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I decided it was time to pay a visit to the new Blue Torch Fab location in Birmingham Alabama today. Having one of the premier fabrication shops just a little over 3 hours away is just too much of a draw for a crawler nut. I set up a meeting with owner Dan Dubose and took off.
Just east of downtown Birmingham and in the shadow of the world's largest cast iron statue depicting Vulcan at his forge, Blue Torch Fab's new 33,000 square foot facility is impressive to say the least. Known as the "Pittsburg of the South," Birmingham's major industries are centered around steel and iron production. Where better to set up one of the premier off-road steel fabrication shops than where the tube is actually made, right?
Arriving just a little before 9:00AM in his tricked out black Hummer SUT with 22" wheels and 37's, Dan stepped out looking every bit the part of the image he and Blue Torch Fab have built since 2001. Decked out in Blue Torch Fab black T-shirt, jeans and a flat bill, I had to check myself to realize I was in Alabama and not Southern California. I had not seen Dan since he was showing off "The Evil Bastard" back in 2005 in Dallas at the 4 Wheel Parts show. A whole lot has changed in Dan's life since then and I was interested in what was going on with Blue Torch. As he showed me around, I grilled him for all that he was worth.
Midget: Damn this place is huge!
Dan: Yeah, it is 33,000 square feet, (Laughs) we got a hell of a deal on it. The building was a pile of shit and had been abandoned for years. As you noticed, it is not exactly the best neighborhood in Birmingham.
Midget: Looks perfect for your needs
Dan: You are not kidding; I can literally walk to the laser cutter and the tube suppliers over there.
Midget: Do you have a golf cart we can ride in? I am not sure I am up for this so early.
Dan: Stop being a puss. Let's go.
The first thing you see when you walk into the employee entrance at Blue Torch is the printing room. Dan runs a full service print and wrap shop for the 4x4 community. His print shop looks like a Kinko's on steroids with monster printers and cutters.
Midget: Wow. You know how to use all this stuff?
Dan: Yeah, if I had time I could make a living on this stuff alone. We have a 64 inch Mutouh Toucan LT large format printer here in house. We also have a 64 inch laminator if you prefer to have your decals laminated. My big printer has been down about 2 weeks and I have 3 solid days of work backed up. I got tired of waiting for the repairman so I ordered the parts myself. I will see if I can get it running this weekend.
Through the back of the print shop is the fab shop. I follow Dan around as he turns on all of the lights and fans and rolls up the doors on each end. Buggies, chassis, parts, lifts, plasma tables all have their place in the cavernous space.
Midget: Looks crowded (laughing)
Dan: Yeah, it is huge. We had about 1/3 of this space in Dothan and twice the employees. We can really breathe in here. We have big plans for all of the space so I am not worried at all.
Midget: What the hell is that? An ice rink machine?
Dan: No, that is a floor sweeper. When you have 33,000 ft of floor space pushing a broom sucks.
Midget: I can imagine.
Dan walks me around and shows me everything in the shop. From the floor sweeper (you have got to be kidding me), we walk over to where his welder works all day punching out custom bracketry. There are neat piles of brackets in bins and rollers all around the table. A quick inspection proved Dan's welder knows his business. Next to this is the Torchmate Plasma table. It is quite big and looks like it has been used a ton.
Midget: Wow, Torchmate huh? I see them all over Pirate, I did not know you had one of these.
Dan: Yeah, I use it a lot for one-off and small production stuff. My tab and bracket business is so big I have to outsource that stuff just to keep up.
Midget: Show me the inventory.
Dan leads me over and shows me neat piles of customs brackets, tabs, differential covers, hoops, full size kits, and the list goes on and on. Funny thing, I can look at crap like this all day. It is all old news to Dan, but I take time to walk the isles and check out the loot.
Dan: I have caught a bunch of crap on the boards (read Pirate) over the last few months for being behind on inventory. With the move from Dothan to Birmingham we had to work down the inventory and rebuild it when we finished the building. I did not want to haul it up and I could not have it all in here while we redid the building. As you can see, we are on it now.
Midget: I cannot believe all of this stuff. This is hillbilly heaven.
Dan: (laughing) We are pretty set up.
From there my eye draws me to the other end of the shop. There, lines up along the wall are the current projects that BTF has going. In one bay is a full-up custom TJ project that is BTF all the way down to the custom frame. The build thread is here:
Next to it, a TJ is on the lift getting a custom BTF 4 link, coilovers and cage. Dan says the owner is a tomato broker. I did not know there was such a thing as a tomato broker.
A Fusion chassis sits next to the TJ. I ask Dan whose it is.
Dan: We were sitting in the shop in Dothan and this dude gets out of an airport van with 2 bags of clothes and a man-purse over his shoulder. He comes in and starts in on me in Italian. Well, I don't speak Italian very well, so we end up using a translation program on the computer to converse with the guy. He ends up telling us we need to find an interpreter. Well, no shit I think. Finally it dawn on me that the pizza guy is Italian. I get him on the phone and he translates to me that this guy wants me to build him a buggy.
Midget: So he shows up unannounced from Italy and orders a Fusion Chassis? That's kinda odd, huh?
Dan: You think? Well, the pizza guy gets me an interpreter and we start negotiating a deal. I am paying rapt attention to this guy because one of my best customers is from the Canary Islands. Well, long story short, I am putting together a container full of stuff to send along with this chassis.
Midget: So the Canary Island guy, is that the one that made the Mad Max looking buggies?
Dan: Yeah, he has his own private army armed with Airsoft rifles. When he calls, I answer the phone (laughing).
Midget: That chassis looks different, what is that?
Dan: That is our new "Low-Life" 4-seat chassis. As you can see, we made quite a few changes with this chassis compared to the Fusion Chassis. We raised the bars all around for more tire clearance, we left off the firewall tubing which will allow for installation of a big block and we removed the front fenders to name a few changes. This chassis is full size like the Fusion, but we have a 48" model in the works.
Midget: Is it like the one you made for Louis (under_psi) ?
Dan: Yes, very similar but it will be all round tube. The one we made that Louis has was made with a rectangular chassis and it took a ton of fab work. The round tube is easier and will be less expensive to produce for the customer.
The chassis is cool. I liked it for sure, here is the thread on it:
Having taken the entire dime tour of the outside shop, we made our way into the office portion of Blue Torch Fab. The office is damn nice. Exactly what I was expecting in a first-class operation like Blue Torch to have, right down to the hottie manning the phone. Dan drags me past said hottie into the show room he is developing. What used to be a plumbing supply warehouse now boasts 10 gallons of black paint, a cool stained concrete floor and walls adorned with past articles of Blue Torch Fab's media exposure.
Dan: Pretty cool huh?
Midget: You have got to be kidding me, this is bad ass. I love it. Are you expecting a lot of walk-in traffic?
Dan: What we are shooting for here is a eastern version of West-Coast Choppers. I want this place to be a destination location for people in this sport. We are going to put a deck up over the conference room and make it where customers and fab freaks can come and sit and watch us work on projects. They will be up and out of the way and can come and go without getting into an unsafe situation. It should be pretty bitchin'.
Midget: Wow, you really are thinking outside of the box on this one.
Dan: We want folks to drop by, check out what is going on, buy some Tshirts and stickers and possibly get some fab stuff. Most of the people in this area like to build their own stuff and with all of the tabs and brackets that we make we should be their first stop. Wait, did I show you the bathrooms?
Midget: Uh, no.
Dan: (Laughing) Remember that this was a plumbing supply? Well, they had some pimp bathrooms put in to showcase their stuff. Check it out.
Midget: That is damn sure the nicest shitter I have ever seen in a fab shop.
Dan: That's right.
From there Dan took me back past the hottie. (I snapped a few more pictures for my "article") and he took me to introduce me to his business partner Jason Carner. Jason was pretty busy so we slipped down the hall into the conference room.
Midget: Awesome, that bike is pimp.
Dan: Take it for a spin, it fits you well
Ignoring the short joke, I loaded up and took a spin on the Schwinn.
Finally I decided I had taken up enough of Dan's time.
Midget: OK, enough. Thanks for taking time out of your day to show me around. Didn't you say something about a stripper pole?
Dan: Wait, I have to show you that before you leave.
We trudge out past the hottie to the other end of the building. This section has not gotten much love yet and is still in pretty much the same condition as when they moved in.
Dan: We are going to add showers into this bathroom and in this room we are going to have a big screen TV with couches to sleep on for when we are working on a deadline. That pole there is going to get sanded smooth and painted. It holds up the roof but will be a great stripper pole, don't you think?
Midget: Well, I will be the judge of that when the time comes to test it out.
Dan: Thanks for coming out. We have a million things planned for this place. I can't wait to see where it takes us.
Reluctantly I loaded up and headed back to Mississippi via Tuscaloosa and a phat lunch at Chipotle. Dan and company really have a sweet setup over at his shop. Look him up at www.bluetorchfab.com or drop in and pick up a pile of tabs for your next project when you are in the area. You won't be disappointed.
Until next time.....
Nolen, aka the Rock Midget


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a golden/jolley/reynolds production. produced by reynold reynolds. directed by reynold reynolds, patrick jolley. screenplay, samara golden, jolley, reynolds, from a story by reynolds.
with: samara golden, nelson , patrick jolley.
a woman crawls out of a tiny refrigerator in a cramped, filthy apartment and discovers a corpse that may be the woman herself– and these are only the first moments of "sugar," an extremely unsettling vision of private terrors by filmmaking collaborators reynold reynolds, patrick jolley and samara golden. pic, hanging between drama and experimental non-narrative, plays like a fever nightmare of any new yorker who's lived in a one-room living box, and thus could find a responsive but itchy aud among midnight movie denizens in big city markets.
the increasingly horrific experiences felt by a woman (golden), who now lives — if that's the word — in a dingy apartment recently occupied by a fellow named anthony (nelson), seldom proceed logically but rather in a dream-state, and sometimes in dreams within dreams. after examining a body she pulls out of a hiding place, the woman can be observed from a disturbing point-of-view — perhaps by anthony, who may be hiding and watching her from the other side of a metal grill and sounding more and more like a caged animal.
anthony's surveillance grows more menacing as the woman tidies things up, plays back a long list of his unanswered phone messages and goes through his unopened mail. j.g. thirlwell's portentous music feeds a paranoid mood as her dreams (in color) begin to dominate and blend into the everyday. she imagines spitting out teeth and anthony attacking her, while the act of washing and tending to the corpse (which is made to seem like her doppelganger) suggests an act that's at once caring, sensual and macabre.
the film sustains the tension between extremely different tones for a remarkable length of time, as if co-directors reynolds and jolley had taken control of auds' collective subconscious. while midnight movie fans will spot the direct echoes from "eraserhead" and other weirded-out nocturnal mind trips, hip viewers will also spot links to other recent inward-looking and defiantly semi-underground films such as jennifer reeves' "the time we killed" and james fotopoulos' "the nest."
pic is a triumph of lower-than-low budget filmmaking, with mainly one thesp (golden in an outrageously demanding performance that indicates a commitment above and beyond the call of duty), one extremely messy room (with a spooky thick-glass window looking out onto a crowded manhattan street) and a complex visual and aural design involving camerawork that appears to crawl under the skin and bruce odland's and sam auinger's stunning sound design.
camera (color/b&w, 16mm/dv), reynolds, jolley; editor, reynolds; music, j.g. thirlwell; sound, reynolds, jolley; sound designers, bruce odland, sam auinger. reviewed at sundance film festival (frontier), jan. 22, 2005. running time: 80 min.
by robert koehler (www.variety.com)
a golden/jolley/reynolds production. produced by reynold reynolds. directed by reynold reynolds, patrick jolley. screenplay, samara golden, jolley, reynolds, from a story by reynolds.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Supermodifieds are my favorite division of racing. When 23 or more of these lightning-fast "Winged Warriors" take the green for a feature event, the fans are committed to the edge of their seats until the checkers fly.
A Supermodified is a purebred racing machine. It has a hand-built tubular steel frame,specially designed for strength,lightness,and location of suspension.
The 700+ horsepower engine hangs off the left side of the frame, providing superior handling through the corners.
The wings, and the aerodynamic body are built from aluminum. Most of the wings are mounted to air shocks at the rear. This allows the wing to lay horizontal under acceleration, decreasing drag, and increasing speed.
Under braking the wing returns to it's preset position, creating downforce on the rear wheels for better traction through the corners.
The Supers typically reach speeds on a quarter-mile oval in excess of 100 mph in the straights. In fact, the top drivers are turning laps in the lower 11 second range.
The amazing speed, torque, and handling, of these winged sprint cars allows for three and four wide racing.
Drivers dart in and out of traffic, pass in
the corners, or wherever there's an opening. They are truly flirting with disaster every
inch of the way to the checkers.
The supers have no transmissions. Instead they have what is called an in and out box which is used to lock the rear wheels into drive, or neutral. The driveshaft is bolted directly to the main crankshaft. These cars need to be push started.
Sometimes when a driver spins, you will see him nail the gas to keep the car running, at the same time attempting to point the car in the correct position, and continue the race avoiding going down a lap .
This is an exciting maneuver to witness as it creates an amazing smoke show


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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Legendary British director David Lean's first epic masterpiece made him a master of cinema. During the WW II in a Japanese POW camp, British soldiers are forced to build a crucial bridge for the enemy with a head strong colonel as their leader while the British force a former American prisoner to help them destroy it. While Lean succeeds to deliver a film of epic scale, the core of his film is focused on the individuals caught in the madness of war. It's a timeless and classic film with terrific cast and crew which includes William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins and Sessue Hayakawa in memorable performances. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Greek director Costa-Gavras returned to Hollywood for this provocative thriller. An undercover FBI agent falls for a wholesome single father whom she's investigating to be involved with a right-wing terrorist organization. Costa-Gavras who made several superb political thrillers seems to be compromised with the Joe Eszterhas script which tries to provoke more than give insight. Debra Winger and Tom Berenger try their best to redeem with their powerful performances which they almost succeed. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Broken
British writer and director Sean Ellis changed direction with his sophomore film with this atmospheric psychological thriller. A woman's world collapses after witnessing a doppelganger which has devastating consequences for her and those close to her. After his impressive debut, Ellis continues to impress with visual style which is at full display in this stylish thriller that blends horror and psychological thriller seamlessly. Instead of going the extra mile, he comes short which is a shame considering how close he came to deliver a great film. Lena Heady is solid in the lead but the impeccable support cast including Richard Jenkins, Ulrich Thomsen and Melvil Poupaud are underused. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
The Leopard
Legendary Italian master Luchino Visconti delivered his definitive masterpiece with this character study of a noble aristocrat. During the 1860's social and political upheavals, a wise Sicilian aristocrat realizes that in order for his family and class to survive the changing times, they have to adapt which leads him to arrange the wedding of his ambitious nephew to the beautiful daughter of a wealthy buffoon who will be part of the new ruling class. Visconti made one of the greatest films in cinema with a terrific cast and crew including top notch writing team lead by Suso Cecchi d'Amico, cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno, production and costume design by Mario Garbuglia and Piero Tosi and haunting score by Nino Rota. In an inspired casting, Burt Lancaster delivered a tour-de-force performance as the leopard that ranks amongst the greatest in the cinema. The terrific supporting cast includes a dashing Alain Delon and the ravishing Claudia Cardinale. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Mildred Pierce
Prolific and versatile director Michael Curtiz provided Joan Crawford her greatest role in this melodrama that also revived her career. Personal tragedies forces a single mother to professional success which alienates her further from her spoiled daughter. Crawford is clearly front and center in the film in a career defining role with a solid support cast that includes Jack Carson and Ann Blyth. While the film is considered a Hollywood classic, it's far from perfect but interesting as a time capsule of bygone era. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Waste Land
British director Lucy Walker delivered two terrific documentaries in one year. In this inspiring and moving film she united with Brazilian artist Vik Muniz for a unique project in the world's largest landfill in Rio de Janeiro. Celebrated photographer Vik Muniz who uses everyday material to create art from sugar and chocolate syrup to garbage went back to Brazil for a project to create art out of garbage with the help of local pickers. Walker follows Muniz from the inception of idea throughout the process and transformation of the lives of the people touched by the project makes this film a rewarding experience. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
French directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud return with another stunning documentary. A spectacular look at the oceans and its known and mysterious inhabitants. Unlike many similar films on television, this visually stunning film has a single vision and message that should appeal to everybody without being too preachy. It also skips the detailed descriptions and overkill narration that plagues similar films. The glorious footage speaks for themselves including its value to the planet. Terrific cinematography, seamless editing and concise narration by Pierce Brosnan makes this film stand out. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Extra Man
The writing and directing duo, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini return with another off beat comedy. An eccentric young man with the hopes of becoming a writer sets out to New York where he falls under the spell of an eccentric bachelor who makes a living as an escort for old ladies. Berman and Pulcini try hard to make another effortless off beat comedy like their debut with "American Splendor." Instead their ambition becomes annoying as they hit their main characters with too many idiosyncrasies despite the best of efforts of the talented leads, Kevin Kline and Paul Dano which derails the entire film. The support cast includes Katie Holmes and John C. Reilly. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Director Tony Scott and Denzel Washington reunited for the fifth time for another action film. This time around instead of terrorists, a runaway train with several tons of toxic load is the enemy that working class heroes try to stop. Veteran Washington and rookie star Chris Pine are the leads with Rosario Dawson providing support. It's a straightforward action film which is not challenging by any means for the talent involved. The story based on actual events provides all the thrills which is predictable like a roller coaster ride. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Mademoiselle Chambon
French writer and director Stéphane Brizé delivers a nuanced and shattering romantic drama. An apparently happily married construction worker falls in love with his son's sophisticated teacher which could be their only chance of experiencing true love. Brizé creates a meticulous study of real characters with an astonishingly profound sensibility which is rarely seen or captured in cinema but some French filmmakers master so well. Much credit goes to the outstanding performances of Vincent Lindon, Sandrine Kiberlain and Aure Atika who are pitch perfect without a false beat. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wild Grass
Veteran French master Alain Resnais continues to experiment with cinema in a career that spans over seven decades. A random robbery brings two elderly people together and rekindles their passion in life in unexpected ways. Like most of Resnais' films, story or plot doesn't much matter much but the idea how it can be explored in cinematic terms. Besides his frequent collaborators, Sabine Azéma and André Dussollier, Renais has enlisted a stellar support cast with Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Devos and Anne Consigny for this beautiful film. YRCinema's coverage of films on DVD.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
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Latest News
Man arrested in armed holdup, rape outside Coconut Grove school
Miami police have arrested a man in an armed robbery and sexual assault outside Coconut Grove Elementary School.
Two people were talking outside a car about 5 a.m. Thursday at the school, 3351 Matilda St., when a man approached them with a gun, police reported.
"The suspect grabbed the woman and while holding her at gunpoint, sexually assaulted her behind a nearby dumpster," according to a press release.
Meanwhile, her friend escaped and looked for help.
Miami police's special victims unit responded, and the Miami-Dade schools police and Coral Gables police helped search for the rapist.
Miami police on Thursday found a man matching the description.
They arrested Gary Arroliga, 25, and charged him with armed sexual battery, armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and false imprisonment.


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Pilatus Porter PC-6
This was my second time attending the training. [The APS Pilots] are the best instructors I have ever dealt with. In 16 years of flying this is the best course I have ever attended. This is a must for all pilots. If the FAA would mandate this training accident rates would drastically decrease. As I sat on my commercial flight home I could only pray that the airline pilots actually had even 1/2 the knowledge and edge gained from this training.


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191 players / 275 plays
Report this game if it's content is inappropriate. Misuse of this feature may cause your account to be suspended.
Space bar to shoot Arrow keys to move back and forth
Copy + paste this code onto your website so your visitors can play this game!
Hosted by the Scirra Arcade
First download the iFrame plugin. Once installed, copy the following code onto your website:
Don't forget, we have a Scirra Arcade JSON API for embeddable games published on this arcade!
Link to this game with these dynamically updating game cards!
by Cameron97
First published on 26th November, 2015
click the space to shoot and kill the alien ships!! collect the Green Pickups to upgrade your ammo.
275 total plays
260 guest plays
15 Scirra member plays
191 unique players
178 unique guests
13 Scirra members
Game stats last updated 0.00182000166666667 minutes ago
2 hours 40 minutes total play time
1 minute 10 seconds average play length
5 highest number of simultaneous players
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Total number of plays this game has had since it was first published.
Shows how many players this game has attracted since it was first published.
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Hello Cameron97
5/10 is still got bugs but working on it
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Procedural Skills, Scope of Training in Family Medicine Residencies
Family medicine residencies should strive to teach residents all procedures within the scope of family medicine. They should, at a minimum, teach residents those procedures done by a substantial number of practicing family physicians both in the ambulatory and inpatient settings. Whenever possible, family physician faculty should teach these procedures.
Procedures and skills associated with maternity care and hospital care remains essential parts of family medicine residency training and clinical practice. Each family medicine residency must have faculty, board certified in family medicine, who actively teach, have clinical privileges and practice maternity care. As the scope of family medicine changes, family medicine residencies should strive to teach new or emerging procedures or techniques that are within the scope of family medicine. (1994) (2019 April BOD)
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Meraki was at "a $100M run rate" when Cisco paid a whopping $1.2 billion to acquire it last month, confirms the exec that lead the deal.
That's a pretty hefty valuation and it prompted someone to post a question on Quora asking why Cisco paid so much. (Meraki offers a cloud service to help businesses manage their Wi-Fi networks.)
The guy that signed the check, Robert Soderbery, stepped up to answer. Soderbery is senior vice president of Enterprise Networking Group at Cisco.
He gave three reasons:
- Meraki has a good stake in a $5 billion market selling network management services to small and mid-sized markets;
- he believes Cisco could make the tech popular with enterprises and the $20 billion market they represent;
- he wanted to acquire the Meraki founders and team.
Here's how he explained it on Quora.
Let me share my perspective on this question. (Full disclosure: I run the enterprise networking business at Cisco, and signed the check for Meraki).
... So, why did Cisco pay $1.2B for Meraki? That is the easiest part of the question to answer.
1. The market for networking technology in small and medium sized enterprises is nearly $5B. Meraki brings a compelling offer, including wireless, switching, routing, security, along with services such as mobile device management and WAN acceleration. They are at a $100M run rate and essentially doubling year over year. We are convinced their technology provides significant advantages for customers in this segment. And they had demonstrated a viable business model for rapidly scaling the business.
2. Meraki (now the Cloud Networking Group at Cisco) has spent six years thinking about how to build cloud managed networks. While the Meraki offer is focused on the mid-market, it is easy to see ways to leverage Meraki technology more broadly within Cisco. So we believe Meraki technology can impact not just the $5B mid-market, but the $20B+ large enterprise market.
3. The Meraki founders have built a great company, and a great team. We believe they will add new talent and capabilities to Cisco in both development and go-to-market. They are staying in San Francisco, will maintain the Meraki culture, and form a new hub for cloud based software development. In fact we have signed a new lease on a large space in Mission Bay, so we can accelerate investment and hiring.
Now that the acquisition is done (we closed December 20th), the Meraki founders - Sanjit Biswas, John Bickett and Hans Robertson - are signing up for their next challenge: building a $1B cloud networking business for Cisco.
Don't miss: A Former Autonomy Salesperson Says This Is How The Creative Accounting Was Done
Get the latest Cisco stock price here.


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Hey guys! I hope all of you had a wonderful Halloween! My family went over to my Uncle's house to take my cousin, Jonah, Trick-or-Treating. He was Mickey Mouse, and his friend was Minnie Mouse. They were adorable. I of course had tons of chocolate.
My Top 5 Favorite Candies-
1. KitKat
2. Twix
3. 3 Musketeers
4. Peanut Butter Cups
5. Sour Patch Kids-Watermelon
Comment below what you were for Halloween!!
Leave a Reply.


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A cyclist 'shaming' web page showing people riding on pavements has kick-started a lively debate about dangerous roads.
'Shame on Cyclists', recently set up by a Worthing resident on Twitter and Facebook, wants to put a stop to the "irresponsible, inexcusable and brainless" behaviour of riding on pavements.
But it has prompted a strong reaction from cyclists who said dangerous roads, a lack of cycle paths and aggressive drivers were forcing some onto the pavements.
Pauline Greenfield said on the Facebook page: "This really irritates me as where can cyclists feel safe in Worthing except for on the pavement?
"I was cycling on the road in Worthing then got hit from behind by a careless driver. It's now ten years later and I have had seven leg operations and I am now permanently disabled, all because of a driver not showing consideration to me. I know all too well how dangerous our roads are and would never go in the road again as I'm still terrified."
Rebecca Frew said: "I cycle on the pavement as I have a four-year-old in a seat on the back.
"I'm not travelling at 30mph so I don't see the problem; far safer than being on the roads.
"I haven't knocked anyone over or had any complaints. If cyclists show consideration to pedestrians and vice versa then there is no problem."
Toby Wilson added: "The berks who wander along in the cycle lane on the seafront infuriate me, lack of consideration cuts both ways."
But Paul Gordon said: "Cyclists in Worthing are a bloody pest. As a pedestrian, I'm often shouted at to move... and I'm on the pavement.
"When I was a kid, the coppers would clip you around the ear."
Fixed penalty notices can be issued to cyclists riding on a footway. But Home Office guidance says fines should only be issued when a cyclist is endangering others.
The creator of the page, a council worker who declined to give his name, said: "It's just not on having some yob speed past you on the pavement. It's lazy.
"The name is 'shame on cyclists' but it's not supposed to be vilifying all cyclists.
"We're talking about people who don't have lights or safety gear with no regard for pedestrians."
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Perfectly good chicken coops and where do they roost? On the roof. Never mind the perfectly good and plentiful roosts.
Recent Posts
Perfectly good chicken coops and where do they roost? On the roof. Never mind the perfectly good and plentiful roosts.
We manage to enclose the two coops today. It took a while to get the chickens from the tree. Head pounding apples and chickens who roost higher and higher are not a good combination. I'm leaving the coops open so they can work out their new spots themselves.I'm particularly proud that we managed to catch "Satan" the rooster.
Now for a much deserved cider and then on to give the rabbits their treats.
Put the old hens in with this years batch. That should be interesting in the morning. Fat Mama is by herself with her eggs in the A-frame chicken tractor. I put down 6-10 inches of straw in case the bumbles actually hatch and need to bounce. Tomorrow might be day 20 on an egg or two. One looked like it would be about day 12. Don't know if there will be any success with the hatching but it's pretty riviting to watch. I've already learned a lot even if no chicks come of it.
Posted in Chickens
This morning my neighbours called frantically after scaring a hawk off of their coop. Apparently it swooped into my yard from there. I have a pretty awesome rooster, so I have high hours that the girls are ok. Hawk attacks are my least favourite. They take the heads and drop the bodies. Very gruesome.
If you haven't been keeping up with the blog, because of the heat, I have been letting the chickens stay out at night. This can be good and bad. Today is an example of potentially bad. I have provided the chickens with plenty of cover so it's hard for me to do a hess count when they are freaked out.
There are some hiding. What worries me are these pics:
On the plus side, yesterday I candled the eds under the broody hen and found 50s with babies in them. I don't need mitre chickens, but the temptation to see the prices overwhelmed me. Well she be a good mom, I don't know. She is a retired later I picked up last year and was slated for the chopping block at her next molt. By the end of the day she will have a chicken tractor and fresh straw all of her own. All the eggs that are fertile come from my one year old turken who bred with a redcap rooster and a lakenvelter rooster. The candle at around 10 to 18 days development. Should be interesting.
My husband is close to completing a new enclosure for the rest. If it is done by the end of the day, new importation will be starting tonight. There are two new coops in the enclosure so lots to choose from. Mama gets to keep the chicken tractor she is in. lots of straw will be added because even though even though my brother assures me bubbles bounce, I don't want any little babies falling out of the best, I definitely want to give them something soft to land on.
If she works out, I hope to use her to hatch cochins for the neighbour so they don't have to buy an incubator.
Another piece of good news is that I will soon receive some restaurant leftovers to supplement all their diets. My husband is off on an adventure starting tuesday where he will work outside the country in an effort to get us caught up financially. 6 months of unemployment have taken their toll sadly. Without him here, I won't have the kitchen scraps I normally do. My kids hate food apparently. If I make something good to easy there just won't be the normal waste we have when cooking for four.
Wish us luck! There was rain last night, I can only take that as a sign of positive things to come.
Posted in Uncategorized
Here are our new turkeys. They don't get to roam free, but the turkens are working hard to dig them out. Sweet little guys currently. Hope I can fatten them up in time for the holidays. It will be an interesting experiment to see how they do in this setting.
Notice all the apple carcasses? We are always overrun with fruit flies in the summer because of all the fruit trees. This year, the chickens are doing a good job keeping up with the dropped apples. Boy are the eggs good right now. As an added bonus, we don't feel like the fruit flies are going to carry the house away. This is pretty great in my mind. I feel bad because we like to take the dropped apples to my brother's pigs, but their share will definitely be smaller this year. There are still plenty of bird picked ones on the trees.
Posted in Small stock for the City
I prefer Turkens to any other variety of chicken which I'm sure I've stated before in this blog. Food to egg and meat ratio is excellent, personalities are excellent. They are just an all around good bird. EVERYONE who sees them for the first time comments on their looks though. These are not attractive chickens. Last week I added four turkeys to the flock. Just every day run of the mill white turkeys. They were a month and a half old when I got them and the price was too good to resist. I was immediately surprised at the adorable noises they make. Even so young though, they are the same size as the chickens.
We have had a horribly hot and dry summer so far. Weeks of 110 degrees plus weather have really taken their toll on the yard. Usually I irrigate about four times a year, but this year I had to break down and put it at about three times per week. It saddens me to use water like that. With the new garden ground across the street however, I had no other choice. There just hasn't been enough time to condition that soil or get used to it's needs for me to go on a low water regimen. Regardless, I have kept everything happy and healthy except for Fred the pigeon. He succumbed to the heat about three weeks into the heat wave. I work really hard to keep them shaded and watered, but there is only so much you can do. The pigeons are temporarily in the house now, which freaks me out a little.
I decided Gracie needed some more friends so here they are:
I haven't sexed them yet, I'm afraid they are too young for that. I may try in a few days when they get used to living here and are more calm. My intent was to pick up two and hope one turned out to be a boy.
Temptation reared it's ugly head though and I had to pick up this other one. I must now have a thing for hideous birds because of my devotion for my turkens.
He's an english carrier pigeon. Not at all fitting in with my goal of raising squab, but he/she and Gracie are getting along pretty well so far. When it is standing up straight the bird is very striking and no more attractive. One of my gardening friends and I have been discussing breeding carriers for sharing seeds. Not for the ease of seed sharing, but just for the novelty of it. Usually these guys seem to go for around $100 each. I picked this guy up for $6. He has a crooked foot, but it doesn't seem to affect him. For $6 I was willing to take the chance on him for a little neighborhood fun. Now I guess I need to get serious about the pigeons and get some leg bands and flight cage finished. Hopefully in a few days I can get some photos and show how to sex them.
I always read about how addicted people get to raising pigeons and never understood it. They just never appealed to me. I have to admit now, they are pretty awesome to have around.
Posted in Small stock for the City
Tagged backyard pigeons, english carrier pigeon, raising pigeons
Drought be damned, we have been irrigating.
Posted in Uncategorized
Broom corn is a lot of fun to grow.somehow, I was not paying attention and missed the whole 14 foot tall memo.
It gets huge! I think this would make a wonderful plant for pole beans. This week we harvested it.
Perfect for dried floral arrangements. Maybe one day soon we will get ambitious and make some brooms.
Posted in Uncategorized
Garden D is located in a more suburban part of st louis. It's still the city, but the neighborhood lacks the racial and economic diversity that mine does. At least on the surface. Here is our garden.
It's not a great picture, but you get the idea. Long and narrow. Right next door the neighbour has his long back yard set up very similarly. He has a job that keeps him on the road, but the lot is full if vegetables and flowers all the same. We have always thought it a blessing. Hard to isolate veggies for seed saving but at least there was a kindred spirit there. The last free years when there was no garden on our lot, hes been generous in helping control the johnson grass infestation at the back of the property. Unfortunately, thats a darn hard weed to kill. Also unfortunately, we are organic and he is not.
He recently came home and for unknown reasons decided running a mower through our garden was the thing to do.
Mowing didn't stop with the weeds sadly and he ran right over our tomatoes.
So here is a picture of his garden.
Here is ours.
Where are the weeds coming from? I know it's easy to point fingers at the crazy organic people, but I think it's clear that organic garden is lending itself to better results than round up dependant gardening.
I understand that sometimes we take our frustrations to the garden and come back feeling better, but please try not to take then next door to your neighbours garden. Not cool.
On the plus side, we have decidedo to risk some short season summer veggies on the newly mowed area. It will be exciting to see what succeeds. Here are the new plantings.
Mowing 10 feet into the yard can be dealt with, hope karna doesn't come down on him too hard.
On a passive aggressive note, I did plant pumpkins in between each crop right on the property edge. I will try to keep them trained over to our side, but sometimes things get overlooked.
Posted in Gardening


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Keep in mind that not all of fine looking seats really are advantageous to every single elegant workplace. Chairs which correct tend to be somewhat more comfortable and may also be easier to match different office decors.


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We bring the food, you bring the appetite!
Lunch Catering
$12 per person for 10 or more
Monday through Friday from 11 am until 2 pm
Dinner Catering
$22 per person for 10 or more
Monday through Friday from 3pm until 8pm
(Includes warm French Bread with Garlic Herb Butter, a choice of Salad, Two Pasta Dishes, and a Dessert.)
Salad Options
Garden Salad — crisp romaine, roma tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers, and focaccia croutons.
Greek Salad — Spring mix with calamata olives, red onion, red peppers, tomatoes, pepperoncini, and feta cheese.
Classic Caesar Salad — Hearts of romaine, roma tomatoes, focaccia croutons, and fresh grated parmesan cheese.
Pasta Options
Lasagna — a hearty blend of salami, ground beef and Italian sausage
Spaghetti — with meat sauce, marinara or meatballs
Baked Ziti — with marinara or meat sauce
Chicken Parmesan — Breaded chicken breast, house marinara and provolone cheese over spaghetti.
Dessert Options
Mini Canoli, Tiramisu, or Red Velvet Layer Cake
*Orders must be placed at least an hour in advance


text:
Don't Answer Now….
on May 15, 2014 at 12:00 am
Posted In: Comics
Finally figured out what i was gonna write, lol. I lost my job a couple weeks ago, but managed to find another in a day or two. It just pays even less. I prolly gonna have to keep lookin'. Sorry about the delay, as always :p


text:
Leipzig Avenue/Racetrack Road, Hamilton Township and Galloway Township
Beginning Monday, June 24 through Friday, June 28, a detour will be in effect on Leipzig Avenue/Racetrack Road, between Drosera Avenue in Hamilton Township and Tilton Road in Galloway Township, 8 AM to 4 PM daily, weather permitting, for county road work. Motorists should plan travel time accordingly or seek an alternate route.
Cologne Avenue, Galloway Township
On Monday, June 24 and Tuesday, June 25, Cologne Avenue in Galloway Township will be closed to traffic between Rt. 30 and School Lane, 7 AM to 5 PM, weather permitting, for county road resurfacing work.
On Wednesday, June 26, an alternating lane traffic pattern will be in effect on Cologne Avenue between Rt. 30 and Moss Mill Road, 7 AM to 5 PM, weather permitting.
On Thursday, June 27 and Friday, June 28, Cologne Avenue will be closed to traffic between Rt. 30 and Moss Mill Road, 7 AM to 5 PM, weather permitting. Local residents and businesses will have access.
Motorists should follow the posted detours and plan travel time accordingly. Police will be on site to assist.
Oak Road, Buena Vista Township
Monday, June 24 through Friday, June 28, an alternating traffic pattern will continue to be in effect on Oak Road in Buena Vista Township, between Union Road and the county line east of Brewster Road, 8 AM to 4 PM daily, weather permitting, for county paving. Motorists may experience minor delays and should plan travel time accordingly or seek an alternate route.
Route 9 and Mill Road Intersection, Northfield (Evening and Overnight hours)
Beginning Monday, June 24 through Friday, June 28, an evening and overnight traffic detour will be in effect at the intersection of Route 9 and Mill Road in Northfield, 8 PM to 6 AM the following morning, weather permitting, for work by the New Jersey American Water Company. Police and traffic directors will be on site to assist motorists. Motorists are advised to follow the posted detour and plan travel time accordingly or seek alternate routes.
Beginning Monday, June 24 through Thursday, June 27, a northbound detour will be in effect on Fire Road and Mill Road between Delilah Road and Westcoat Road, 7 AM – 4 PM, weather permitting, for final paving operations as part of a county roadway improvement project. Southbound traffic will not be impacted.
Motorists should follow the posted detour and plan travel time accordingly or seek an alternate route.
Effective as of 2 PM on Wednesday, March 20, the Nacote Creek Bridge (PR-7), Old New York Road (CR610) over Nacote Creek in Port Republic is closed to all traffic following an interim state inspection that found additional deterioration of the bridge that is scheduled for full replacement by the county beginning later this year.
The state has been inspecting the bridge every three months to ensure its safety. Prior to today's inspection the bridge had last been inspected before the beginning of this year and was not found to be unsafe for travel at that time.
Atlantic County has been working with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers for permitting approvals. Construction was originally scheduled to begin as early as July but will now be delayed for a few months due to the rigors of bridge permitting.
A detour will be posted and motorists are advised to plan travel time accordingly.
A portion of Franklin Boulevard in Pleasantville is currently detoured for utility work by South Jersey Gas as part of an environmental remediation project. Those who would like to access the Atlantic County Animal Shelter at 240 Old Turnpike in Pleasantville should do so by way of Main Street and Old Turnpike.
Motorists may turn east on Old Turnpike from Main Street and proceed past the detour sign at Madison Avenue. Then continue on Old Turnpike across Franklin Boulevard to the shelter.
The current detour is expected to remain in place for the next several months. Signs have been posted to direct motorists to the Animal Shelter.
For more information or updates about the remediation project visit: www.pleasantvillemgp.com
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For questions or comments please contact us for more information.
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|Image Courtesy of FreeDigitialPhotos.net
Heidy-ho, all!
So yesterday was the halfway point of this year's Nano, and uh… well…
The kid ain't lookin so good.
I started off strong, clocking 6,859 words the first weekend. Motivated, excited, and well-paced to follow the Reverse Nano word count guide and have but one word to write on November 30th.
Over the next week, I added another 13k to that total, though in less spectacular fashion.
Then life caught up with me.
My four-year-old caught a random flu-like virus complete with fever, listlessness, congestion… really fun stuff. Then in her innocent generosity, she shared her bounty with me, and I was felled four days.
Then after recovering from that bout of illness, I proceeded to make myself sick not once but twice, doing two things on separate occasions known to give me debilitating migraines:
Reading while riding in a car or on a bus.
Eating chocolate.
On the first offense, I blame the fabulous Twilight fanfiction writers I know and follow, with an honorable mention to the many poignant and hilarious articles, images, and other goodies my friends constantly post on Facebook.
With all this writing, a girl's gotta refuel, right?
|Image Courtesy of savit keawtavee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
And on the second offense, they were pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Yes, chocolate, like anything containing caffeine, usually gives me some form of migraine. And yes, I'd been flirting with danger with my chocolate chip granola bars and occasional cookie.
But again I say… pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.
I managed to avoid the vanilla-frosted chocolate cupcakes, but I'm only human.
Those were Monday and Wednesday's offenses. Somehow I did eke out a little more than 1,000 words before the first infraction, bringing my grand total to 21,629 with exactly two weeks to go.
I know successful writers write in all seasons, in spite of all reasons to otherwise. And I can write through certain issues--clingy kids, crankiness, eye-crossing sleepiness. But flu and migraine draw the line for me. Even now, my head poundeth, inciting me to vow never to so much as use cocoa butter ever again.
But Nano must go on. And will.
So despite being behind in the count, I am not discouraged, believing I can somehow summon the additional 30,000 words needed to win this contest, most of which I'll likely keep.
To finish on time, I'll need a daily word count of about 2,150, manageable even on a work-week day. But with a quiet Saturday stretching out in front of me, I aim to double that and pass the 25k-mark by day's end.
Lingering headache permitting.
Any other Nanoers out there? How are you holding up at the midpoint? Any tips or tricks to share? I'd love to hear from you!


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Fort Knox Marines
Prove the Value of Armor in Urban Warfare
by Richard S. Lowry
Hidden within the Army's longtime home of mounted warfare at Fort Knox, is a three-story building housing a small Marine contingent. The building is only distinguishable by the Globe and Anchor displayed at the entrance. Building 6015 was the home of the United States Marine Corps' Alpha Company, 8th Tank Battalion.
Alpha Company's Commander, Major Bill Peeples, was sitting at his planning commission desk when the call came in early January of 2003. Within three short days, his "weekend warriors" had notified their civilian employers, gotten their affairs in order, packed up their every-day civilian lives and bid farewell to family and friends. Virtually in the blink of an eye, the Marine Reserve tankers of Alpha Company were driving through the night toward Camp Lejeune. They would soon be the first to prove the usefulness of armor on the 21st Century urban battlefield.
Peeples' Marines arrived at Camp Lejeune in the early morning just as Lieutenant Colonel Rickey Grabowski USMC was loading his 1st Battalion of the 2d Marine Regiment (1/2) onto ships that would carry them halfway around the world. Peeples and his tankers had their work cut out for them. They collected fourteen M1A1 tanks from what was left at 2d Tank Battalion, quickly inspected the paperwork and moved their armored vehicles to Onslow Beach.
Navy hovercraft swam ashore from the waiting amphibious ships. The giant LCACs (Landing Craft Air Cushioned) skimmed across the North Carolina waves and literally flew up onto Onslow Beach. Peeples' tanks were squeezed onto each craft and ferried out to the waiting ships, one at a time.
The Marines of Alpha Company were now part of Brigadier General Richard Natonski's 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (2-MEB) and they were headed to Iraq. They spent a month at sea and another month waiting in the Kuwaiti Desert. Finally, in late March, they were ordered to lead Grabowski's mechanized infantry battalion into Iraq. The 1st Battalion led Colonel Ron Bailey's 2d Marine Regiment (Regimental Combat Team-2) across the border toward his first major objective, the bridges of An Nasiriyah.
Staging in Kuwait
While 3rd Infantry Division's (3ID's) armored battalions led the charge to Baghdad across the Arabian Desert, Alpha Company, 8th Tanks led the Marine charge toward An Nasiriyah. Colonel Dan Allen's 3rd Brigade Combat Team (BCT) reached the outskirts of An Nasiriyah first. They quickly secured Tallil Airbase, southwest of the city, and then moved north a few kilometers to secure the Highway 1 Bridge and the interchange with Iraq's older Highway 8. After securing the intersection, 3ID's tanks raced west on Highway 8 toward the Karbala Gap.
Task Force Tarawa, 2-MEB, was ordered to move in and relieve Allen's soldiers at the far western Euphrates River Bridge and to move up Highway 7 into eastern Nasiriyah to secure a second route through the city. Marine commanders wanted to advance toward Baghdad on both Highway 1 and Highway 7. Lieutenant Colonel Paul "Brent" Dunahoe's 3d Battalion, 2d Marines (3/2) was ordered to the Far Western Bridge on 22 March 2003. Grabowski's Marines were ordered up Highway 7. 1/2 was to secure the Eastern Bridges over the Euphrates River and the Saddam Canal. Major Bill Peeples' Marine tank company led Grabowski's reinforced mechanized battalion up Highway 7.
Everyone expected the Iraqis to fire a couple of shots, and then melt away into the city. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Thousands of Iraqi soldiers, thugs and fanatics were waiting to take their first stand in An Nasiriyah.
In the early predawn hours of March 23rd, a small Army convoy raced up Highway 7. and passed Grabowski's Marines. Captain Troy King led eighteen supply and maintenance vehicles of the 507th Maintenance Company toward a sleeping lion. King was lost. He thought he was on the Main Supply Route. Instead, he was headed for the Eastern Euphrates River Bridge.
As the sun rose on a clear Sunday morning, King's soldiers drove over the Euphrates River and into the center of An Nasiriyah. They continued north and crossed the Saddam Canal. Soon, King realized that he was lost. He ordered his soldiers to turn around. As they moved to retrace their path back through the city, all hell broke loose.
The city had awoken and defenses had been manned. The Iraqis opened fire on the doomed convoy well before they reached the Saddam Canal. The enemy fire continued all the way back through the city, as King's vehicles were picked off – one by one. Captain King managed to race south across the Saddam Canal, through the city and over the Euphrates River. The lead three vehicles kept moving south.
An Nasiriyah was an armed camp
Major Bill Peeples' tanks were methodically advancing up Highway 7 when his men saw a HMMWV racing south, tires blazing. It was Captain King and the lead three vehicles of the 507th. Meanwhile, the next five vehicles in the beleaguered convoy were shot up so badly that they couldn't continue. Ten soldiers took refuge in a ditch along the side of the road. Five were wounded. They tended each other's wounds and set a defensive perimeter, waiting to be overrun.
After speaking with King, Peeples bounded forward with a platoon of tanks and several Marine AMTRACs (Amphibious Tractors).[1] They easily beat back the Iraqis who had been closing in on the stranded soldiers. All ten soldiers were rescued, loaded into the tracks and quickly moved south. Unfortunately, none of the remaining trucks of the 507th Maintenance Company's convoy made it to safety. Eleven soldiers were killed in the ambush and six captured. Five of the prisoners were quickly whisked away by their captors but Private First Class Jessica Lynch lay near death in an Iraqi military Hospital.
Some of Peeples' tanks were now dangerously low on fuel, so Grabowski ordered them to return to his combat trains. While the tanks were refueling, Grabowski pushed forward with his mechanized infantry. Bravo Company crossed the Euphrates with the first platoon of tanks to refuel. The Marines were greeted with a hail of gunfire. They turned east and moved to skirt the city. Captain Brooks' Alpha Company pushed across the Euphrates River Bridge on the heels of Bravo. He stopped his company on the northern bank and deployed his Marines to defend the bridge. Then, Charlie Company raced across the Euphrates and through Alpha Company's position. They charged up "Ambush Alley"[2] and sped over the Saddam Canal Bridge.
Now, Grabowski's Marines were involved in three separate infantry battles. Neither Alpha nor Charlie Company had tank support. They fought with their M-16s, SAWs, machine guns, MK19 grenade launchers and their 61mm mortars, while the enemy charged forward in ever increasing waves of fanatic Fedayeen fighters.
Once Major Peeples heard that the grunts were engaged, he stopped the refueling and raced toward Nasiriyah with four tanks. As Peeples approached the Euphrates River Bridge, Captain Brooks was starting to get concerned. The Iraqis were firing on his men from all sides. They were hiding in buildings and shooting from every window, rooftop and doorway. More and more Iraqi fighters were rushing to the fight from within the city. Brooks was certain that, at any moment, he would start taking casualties.
Then, Captain Jim Thompson crested the bridge in the first of Peeples' remaining tanks. Thompson pulled into Ambush Alley and instantly all of the Iraqi fire was directed at his Abrams tank. A flurry of RPGs roared toward the M1. Most missed, some hit and a couple actually exploded. When the smoke cleared, Thompson's tank stood unscathed. Thompson's .50 caliber machine gun began raking the buildings.
Major Peeples raced over the bridge and searched for the AMTRAC with a diamond painted on its side. He found Brooks' command track parked against a block wall on the left side of the road. Peeples jumped from his tank and ran to Captain Brooks, who was already moving toward the tank. "What do you need?"[3] Peeples asked.
Brooks told Peeples that he was taking fire from the southern bank of the River on the west and from a few buildings just north and east of the bridge. Most of the enemy was in the buildings northwest of the bridge. Peeples deployed his tanks (two forward and two back), and they started taking out enemy strong points. Windows and doorways were peppered with heavy machine gun rounds and the tankers selectively pounded buildings with their main guns, crumbling them to the ground.
Quickly, the battle started to turn. Then, a disabled AMTRAC came roaring south through Ambush Alley. C206, one of Charlie Company's tracks, had been hit while trying to bring casualties back to safety. The track was dragging its back ramp. C206 had nearly reached the southern bridge when an RPG slammed into its side, rocking the 28-ton vehicle. Then, another RPG rocketed through the air. It flew in the open back and detonated. C206 stopped dead in its tracks.
Marines raced to the destroyed track. They helped the wounded driver and track commander to safety, and then moved to the back ramp to find a grizzly scene of twisted metal and human flesh. Everyone inside was surely dead. Gunny Justin LeHew climbed into the track to zero the radios. Much to his amazement, he heard groans coming from the pile of rubble and bodies on the floor.
Corporal Matthew Juska was still alive, but his head was pinned by a large piece of the track's roof. He was bleeding from the nose, mouth and ears. Without quick medical attention, he would die. Alpha Company's Forward Air Controller (FAC) was on the radio immediately.
"Any aircraft, any aircraft! This is Kool-Aide on TAD, over!"[4] A Huey pilot answered his call. Captain Jim Jones continued, "This is Kool-Aide requesting an emergency med-evac in Nasiriyah!"
Within minutes the Huey Pilot replied, "Kool-Aide, we're checking off station, you have med-evac inbound."
Captain Eric Garcia was inbound in his CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter. "Kool-
Aide, Kool-Aide, this is Parole-Two-Five, checking in on TAD."
"Parole-Two-Five…we are still taking fire from multiple positions on both sides of the road."
"Copy, understand that the LZ is secure."
"Negative, the LZ is as secure as we can make it, but we are still taking fire."
Garcia acknowledged with a simple "Roger" and continued to land his aircraft in the middle of a raging battle. After many tense minutes, Juska was freed from the wreckage and rushed to the waiting helicopter. No sooner had Juska been gently laid on the helicopter's back ramp, than Garcia was gunning his engines and lifting back into the clear blue sky. Doc Moses Gloria started working on Juska immediately, as Garcia cartwheeled and headed south.
Matthew Juska would have died that day had it not been for the Alpha Company Marines who rushed to his aid and the selfless efforts of Captain Eric Garcia and his crew: Captain Tod Schroeder, Gunny William Hetterscheidt, Corporal Lewis and Navy Corpsmen, Docs Mark Kirkland and Moses Gloria. More importantly, Garcia would have been surely shot down, had Major Peeples' tanks not been present.
Peeples' four tanks turned Alpha Company's battle at the Euphrates River Bridge. But Charlie Company was in real trouble north of the Saddam Canal. Major Peeples went to Captain Brooks and told him that he was taking his tanks north to help Captain Dan Wittnam's Charlie Company. It was like someone had kicked Brooks in the gut.
"Can you leave me a couple tanks?"[5] Brooks pleaded. Within the last half-hour, Captain Brooks had learned the effectiveness of Abrams tanks in urban warfare. Four M1s had turned a dangerous situation into a manageable fight. A mechanized Marine Infantry Company is a fearsome force. Brooks' men were easily stopping wave after wave of Iraqi attacks, but they weren't winning the battle. As quickly as they mowed down one wave, more Iraqi fighters would rush from within the city. Brooks' AMTRACs and HMMWVs were vulnerable to RPG attack, as the destruction of C206 had demonstrated.
Peeples' tanks had provided the overwhelming firepower to scare the living daylights out of the enemy. Just watching and hearing a main gun fire sent the half-hearted home. The effects of the tanks were impressive. Buildings would crumble after being hit. Their machine gun fire was deadly accurate, penetrating walls and sandbagged positions. The enemy had no defense against the tanks. RPGs and small arms fire bounced off of them like BBs bouncing off of an oil drum. Now that Alpha Company had won the initiative, Brooks wanted to keep some tanks with his company. They were awesome.
Peeples left Captain Thompson and his wingman with Brooks' Alpha Company, while he and Dyer buttoned up and raced north through Ambush Alley. They drove through another hail of gunfire and RPGs. Once across the bridge, the tankers could not believe their eyes. There were burning and destroyed tracks all over and an enemy mortar barrage was throwing walls of black dirt into the air.
Peeples quickly found the familiar diamond on Captain Wittnam's command track. He stopped and Wittnam climbed up onto the top of his turret. "Shoot that building."[6] Wittnam ordered. Over and over, Wittnam pointed out targets from atop Peeples' turret. After hours of taking enemy fire, Wittnam knew exactly where to lash out.
Wittnam told Peeples that Lieutenant Mike Seely was several hundred meters north of the bridge with what was left of his platoon. Peeples ordered Dyer to move north with Hawk to the northern edge of the battlefield. Captain Scott Dyer carried the Company's most lethal of weapons. Riding with Dyer was Team Tank's FAC, Major Scott "Hawk" Hawkins. Hawk brought with him Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) doctrine, and the capability to use it.
Ever since Peeples had encountered the stranded members of the 507th, Marine Cobra and Huey helicopters and fixed wing aircraft from every service had been pushed to Nasiriyah. Hawk really had three jobs. He was the tank crew's loader. He was the 7.62 machine gunner. Last, but not least, he was one of only three FACs in the Battalion. He popped up and down in his hatch, loading MPAT (Multi-Purpose, Anti-Tank) rounds, then looking for Cobras overhead, and then firing several bursts from his machine gun.
As the FAC, Hawk was in a perfect position. He was sitting in a wide-open space, at the battalion's forward-most position. Sitting in the middle of Iraq's Highway 7, north of the Saddam Canal, Hawk called in wave after wave of Cobra attack helicopters and A-10 Thunderbolts, pausing occasionally to kick an MPAT round home in the breech.
The Fedayeen fighters had no stomach for standing up against Marine tanks, artillery and close air support. Soon, the fighting stopped north of the Canal, as the Iraqis left alive fled. The day had not ended for Peeples and his tank crew. There were Marines trapped in the city. C206 was not the only track to have braved Ambush Alley. C201 had lost steering as it crossed the Canal Bridge and had crashed into a light pole. Its Marines had scrambled into a nearby building. They were under attack - and they had wounded.
As soon as Major Peeples heard that there were Marines in Ambush Alley, he told Captain Wittnam that he was going back in. Wittnam climbed down from the tank and Peeples drove south over the Saddam Canal to the building where the Marines were holed up. He ordered his Forward Observer, Lieutenant Carter, to lay down covering machine gun fire while he went into the courtyard and talked with the squad leader about what the best course of action would be. They decided to load the four wounded Marines onto the back deck of the tank and drive them north to safety.
Peeples returned to his tank, ordered Carter to turn the turret to expose the back deck of the tank, then Peeples personally helped load the wounded. Once they were safely aboard, Major Bill Peeples drove his tank north again. The casualties were left at the Casualty Collection Point and within a few minutes, Captain Eric Garcia had returned to collect Charlie Company's wounded.
Captain Eric Garcia loading casualties, north of the Saddam Canal
Peeples' tanks, and the CAS they brought with them, won the Battle of An Nasiriyah. They were unstoppable. On the ground, Hawk rode in the most highly armored vehicle on the battlefield and was able to call in devastating close air support missions.
The first major battle of the invasion, at An Nasiriyah, demonstrated that M1 tanks are an integral part of the MAGTF. They provide an overwhelming superiority on the Iraqi urban battlefield. The lessons learned in Nasiriyah are even truer today. Tanks, when supported by infantry, are very effective in urban war. They protect our troops and can project devastating fires upon the enemy. The reserves of Alpha Company, 8th Tanks were the first to demonstrate the continuing utility of Abrams' tanks in the 21st Century.
[1]. The Marines used their AMTRACs as armored personnel carriers; much like the Army used Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
[2]. The 4 km strip between the Euphrates River Bridge and the Saddam Canal Bridge ran straight through the eastern side of downtown An Nasiriyah. American commanders dubbed this stretch of road "Ambush Alley" because it was the perfect spot for the Iraqis to attack advancing American forces. The Marines of Task Force Tarawa are quick to point out that they fought a battle in the city and that they were never "ambushed." Yet, the name has stuck.
[3]. Telephone Interview with Major Bill Peeples on 1/29/04.
[4]. Entire radio conversation taken from Captain Jim Jones' personal account in email to the author and telephone interview with Captain Eric Garcia on 11/10/03.
[5]. Personal interview with Captain Michael Brooks, 10/27/03, and telephone interview with Major Bill Peeples on 1/29/04.
[6]. Personal interview with Captain Dan Wittnam, 3/24/04, and telephone interview with Major Bill Peeples on 1/29/04.
- - -
Copyright © 2006 Richard S. Lowry
Watch for
Marines in the Garden of Eden
, Berkley, New York, which will be released on June 6, 2006. It tells the story of America's sons and daughters who fought, bled and died in a dusty desert city on the banks of the Euphrates River. It is the complete story of the Battle of An Nasiriyah, as seen through the eyes of over one hundred of its participants.
Richard S. Lowry is an internationally recognized military historian and author. He proudly served in the United States Nuclear Submarine Service during the Vietnam War. Richard has lived in Central Florida for the last 24 years. He is married and a father of three young men. He is an entrepreneur, consultant, public speaker and eleventh-generation American. Richard is a frequent contributor to several military websites such as military.com and armchairgeneral.com. He has been published in Military Magazine, Leatherneck and the Marine Corps Gazette.
Richard is currently working on his fourth book.
Viking in the Valley
will tell the story of the 2d Marine Regiment's recent operations in Western Al Anbar Province. Also look for Osprey Publishing's latest addition to their Warrior Series,
U.S. Marine in Iraq – 2003
The Gulf War Chronicles
which is a complete, yet concise military history of Operation Desert Storm.
For more information on Mr. Lowry's work, visit
Published online: 03/05/2006.
© 2018 MilitaryHistoryOnline.com, LLC
Contact Brian Williams at:


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Global Overview
April 2018
U.S. economy seen benefiting from tax cuts; Euro-zone, Japan face slowdown
Global investors continue to fret about higher interest rates as most developed economies have possibly entered late cycle expansions. The U.S. economy expanded more than expected during the first three months of this year and is likely to see a further boost from the tax cuts in the coming quarters. In contrast, the Eurozone and Japanese economies have softened when compared to last year. First quarter growth in China exceeded forecasts, though there is skepticism about the sustainability of the current pace if Europe and Japan slow. Other emerging economies are expected to see healthier growth this year as well as in 2019, especially the resource exporting countries such as Russia and Brazil. Higher energy and commodity prices should also benefit several developed countries as well, including Canada and Australia.
The U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark rate unchanged at the most recent meeting and continues to indicate four interest rate hikes or a total increase of 100 basis points this year. However, core consumer inflation has turned softer in recent weeks when compared to the first quarter. Similarly, headline inflation levels remain below central bank targets in the Eurozone as well as Japan.
Global manufacturing output growth in April was healthier than the previous month, confirming the ongoing global expansion. The U.S., Eurozone and Japan saw gains in factory output while the U.K. continued to see weaker trends. Several emerging economies, including China and India, also saw faster growth. However, reduced new order flows during the month of April suggest a possible moderation in global manufacturing growth in the coming months. Global services sector activity accelerated in Apil, helped by gains across all major economies except the U.K.
Global industry spotlight for the month: Energy
After being ignored during the first quarter market volatility, the energy sector has seen a reversal of fortunes in recent weeks. The sector's earnings and cash flow outlook has brightened with the international Brent crude oil benchmark moving closer to $75 per barrel. In addition to healthy demand growth as well as output limits set by some of the largest producing countries, nascent geopolitical risks are also supporting higher crude prices. Cost cuts implemented when oil prices were far lower are now giving margins an additional boost. Explorers and producers are still hesitant to increase capital spending, choosing to increase shareholder payouts instead. Though structural shifts such as the popularity of electric automobiles continue to cloud the long-term demand outlook, the energy sector is likely to receive more investor attention in the near term.
Most investors have been cautious about the energy sector as crude oil prices have swung wildly in recent years. From over $110/barrel in mid-2014, the international Brent crude oil benchmark dropped sharply to below $30/barrel by early 2016. Except for the few with very low costs, most producers saw their cash flows turn negative. To preserve cash and survive the downturn, the industry curtailed capital investments in exploration and new production facilities. Attention shifted to lowering costs through efficiency gains and higher cost projects were postponed or even abandoned.
The sharp reduction in production costs allowed U.S. shale oil producers to maintain high output levels, even at lower prices. This forced the group of large oil producing countries, OPEC, to impose production quotas on members in 2016. Unlike in the past, OPEC members largely honored the production limits set for them and pushed oil prices higher. This production discipline continued in 2017 and together with modest improvement in demand, especially in Asia, helped crude oil prices to sustain the recovery.
By the second half of 2017, major automakers made dramatic shifts in their product strategy by committing to vastly increase the number of electric cars produced. While earlier forecasts set the global market share of electric cars below 10% by 2025, governments in some of the major markets such as China and India announced plans to fully switch to non-polluting vehicles by 2030. This encouraged some of the largest automakers to increase their production targets for electrical vehicles several times. This unexpected change significantly weakened the long-term demand outlook for crude oil.
Nevertheless, improving demand, renewed geopolitical tensions and continuing OPEC production limits have lifted crude oil prices to the highest levels in more than three years. The Trump administration's decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran diminishes the possibility of more exports from that country. The ongoing political crisis in Venezuela could also meaningfully limit supplies into the international market in the near term.
The large oil producers that had succeeded in significantly reducing operating costs to survive in the low-price environment are now reaping sharp gains in profit margins. Most of them are using the higher cash flows to increase shareholder payouts in the form of dividends and share buybacks. This should help sustain near-term investor interest in the sector.
Despite higher oil prices, most producers remain remarkably hesitant to increase their capital outlays in new exploration and production. The extreme price volatility over the last few years has made integrated global energy companies more cautious in their capital allocation. Much of the new investments are from smaller producers who operate in select regions and have much shorter project timeframes. New investments are unlikely to spike until oil prices remain at elevated levels for a longer period.


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According to the weather it's still very much the middle of winter. Fine by me, but I know many of your are looking forward to sweaty sticky summer evenings using a fan to help you sleep ;)
So I've posted some pics of my Chicken Little - who rightly said the sky is falling. So I thought I would post you a couple of pics of some lovely Easter Bunnies.
Now, here in the With U in Mind house hold, we have a rabbit. She lives in her hutch outside and comes inside every day for several hours. Cute right? Nay, you are wrong. Yuffie (that's our rabbit) is the leader of all evil deeds. Not only does she hate everyone (with the exception of my hubby whom she views as her human/rabbit partner) but she hates everything. It became a bit of a joke but my Husband said a few years ago that I should write a comic strip with Yuffie and our two cats being the main characters. An interesting notion and one I plan to play with over the next year or so.
At the end of that slightly random tangent what I am saying is all rabbits are evil... apart from these guys.
|Will shortly be available in our Folksy and Etsy stores
|Will shortly be available in our Folksy and Etsy stores


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The fog's rolling in, there's a bite in the air, and it's getting more and more difficult finding the motivation to go out at night. Put on your party shoes only to slosh through puddles? No thanks. All you really want to do is cozy up with a blanket or two, a warm drink, and some good music.
But you don't have to stay in all alone. This is the perfect time of year to put on a listening night. We've hosted a few of these in the past, and we still find ourselves talking about how great it was to really listen, collectively, to our favourite tunes. Whether it's a riff that brings you back to your first semester in college, or a lyric you heard last week that you just can't shake, it's challenging to think about why you might be into a certain song.
The elements needed for an evening like this are simple. A decent set of speakers, mood lighting (think candles, string lights), hot beverages, and tasty snacks. And maybe a few blankets and pillows for getting comfortable. Then invite a roomful of good friends to join you with these basic instructions:
- Choose 3 of your current favourite songs
- Jot down a few notes about why each song means something to you
- Bring the song on your phone or have a link ready to play
Take turns sharing and listening to each person's song selections. It can be a really insightful evening, hearing music that may be new to you and getting to know your friends' tastes just that much better. At the end of the night, you can compile the playlist and send it out to freshen up everyone's itunes library.
In the spirit of music sharing, I've put together a playlist of some of my current favourites that you can listen to here.
Just itching to share some tunes right now? Post them below and we can add to each other's auditory arsenals.


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CHINA LIFESTYLE WATER CUBEAdd to Lightbox
epa02277626 A picture released on 08 August 2010 of visitors enjoying the wave pool during a media preview of the new water park at the National Aquatics Center, better known as the Water Cube, in Beijing, China on 07 August 2010. Built alongside the Beijing National Stadium on the Olympic Green for the swimming competitions of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the water cube opens on 08 August 2010 as Asia's largest indoor water park to coincide with the two-year anniversary of the start of the Beijing Olympics. Operators are hoping that the water park with its seven-storey slides, a wave machine, shopping arcades, cafes and performance stages, will pull in new crowds for the venue after it was closed for a 10-month reconstruction. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG
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- Hwee Young How
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- 4096x2685 / 6.2MB
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- China Daily Life


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Many oppositions promised – universal healthcare, free handouts etc. But little do they know how much these will strain on Singapore's finance. Listen to how DPM Tharman using laymen economics to explain the following economics concepts: 1) Tax and fiscal policy; 2) Income redistribution; 3)…
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Sunday, July 5, 2015
Warning: Corny Post Ahead!
8 comments:
Thanks for the explanation about how corn grows and develops. I know cattle no problem, but cereals and grains are a closed book to me. Me I'd suggest corn-relish as a good use for a big crop!ReplyDelete
Yum! I'm sure you'll have no problems getting rid of any excess you may have. :)ReplyDelete
Hey Steph.. Do you have concerns about Monsanto Roundup Ready corn? It being GMO.ReplyDeleteReplies
I have no concerns at all. Just about everything we grow is GMO. It allows us to spray less chemicals on the crops, which in turn saves us money. It's better for the environment because we use less fuel and can no till, which keeps the land from eroding. I actually wish everything in our garden was Roundup Ready too, beats having to weed! :)Delete
Oh....I really hate to hear this. I hate to see young farmers fall victim to Monsanto. Pollen from roundup ready corn has been killing off the honeybees. This pollen cross contaminates other corn in your area and I hope you are not around any organic farms. Have y'all always planted GMO roundup ready corn?ReplyDeleteReplies
This comment has been removed by the author.Delete
No one falls victim to Monsanto. As a matter of fact, this one acre of sweet corn I have planted are the only Monsanto seeds I have planted. They are not the evil company some think they are. There are lots more companies the same as Monsanto. We only grow Phytogen cotton, which is a Dow product. There are programs being developed by cotton organizations in Alabama and other states to save the honey bee, which Lance's Uncle Jimmy is helping to work on. There are no organic farms in our area. They are not as wonderful as they look on paper. They still use chemicals on their crops too. Sometimes more than what we use. Organic cannot feed the world. It has a place, for those who can afford to buy it, but do you think those people starving in other countries care if the food is GMO or organic? There is no way organic alone can feed the world.Delete
This is Lance, Stephanie's husband. First off, hearing from honey bee keepers they are more concerned with a mite that infects the hives and kills the bees, than the dust from the use of treated seeds. Treated seed: corn, cotton, soybeans are usually coated in an insecticide that will be taken up by the young plants to protect them primarily against thrips, this only stays active in the plants less than 21 days which is way before they ever bloom and is not breed in these plants, so it is not gmo. The bt gene in cotton and corn (ie GMO) is not in the pollen, it is only in the vegetative parts of the plants. The bt will not affect you, unless you are a worm. The bt gene is a normal organic bacteria found the soil all over the earth, that has been breed into crops to protect them from worms. I would think most people concerned with the environment would prefer us farmers not to use harsh pesticides that kill both good and bad insects, plus less pollution from our sprayers. We use to spray every two weeks for 3 months for insects, the bt gene saves us money and helps us farmers make better yields which creates more food and fiber on less acres for everyone, this is important because of fewer and fewer acres available to farm, due to the population increasing. The honey bees are of great concern to all us farmers, but we our selves apply insecticides infurrow at planting which Does Not Expose the air to the insecticides.ReplyDelete


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Gandy (Millard) a small ranching community is in the Snake Valley ca. 3 miles from the Nevada border, thirty-five miles southwest of Fish Springs and ca. 29 miles north of highway 6/50. Other Utah settlements in the area include Garrison, and Eskdale to the south, Trout Creek and Callao to the north. Partoun is northeast. Baker, Nevada is just across the Utah Idaho border on U-6/50. The Pony Express and Overland Stage traveled just north of Gandy.
The original homesteaders were Triffly, Alex and Alfred Doutre and *Almond Rhoades. It was Rhoades who planted an orchard and brought the first threshing machine into the valley. He also planted the poplars imported from Italy which make up the beautiful lane leading to the current Bates' home. Water for the area comes out of nearby Gandy Mountain from a spring-fed cavern.
Gandy was originally known as Smithville. However, to avoid confusion with other Smithvilles, it was later changed to Gandy, named after the oldest resident, Isaac Gandy, 1835-1904. Other early settlers included the families of George Bishop who moved here from Deseret, Utah, Tom and Joe Carter from Nephi and Harry Perison from Chicago. A couple of sheep owners by the names of W. C. Berry and A. G. Earl settled near the salt marsh. At the time they were the only ones in the valley to own a buggy. Today there remain seven families in Gandy. Mail delivery is twice per week.
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