plus the impact on cash flow?
As Arvo have been participating in Enterprise Ireland's Brexit Roadshows recently, let us know today how we can help build resilience into your supply chain for Brexit (& other Political, Economic & Technological events that may cause risks for your business in future).


text:
Join our WOTC subject matter expert Brian Kelly this month to learn about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), how much employers can save when they hire, why the 28-day rule is so important to employers, and why there has never been a better time to take advantage of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit!
Learn about what's upcoming and how much you could potentially save using the WOTC, or learn about our WOTC Partnership Opportunities.
About CMS WOTC Administration Services
CMS is a full employment tax credit screening service that helps employers obtain federal tax credits. To speak to an expert please call (800) 517-9099, or sign up for a webinar using the above form.
Testimonials From Previous Webinar Attendees:
-Excellent presentation A good way to present an overlooked tax credit to business clients.
-Excellent presentation; very informative
-I hope that the presenter will give more presentation on this subject in the future.
-Great course on the 28 day rule and which forms to fill out and submit to the pertinent agency.
-great information very detail including which form to file and how to file for tax credits
-The Course was very well organized and very educational material made available, very handy indeed.
-Mr. Kelly was very well spoken and the information with very good.
-The presentation was excellent. The instructor gave very good examples.
-Very good speaker, He kept me interested.
-Very informative and well delivered. Thank you
-Very Knowledgeable instructor