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Who Should Compensate for Life?
Feng Jin Yuan walked towards Peony courtyard. Upon entering, he saw the matriarch leading his concubines to receive him.
Having left the capital for so long, suddenly seeing relatives caused him to become a little moved. He could not help but increase his pace slightly then kneel in front of the matriarch: "Mother, son has returned."
These words caused the matriarch's old eyes to fill with tears. Holding Feng Jin Yuan in her arms, she wanted to tell him to stand, but the tears made her unable to speak.
It was granny Zhao who went forward and helped Feng Jin Yuan up and said on the matriarch's behalf: "It's good that master has returned. Taking care of such a large family, elder madam was careful and attentive, not daring to be the slightest bit distracted!"
Feng Jin Yuan knew that too many things had happened at the manor over the past little while, and this had troubled the ill matriarch. He could not help but gratefully say: "Son thanks mother and will remember mother's help for the rest of my life."
The conversation between mother and son caused even the concubines behind to wipe away tears. Xiang Rong had always been a soft-hearted person, so she also began to tear up. Chen Yu was good at acting, so she naturally would not miss out on such a thing. It was Feng Yu Heng and Feng Fen Dai who were unable to produce any tears. Feng Yu Heng had a cold and distant expression while watching this scene, and Fen Dai raised her voice and shouted for the sake of changing the topic: "Concubine mother, you must not cry! That is one of the things that must be avoided while pregnant. Don't cause any injuries for younger brother."
These words reminded Feng Jin Yuan that Han shi was pregnant. He had received this news in a letter from the matriarch. Thus he quickly moved into the group and headed straight towards Han shi, but he did not see Jin Zhen's expression instantly become depressed.
"You've worked hard." Feng Jin Yuan held Han shi's shoulder and felt that she had become plumper, but her belly had not yet begun to stick out. Thinking about it, not too much time had passed, but it should become visible after the new year.
"Husband, you've finally returned!" The words rushed out of Han shi's mouth, as she dove into Feng Jin Yuan.
Feng Jin Yuan had always been a respectable and cautious person in front of others, so he definitely would not be seen being intimate with a wife or concubine on a normal day. With Han shi now being pregnant and him having been away for two months, it would not be good for him to push her away, thus he hugged her.
Fen Dai found this scene to be beautiful. So long as Han shi could grab hold of Feng Jin Yuan's favor, her status within the Feng family would steadily rise.
Normally, the matriarch did not like Han shi, but she now had to take care of the potential child, so she said: "Stop crying. Fen Dai is right. You must not cry while pregnant. I will have the servants prepare a supplement and bring it over to you."
Feng Jin Yuan felt a surge of emotion, "Many thanks mother."
"What is there to thank." The matriarch finally smiled, "She is your concubine, and my grandson is in her belly. Is it possible for me to not treat her well? She even moved from her courtyard to Yu Lan courtyard because it sees more sunlight, which is good for her health."
Feng Jin Yuan nodded and gently patted Han shi's shoulder, saying: "I really must thank mother properly."
Han shi no longer remained in his embrace, as she reluctantly stood up and bowed to the matriarch, "This concubine thanks mother-in-law for taking care of me."
"You should avoid doing it. I already said that there is no need for you to bow since you are pregnant. Let's not keep standing around in the yard. Let's go inside. With a charcoal brazier, it's much warmer there."
Only then did everyone noisily enter the hall. While they were walking, Feng Jin Yuan looked towards Jin Zhen and saw that the concubine he loved the most had red eyes and was looking at him with a pitiful appearance. He could not help but feel his heartache and immediately gave her a loving look.
Only then did Jin Zhen begin to feel a little more at ease.
With everyone finally seated in the hall, Feng Jin Yuan first told the matriarch about the Emperor's affirmation and rewards that he received at the palace, causing the matriarch to smile so widely that she could no longer close her mouth.
The mother and son chatted for a while before he took some time to look at his son and daughters.
Feng Chen Yu was first to stand up and kneel before Feng Jin Yuan: "Daughter pays respects to father."
With her leading the way, the others could not continue to remain seated, thus the other four also stood up then kneeled.
Feng Jin Yuan looked at Chen Yu and immediately recalled what the Empress had said. He could not help but feel a little angry. This daughter was the one he had once placed the most hope in, but she was also the one he worried about the most. One thing after another, she would cause provocation. Now, she managed to provoke the eldest prince. Because of this matter, the third prince had angrily written a letter about it.
His heart was filled with anger. Although he saw the wound on Chen Yu's head, he thought that she had simply bumped it out of carelessness. Seeing that there were no problems with her ability to walk or talk, he decided not to ask about it, instead, he turned his attention to Feng Zi Rui: "Zi Rui, when did you return to the capital?" Now that this child was his son of the first wife, he could no longer completely ignore him as he did before. Moreover, Feng Zi Rui was imperial tutor Ye Rong's only personal disciple after the current Emperor, so he could be considered the Emperor's junior disciple. This was a connection that could not be ignored.
Zi Rui heard his father ask, thus he respectfully replied: "Zi Rui returned to the capital yesterday. Father left the capital to relieve a disaster, and Zi Rui was unable to personally send father off. It was Zi Rui's fault. Father was not at the manor, and Zi Rui was unable to share grandmother's burdens. This was also Zi Rui's fault. I hope father and grandmother will be magnanimous and lenient." These words were said with generosity and grace.
This child would be seven after the new year, but Feng Jin Yuan got the feeling of a man who could accomplish anything from him. This gave him a great shock. He thought to himself that it was no loss that imperial tutor Ye Rong was able to produce this sort of student. In just a few months, he had become completely different than he was a few months prior.
He stood up and personally helped Zi Rui up. Father and son looked at each other, and Feng Jin Yuan immediately felt the intelligence and cleverness in his son's gaze. There was also a maturity that did not match with his age. In that instant, he felt a bit of joy in his heart. Now that Feng Zi Rui was his son of the first wife, the more this child stood out, the more hope there was for his Feng manor! But there was still Feng Chen Yu. As soon as he thought of this daughter, out of habit, he began to hesitate over what he should do.
"Stop kneeling, quickly get up." The matriarch saw the change in Feng Jin Yuan's expression, but she did not know if it was good or bad. If it was just Feng Zi Rui, she was very happy to value this child, but when she remembered that his sister was Feng Yu Heng, the matriarch began to hesitate.
"Father, Fen Dai missed you greatly!" The scar on Feng Fen Dai's face had not yet completely healed, but with Hong Yun's facial cream, it was no longer as apparent.
But Feng Jin Yuan found it hard to hold back his anger, as one daughter had injured her head and the other her face, so he asked: "What happened to your face?"
Fen Dai was very happy that he asked about her face. It had to be known that Feng Chen Yu clearly had a white cloth wrapped on her head, but her father did not ask a single word about it.
She was also quite adept at this sort of acting, as she squeezed out a couple tears: "Fen Dai broke one of eldest sister's vases and was…" She originally wanted to bring up the matter one more time, but she remembered Han shi's warning from earlier in the morning. Father had just returned to the manor, so she could not cause problems for him with these sorts of things. Either way, Han shi was now pregnant. Was there any fear that father would not visit Yu Lan courtyard? Thus she changed her tone: "I accidentally cut myself."
Feng Jin Yuan angrily snorted, "Why visit your eldest sister's room for no reason?"
The matriarch quickly interjected, "Shouldn't sisters interact with each other some more?"
Thinking of this, he felt it was reasonable, so he did not worry about it too much, as he only told Fen Dai: "Take care and use your medicine properly. Make sure that no scar remains."
Fen Dai happily thanked Feng Jin Yuan and wanted to speak about the matter with the fifth prince, but she saw that Feng Jin Yuan had already turned his attention to Feng Yu Heng.
But Feng Yu Heng still had her usual indifferent appearance. Just looking at it, Feng Jin Yuan felt extremely awkward and a bit irritated. The other children either expressed their happiness directly or were like Xiang Rong, who wiped away tears. Only this second daughter, who was now the Feng family's daughter of the first wife, remained neither warm nor cold.
Looking at Feng Yu Heng, the words became stuck in his mouth, and he was unable to say anything for a long time.
Seeing him like this, Feng Yu Heng smiled internally; however, she finally spoke up, but the words she said led him in a different direction "There is no rush for father to speak with A-Heng. You should instead look at eldest sisters, as a goshawk bit off a piece of flesh from her head. She must be in extreme pain. Father should show some concern."
"What?" Feng Jin Yuan was completely shocked. A piece of flesh was bitten off?
Hearing that the topic had changed to her, Feng Chen Yu immediately began to cry. This time, she was truly crying. First, her forehead was in great pain, and second, she felt wronged.
How could the matriarch still not understand that Chen Yu wanted some sympathy, so she snorted to herself and said: "Don't cry. This matter has already been handed off to the government. They will definitely provide an explanation."
"But what good will an explanation be?" She raised her head and looked at Feng Jin Yuan with an extremely grief-filled appearance: "Father, daughter has been treated harshly by life. Daughter has truly been treated harshly by life!"
She truly was his daughter. Even if Feng Jin Yuan was irritated with her going after the eldest prince on her own, he still felt distressed over her current appearance.
Feng Yu Heng began to explain from the side: "Yesterday, eldest sister came with me to pick up Zi Rui, but Zi Rui was ambushed by assassins along the way, and our carriage was attacked by a goshawk. I was thrown out of the carriage, and eldest sister had a chunk of flesh bitten from her forehead by the goshawk." She summarised it simply and concisely, clearly recounting the happenings from the day prior.
Feng Jin Yuan inhaled sharply and quickly looked towards Zi Rui, hurrying to ask: "Zi Rui is fine, right?"
Feng Yu Heng was very satisfied with this matter, thus she nodded, "Fortunately, Wang Chuan was there to escort him. Zi Rui is fine, but unfortunately… Wang Chuan was kidnapped by the assassins."
"The one who was at your side, Wang Chuan?" Feng Jin Yuan furrowed his brows tightly. He knew the ability that Feng Yu Heng's two personal servants had. Perhaps even his own hidden guard would be unable to defeat them, but he did not think that Wang Chuan would be kidnapped. "Wait, wait…" He recalled something that was said, "You just said… a goshawk?"
Feng Yu Heng smiled wickedly and nodded, "Father has just touched on the most central point. It was indeed a goshawk. It was one that had been tamed by someone, as the goshawk had a gold hoop around its neck."
Feng Jin Yuan became furious and angrily stared at Chen Yu, causing Chen Yu to take a couple steps back in fear.
How could he not know about the Chen family's third son, Chen Wan Liang, who raised some goshawks capable of taking lives. How could he not know that the goshawks were capable of understanding human speech. Who knew how much they had done for Chen Wan Liang. Wasn't this matter completely clear now. Chen Wan Liang wanted to kill Feng Yu Heng, and Chen Yu was definitely injured by accident. Most importantly, the goal was to take Feng Zi Rui's life.
Such a cruel heart! He now only had this one son, if he were gone…
A cold sweat covered Feng Jin Yuan. He really wanted to have Chen Yu and the Chen family completely exterminated, but he suddenly recalled the letter that he had received early in the morning from the Chen family. It said that they had prepared a gift for the new year that could be brought into the palace for the Emperor. Something that he had stressed over for two months was resolved by the Chen family. He originally thought it was a good thing, and the Chen family was expressing goodwill. So long as he relented, he would no longer have any financial difficulties like in the past. But he did not think that they had done something that left them with a guilty conscience and could only lower their heads.
"Father." Feng Yu Heng stepped forward until she stood face to face with him. Her body was small, so she needed to look up to see him, but that ice-cold gaze pierced his bones. "Tell me, who should pay for my servant's life?"


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-- M.S.S. Updates --
January 12 - Furloughed Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf (M.S.S.) has a brand new "gig" (that's entertainment industry lingo)- TV talking head for Abu Dhabi TV! His latest commentary on the capture of Saddam included this, uh, curious statement: "The expected trial needs evidence to be submitted. Everybody talks about war crimes and the like. But the court considers facts and evidence only." Because we all know how much M.S.S. believes in the sanctity of facts and evidence. We forget, are their troops in Baghdad yet?
December 15 - M.S.S. reacts to news of Saddam's capture
on al-Jazeera: "The
place where Saddam had been caught is an old hideout, known to many Iraqi
leadership members. I don't believe that Saddam used
such a very well known hideout". We think the whole war thing
might have given away the fact that Saddam doesn't always make the
tactical choices.
September 23 - Furloughed Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf (M.S.S.) gives new interview with Abu Dhabi TV in which he makes maybe the first accurate statement of his public career: "Saddam believed that he will lose the war if it erupts." What a shocking prediction.
August 18 - The Editors of WLTIIM.com announce the launch of their newest "fan" site in honor of another very quotable man, WeLoveArnold.com. In protest, furloughed Iraqi M.S.S. immediately announces that he is now too a candidate for California governor. "There is no Arnold!" M.S.S. declares. "This is a lie of the olooj editors of this infidel site. I am not afraid and neither should you be. I repeat, there are no Arnolds in Sacramento. Never!"
August 11 - The LA Times reports that the Iraqi military was itself fooled by the creative reporting of furloughed Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf (M.S.S.): "After the information minister claimed that Iraqi forces had retaken the Baghdad airport from U.S. troops, two former commanders said, Republican Guard Gen. Mohammed Daash was dispatched to check out a rumor that four or five American tanks had survived the Iraqi counterattack. Daash returned to his headquarters in a panic. "Four or five tanks!'' the commanders quoted Daash as telling his fellow generals. "Are you out of your minds? The whole damn American Army is at the airport!'' "
August 4 - The Crack Editorial Staff returns from their
long and richly deserved July vacation. Apologies for the lack of news,
but, hey, it's the summer, so we don't really care. New Items
of Interest that we missed:
July 11 - M.S.S. makes a sudden appearance in Abu Dhabi, saying he might not return to Iraq. "When I leave I always have in my mind that I might not come down this road again, but I'm working and praying to God that I can return to Baghdad one day," he said on Abu Dhabi Television. The Abu Dhabi Information Minister? Doesn't quite have the same ring to it...
June 28 - M.S.S. announces that he is going to write a book about his experiences in which he will reveal details about the collapse of the Ba'athist regime. "What the public has is only a small part of the picture," he told an interviewer. "The rest will emerge when I write my book." Move over Harry Potter...
June 27 - What happened
to his hair?!?! And what's with the old man glasses? Did he lose his
stylist to Rumsfeld? More quotes from the new interview
with M.S.S.:
Breaking News - June 26 - The man has
returned!!!! Al-Arabiya TV
announces that
will reappear
Friday for the first time since the fall of Baghdad in an interview
conducted in his "hideout in Baghdad," that will be
aired at 1900 GMT Friday. However, clips from the interview have already
aired, so finally, after months of painful waiting, we have
June 25 - The Daily Mirror reports that U.S. troops have arrested M.S.S., at a roadblock in a Baghdad suburb. HOWEVER, a senior Pentagon official then said Wednesday no information exists to support the article. "Right now we have no information that that's true," said Colonel Jay DeFrank, a Pentagon spokesman. We are so confused....
June 16 - The backlash begins, but round one goes to M.S.S.: the advertising standards authority in Great Britain dismisses complaints about the Ryanair advertising campaign, which used images of M.S.S. About 15 members of the public complained about the adverts, but the authority concluded that, although the campaign was "distasteful", it was not likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
June 9 - And the awards start rolling in: Furloughed Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf (M.S.S.) is named "Stupidest Person in the World" at the first annual World Stupidity Awards, held in Canada. And so the first, albeit small, step in his long campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize is completed.
June 3 - M.S.S. finally gets his own movie! The Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation announces the release of the Baghdad Bob DVD, a compilation of his unforgettable live performances. George W. Bush immediately orders 500 copies of "his man" in action, and Christmas shopping for the West Wing staff is finished early this year.
June 1 - UK paper The Mail on Sunday reported it had tracked down M.S.S. The newspaper said it found him "cowering in his modest home, terrified his own people will kill him". The paper described him as "a broken man, spending his days pacing his study in his uniform and green beret". He refused to talk to the paper and friends said he may never go out in public again. "The family are worried he is going out of his mind", according to one friend. This site immediately sends him a muffin basket in hopes of cheering him up.
31 May -- In quest for reliable information on current whereabouts of furloughed Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf (M.S.S.), correspondent for this website embeds in a "key country known to be important to the Minister and his immediate family."... Radio silence will be maintained throughout two-week "vacation", during which Daily Update to be written by a series of prominent Pulitzer Prize winners.
30 May -- Feverish speculation, fueled by yesterday's report of Wolfowitz interview, that desire to showcase former Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf (M.S.S.) was "real reason" for US invasion... Sales of high-quality M.S.S. product line hold steady despite renewed public interest.
29 May -- Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz now says US war aims were more varied than heretofore acknowledged: "For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on weapons of mass destruction because it was the one reason everyone could agree on," Wolfowitz tells Vanity Fair... Wolfowitz cites other "huge" issues, but tellingly makes no mention of pivotal Pentagon concern that M.S.S. might have been assigned to an obscure ambassadorship if US troops had not invaded at earliest possible moment.
28 May -- Reuters reports that al-Jazeera Television will replace its CEO while denying claims that the ouster is "due to allegations the channel had been infiltrated by Iraqi intelligence"... Insiders detect the fingerprints of M.S.S., apparent mastermind of the infiltration and now the leading candidate for the al-Jazeera top job.
27 May -- Last Friday's announcement by occupation administrator Paul Bremer that the Iraq Ministry of Information has been "dissolved" leads to worldwide clamor for news of the most recent head of that ministry, M.S.S. ... Answer may lie within rich stew of Pentagon rumors that M.S.S. soon will be announced as replacement for current Defense spokesperson Victoria "Torey" Clarke, expected to be named as President's Special Commiserative Envoy to retired General Jay Garner.
26 May -- Memorial Day (US) observed today, chiefly through mass attempts to lie in sand. Stalwart admirers of M.S.S. gather across the country to place flowers, berets, and "infidel discs" at the foot of giant impromptu effigies of the much-missed M.S.S.
Click to see earlier Daily Updates...
The First Update - 9 April – Last known remark of M.S.S., to John Burns of NY Times : "I NOW INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE TOO FAR FROM REALITY."
"There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!"
"My feelings - as usual - we will slaughter them all"
"Our initial assessment is that they will all die"
"I blame Al-Jazeera - they are marketing for the Americans!"
"God will roast their stomachs in hell at the hands of Iraqis."
"They're coming to surrender or be burned in their tanks."
"No I am not scared, and neither should you be!"
"Be assured. Baghdad is safe, protected"
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!"
"We are not afraid of the Americans. Allah has condemned them. They are stupid. They are stupid" (dramatic pause) "and they are condemned."
"The Americans, they always depend on a method what I call ... stupid, silly. All I ask is check yourself. Do not in fact repeat their lies."
"I can say, and I am responsible for what I am saying,
that they have
"I can assure you that those villains will recognize, will discover in appropriate time in the future how stupid they are and how they are pretending things which have never taken place."
"We have destroyed 2 tanks, fighter planes, 2 helicopters and their shovels - We have driven them back."
"The authority of the civil defense ... issued
a warning to the civilian population not to pick up any of those pencils
because they are booby
traps," he said, adding that the British and American forces were "immoral
mercenaries" and "war
criminals" for such behavior.
"We have them surrounded in their tanks"
"The American press is all about lies! All they tell is lies, lies and more lies!"
"I have detailed information about the situation...which completely proves that what they allege are illusions . . . They lie every day."
"Lying is forbidden in Iraq. President Saddam Hussein will tolerate nothing but truthfulness as he is a man of great honor and integrity. Everyone is encouraged to speak freely of the truths evidenced in their eyes and hearts."
"Now even the American command is under siege. We are hitting it from the north, east, south and west. We chase them here and they chase us there. But at the end we are the people who are laying siege to them. And it is not them who are besieging us."
"because we will behead you all"
"Let the American infidels bask in their illusion"
"I triple guarantee you, there are no American soldiers in Baghdad."
Britain "is not worth an old shoe"
"we have given them a sour taste"
"blood-sucking bastards"
Of US troops: "They are most welcome. We will butcher them."
"We will welcome them with bullets and shoes."
"We are in control. They are in a state of hysteria. Losers, they think that by killing civilians and trying to distort the feelings of the people they will win. I think they will not win, those bastards."
"The British forces which were dropped there have been eliminated mostly on the (battle)field, except for those who fled ... It is a complete defeat ... Amazingly the Americans have pushed the British to do that. They pushed them ahead as if it is an experiment. The result was very tragic for the British."
"We have placed them in a quagmire from which they can never emerge except dead"
"Washington has thrown their soldiers on the fire"
"I speak better English than this villain Bush"
"These cowards have no morals. They have no shame about lying"
"They're not even [within] 100 miles [of Baghdad]. They
are not in any
"Their failure in this regard is abysmal. They want to tell the world changes thought - as a matter of fact, they do not respect the world, they want to tell taxpayers and the domestic public to keep them deceived. We will embroil them, confuse them and keep them in the quagmire. They have begun to tell more lies so that they might continue with the perpetration of their crimes. May they be accursed."
"We will kill them all........most of them."
"They are like a snake and we are going to cut it in pieces."
"They do not even have control over themselves! Do not believe them!"
"I would like to clarify a simple fact here: How can you lay siege to a whole country? Who is really under siege now? Baghdad cannot be besieged. Al-Nasiriyah cannot be besieged. Basra cannot be besieged."
"That bastard the American Minister of Defense Rumsfeld, and I won't say shamelessly, because they don't know what shame means. These are criminals. The whole word can hear the warning sirens. This criminal sitting in the White House is a pathetic criminal and his Defense Minister deserves to be beaten. These criminals lie to the world because they are criminals by nature and conditioning. They consider this a military site! Shame on you! You will forever be shamed! You have ruined the reputation of the American people in the most terrible way! Shame on you! And we will destroy you!"
"They are trapped in Umm Qasr. They are trapped near Basra. They are trapped near Nasiriyah. They are trapped near Najaf. They are trapped everywhere."
Called Americans and Brits "Tarateer"– In Iraqi slang, Tartoor means a guy full of farts (i.e. hot air)
"they are nowhere near the airport ..they are lost in the desert...they can not read a compass...they are retarded."
"They are not in Baghdad. They are not in control of any airport. I tell you this. It is all a lie. They lie. It is a hollywood movie. You do not believe them."
"Faltering forces of infidels cannot just enter a country of 26 million people and lay besiege to them! They are the ones who will find themselves under siege. Therefore, in reality whatever this miserable Rumsfeld has been saying, he was talking about his own forces. Now even the American command is under siege."
"They tried to bring a small number of tanks and personnel carriers in through al-Durah but they were surrounded and most of their infidels had their throats cut."
"Our estimates are that none of them will come out alive unless they surrender to us quickly."
"We made them drink poison last night and Saddam
Hussein's soldiers and his great forces gave the Americans a lesson which
not be forgotten
by history. Truly."
"Today we slaughtered them in the airport. They are out of Saddam International Airport."
"The force that was in the airport, this force was destroyed."
"We're giving them a real lesson today. Heavy doesn't accurately describe the level of casualties we have inflicted."
"Their infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gates of Baghdad. Be assured, Baghdad is safe, protected."
"Today I have visited whole Baghdad city, no invaders found. You go and see how we have ousted them from this city. They are cying outside and waiting to receive bullets. They will be killed shortly."
"These images are not the suburbs of Baghdad. From what I glimpsed, these gardens with rows of palm trees on the side, which you saw in the images, are located in the south of Abu Ghreib, where we have surrounded the Americans and British."
When told coalition troops occupied Baghdad airport
"The situation is excellent, they are going to try to approach Baghdad...and I believe their grave will be there."
"NO", snapped Mr al-Sahaf, "We have retaken
the airport. There are NO
Americans there. I will take you there and show you. IN ONE HOUR!"
"Please, please! The Americans are relying on what I called yesterday a desperate and stupid method."
"They will be burnt. We are going to tackle them"
"We blocked them inside the city. Their rear is blocked"
"Desperate Americans"
"Today we slaughtered them in the airport. They are out of Saddam International Airport. The force that was in the airport, this force was destroyed."
"They are trying to fool you. They are showing any old pictures of buildings. They even went into the VIP section of the airport, just because Saddam Hussein may have sat in such and such a chair or slept in such and such a bed"
"We went into the airport and crushed them, we cleaned the WHOOOLE place out, they were slaughtered"
"Yes, the american troops have advanced further. This will only make it easier for us to defeat them"
"Their casualties and bodies are many."
[On surrenders] "Those are not Iraqi soldiers at all. Where did they bring them from?"
"Just look carefully, I only want you to look carefully. Do not repeat the lies of liars. Do not become like them. Once again, I blame al-Jazeera before it ascertains what takes place. Please, make sure of what you say and do not play such a role."
"This is unbased"
"Search for the truth. I tell you things and I always ask you to verify what I say. I told you yesterday that there was an attack and a retreat at Saddam's airport."
"I have detailed information about the situation . . . which completely proves that what they allege are illusions . . . They lie every day."
"You can go and visit those places. Nothing there, nothing at all. There are Iraqi checkpoints. Everything is okay."
"This boa, the American columns, are being besieged between Basra and other towns north, west, south and west of Basra....Now even the American command is under siege. We are hitting it from the north, east, south and west. We chase them here and they chase us there."
"By God, I think this is rather very unlikely. This is merely a prattle. The fact is that as soon as they reach Baghdad gates, we will besiege them and slaughter them....Wherever they go they will find themselves encircled."
"They (the U.S.) are deceiving their soldiers and their officers that aggressing against Iraq and invading Iraq will be like a picnic. This is a very stupid lie they are telling their soldiers, what they are facing is a definite death."
"Listen, this explosion does not frighten us any langer. The cruise missiles do not frighten anyone. We are catching them like fish in a river. I mean here that over the past two days we managed to shoot down 196 missiles before they hit their target."
"Blair...is accusing us of executing British soldiers. We want to tell him that we have not executed anybody. They are either killed in battle, most of them get killed because they are cowards anyway, the rest they just get captured."
"They fled. The American louts fled. Indeed, concerning the fighting waged by the heroes of the Arab Socialist Baath Party yesterday, one amazing thing really is the cowardice of the American soldiers. we had not anticipated this."
"We will slaughter them, Bush Jr. and his international gang of bastards!"
"the louts of colonialism."
"The forces of American colonialism began to drop containers that produce a sound explosion, a very huge sound. I remind you that they said that their strategy is based on shock and awe. Those failed ones manufactured a type of container that has an explosive substance, which they drop. They cause a very huge explosion in terms of sound, as if the universe was shaken. After a while, you go out and you don't find anything. You find some nails, screws, pieces of metal, but the important thing here is the sound. Those failed ones think that through the huge sound explosion, people would be shocked and consequently would collapse and be defeated. What happened? The contrary. The fighters..., the masses..., and the heroic sons of the Iraqi tribes discovered this game. They will turn it against the American louts so as to shock them. Wait for surprises, God willing, to see how the US game will fail."
"The shock has backfired on them. They are shocked because of what they have seen. No one received them with roses. They were received with bombs, shoes and bullets. Now, the game has been exposed. Awe will backfire on them. This is the boa snake. We will extend it further and cut it the appropriate way."
"It has been rumored that we have fired scud missiles into Kuwait. I am here now to tell you, we do not have any scud missiles and I don't know why they were fired into Kuwait."
"As for the mercenaries who advanced to the perimeters
of Saddam International Airport, I would like to remind you of something.
I will
mention something that will make the picture clear for you and help you to
understand what took place at Saddam International Airport. Most of you
probably saw the American movie "Wag the Dog". I hope you remember it. Some
of their acts that took place at dawn yesterday and today are similar to
what happened in "Wag the Dog". If we succeed in keeping them isolated on
that island, and we are determined to do so, we might let them taste a
second mini Dien Bien Phu tonight. The European journalists remember it
well. Our estimates are that none of them will come out alive unless they
surrender to us quickly. They are completely surrounded now. This morning,
the number of armoured personnel carriers that were destroyed, along with
their occupants, is eight. The number of the tanks destroyed is 11."
"W. Bush, this man is a war criminal, and we will
"I think the British nation has never been faced with a tragedy like this fellow [Blair]."
"The United Nations....[is] a place for prostitution
under the feet of
"They are sick in their minds. They say they brought 65 tanks into
"We have destroyed 50 tanks today. That 5-ohhh tanks" [while holding up his fingers]
"They are superpower of villains. They are superpower of Al Capone."
Americans are "wild donkeys" ('ALOG' in Arabic . Other possible translations offered by M.S.S. - 'The children of pigs', 'Those who have dramatically ugly faces', or 'leeches')
Americans and Brits are "Sick dogs".
"There are no Iraqis disguising themselves"
"They are retreating on all fronts. Their military effort is a subject of laughter throughout the world."
"...they are nowhere (pause)...they are nowhere, really"
"I can assure you that those villains will recognize, will discover in appropriate time in the future how stupid they are and how they are pretending things which have never taken place"
"Iraqi fighters in Umm Qasr are giving the hordes of American and Brtish
"What they say about a breakthrough [in Najaf] is completely an illusion. They are sending their warplanes to fly very low in order to have vibrations on these sacred places . . . they are trying to crack the buildings by flying low over them."
"We have crushed the whole force which dared to venture there. Now they're outside the wall and the heroic Republican Guard is now in control of the whole area. . . . So where are those villainous louts, those mercenaries?''
"Their forces committed suicide by the hundreds....
The battle is very
"Yesterday, we slaughtered them and we will continue to slaughter them."
"They think we are retarded - they are retarded."
(leaflet drops) "I think this is very laughable for a Superpower to be so cheap to drop inside Iraq such poor things and they are printed in Kuwait''
"...crocodile tears [shed in] .. The gangster Bush's lair..." (refers to Bush and Blair at Camp David calling for the Geneva Conventions to be applied to all POWs)
"We're going to drag the drunken junkie nose of Bush through Iraq's desert, him and his follower dog Blair...There are 26 million Saddams in Iraq"
"We will push those crooks, those mercenaries back into the swamp"
"When we were making the law, when we were writing the literature and the mathematics the grandfathers of Blair and little Bush were scratching around in caves"
"Those Iraqi fighters are slapping those gangsters on the face, and then when they flee, they will kick their backsides."
About Bush: "the leader of the international criminal gang of bastards."
"the insane little dwarf Bush"
"The midget Bush and that Rumsfield deserve only to be beaten with shoes by freedom loving people everywhere."
"Rumsfeld, he needs to be hit on the head"
"Yesterday we heard this villain called Rumsfeld. He, of course, is a war criminal, and he is one of the worst of the American rulers. He said the American mercenaries and the British mercenaries, they are defending themselves inside Iraq. They are in a defensive position. They are engaged in self-defense. They are fighting a self-defense war inside Iraq. Well, congratulations, Mr. Villain, you are defending yourself inside our country. We will show you what defense means."
"Bush is a very stupid man. The American people are not stupid, they are very clever. I can't understand how such clever people came to elect such a stupid president."
"Who is this dog Franks in Qatar?"
"Bush doesn't even know if Spain is a republic or a kingdom, how can they follow this man?"
"Whenever we attack, they retreat. When we pound them with missiles and heavy artillery, they retreat even deeper. But when we stopped pounding, they pushed to the airport for propaganda purposes.''
Any apparent American gains, he said, were a cunning ploy by the Iraqis to lure the enemy into a trap. "Our armed forces, according to their tactics, are leaving the way open"
"The capital, especially the commandos, are getting ready to wipe them out"
"We are surrounding them and pounding them. The whole trend has changed and we are going to finalize this very soon.''
"After we finish defeating all of those animals we will disclose that with facts and figures."
"Bush, Blair and Rumsfeld. They are the funny trio"
"We have shot down 2 Apache helicopters. Have the Americans said yet that they were shot down by their - what do they call it - friendly fire? No? Well... [dramatic pause, then smiles] ...not yet!"
Question: Is Saddam Hussein still alive:
"Don't believe anything! We will chase the rascals back to London!"
"We're now trying to exhaust them, until our leadership decides the time and method to clean our territory of their desecration."
"Those are mercenaries. Most probably they will be treated as mercenaries, hirelings and as war criminals. ... For sure, international law does not apply to those"
Bush "knows that he is standing in quicksand when it comes to his baseless talk on Iraq"
"This criminal (Bush) in the White House is a stupid criminal"
"They are not in Najaf. They are nowhere. They are on the moon. They are snakes in the desert..."
Iraqi opposition leaders are "bats ... and a bad American product."
"Even those who live on another planet, if there are such people, would have condemned this action before it started"
"We expect the aggressors to use anything, we don't rule out that in their depression at being vanquished, those losers will become hysterical and commit even more folly."
"They are becoming hysterical. This is the result of frustration."
On U.S. General Richard Myers: "He must be crazy"
Rumsfeld is a "crook" and "the most despicable creature."
Rumsfeld is "the worst kind of bastard"
"Our farmers, they are targeting accurately the enemy." (shooting at helicopters)
"The imperialist invading U.S. and British forces are like a snake that slithers all over the place but that doesn't control anything."
"We feed them death and hell!"
"We besieged them and killed most of them, and I think we will finish them soon."
"They are nowhere near Baghdad. Their allegations are a cover-up for their failure"
"They want to deceive their people first because now they are in a very shabby situation."
"It's a small town [Umm Qasar], it has only a few docks... now they are in a trap"
"Iraqi forces are still in control of the city, and they are engaging in an attrition war with the enemy"
"Americans are now in disarray"
"They are again in the dirt in the desert."
"They will try to enter Baghdad, and I think this is where their graveyard will be."
"Their objective is to get to the outskirts of Baghdad. So be it."
"We will see how the issue will turn out when they come to Baghdad."
"We are determined to defeat them and destroy them on the walls of our capital, as we are determined to destroy their miserable armies in every Muslim spot."
"Iraq will spread them even more and chop them up."
"The Iraqi troops and the Iraqi fighters are in control of all the places, as we have witnessed. No big change in that. We are fighting against them."
"They are achieving nothing; they are suffering from casualties. Those casualties are increasing, not decreasing."
"Fight them everywhere. Don't give them a chance to breathe until they withdraw and retreat."
"The criminals will be humiliated... To hurt the enemy more, raise the level of your attacks."
"They are lying every day. They are lying always, and mainly they are lying to their public opinion."
"You think their tanks are in an endless line coming towards us, wrong they are only a few of them and they turn around and then return as if to make a long snake"
"I can assure you that those villains will recognize, will discover in appropriate time in the future, how stupid they are and how they are pretending things which have never taken place"
"In a few days, you will all witness something that can only be considered very beautiful against the Coalition forces. That, I assure you."
"we managed to chop off their rotten heads"
"There are only two American tanks in the city."
"We are winning!"

subset: commoncrawl


text:
MIAMI (AP) Alex Rodriguez went to see doctors with hopes of finding something wrong. When they actually located a problem, only then did he start feeling a bit better.
The New York Yankees' third baseman said Saturday that plans set for him to have surgery on his left hip in mid-January, and that he's eager to embrace the challenge of coming back from both the operation and an unbelievably abysmal finish to last season.
It's expected that Rodriguez, who will be making his sixth trip to the disabled list in six seasons, could be sidelined until the All-Star break.
``I'm not concerned,'' Rodriguez said. ``I'm actually, in many ways, relieved that there's something tangible that we can go fix.''
Rodriguez had surgery on his right hip in 2009, missed about the first month of the season and still finished with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs - plus helped the Yankees win the World Series. This surgery is more complex, since it'll repair not only a torn labrum but also a bone impingement and a cyst. The surgery is next month because it was determined he needed some time to strengthen the hip first.
``I am fully committed to a very hard road back,'' Rodriguez said. ``We've done it before in `09 and it was a great result, both on a personal level and on a team level, more importantly. I take it as a great challenge and I'm excited for the challenge.''
Rodriguez is a 14-time All-Star and baseball's priciest player, with his current deal being worth $275 million.
He batted .120 (3 for 25) with no RBIs in last season's playoffs, including 0 for 18 with 12 strikeouts against right-handed pitchers. He was benched and replaced by a pinch hitter in key spotsl, too.
Rodriguez originally thought he was having issues with the right hip again - he wasn't - and it wasn't until November that the issues within the left hip were detected. Now knowing that something was wrong, Rodriguez said a lot of things from last season - particularly how it ended - make more sense.
``It was definitely an unfortunate situation,'' Rodriguez said. ``And if we knew, I think we could have avoided the bloody bath of the last two weeks. Obviously, that wasn't fun. It was quite miserable, to be honest with you.''
Rodriguez finished this past regular season batting .272 with 18 home runs and 57 RBIs. He now has 647 career homers, fifth-most in baseball history and 13 shy of the No. 4 player on that list, Willie Mays.
Rodriguez was in Miami, the city he calls home, on Saturday to host a pair of events for children - his basketball tournament which he started a decade ago, and a toy giveaway at a Boys & Girls Club where he was a member until getting drafted by the Seattle Mariners.
He addressed about 150 players at a breakfast honoring the eight basketball teams in the morning, telling them stories about his upbringing and earliest days as a student and athlete that many in the room did not likely know.
``You're probably sitting there saying, `Now, how can you relate with us? You play for the Yankees. You make all this money. You date so-and-so,''' Rodriguez told the basketball players. ``What you guys don't know is we're all alike. I was sitting in that chair just 15, 18 years ago. My mom had two jobs. I didn't know if I would ever have a steak dinner. That didn't exist in my house.''
He also met privately with some of the athletes afterward, advising them about upcoming decisions, such as what to look for in a college. Rodriguez also posed for several photos with the teams and their coaches.
``I can't say enough good things about him,'' said Brother Kevin Handibode, the president of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, where Rodriguez attended as a freshman. ``I know about all the good work he does, and you don't hear about it. You just don't hear about the good that Alex has done in a very, very quiet way.''
Later, at his afternoon event, Rodriguez donned a Christmas hat and handed out toys for about 30 minutes, everything from basketballs to bicycles to Barbie dolls.
He isn't exactly sure what the next few weeks will entail; there's no firm date for the surgery and the plans for his rehabilitation are still largely being worked out.
``I think I'm definitely going to play,'' Rodriguez said. ``We've been down this road before. We have a good plan. We have a good team in place.''
The Yankees have pursued former Boston third baseman Kevin Youkilis in recent days, and Rodriguez gave the longtime New York foe a glowing recommendation when asked about him on Saturday.
``Youk has always been a tough out,'' Rodriguez said. ``He's a tough player, a winning player. Whatever the franchise wants to do, I think that'll be a good move for us.''
Several times on Saturday, he drew the parallel back to 2009, when he started the season rehabbing from hip surgery and the Yankees wound up winning a championship. He can envision a similar script in 2013.
``Don't count us out,'' Rodriguez said. ``We are the New York Yankees.''


text:
Spirit Quartz Crystal 1780g 9.5''x5.5''
These mystical crystals were Discovered in the Boekenhouthoek area of South Africa.
They range from Lavender, light to dark Amethyst, to light smoky & clear to Yellow (Limonite). These are also known as Cactus or Fairy Quartz.
Spirit Quartz is an unusual member of the Quartz family. Its core, a larger, candle-shaped crystal with a faceted termination point, is encrusted with hundreds of smaller crystal termination points. These crystals first appeared around 2001. Spirit Quartz is a crystal of Harmony and Alignment. It takes all the crystal energies of the main stone and amplifies them over and over again in all the tiny points, each reflecting light back and forth to one another so all can bathe in the combined radiance of the whole.


text:
I stopped by the birthplace of my radio career recently while visiting my family in El Paso. The tiny cinder block building at 5300 El Paso Drive is still standing. Although empty, it serves as a reminder of my dues paid at KINT 1590 Radio. We were the little station that could, pulling numbers that, by today's standards would dominate a market. With no budget, a poor signal, and no night-time presence, we managed to make it big.
Our secret was not knowing what we couldn't do and loving every minute. Even our interns were fighters.
There was a young high schooler named Dave Kelly who had the tenacity of a winner. While his friends were out playing, Dave was living and breathing every moment of the radio station. Little did we know what we were teaching him by our daily enthusiasm for radio
One day, in the only room big enough to hold 10 people, during an important staff meeting, our owner/General Manager, Larry Daniels, noticed that Dave Kelly was sitting in the back of the room.
"Kelly! What are you, doing here?" he shouted.
"Oh, hi Mr. Daniels. I was just interested in what was going on." he replied in his Leave It To Beaver voice.
Mr. D took him aside and gently told that he couldn't come to the station anymore. He was getting in the way.
As he was leaving the building, Dave overheard our receptionist calling a landscaping company to mow our lawn. The next day, a Saturday, Mr. Daniels drove into the parking lot to the sound of a gas mower and guess who was pushing it!
Dave Kelly loved radio so much, he had gone to work for the landscaping company, just so he could be "where the action was" for him.
From that day forward, he became a permanent member of our radio family.
Today, he's still in radio, having actually become a business partner with Larry Daniels in later years and currently serves as a sales manager for the Univision cluster in El Paso.
Dave Kelly stands for everything radio should mean to a broadcaster. His tenacity and love for our medium has never let him down.
Direct email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Granny Slippers
LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THEM. I'd put bigger pom poms if could!
Pattern: My Grandma's Slippers
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Needles: US 8
Start/Finish: 3.17.11/3.20.11
Wanted a shorter ribbed portion, continued with garter until start of my pinky toe. (Used the pointy toe decrease)
Knit ribbed portion in the round, strengthened the join when I secured the pom poms.
Seamed up the back until I hit the purled stitches, then seamed from left to right. Think an upside down capital "T".
Notes: These knit up SO QUICKLY. I finished one during a Gold Rush: Alaska marathon yesterday. I might add a leather sole to the bottom as well as a padded insert. The garter stitch isn't too comfortable on my feet. Would have opted for a softer yarn but it wouldn't have been as durable as crunchy acrylic!
March 20, 2011 5:06 pm
The first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the beginning of the post was if the garter stitch would be comfortable to walk on. I think an insert should solve the problem and it will also make your slippers a bit more sturdy. A nice thick felt insert would make them more cozy and would conform to your foot slightly after a while.


text:
Facilities and Technology
The NMC University Center is a leading-edge facility with interactive classrooms, computer labs and open wireless access is available throughout the center. Student lounges, snack areas and a student café provide an environment conducive to studying, research and collaboration. The University Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For additional information about the University Center, visit http://www.nmc.edu/ucenter.


text:
We have had a few busy weeks and met up with some great people. So we have lots to talk about.
We thanks our soldiers for all their sacrifices. School trips and activities. Both of us are more active. Dale found 40 Grand. Jelly Belly Tour and Brat Stop with Tim and Nannette. Cutting down [...]
Badger Cast #20 – Jelly Bellies, Meetups and Anniversary, Oh My!
May 31st, 2009 · No Comments · Podcast
Tags:American Soldier·Brat Stop·Cheap Date Show·Dinkycast·For Whatever Reason·Jelly Bellies·Mary Jennings·Spaguy's Wife. Carley Phillips·Wisconsin Public Radio


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ILYA, Mark Stafford, and Reinhard Kleist appear at Gosh! Comics on Friday, March 7, 2014 from 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm!
Press Release:
British Comics Month Presents: First up in our line up for March, we have a Selfmade Hero Spring Party, featuring ILYA, Mark Stafford, and Reinhard Kleist. ILYA and Stafford are both well-known faces of the UK comics scene and have launched their respective books Room For Love and The Man Who Laughs (written by David Hine) here at Gosh! late last year. Now they will be here again to sign and chat to fans, with Reinhard Kleist, German cartoonist and creator of the ever-popular comic biographies Johnny Cash and Castro. Kleist has turned his beautiful brush-work style to his new book, The Boxer: a biography of Hertzko Haft, a native Pole who survived the concentration camps of Nazi Germany and later emigrated to the Unites States to become a professional boxer. There's some info on it here…
The book will be available from Gosh! on the day of the launch, and Kleist will be here to sign & chat. On top of that, there will be refreshments of the alcoholic sort, to emphasise the "Party" in "Spring Party". Let's hope the weather will emphasise the "Spring" part, too.
The Selfmade Hero Spring Party will take place on Friday, the 7th of March, from 7pm to 9pm. Also, from the 3rd through to the 9th of March, customers will be able to get 25% off all Selfmade Hero books!
Gosh Comics
1 Berwick St, SoHo, London W1F0DR
United Kingdom


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JOHNNIE WALKER, the world's number one Blended Scotch Whisky is proud to announce the grand opening of 'Johnnie Walker House Beijing', the world's largest embassy for luxury Scotch Whisky outside of Scotland.
Following the success of the first Johnnie Walker House in Shanghai last year and continuing the brand's mantra of 'Keep Walking', the Johnnie Walker House Beijing is located at the prestigious Ch'ien Men and creates a highly contemporary space, rich in authentic whisky story-telling for the discerning consumer along with the opportunity to participate in the art of blending.
"Johnnie Walker House Beijing is a multi-sensory experience, showcasing Scotch Whisky culture; it is a luxury boutique, selling the Master Blender's finest work; it is a private club, providing a new cultural platform for whisky appreciation; and it is an artistic space, providing inspiration for new forms of creativity," said Lawrence Law, General Manager, Johnnie Walker House.
The Ultimate Luxury Whisky Experience
As the global Scotch whisky industry leader with nearly two centuries of whisky craftsmanship, Johnnie Walker House Beijing provides an unprecedented exclusive luxury whisky experience for consumers.
The house offers a variety of luxury experiences from personalized whisky blendings to bespoke whisky and culinary fusion pairings provided by the gourmet in house chef Phoebe Cleland.
Visitors are immediately immersed in the JOHNNIE WALKER culture and can select and buy rare whisky as well as participate in the personalized blending sessions. By invitation only VIP patrons are given the opportunity to meet personally with John Walker and Son's master blender, the soul of JOHNNIE WALKER whisky, to create bespoke blends according to their individual flavor preferences. Guests can also explore the House with the guidance of experts and learn about its design, bespoke art collections whilst discovering the rich culture of Scotch Whisky by being educated on the intricacies of the whisky distillation process.
For true exclusivity, 200 by-invitation memberships will be available for members to access exclusive lifestyle experiences as well as private sections of the House such as the Odyssey Lounge and Striding Man Bar. Among the many privileges for patrons is access to an exclusive concierge service. In addition, relationship managers get to know the preferences of each member in order to ensure the whisky experience is as personal as possible. Membership at the House opens a world of possibilities outside of China as members can also take advantage of the concierge service to arrange trips to Scotland where they have access to private distilleries and whisky collections, can sample some of the rarest and oldest whisky in the world, as well as stay in private castles and enjoy access to members-only golf courses. Members are also given special keys to their own tailor-made cabinets to store their own glasses and bottles of whiskies for use at their convenience.
"This Johnnie Walker House demonstrates our commitment to growing the Scotch Whisky category and the immersing luxury connoisseurs in the world of Johnnie Walker and it's heritage, provenance and craftsmanship. The Johnnie Walker House will also allow exclusive consumers to create their own bespoke blends starting at £80,000 and offers differentiated experiences through high quality and refined gifts." Rudy Paoli, Managing Director, DIAGEO Reserve.
A Distinct Whisky Culture Design
The four levels House embodies the heritage of the JOHNNIE WALKER brand and the story behind JOHNNIE WALKER whisky's journey to China. The brand is manifested through the unique design of the house and is portrayed with the vivid recreation of a distillery and John Walker's grocery shop that brings historical Scotland to Beijing and the Blending Room which is made with the basic key elements of Scotch Whisky: copper, yeast, water, barley and peat. It is also represented with the "whisky constellation wall" which is dedicated to whisky blending and provides a comprehensive index for Single Malt Scotch Whiskies.
Excellence in blending is considered an art form amongst whisky connoisseurs. At Johnnie Walker House Beijing blending goes beyond the glass. The Distillery Bar, open to the public, nearly 10,000 copper pipes have been used to simulate a working distillery. In selective areas of the House, guests are encouraged to create their own whisky-inspired art, with the chance of it being displayed as part of a temporary exhibition.
The Johnnie Walker House Beijing is open Tuesday- Sunday, 7pm – 2am. Address: No. 23, Ch'ien Men East Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing.


text:
Would you rather: Have 10% of £5 or 75% of 80p? Be given 60% of 2 pizzas or 26% of 5 pizzas?
Find the exact difference between the largest ball and the smallest ball on the Hepta Tree and then use this to work out the MAGIC NUMBER!
A political commentator summed up an election result. Given that there were just four candidates and that the figures quoted were exact find the number of votes polled for each candidate.
In this article, Alf outlines six activities using the Gattegno chart, which help to develop understanding of place value, multiplication and division.
Go through the maze, collecting and losing your money as you go. Which route gives you the highest return? And the lowest?
In my local town there are three supermarkets which each has a special deal on some products. If you bought all your shopping in one shop, where would be the cheapest?
Can you find the pairs that represent the same amount of money?
Can you match pairs of fractions, decimals and percentages, and beat your previous scores?
Tim and Beth both have a string of flags. Use the percentages to find out who has the most flags.
Charlie thinks that a six comes up less often than the other numbers on the dice. Have a look at the results of the test his class did to see if he was right.
Can you match the cards and figure out whether the tabloid headlines can be trusted?
For teachers. Yet more school maths from long ago-interest and percentages.
A task involving the equivalence between fractions, percentages and decimals which depends on members of the group noticing the needs of others and responding.
When Charlie retires, he's looking forward to the quiet life, whereas Alison wants a busy and exciting retirement. Can you advise them on where they should go?


text: MUSIC Toby Keith, Garth Brooks Rock Oklahoma Relief Concert 9:05 PM PDT 7/6/2013 by the Associated Press FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Invision Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood The star-studded event raised money for United Way of Central Oklahoma, to help victims of tornadoes and violent storms that hit the state in May. Thousands of people turned out for a Saturday concert benefiting Oklahoma tornado victims. The star-studded concert featuring Oklahoma natives Toby Keith and Garth Brooks was sold out, with officials estimating a crowd of nearly 65,000, the Tulsa World reported. The money raised from ticket sales benefits the United Way of Central Oklahoma. That organization has established a fund to aid victims of the tornadoes and violent storms that pummeled the state in May and killed dozens of people. STORY: Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert Support Oklahoma at Tornado Benefit Concert A separate benefit concert last month hosted by Oklahoma native country music star Blake Shelton raised more than $6 million in donations and pledges. Saturday's concert was organized by Keith, who was slated to perform later Saturday. Brooks, meanwhile, took to the stage Saturday afternoon at the Oklahoma Twister Relief Concert at the University of Oklahoma's Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. "Today the healing begins," he said. Brooks played "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" and "Papa Loved Mama." His wife, Trisha Yearwood, joined him for a duet, "In Another's Eyes." PHOTOS: Country Crossovers "God bless you, Oklahoma!" Yearwood yelled, according to the World. Some concertgoers said their experiences with tornadoes or someone affected by the recent storms drew them to the fund-raising event. Marie Carter, a physician whose office is in Oklahoma City, said she watched helplessly as a twister moved through Moore, coming within a half-mile of her own home. "It was very scary for a lot of us," Carter said, according to the World. "We've been out there helping our friends, digging through the rubble, and because we're so close, we've had a lot of patients come in who lost everything who have symptoms of PTSD. It's almost surreal, but we wanted to come out and support this cause." FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME the Associated Press email@example.com @thr


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Betung Kerihun National Park
Betung Kerihun National Park is a Wildlife Sanctuary cetrally located on the island of Kalimantan, and is the largest conservation area in the West Kalimantan province in the Heart of Borneo.
Its hilly topography spans an area of 8,000 square kilometers and encompasses 8 types of forest eco-systems, including lowland forest, old secondary forest, dipterocarpus, sub-montane and montane forest. A high level of plant diversity of over 1,200 species flourishes across the reserve, 75 of which are endemic to Kalimantan. 300 species of bird, 51 species of amphibian, 52 species of reptile, and 48 species of mammal, including the endangered orangutan reside within the parks boundaries. 24 species endemic to Kalimantan also inhabit these forests.
The many levels of ecosystems and rich biodiversity of the park have led to the discovery of several newly listed species including 13 species of palm trees. 7 species of primate populate the parks large territory such as the Maroon Leaf Monkey, Mueller's Bornean grey Gibbon, White-fronted Leaf Monkey, Banded Leaf Monkey, and of course the Orangutan. Other commonly spotted creatures include the Sambar Deer, Western Tarsier, Sun Bear, Hairy-nosed Otter, and Larger Malay Mouse Deer. The most distinct bird species within the park are the Wreathed Hornbill and the Helmeted Hornbill, which is the largest species of hornbill and the symbol of West Kalimantan.
Local communities consisting of 8 ethnic groups exist in 12 settlements in and around the park, 2 of them within the park itself. Most communities support their livelihood through the practice of traditional agriculture, rice cultivation and wildlife hunting, with the exception of one community that sustains itself primarily from gold mining and collecting bird's nests.
The park runs along the boundary between Indonesia and Malaysia, separated by the Muller Mountain Range, part of which constitutes the National Border. Opposite the border, lies Malaysia's 2,000 square kilometer Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, and combined, the two parks have been proposed to form a World Heritage Site, TheTrans-border Rainforest Heritage of Borneo.
And, together with the rainforests of Brunei Darussalam, the central forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei on Borneo jointly form the Heart of Borneo, a concerted effort to preserve this huge rainforest area as planet earth's lungs.
Hundreds of rivers encircle the Betung Kerihun National Park. Indonesia's longest river, the Kapuas River, measures 1,143 kilometers and begins in the Park.
The Park, originally known as Bentuang Karimun, was first designated as a nature reserve by ministerial decree in 1982. Ten years later, the reserve expanded from its initial 6,000 square kilometers to 8,000. In 1995, with the involvement of the WWF, the Reserve was converted to a National Park.
Currently, the local wildlife authorities continue to work together with global conservation organizations to improve the park's management, protect endangered species and promote sustainable a livelihood for local people through agro-forestry and ecotourism.


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Dear Em,
Received your card and I am finding time right now to answer it. Gee we are hitting it pretty tough here now, for the rainy season has struck us. It is raining again now but not as hard as it did yesterday and Saturday night. Say when it does any thing weatherish down here it sertainly goes the limit. The storm Saturday leveled all of our tents and soaked everything we owned. Last nights storm flouded us out again but we managed to keep our cloths dry. We dug trenches around our tents so that the rain would collect in these instead of the tents. Some how the head of my cot got down in to this trench (which is about a foot deep and I felt pretty sore when I awoke in the morning. I have felt the effects of this all day, but I will get over that alright.
Some lumber came today for floors and some of the tents have them already laid. I havent. One thing about the rain here. It dosent have that dreary, cold, shivery effect that it has in N.E. I suppose it isnt the time of year for it to be so. You only have to walk about tent feet when you have got about twenty five pounds of this dope mud on your shoes. Talk about snow shoeing. We had electric lights installed today, and it makes it pretty comfortable. OH but the boys are getting sick of this hanging around just drilling, getting wet, drying out, getting sick, getting well, hearing that we are going home soon, and then hearing different. Yes this is a fine life almost. Now don't think I am crying baby (for I picked my bed and I am going to lay in it.) I just want to tell you the true attitude of most of the boys. Today for instance after such a night, we drilled four hours in the morning. In the after noon, non comps school at one oclock, inspection of rifles (after the rain you know) at three, another non comps school, at Regimental Headq. at four, and Retreat at five. You know how mad I can get without saying anything. Well you can imagine my mood all day today. (Part of the game though) Do it and say nothing.
I am wondering right now Em if I have changed any. I hope so. We are feeding fine latly such as. Peas, frankforts, pigs feet, cabbage, roast beef, mashed potatoes, iced cocoa, (tapioca pudding) (yes but its awful to eat this and think of the kind Lena makes.) Sunday we had chicken soop, how does that sound? It sounds all right but oh get your glasses to find the rubber stuff they call chicken. But it did taste good beleive me and don't think it didn't. I wish I had a dish of Lena's chicken soop now. Well what is the use of talking about eats. What we get taste very good to us and we are getting enough just now. We know we will break camp at this place soon for (someplace on the border) do you get the heading on this sheet. Some bull what?
Do you know Em there are some good things that we experience in the army, and it looks good (I know) to see them walking on parade, but they are well ofset by the hours that are spent, working, drilling, patience, attention and yes hardships that they go through. The papers may say how comfortable we are, but even for peace time, I know that war must be hell. The worste is yet to come for some of these poor fellows that are not quite as healthy as I am, but we will all give a good account of our selve and be a credit to the old Bay State and to Uncle Sam. And I can say right here, that where we are carrying 210 rounds of amunition the Michigan troops are carrying only five and they are doing no out post work at all. The Second Mass. Brigade is doing it all at Camp Cotton at least.
Well hoping this jumble of Bull finds you all well I remain
© Copyright 2008 by Richard Landers, All Rights Reserved. No reproduction without permission.


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Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson is the bestselling author of 9 books on the emotional life of animals. His book, Dogs Never Lie About Love, has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.
His latest book is Beasts - What Animals Can Teach Us About the Origins of Good and Evil.
Jeff lives with his family in Auckland, New Zealand.
Out Now
Beasts: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Origins of Good and Evil.
There are two supreme predators on the planet with the most complex brains in nature: humans and orcas. In the twentieth century alone, one of these animals killed 200 million members of its own species, the other has killed none. Jeffrey Masson's fascinating new book begins here: There is something different about us.
Check your local independent bookstore or buy online:
Dogs Make Us Human
Dogs Make Us Human: A Global Family Album
Famed wildlife photographer Art Wolfe has chosen one hundred of his favorite photographs of dogs— including shots from every continent of the world—and teamed up with bestselling animal writer Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson to create a remarkable book that will be treasured by dog lovers far and wide.
Check your local independent bookstore or buy online:
Now Available as Ebooks
4 of Jeff's books are now available as eBooks from Untreed Reads:
Paperback Out Now
No other animal loves us in quite the same way as dogs love us. And it is mutual. Is it possible that we developed the capacity for love, sympathy, empathy, and compassion because of our long association with dogs?
Check your local independent bookstore or buy online:
Also Available Now
This is an illustrated edition with magnificent paintings around the theme of dreams. Jeff wrote the Introduction, as well as various notes throughout the text explaining some of the key terms used in this classic book on dreams.
Check your local independent bookstore or buy online:
Also Available in Paperback
In this revelatory work, Jeffrey Masson explores what we eat and why. He shows how food affects our moral selves, our health, and our planet. Uniquely, as a psychoanalyst, Masson investigates how denial keeps us from recognizing the animal at the end of our fork and urges readers to consciously make decisions about food.
Check your local independent bookstore or buy online:
You can see and find more information on every book Jeff's written on his Books page.
More information about Jeff can be found on the About page.
For other websites Jeff likes to visit, take a look at Links.
To get in touch with Jeff, please use the Contact page.


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There's still more than a month left in 2010, but the clear leader in the war for most foolish newspaper editorial is this one from the Mercury News, of the great city of San Jose.
The piece argues: 1. There are a handful of ballot initiatives that can fix the state's governing system. 2. All that is needed is a few billionaires to fund them.
If there's a more wrongheaded argument out there, I'd love to hear it.
Rich people and ballot initiatives are the problem in California, not the solution. In fact, it is rich folks (and interest groups) who have access to the ballot (because it costs millions to qualify an initiative and run a campaign). The hundreds of constitutional amendments and initiatives that have made California so ungovernable -- creating the very messes of budget and faulty politics that the Mercury News identifies as problems -- were only able to take effect because of rich donors and the ballot.
Using more ballot initiatives should only make the system, worse by building new structures upon what is broken. Why's that? Because California's initiative process is the most inflexible in the world. Measures passed by the people can't be fixed or amended except by more votes of the people. Each time, we pile on a new initiative, even a well-intentioned one, we are setting the broken system deeper in concrete.
What's needed is to stop the initiative solutions (which are the poison) and tell the billionaires and other rich interests to keep their distance. We need comprehensive reform -- some sort of constitutional process (either a convention or revision commission) -- that allows Californians to do what they've never done: redesign all the pieces of their system so they fit together. Such a process requires not billionaire spending but real engagement by the public, which has much more at stake than the billionaires.
Any billionaire who takes the Mercury's advice and backs initiatives is getting in the way of such a process -- and making things worse.


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Nikon Coolpix S1000pj First Look
Ignoring the projector lens in the front of the camera, the Coolpix S1000pj looks pretty similar to most other Coolpix models currently available. It's a sleek, black box with chrome accents. Inside is a 12.1 megapixel chip, and around back is a 2.7 inch LCD. It feels slightly heavy for its size, but that seems reasonable given the dual functions the camera performs.
The lens – well, the camera's lens – is offset to the right corner. Front and center is another lens belonging to the projector. Right on top of that is a sliding control that focuses the projected image. The button to turn on the projector is just above the camera lens on the top deck. I've accidentally pushed the projector button once so far, since it's positioned just where I want to hold the camera in my left hand. I hope that as I use the camera more, this won't be a major problem. Turning that projector on in your photographic subject's eyes wouldn't be very kind.
Using the projector has been very intuitive so far. Without diving into any manuals, most users won't have a problem powering up the projector and using the sliding control to focus the image. The camera doesn't need to be in playback mode to start projecting images – any mode will do. The first time I used the projector for a small group of friends, it got the sort of "ooh" and "aah" response that the S1000pj was built to inspire.
As you'd expect, a dark room is best for using the projector. I'm planning to test it out in a variety of settings, but a trial run in my living room with most lights turned off was successful. Details didn't really pop, but the image is clear and reasonably bright.
As for actual picture-taking, the Coolpix S1000pj is a mostly-auto camera. Auto mode offers the most control, though no options for anything but default metering. So far, most shots have been properly exposed indoors and out. I did dial in an exposure compensation for some outdoor shots that were looking too bright.
Cold weather and blowing snow drove me off the street and into Poeme – a stationary store in Cincinnati's Hyde Park neighborhood. The Coolpix S1000pj was faced with a mix of fluorescent, incandescent, and natural lighting, and I found that auto white balance performed well. The camera captures most colors nicely. Details in the center of the frame look sharp, and the shot below in Macro Mode is very clean (ignoring a bit of purple fringing).
We'll dive deeper into image quality in our full review. For now, take a look at some sample images. There's plenty more to come and lots more projecting to do.
Sample Images


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Diane Sawyer, you're in luck. While the, um, buzz around the networks' election night coverage seems to have fallen squarely on the ABC newswoman's overly relaxed shoulders, Donald Trump has, with exactly as much measure and subtlety as we'd expect from an untrained pit bull, done his level best to put another anchor in the headlines today.
The object of his ever-tenacious attentions: unwitting sparring partner Brian Williams.
As the kids say, that escalated quickly.
U.S. & World
Donald Trump vs. Twitter: Read his democracy disses
Indeed, Trump seems to have found an outlet for his mounting upset over President Barack Obama's reelection victory, and Williams is it, as the NBC newsman is bearing the brunt of a series of increasingly volatile tweets directed his way.
Of course, in keeping with the schoolyard-taunts vibe of Trump's tweets, well, he started it.
The first salvo was fired on air by Williams last night, when the clearly reluctant news anchor read out Trump's tweets, which alternately referred to the election as a "sham," "injustice" and "travesty."
Find out what all the buzz was about over Diane Sawyer's election coverage
"Donald Trump has driven well past the last exit to relevance and veered into something closer to irresponsible," Williams said on air. Cut to this morning and the gloves came off.
Well, more off.
"@bwilliams knows that I think his newscast has become totally boring so he took a shot at me last night," began Trump's seriously lengthy diatribe. "The only thing more boring than @bwilliams newscast is his show Rock Center which is totally dying in the ratings--a disaster!
"@bwilliams--wouldn't you love to have my ratings?"
Listen to Mariah Carey's just-released tribute song to President Obama
Apparently he was just warming up. (Though he shouldn't hold his breath for a response. While Williams set up a Twitter account and has over 140,000 followers, he has never sent a tweet.)
"Brian, if I'm 'well past the last exit to relevance' how come you spent so much time reading my tweets last night?" he said, before adding, "Brian--Thanks dummy--I picked up 70,000 twitter followers yesterday alone. Cable News just passed you in the ratings.
"Brian, I hope @NBCNightlyNews isn't paying you too much--look at what's happening to nightly news. Brian Williams was never a smart guy but always passes himself off as such. People will learn the truth!"
Yes, after that run of tweets, we hope the truth becomes pretty self-evident.


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There was a site that was created for this church, but I have been unable to find it.
You may see photos of some of the paintings
that lwere located in the church,
by clicking on the title above.
Hopefully, the article will remain online for awhile.
Of interest to us is general and specific genealogical information about our French-Canadian (QUÉBEC in particular) and Franco-American ancestors. I hope to post pertinent info here on a regular basis as my research progresses. Details concerning genetic anomalies and hereditary diseases found among French-Canadians and their descendants would be welcome. Your input, corrections and comments are most welcome.


text:
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CQI Integrated Management Special Interest Group (IMSIG)
The CQI's Integrated Management Special Interest Group (IMSIG) was established in 1996 as a forum for those interested in the quality of management, governance and implementing fully integrated management systems. That address the totality of an organisation without boundaries.
Quality World magazine
The leading independent magazine dedicated to quality. Find out how to subscribe, read a sample below, or access this month's issue online now if you're a member of the CQI or IRCA.


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Jordan's Islamic Action Front (IAF) has frozen the membership of a senior official who recently accepted a government ministry and referred his case to its internal court for a decision, a spokesman for the IAF said Sunday.
The measures against Abdel-Rahim Okour were taken late Saturday by the IAF's decision-making executive bureau because he joined the newly formed government of Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb without party leave.
The spokesman told AFP the final verdict on whether to sack Okour from the Islamic front will be taken by the group's internal court.
The IAF is the political wing of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition group.
Akour, a member of the IAF consultative council, accepted the post of municipal affairs and environment minister in the new government, which was sworn in June 19th.
IAF secretary general, Abdel-Latif Arabeyat said then that Okour would face sanctions because he did not seek a green light from the party and criticized Abu Ragheb for failing to consult with the IAF on Akour's appointment.
The Muslim Brotherhood also said last week that Okour's decision was in contradiction with the movement's policies and would be dealt with "according to its internal regulations."
The IAF and the Muslim Brotherhood have not been in the government since 1990 and boycotted the 1997 legislative elections.
Both groups are staunchly opposed to any links with Israel, with which Jordan has a peace treaty since 1994 - AMMAN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)


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I am trying to select a random number using a command:
(variable as integer) = Int (Rnd * #) + #
Actual Code:
t = Int (Rnd * 7) + 0
I want the random number, if selected to not be able to be selected more than once, and once it has been selected and it will keep cycling until it finds a number that has not been selected.
I will post more of the code later, right now i just put down some key parts.
If you need to know more about the code or whatever, just reply or message me.


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Solarte quickly making name for himself
Yankees third baseman off to torrid start at plate in rookie season
NEW YORK -- John Gibbons leaned back into a folding chair at the front of the Rogers Centre news conference room, ready to be peppered with questions about the two newcomers who had just led the Yankees to an early April victory over his Blue Jays.
Sure, Masahiro Tanaka looked like "the real deal," the Toronto manager said. But Gibbons was more curious about Yangervis Solarte, the switch-hitter who had just blasted a pair of long doubles and collected three RBIs that evening.
"We don't know much about the young hitter, so I tip my hat to him," Gibbons said. "I don't know where he came from, but he's a pretty good little player."
Solarte, a 26-year-old infielder from Venezuela, has been producing similar reactions throughout the American League. A non-roster invitee to Spring Training, Solarte forced his way onto the team with a torrid exhibition stat line, and he has kept it up through his first month in the Majors.
"This is incredible for me. I don't want to wake up," said Solarte, who is tied for fifth in the AL with a .328 (20-for-61) average. "I want to keep working hard and doing what I'm doing right now."
A nine at-bat hitless skid has dipped Solarte's batting average from the high .300s, but he remains tied for third in the AL with seven doubles, seventh with a .414 OBP and has hit safely in 12 of 18 games. Not bad for someone who wasn't even on the team's first charter flight of the year.
Solarte was told not to pack any of his belongings as the Yanks' closed-door arguments went down to the last day of camp, but when New York opened the season in Houston, Solarte was there. He quickly shed his spring No. 89 for a more big league No. 26 -- vacated by Eduardo Nunez, who was jettisoned from the roster in favor of Solarte.
"He's certainly playing above our expectations, and we'll ride that as long as we can," general manager Brian Cashman said. "Maybe he becomes a player that moves into a new category, but you have to give it time. We're certainly happy and pleasantly surprised by what he's provided."
It took nine years for Solarte to get that chance; seven in the Twins' Minor League organization, and the last two years stashed at Triple-A Round Rock in the Rangers' system, where he had been overshadowed by top prospects like Jurickson Profar and Mike Olt.
"I was told that I was going to be brought up to the Majors, but it never happened. I feel they kind of misled me," Solarte said through an interpreter.
Solarte was frustrated -- he said that he had even looked into an Arlington apartment rental last September -- but the Yankees were watching from afar. When they summoned their scouts, decision-makers and number-crunchers to New York for a roundtable discussion in late October, assistant general manager Billy Eppler said that Solarte's name came up numerous times.
According to Eppler, scout Jay Darnell spoke up in favor of pursuing Solarte. So did Don Wakamatsu, who is now the Royals' bench coach, as well as scout David Keith. Michael Fishman, the team's director of quantitative analysis, also saw Solarte's numbers pop in his data searches.
"It just made sense," Eppler said. "When those kinds of departments tend to mesh, it points us in the direction a little bit more aggressively. ... We gravitated toward the switch-hitting aspect, the flexibility aspect, the age relative to most of the guys who hit Minor League free agency. He puts the ball in play, he manages the strike zone well. Those things attracted us to him."
The Yankees had company in pursuit of Solarte, who competed for a Minor League batting title in 2011 and batted .276 with 12 homers and 75 RBIs last season. Solarte said that he fielded calls from 13 clubs over the winter, but the Yanks were persistent.
"I had a lot of teams that were interested in me, but even before the World Series ended, the Yankees were one of the teams that were after me," Solarte said.
Robinson Cano's big contract with the Mariners, Alex Rodriguez's season-long suspension and injury questions with Derek Jeter all were factors that Solarte considered before signing a Minor League deal with New York.
"In the beginning, I was concerned, because this team always has high-quality players," Solarte said. "I didn't know if I was going to get to play, but when I saw that they lost some players, I grew more interested."
Eppler said that the Yanks have been compiling evaluations on Solarte dating back to his Twins days, just in case.
"It's not like he just hit our database," Eppler said. "These guys that are on these Minor League deals tend to gravitate to places where there might be the best opportunity. You look back a little bit into our infield; 2011, 2012, there wasn't a lot of opportunity.
"Some guys would shy away. But I think now this year with the departure of Cano and Alex's situation, it created some more opportunity in our infield. We were able to fish out of a bigger pond, so to speak, that brought us to him."
Solarte may have been forced to wait until now for a big league call, but he had a wealth of experience to draw upon. Solarte's uncle is former big league outfielder Roger Cedeno. According to Solarte, Cedeno often reminds him to keep a positive attitude.
"I take things way too seriously," Solarte said. "He says, 'Don't do that, there's a lot of games ahead. You've got to take things one game at a time.' In the last three years, I've taken that to heart and it has really changed my career."
"Sometimes you need some time to mature," Cedeno said. "I think he puts a lot of pressure on himself. He was so hungry to make it to the big leagues. Now he finally made it. I'm impressed the way he reacts. Nobody knows how somebody is going to react, but I've been very impressed, because he looks so mature."
Cedeno said that watching Solarte provides a window into what his family must have felt when Cedeno started his professional career, signing with the Dodgers as a 17-year-old in 1991. Solarte was only about 4 years old then, but he already had taken to the game.
"I remember my mother was so mad at him, because he was breaking everything in the house with a baseball," Cedeno said, laughing.
Mark Teixeira's return on Sunday restored the Yankees' infield to full health, but manager Joe Girardi said that he will continue to find opportunities for Solarte. They have been using Solarte at second base and third base, and he could also see time at shortstop or in left field.
It remains to be seen if Solarte's story is just April sizzle or something more, but Solarte's consistency is converting skeptics into believers. He is taking this long-awaited chance and making the most of it.
"There are late bloomers," Girardi said. "It's a short sample, I understand that, but it seems like the kid has an idea of what he's doing. Sometimes you wonder how a guy doesn't get an opportunity."


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Dublin hasn't just got the edge as a city break. It's got the pick of adventure activities dotted about the coast, rivers and mountains on its doorstep
It's water, water everywhere in Dublin – with the city's river and bay throwing up plenty of opportunities to get the adrenaline going before a night on the town.
Start off with a spin down the Liffey. Rafting.ie runs trips between Leixlip and Palmerstown, offering over two hours of thrills and spills on the river. Trips kick off with a high drop (literally) at Lucan, before passing stone-arch bridges, old mills and historic weirs on their way towards the city. Amidst the wide, relaxing stretches there are plenty of rapids to be shot... so don't forget ye olde Speedos.
Or what about hitting the surf? Pure Magic is a company doing exactly what it says on the tin - hooking up thrill seekers with a three-hour kite-surfing lesson on the Blue Flag Dollymount Strand. If you don't fancy rocking the harness and lines, you can always grab a stand-up paddle board and take to the water without the wings.
Think of Dublin, and aerial trekking, giant swings and off-road buggies may not be the first things that spring to mind. But that's exactly what's on offer at Xtreme.ie Adventure Centre in Balbriggan. Set in the rolling countryside just 35 minutes from the city centre, small groups and individuals, hen and stag parties are all catered for here. The high-ropes based packages won't leave you hanging around. Or maybe they will...
Meanwhile, a 35-minute spin in the opposite direction could have you monkeying around in the Dublin Mountains. Zipit Forest Adventures is a fresh-from-the-packet attraction in Tibradden Wood, with several high-wire trails offering the chance to swoop down zip lines, swing into cargo nets and even cycle a BMX through the forest canopy. The Red Circuit is the big dog, with a 20m base jump tailor-made for YouTube.
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Getting out of the city doesn't have to involve adrenaline, of course. Dublin's coastal Dart train is one of the sweetest commuter routes in Europe, with even a short spin opening up a brave new world of seaside villages, sea views... and possibly even dolphins and seals.
Heading north? Try Bram Stoker's birthplace of Clontarf (7 minutes), or the snappy seafood restaurants and bracing cliff walks of the Howth Peninsula (28 minutes).
Flying south? 20 minutes sets you up for a jolly jaunt along the Victorian pier at Dun Laoghaire, or a half-hour opens up hidden beaches like White Rock, or local favourites like Killiney Hill, where you can watch the hang-gliders swoop like seagulls over the bay.
Commuting has never felt so cool.
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As friendly as a village and as intimate as a pub, Dublin is a capital city like no other
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Wake up to a beachside view, breakfast in a country house, or the bustle of the city.
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About half the country has made a New Year's resolution to get fit. The other half is thinking about it.
With that in mind, I rang in 2011 with my own resolution: to check out some of the most popular As Seen on TV exercise gizmos to see if they would do any good.
With the help of a trio of personal training/fitness specialists, I tested six pieces of equipment, each priced under $20. Two turned out to be really worthwhile. The four others ranged from lousy to laughable. (See photos of the gizmos here)
Shake Weight, $19.95
Biggest Waste of Money
"Go from flab to fabulous," says the workout DVD that came with this device — the most expensive of the six in my test. "It's a total gimmick," says Krissy Ray, 24, one of my three exercise consultants, all from Advocate Fitness.
But if you want a good laugh, watch the slow motion clip of the audience using Shake Weights in the Sept. 16 "shared experience" segment on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. "This is filthy," says Fallon guest, actress Emma Stone. "It's practically pornographic." (http://bit.ly/c3ce9P)
Duo Wheel, Everlast, $14.95
Worth it
"That thing's awesome," says exercise specialist Seth Shanahan, 27. "We really like this," says Ray. "I'm a frequent user," chimes in trainer Jesse Perez, 35. In fact, all three trainers say the ab wheel is part of their fitness regime. They pronounce this one solidly made with easy-to-understand instructions.
Twist Board, Everlast, $12.99
Don't Bother
"What is this?" asks Perez, puzzled by what this swiveling disc is supposed to do. Because it's hard to stay balanced on the thing, "It just makes everything more dangerous. You'd probably be better off doing exercises on the floor," says Ray. "This thing is just weird," she says.
"If you're on a budget there's other things you should spend your money on," says Shanahan.
Gel Flex Tube, Bally, $11.95
Definitely Not
"A total bomb. Not worth it," says Shanahan. And he says the instruction sheet is "stupid." "Everything you do on this feels really goofy. All the motions are unnatural," agrees Ray, adding, "The concept is really garbage."
"This would not really do anything," says Perez.
Deluxe Speed Rope (aka jump rope), Valeo, $12.95
Great investment
"I would take a jump rope any day over a $1,000 treadmill," says Perez. You can go slow on a treadmill and get comfortable but when jumping rope, "You can't cheat," he says.
"These have been around forever. That's because they're effective. Jumping rope is as good as any cardio exercise you can do," says Shanahan. "You can get a lot accomplished in a short amount of time," he says.
Ellen says: I'm now sold on jumping rope (portable, packable) but my personal preference is a leather or segmented jump rope. Learn more at drjump.com.
Chin-up/Sit-up Bar, Valeo, $15.95
Good idea but ...
Shanahan says a bar is one of his favorite pieces of exercise equipment but this particular one "is a piece of junk." When it's wedged into a doorway you can't use it for pull-ups — although instructions show you can — because your elbows hit the door frame.
Also, the foam handgrips are misplaced, says Ray: "They made it wrong."
Other door frame products with curved mounts solve the elbows problem but check user comments online before buying to avoid problems.
Your home gym?
The experts I consulted say you don't need expensive gear to get a thorough workout at home. They recommend a high-quality jump rope for cardio. And to work all your muscles, invest in two quality resistance bands — one heavy, one medium — at $11 or so apiece. "What we're saying is 'keep it simple' which is better than using all these fancy toys," says personal trainer Krissy Ray.
Before you buy home exercise equipment:
+Go online and check the comments.
+Consult with experts at a gym.
+Think about the assembly. Who will do it? How much will it cost?
Latest Lifestyles
+Treadmills and stationary bikes can be picked up cheap at yard sales.
+Keep it simple. Jump rope and resistance bands are cheap, effective.
+Remember that fitness takes hard work. Period.
All equipment from asseenontvguys.com