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5 Real MacGyvers Who Won Battles With Improvised Weapons
#2. The Han's Song
In the third century B.C., after the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, the Chu and Han forces went to war for supremacy. The Han forces, under the leadership of Han Xin, won a string of significant battles over Xiang Yu and the Chu. When the Chu started retreating back to their capital, Han Xin ordered several ambush attacks, hoping to force Xiang Yu into a canyon, where the Chu would be defenseless. Xiang Yu resisted, until finally Han's forces kidnapped Xiang's wife and held her in the canyon as bait. This is known as the Gruber Gambit, and military tacticians largely advise against it due to the overwhelming odds of the opponent countering with the Willis Maneuver.
Xiang Yu sent most of his forces back to his capital but took 100,000 troops and marched into the canyon to save his wife.
The Weirdness:
The Chu were able to rescue Xiang Yu's wife, but they were now caught in Han's trap. They tried to break out but were pushed back into the canyon time and time again. Yet they were able to hold their position against the Han, creating a siege situation. That's when Han unleashed his secret weapon: sing-a-longs!
Traditional military strategy -- sending hundreds of conscripts to die in battle with heroic supermen, was turned on its head.
He ordered his forces to sing traditional Chu songs, which he called the "Chu Song From Four Sides" tactic. That's right: It has a name, thus indicating that the Han had some sort of long and storied tradition of musical warfare. When the trapped soldiers heard the songs of their homelands, nostalgia and sentiment charged through their defensive perimeter and began looting and pillaging their heartstrings.
The singing caused massive desertions throughout the night: Only a few hundred men stayed with Xiang Yu. In the morning, they tried to escape together. Though they did successfully break out of the canyon, the Chu forces were eventually tracked down by Han Xin. Seeing that all was lost, Xiang committed suicide on the spot. And thus the Han Dynasty was created ... through the power of song.
Later, Jefferson Starship would adapt this slice of history into their hit song "We Built This Dynasty (On Ancient Chinese Folk Songs)." Sadly, record executives changed the original wording before release.
#1. The Allies Enlist a Corpse
In 1942, with victory all but assured in North Africa, the Allies began planning for the next stage of the war. Their target was clear: Sicily. Capturing it would make the Allies Rulers of the Mediterranean, which is like, five times cooler than Pirates of the Caribbean. The only problem being that the Germans knew the strategic importance of Sicily all too well and made it their highest priority to stop any and all invasion attempts. The Allies needed some way of making the Germans believe that Sicily was not the main objective, thus forcing them to spread their forces nice and wide, like the tactical deployment equivalent of your mom on a Friday night.
The Weirdness:
The Allies skipped past the "Fake Radio Transmission" and "Counter-intelligence Operatives" chapters of The Book of War, and instead flipped right to the "Corpses, Weird Uses Of" section. They acquired a dead body, planted fake documents on it, then shipped it off to the coast of Spain, where the supposedly neutral government had a nasty habit of helping German agents while air-quoting the word "neutral."
But they needed a very particular corpse: It had to look as if the person died of hypothermia or drowning and had stayed that way for a couple of days before being retrieved. And, presumably operating under the English assumption that the only good Welshman is a dead Welshman, they found one: A dead man named Glyndwr Michael. In the false documents they gave him, they named him Major William Martin and wrote him a fiancee named Pam. They filled his pockets with love letters, pictures of the woman and even a bill for an engagement ring.
Nothing sells "sad" like a young widow!
We're not sure why the planted corpse had to have a tragically romantic backstory to it, but we're chalking this one up to that infamous German sentimentality.
They also gave Martin a letter from his father, a book of stamps, pencils, bus tickets and a replacement ID card, in order to make the major look careless. Finally, they attached a briefcase to him, filled with documents indicating that Greece would be a major target and that the invasion of Sicily was merely a diversion.
The rumors were helped along by Eisenhower's legendary love of gyros.
When the Germans got their hands on the body, they bought the story completely, wiped away a few tears for Pam, told their commanding officers they just had something in their eye and then relayed the information all the way to the top: Hitler himself. The German forces promptly rushed war supplies -- troop reinforcements, minefields, three panzer divisions and even Rommel himself -- to Greece. When the Allies did invade Sicily, it was undermanned and ill-prepared for the battle. The invasion was a complete success, mainland Europe was now ready for invasion, and Pam eventually learned to love again after engaging in a series of wacky misunderstandings with a stammering Hugh Grant.
Who is charmingly blown apart by long-range artillery fire in Act III.
For more badass war stories, check out 5 Ancient Acts of War That Changed the Face of the Earth and The 6 Most Gigantic Everything in the History of War.
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In which cases is very used with the same meaning it has in a phrase like "the very minute after"? Is it a set phrase, or are there other similar phrases?
The very minute after I leave, they start taking my books from the shelf, reading them, and leaving them in the kitchen.

subset: commoncrawl


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COPEPRAS COVE (November 9, 2012)--The Copperas Cove Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8577 will hold a parade Saturday beginning at Veterans Avenue.
At 8:30 a.m. at the post, located at 1506 Veterans Avenue, spectators can watch the parade head to First Street and Avenue D, before ending at the Cove Terrace Shopping Center.
An awards ceremony will be held following the parade at the post.


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Conference rooms and offices
There is a Business Centre (tel: (011) 921 6262) with facilities including fax, telephone and secretarial services. A Premier Conference Centre (tel: (011) 390 1084), in the Domestic Terminal, offers four meeting rooms seating up to 14 delegates, a seminar facility for up to 50 delegates and a conference room for up to 120 delegates. A media conference room is also available.


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Drugs & Health Blog
Ignite Change in Your Community
October 20, 2011
Change begins with just one small step. At NIDA, we are working to shatter the myths that some people believe about drug abuse and addiction. And we're spreading the facts to help people make informed, healthy decisions. Did you know?: Read More »5 Comments
Prescription Drugs on TV
October 18, 2011
You've probably seen television commercials advertising prescription drugs for any number of things—from fibromyalgia (fi-bro-my-al-ja) to depression. Read More »10 Comments
Shout Out for Making Smart Choices
October 14, 2011
Teens have so many choices to make: what classes and afterschool activities to sign up for, which music or videos to download, where to go to hang out with friends. And that's not all of them! Read More »0 Comments
Smoking Stinks!
October 12, 2011
You probably know that smoking is NOT cool—and that it's really dangerous, too. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and kills nearly a half a million people each year. Read More »20 Comments
Don't Stress about Stress
October 06, 2011
Everyone has stress in their lives, whether it's from school, family, friends, or work. Everyone deals with stress differently. Some deal with it in healthy ways, while others turn to drugs, choosing not to confront their issues head on. Read More »12 Comments


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I get this error from the database when I run the query:
select status, error from v$archive_dest where dest_id=2;
It's a dataguard environment. I have never seen this problem before.
I'm not quite sure what this means or how it can be fixed.
What is generally the cause of this error?


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William Christenberry Photographs: 1961-2005
April 5–June 1, 2008
William Christenberry Photographs: 1961-2005 will present nearly a half-century of the work of William Christenberry whose photographic exploration of the American South has been ongoing for forty years. Drawing inspiration from such pioneers as Walker Evans and Bernd and Hilla Becher, Christenberry has been a major influence on a generation of emerging photographers. Ranging from his earliest Brownie photographs from the early 1960s to later work with a large-format camera, this project surveys the artist's poetic documentation of Southern vernacular architecture, signage, and landscape, capturing moments of quiet beauty in a sometimes rustic terrain. Coupling never-before-seen photographs, both old and new, with now-iconic images, the exhibition presents 58 photographic works, three vintage signs, and one sculpture.
Aperture, a not-for-profit organization devoted to photography and the visual arts, has organized this traveling exhibition and produced the accompanying publication.
The Ann Arbor presentation is made possible in part by The University of Michigan Health System.


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Who Did It? UPDATE
UPDATE, Wednesday Aug. 28. Stephen Walt has this literary analogy to our current situation.
"More than anything else, Obama reminds me here of George Orwell in his famous essay "Shooting an Elephant." Orwell recounts how, while serving as a colonial officer in Burma, he was forced to shoot a rogue elephant simply because the local residents expected an official of the British Empire to act this way, even when the animal appeared to pose no further danger. If he didn't go ahead and dispatch the poor beast, he feared that his prestige and credibility might be diminished. Like Orwell, Obama seems to be sliding toward "doing something" because he feels he simply can't afford not to."
So look what happened to the British Empire anyway! [Update 9 P.M., but the Parliament still functions. See comment way below.]
Original Post: As war-mongering heats up in Washington, London, and Paris, and the White House asserts that it was almost certainly the Assad Regime that used chemical weapons last week, here is a Ha'aretz story that includes six different version of who might have done it. We can look at them all with a good deal of skepticism. The White House's plunking for the Syrian government should get equal skepticism. Story here: "More Questions than Answers."
"1. One version is that of the Free Syrian Army and the political opposition, whose spokesmen explaine at a news conference Saturday that the chemical missiles were fired by the Syrian army's Brigade 115 from its Mount Kalamun missile base and that, during the attack, the head of the Syrian missile directorate, Taher Hamed Khalil, was present at the base.
"2. Another version is that of Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq, relying on a source in the Free Syrian Army who claims that soldiers of the Fourth Elite Unit, commanded by Maher Assad - the Syrian president's brother - raided the Scientific Studies and Research Center and captured quantities of the chemical weapons after killing a Syrian officer who refused to let them in.
"3. A third version comes from the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah, through an Iraqi source close to the separatist Muktada al-Sadr, who says that fighters from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, in charge of some of the chemical weapons stores, fired the chemical weapons at the town of al-Ghouta, despite opposition by the Syrian army brass.
"4. Yet another version, published on the Syrian opposition website al-Hakika, reported that the chemicals were smuggled from Turkey by activists of the Turkmen uprising and that these activists were the ones who fired the missiles to spark an international provocation.
"5. The website, which published reports on the smuggling of the chemicals about a week before the attack - as well as after it - raises questions about the way the dead were found, plus the fact that the weather conditions on the day of the attack could not ensure that Syrian soldiers would not also be killed.
"6. The Syrian regime has its own version, in which five Syrian soldiers were killed and others rushed to the hospital after they were injured by the chemicals."
About the Author
Margaret O'Brien Steinfels, a former editor of Commonweal, writes frequently in these pages and blogs at dotCommonweal.
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Images and videos can be fake. What I would like is for some trusted journalist to report what he or she has seen with their own eyes. In the end I'm not sure what better proof there is than a trusted witness.
As the saying goes, the first casualty of war is truth.
The only thing certain is that it happened. In that sense, a line has been crossed around use of biological and chemical weapons and that is something we need to be concentrating on, and the leaders in that region need to reflect on very seriously. The situation is out of control but it reflects deep ethnic tensions and histories that run deep.
As far as what the USA or the west "should" do. At this point, nothing except to promote mediators for the sides should they wish it.
As with Bosnia, Kosovo, these are horrible, tragic situations. Pray for all those involved.
Further to George's recommendation for prayer, this letter from Cardinal George appeared in our church bulletin yesterday.
One passage:
"The international community, including the United States, is offering military aid to one side or the other. But the introduction of more arms only escalates the violence, delays negotiations for an inclusive political solution, and contributes to the suffering of the Syrian people."
Also, I had not heard of the visiting Orthodox bishops who have been kidnapped, and not heard from for over 100 days.
The situation in Syria is awfully fuzzy and confusing, even for journalists who have been able to get in there at great personal risk. What those journalists are seeing and reporting is horrific, but they are usually getting to places in the aftermath, relying on highly emotional eye-witnesses who are jumping to preconceived conclusions without any proof.
I think our foreign policy is also fuzzy and confusing. It's all well and good to talk about red lines being crossed, but the harder job is developing a sane and appropriate response. What, exactly, are our national interests in Syria that justify intervention? Will military action make things better or worse not only in Syria but with our relations with other countries in the region? Complicating things even further is Russia's involvement with Assad.
It strikes me that any direct response to the gas attacks ought to be made after discussions with nations which already have high stakes in this conflict--especially countries that are taking in hundreds of thousands of refugees. Moreover, while the gas attacks are horrendous and can be used to stir up a lot of highly emotional responses, the larger humanitarian crisis is in the refugee camps where far more innocents are in danger of food shortages, shelter, and health risks, and creating burdens for the host countries. Might we not do better asking the host countries how we can help on that front than on a reactionary military intervention?
The UN team seems to have arrived at one of the spots, after being sniped at by someone (unclear who). Interviewing victims and witnesses, collecting samples, etc., may allow these inspectors to say something about the chemical weapons, but will they be able to say who did it? The sophistication of the weapons (or lack thereof) may point one way or the other, but it's hard to imagine a definitive answer on the perpetrators. Or maybe I don't fully understand the capabilities of these investigators.
Is the U.S. going to find itself in the position of having to "Do something," if not "Do anything!!!" The WSJ (to which I cannot link) had a story this morning about the activities of Saudi Prince Bandar out and about promoting U.S. action and more weapons for the opposition. I know Saudi Arabia is a very good and long-standing friend of the U.S., but you've got to ask what the home of bin Laden and Al Qaeda have up their sleeves. Or at least, I am asking myself that. Any answers?
What is worse? Being attacked by chemical weapons or being hostage to the banks whose executives get sick salaries while continuing to endanger the economy. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/opinion/were-all-still-hostages-to-the-big-banks.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
In the Savings and Loans debacle banking officials were arrested and prosecuted. These guys at Chase, Bank of America, are waltzing around like they still know what they are doing. Truly outrageous.
The WSJ is reporting that we're asking the UN to get the weapons inspectors out of harm's way, since it's clear that the Assad regime is guilty, and we no longer need to consider what the inspectors say. I expect that we're right, and the Assad regime is indeed guilty. But our record on the existence and use of weapons of mass destruction (chemical as well as other) is hardly free of error. Short circuiting the UN at this points seems a pointless and dangerous step.
Thank you Nicholas. Didn't we send the UN inspectors (and Hans Blix) away in Iraq, only to have General Judith Miller of the NYTimes discover that there were really no WMD?
No doubt there are chemical weapons, but why dismiss the inspection and inspectors?
A few questions: Did the White House paint itself into a corner when the President used the 'bright red line rhetoric' in 2012, such that it now has no choice except to do something, anything? What specific outcomes, better than the status quo, does American military action (apparently it would consist of firing cruise missiles, perhas to disable Syrian air power) expect to accomplish? What is more in the US interest: that Assad prevail (and presumably establishes some order); or that the rebels prevail, with the risk that Islamist extremists may take power or wield influence? Would Russia with its Security Council veto block any concrete action that the UN might take beyond a regimen of inspections?
I heard a radio interview this morning with John Bolton, of all people - his suggestion is that the only real American interest is ensuring that the chemical weapons don't get into the hands of our enemies who could take them abroad and harm us or our citizens or military personnel. Therefore (in his view) the correct policy is to locate the weapons and destroy them. How the US is supposed to make that happen, I don't know, and neither did he. He had no suggestions of concrete, helpful things that the US could actually do to make any of this better.
The chemical weapons would seem to present several disposal problems whether in efforts to destroy or to seize them. Bombing their sites would release the chemicals, presumably causing serious and/or fatal casualties to surrounding populations. Efforts to seize them would require "boots on the ground," which no Western nation is going to provide. I hope we wouldn't encourage the opposition to seize them. Do we even know where all the sites are? It is, of course, possible that rogue units in the Syrian Army and/or Hezzbolah would grab them and run. Israel would have a keen interest in how this gets handled, leading me to conclude that we are not going to bomb sites or seize them.
If we then bomb something/anything, it's likely to be military headquarters and/or Assad's residence.
The red line threat turns out to have been a big mistake imho; it didn't stop the attacks and now that they have occurred, there are members of the U.S. government pressing to "keep our word." "Our credibiliy is at stake, etc." As every experienced parent knows idle threats come home to bite!
US intervention is selective. There are multiple "moral obscenities" to use Kerry's words. Chemical weapons does cross the line. But the question is who will replace Assad if he is overthrown? Kosova was clearer. So many innocent people were being massacred. There are certainly many fatalities in this war. Right now the rebel action seems like a mistake. Egypt is not stable. The Arab Spring seems very different now. While intervention against chemical weapons seems right, why is intervention right here and not in Africa where dictators routinely bar food and medicine to a needy people?
MOS: I hope that there is someone in the Pentagon raising the same questions that you do if we have indeed moved into the "reaction and response" phase to what John Kerry rightly has called a "moral obsencity."
However, - if I can extrapolate from your comments on this blog stream - if we followed your argument we would still be fretting over the moral rightness of destroying the death camps in WW2 Europe when we finally had evidence of the enormity of the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis. It is simply morally unacceptable to allow these crimes to go unanswered.
I have a faith that Barack Obama has come to the reluctant conclusion that the Assad regime has committed this atrocity, and that the time has come to bring justice to these war criminals.
As Carl von Clausewitz wrote, "war is the continuation of politics by other means." In my heart, war is never righteous. But in the human condition, sometimes war is justified. As it is written: "To everything there is a season: A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace." (Ecclesiates 3:8)
I hope that American military action is targeted specifically on the Assad regime: We must decapitate this dictatorship of terror. I hope that we have the military technology to accomplish this. I fear that as in all wars, more innocents will suffer and die as a consequence.
None of the players in this tragedy are "choir boys" - including our Christian brothers and sisters in Syria who generally support the outlaw Assad regime. The real moral imperative here falls on the Islamic societies of the region - most especially our close NATO ally Turkey and our client Gulf states - to intervene in this civil war and establish at least a cease fire so that the Syrian people can begin to pick-up the pieces of their lives.
In addition, Syria has some oil (previously mostly exported to the EU) and is in a critical location for oil and gas pipelines. For a country like the US that imports lots of oil, the political situation in Syria is important.
Plus, a military intervention would be a chance for the US to test and refine its military technology, so that it remains the world leader in sophisticated weaponry.
Plus, if (if!) that military intervention were successful, the status of the US army would go back up and other countries would rightly fear our country and be wary of acting against our interests. After the Afghanistan and Iraq debacles, it would be a good reminder of the power of the US army.
So, there are many reasons to be morally outraged.
The Egyptian generals are now citing religion as a reason to kill their opposition. Jesus warned of this. Thanks to Augustine it became the Christian mantra. The French Revolution was in a totally Catholic country. Pope Francis is a welcome change from the monarchy. The saying has been: "No peace unless there is peace among the religions." Still holds.
On the other hand there are two problems with a US military intervention in Syria: first, even if the US intervene "successfully" (whatever that means), then what? Who can the US give support to, post-intervention? There is no reliable Syrian ally in sight, is there? Second, it would boost the US president's ratings, but there is no election coming up, so what's the rush? So maybe it is better to tone down US moral outrage for the present, until, say, 2015 or early 2016.
For all those in favor of "boots on the ground" in Syria or anywhere else in this world:
I'll support it under 2 conditions:
1. An immediate 10% war tax be imposed on all sales and income from all sources for all people and corporations, with no exceptions.
2. The draft be immediately reintroduced without an end date and includes all men and women between the ages of 18 and 25 irrespective of gender, marital status, current participation in educational programs and very rare exclusions for physical or mental health. Verifiable, defendable conscientious objection to military participation will mean that the individuals will mandatorily participate for civilian service that will be as difficult, uncomfortable and life-disrupting as will be military service.
Waving the flag and the pumping of testosterone should have an observable cost to all citizens of this country.
BTW, when I talked about income above, I include contributions to religious groups.
In HS I learned that Roman Senators who wanted war were told to lead a legion against German tribes.. GOP senators posing as war mongers should be shown the road to Damascus.
Jim Jenkins: Bombing the concentration camps or trains going thereto would present the same problem as bombing chemical weapons sites; indiscriminate bombing would kill more innocents. (Not that that stopped the fire bombing of Dresden, Tokyo, etc).
Jim McCrea: Excellent ideas. Now give us the strategy that would get us through the "Congress that cannot do anything."
Who could write the play that shows that U.S. & friends bombing of something/anything has to be carried out because our president created a red line, and Secy of State has declared our moral consciences, shocked, shocked, and because no one will ever believe us agains, and the FRENCH are up in arms about this, dare I say U.S. arms. My playwright candidates: Kurt Vonegut, Samuel Becket, and yours?
From todays' London Tablet:
Military intervention in Syria 'could spark world war'
27 August 2013
A Syrian Chaldean Catholic bishop yesterday warned that armed intervention in Syria could unleash a "world war".
Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo told Vatican Radio: "If there is an armed intervention, that would mean, I believe, a world war. That risk has returned."
The Syrian prelate was speaking as Britain and the US discussed plans for military action in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria last week, plans strongly opposed by Russia and Iran.
"We hope that the Pope's call for real dialogue between the warring parties to find a solution can be a first step to stop the fighting," he said.
The Vatican's semi-official daily, L'Osservatore Romano, meanwhile criticised Western powers in an editorial and called for greater "prudence".
"The drumbeat of an armed intervention by Western powers is becoming ever more insistent and ever less restrained by prudence," it said.
Pope Francis on Sunday called for the international community to help find a solution to the civil war.
"I launch an appeal to the international community to be more sensitive to this tragic situation and to commit itself to the maximum to help the dear Syrian nation find a solution to a war which spreads destruction and death," he said during his Sunday Angelus in St Peter's Square.
"The rise of violence in a war between brothers and sisters, with increasing massacres and atrocious acts, which we have all been able to witness in the terrible images in these days, prompts me to once again raise my voice so that the sound of arms might be silenced," he continued.
In his appeal on Sunday, Pope Francis reiterated earlier condemnations of the fratricidal violence, saying the only prospect for resolving the Syrian war was an "encounter and dialogue" between the opposing factions.
How do you *nuance* any type of military response? It appears that we will draw a *red line* between choosing sides/attacking Assad and making a statement about the use of chemical weapons especially against women/children.
Will that work?
- most agree that attacking the actual chemical sites is too dangerous
- so, that leaves you with some sort of military reprisals that *send a message*....has that worked militarily ever?
- what about anti-aircraft degradation and setting up a no fly zone - then, you could monitor the known sites and stop any missile launches (do believe we know where the sites and storied chemicals are)
- will we wait for the UN team's findings before attacking?
- will a coalition of *willing partners* allow us to *nuance* support (since Russia/China would veto any UN action)? will this be supported by Saudi Arabia/Gulf Nations/Turkey/Jordan and does that make a difference when the West is the heavy lifter
- will this open Obama up to Republican attack - doubt he will get congressional approval before acting...and really doubt Congress wants to deal with this issue
- can't figure out any reasonable solution - surgical strikes and demand for peace talks at the Hague? Will that work? And if Assad ignores, do we escalate attacks?
(BTW, Ms. Steinfels, got the book 1914. Interesting and obviously using newly released secret documents. But, in comparing to Tuchman's Guns of August (except for a two day chronology mistake), it was uncanny that Ms. Tuchman was able to use documentation; read between the lines; and arrive at basically the same conclusions as the 1914 book historian. What it did detail was the known fact that the 1914 monarchs were all but *psychologically sick*; supported by incompetent power seeking men. And once mobilization started, there was no turning back....yes, he is able to underline Russia's cupability; Great Britain's biased behavior but the dilapidated monarchies created this situation.)
If there is any connection to today's Syria, you again have a *monarch/dictator* with the added religious extremism element and now public statements that require action (whether correct or not). Does it really just come down to bluster; saving face; or is there really a moral question here?
Margaret - what about Tom Stoppard? Too dark for him?
Bill de Haas: You mean the Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark? I never read the Tuchman book; back then I was immersed in Bernard Fall on Vietnam. So many wars, so much to read about.
I did think Clark drew in the Russians in greater detail than anything else I'd read; and he certainly pointed a stern figure at the Serbs, in fact beginning his narrative with the assassination on June 11, 1903 of King Alexandar and Queen Draga of Serbia by the Serbian military. As you say, this emphasis may come from newly available documents from Eastern Europe. I wonder if Clark is proficient in all the languages involved, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Turkish, French, German, Italian, or if he had a lot of bright grad students doing his research?
This from the NY Times at about 4 pm, 8/27.
"Officials anticipated that a first round of attacks would be followed by a pause to assess the damage and the regime's response before a potential second wave of strikes would be ordered. With few human intelligence assets on the ground, the inspection of targets after the strike would be conducted by satellite or surveillance aircraft capable of flying above the range of Syria's highly regarded integrated air-defense system.
"Officials also cautioned that arguments for a more limited strike included the fear that the refugee flow to American allies Turkey and Jordan — where the influx already is causing political concern — would increase. And there are worries that Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants might step up terrorism around the region in retaliation."
Is anybody thinking about Assad going for broke and retaliating by deploying all of his chemical weapons against the opposition and civilian areas that it controls, and/ or against Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey?
JP: Tom Stoppard would be good, especially since he's still alive. Music by Tom Lehrer?
I'm with Jim McCrea, and with Jean. Helping countries that host refugees is obvious.
The number of Syrian children like Aya forced to flee their homes has now reached one million.
I really don't like this "bruit de bottes" (threat of war). But if the US really want to "do good" in a military way (what does that mean!?), we must form an international coalition and we must be supported by regional powers.
Margaret - yes, I noted that commonality among your nominees. I was going to suggest Moss Hart. Or maybe Aeschylus; this plot just about fits his scale, I think, and possibly it will be the same oeuvre.
Here is an opinion piece that argues about "The perils of a limited response," and urges the Obama Administration to kill Assad--or try to.
"Nor will limited (there's that word again) strikes against Syria improve Assad's behavior. If the Obama administration seriously wishes to alter Assad's ways, then it must attack or threaten to attack that which he values most: his and his regime's survival. It is not clear, of course, that Assad will change course even if he is personally threatened. But it is only if he is eliminated, or appears likely to be, that elements within his security services concerned primarily about their own survival and prosperity will have the opportunity to reach an accommodation with some of the regime's opponents, neighboring states and the West."
Also, I congratulate you on providing a NY Times link, as a newscast just reported that their site has been down/under cyberattack all day; and thanks for providing key quotes, very helpful for we non-subscribers.
I am surprised Obama hasn't thought of calling Congress into session to pass a declaration of war. Wouldn't t be nice to have a constitutional scholar president consult the Constitution? But here is the beauty part: If he calls Congress, the House won't come. He can then have his cake -- doing nothing, which he has been trying to figure out how to do and leading the news with, since last week -- and blame the Republicans.
Haaretz has some details on the coming attack: note Netanyahu's threat if Assad attacks Israel. No suprise, of course, but what might Israel do under cover of a U.S.-British attack? Haaretz seems to have good conduits to Israeli intellegence; better than the NYTimes to NSA/CIA.
"Most likely, the U.S. will do the bare minimum and attack but then swiftly disengage. Such an approach dictates a particular set of targets: Not symbols of the regime but strictly military targets such as missile bases, anti-aircraft batteries and perhaps chemical weapons sites. Western intelligence agencies know the locations of at least 90 percent of the Syrian chemical weapons bases. According to various reports, the components are stored separately and assembled when an order is given – meaning that a strike won't trigger a chemical reaction."
Hurrah for Jim McCrae - enough with "cheap grace" in this realm.
Of course we will have to keep that taxation up for some very long while, to address the costs that the war brings home to us:
"to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, anfd for his widow, and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." [A. Lincoln, 4 March 1865]
The only change I'd make to Jimmy's plan would be to ensure that the children of elected officials got drafted first, and no fair hiding out in the National Guard reserves like in Vietnam (though that didn't prove to be a very safe haven in Iraq conflict).
Reports today noted that many Arab countries believe Assad used gas and condemned the actions. But the WSJ filed a report a few hours ago noting that there is no public support by the Arab League nations for any U.S. military response to the gas attacks in Syria; the league apparently prefers to go through the UN Security Council. Jordan is in an especially tough situation, having taken in thousands of refugees and sitting on Syria's border.
The following was posted at 8:37 on Pat Lang's site by "Harper," one of the regular poster there. While there is a certain amount of conspiracy theory types who comment on the site, I have found the posts to be honest efforts to look at our foreign and defense policies by men (and possibly women) who have had (or who currently have) insights into and connections to U.S. defense and intelligence agencies.
27 August 2013
I received the following email this evening, with an invitation to pass it along to others. I make no claim of accuracy but from past experience, the author is generally well informed. It certainly maps onto events of the past week.
From a series of meetings in Washington today with a number of contacts, I have reached the following conclusions regarding an imminent U.S. attack on Syria.
First, as of late Friday afternoon, Aug. 23, President Obama concluded that Syrian government forces had used chemical weapons in the Aug. 21 attack in a Damascus suburb. At that point, the White House put out a statement to select reporters from an "unnamed senior White House official" making it clear that the President was convinced of the Syrian government's use of CW.
Initially, Obama decided on a two track response. Track I was to go to the UN Security Council seeking authorization to use force. Track II was to build up an alliance of European, Arab and Asian countries to back military action in the event of a UNSC veto by Russia and China. Over the weekend, approximately 32 governments were contacted by Obama Administration officials, soliciting their support in retaliatory military action against Syrian targets.
The primary source of the evidence that convinced the Administration "with certainty" that a Syrian CW attack had occurred was information provided by Unit 8200, the Israeli equivalent of the NSA, who intercepted a communication from a Syrian Army unit operating near the site where the CW attack allegedly took place. Neither Doctors Without Borders nor the UN inspectors have yet to provide definitive on-site analysis of what happened, or evidence of who might have carried out the attacks if they did occur. The Unit 8200 information was exclusively provided to the United States and Germany.
By Tuesday morning, the Obama strategy and timetable had shifted and some hardened decisions had been made. Track I was abandoned because it would take too much time to go to the UN Security Council when there was near-certainty that Russia and China would veto. By then, enough European, Arab and other allied states had agreed to back a retaliatory action that it was felt there was enough credible international support to attack soon.
Two other decisions were made by this time. First, Obama would not go to Congress for authorization under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution or the War Powers Resolution. Select leaders of Congress would be informed, but no Congressional consent would be sought. Second, the United States would build up an international alliance in support of military action, but the U.S. would act unilaterally.
Although JCS Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel opposed military action, once the President made the decision, the objectives of the Pentagon shifted to controlling the targeting decisions and limiting the possibility of an all-out war. For Obama and his inner circles of advisors (Rice, Jarrett, Axelrod, Power, Michelle Obama), the level of military attack had to be sufficient to avoid Republican attacks for only making a symbolic response to the alleged CW attacks, while avoiding a major escalation or a clear intervention to give the rebels a decisive edge. It appears that cruise missile attacks are planned, to target command and control sites and storage facilities for missiles, other delivery systems, and possibly some CW.
Secretary of State Kerry has spoken with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, and has informed him of the American plans, along with reassurances that the United States is not targeting any Russian strategic interests in Syria or seeking regime change. The Russians were told that the U.S. is convinced Assad's forces used chemical weapons, and the U.S. actions are in retaliation for the Syrians crossing Obama's "red line." One source indicated that there is some tacit agreement from the Russians that, so long as the attack is so limited, they will not escalate. This is, of course, a very risky proposition, given the degeneration of U.S.-Russian relations of late. It is likely that there are also military-to-military back channels communicating this message as well, although I do not have details.
There is no clear assessment of how Iran will respond, and what impact this will have on the new Rowhani government in Tehran.
Israel and the Israel Lobby have been pressing for such U.S. action since last week. Israel believes that the longstanding cease-fire deal that they had with Syria is over, given the penetration of both Al Qaeda and Hezbollah networks inside Syrian territory. Last week, rockets were fired into northern Israel and Israeli intelligence concluded that the rockets were fired by Al Qaeda linked rebel factions. Israel wants the United States to take care of the Syria crisis fast, because the status quo is intolerable for Israeli security.
It would appear that these limited strikes by the U.S. are imminent, and that they could likely occur before President Obama leaves early next week for St. Petersburg for the G-20 heads of state summit.
Comments are welcome.
Posted at 08:37 PM
Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike that killed more than 1,000 people. Those conversations were overheard by U.S. intelligence services, The Cable has learned. And that is the major reason why American officials now say they're certain that the attacks were the work of the Bashar al-Assad regime -- and why the U.S. military is likely to attack that regime in a matter of days.
On the other hand, remember Bush: "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me", and Colin Powell's speech to the UN claiming Iraq had WMD. I was fooled then. Now I am not ready to accept claims that are not backed by the work of the UN.
MOS: That's the real problem with war: By its very nature it is indiscriminate. Too many wise men and women over the centuries have observed: In war, truth is the first casuality.
One thing we can be sure of in any Syrian campaign: All the people that will die from gas attacks will still be dead after the war.
What I would like to hear from you, MOS, is what is your preferred response to innocent women, men and children being gased in the homes and neighborhoods by their own outlaw government? You just can't carp from the sidelines or hide behind some kind of journalistic veil of impartiality.
Francis Ford Coppola already made that movie in 1979: Apocalypse Now. At the turn of the 20th century, Joseph Conrad wrote the novel, Heart of Darkness.
Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now says it best: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."
Jim McCrea: Absolutely on target! Actually, I believe that we should amend the US Constitution to include your war-making clauses.
I would also like to see a clause in the amendment that would require each Federal official's family - all three branches: executive, legislative, judicial - would have at least one member of the family inducted into military service. That way, the elite of our government would have some real skin in the game, not just be sendingoff the children of poor folks to die in war. Hopefully, that would keep the rest of us a little more safe from unnecessary wars based on lies - a la Iraq.
JJ: Those who are dead are already dead. Those who will be killed by our Tomahawk missles are still alive. Isn't that a sufficient reason to hesitate?
I am not a pacifist. I am not carping impartially from the sidelines. I can imagine scenarios in which the U.S. should attack, e.g., we know that the Syrian army is about to launch another attack with chemical weapons, perhaps on its own people, perhaps on Jordan, Israel, and/or Turkey. Thwarting those attacks would be reason for us to strike. On the other hand, would our own attack trigger these? Something to think about.
As it is, the current motives for an immanent attack on who knows what, seems to be a face-saving device for the Administration, the appearance of retribution (depending on where we strike), and punishing the Assad regime. Are those sound justifications?
Those most opposed to a U.S. attack, or at the very least reluctant, seem to be our own military, beginning with General Martin Dempsey, head of the joint chiefs and Secretary of Defense Hagel. They are probably better at foreseeing unintended consequences than our political leaders, talking heads, etc. Tells me something!
General Anthony Zinni in Wednesday's WashPost: ""The one thing we should learn is you can't get a little bit pregnant," said retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, who was at the helm of U.S. Central Command when the Pentagon launched cruise missiles at suspected terrorist sites in Afghanistan and weapons facilities in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. "If you do a one-and-done and say you're going to repeat it if unacceptable things happen, you might find these people keep doing unacceptable things. It will suck you in."
See also:
Christians in the Middle East unanimously oppose potential raid on Syria
(Yes, I know that I have posted this reference elsewhere on this blogsite.)
And "limited response" military action is like being slightly pregnant. Either you are in or not. Unless the military mindset has changed from what it was when I served in the AF from 1962 to 1970, it is not programmed to be slightly pregnant.
I posted the above BEFORE I read MOS's Zinni comment about getting a little pregnant. Sorry to be unintentionally but nonetheless repetetive.
Re: the Stephen Walt update to Margaret's post: for anyone interested, here is the George Orwell essay that Walt references. Possibly it contains a lesson or reflection apropos to this situation. It may also be an inducement to vegetarianism.
Some members of a legislative body seem to remember what happened last time!
"LONDON — The prospect of an imminent Western military strike on Syrian government targets appeared to encounter a delay on Wednesday when Britain signaled it would first await the findings of a United Nations inquiry into the suspected use of chemical weapons in an attack that killed hundreds near Damascus last week, and then hold a separate parliamentary vote, which could be days away.
"Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, who runs a coalition government, is facing political difficulties from legislators mindful of the experience in Iraq, when assurances from Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction proved inaccurate and a false pretext for war. Mr. Cameron bowed on Wednesday to pressure from the opposition Labour Party and some within his own coalition who want to allow United Nations weapons inspectors a chance to report their findings and for the United Nations Security Council to make one more effort to give a more solid legal backing to military action against Damascus."
We are beginning to understand just what kind of hot mess any intervention in Syria would become: As posted above, Syrian Christians don't want the Assad regime war criminals attacked! Obviously they are allied with Assad against those elements in the Syrian opposition that the Christians see as a threat to themselves. The enemy of my enemy is my friend ...
If we could loose Assad (personally) perhaps that would improve the situation. Who knows? Maybe only regional Muslim powers should intervene and Westerners should stay out - no matter how horrific the atrocities?


text:
20 Apr 2012 7:58 AM #1
Error Opening Project - TypeError: 'undefined' is not an object
After saving my project this morning, I just tried to restart Designer and I am now getting a TypeError: 'undefined' is not an object error. It opens up my project however I no longer have any controllers or views visible. The only thing I can see is my stores.
Any idea how to track down whats gone wrong ?
20 Apr 2012 9:25 AM #2
So Ive narrowed it down to a linked resource I just added. If I remove this from the metadata code, I can open my project, however I now need to add back in my linked resource. Once I close down Designer it wont open again until I manually fix this code .. any ideas why this is happening ?
, { "id": "ExtBox1-ext-gen73583", "type": "linkedinstance", "reference": { "name": "items", "type": "array" }, "codeClass": null, "userConfig": { "layout|region": "north", "id": "ar_gridpanel" }, "customConfigs": [], "iconCls": "icon-linkedinstance", "expanded": true, "masterInstanceId": "ExtBox1-ext-gen73537" }
23 Apr 2012 9:06 PM #3
tim -
Any chance you could share an archive of your project with us on the architect team?
The broken one that is You can send it to designer.feedback at sencha.com and link this thread as a reference.Aaron Conran
24 Apr 2012 10:44 AM #4
I'm able to reproduce so we'll get to the bottom of it. Gimme a fewPhil Strong
24 Apr 2012 11:06 AM #5
Ok so solution time!
First I can't answer how you project got into this state though we are going to look a little bit deeper into the upgrade process to be sure we didn't cause this.
The issue is your BookingAddResources window had a linked instance that was no longer valid ... e.g. the id it had didn't exist in your project (ucmpGridBar) see line 1785 of metadata/view/BookAddResource.js
"masterInstanceId": "ucmpGridBar" --Error
replace this line with:
"masterInstanceId": "ExtBox1-ext-gen67263"
This id is the actual id of your GridBar component
I will tell you that in the past we didn't load up the components with dependencies in mind we assumed all would be available by the time you needed it. However this wasn't true in some cases so it now loads in order wrt dependencies and thus this new code that you are now breaking on. It's possible this was broken before and you just didn't know about it.
Lemme know if this fixes the issue.Phil Strong
24 Apr 2012 1:46 PM #6
Hi Phil,
Yep that did it, not sure how it ended up that way in the first place though. Might be worth expanding the error messaging in the designer to tell you where any errors like that may stem from.
Either way .. thanks for sorting out the issue . .Ive opened up the project & re-saved it with no issues
25 Apr 2012 12:47 PM #7
Yeah we've found some holes we hadn't thought of that are being fixed for the next update. Thanks for bringing this to light!Phil Strong
15 Jun 2012 5:10 AM #8
I also have this issue but have something like 134 files to look through. No idea how I'm going to track down this in a reasonable time :/
Opened them all, searched for masterInstanceId in all files, copied all of the IDs, uniqued them and searched in all files for them all for something referencing something that no longer exists and couldn't find a problem
15 Jun 2012 6:16 AM #9
Managed to get to the bottom of it. I copy and pasted my project then deleted parts of my project until it allowed me to save. I found the part that was killing my project.
I have a Toolbar class, which is added to many pages, snippet:
{ "id": "ExtBox1-ext-gen177536", "type": "toolbar", "reference": { "name": "items", "type": "array" }, "codeClass": null, "userConfig": { "cls": [ "toolbarBottom" ],
{ "id": "ExtBox1-ext-gen72245", "type": "linkedinstance", "reference": { "name": "items", "type": "array" }, "codeClass": null, "userConfig": {}, "customConfigs": [], "iconCls": "icon-linkedinstance", "expanded": true, "masterInstanceId": "ExtBox1-ext-gen177536" }
{ "id": "ExtBox1-ext-gen26679", "type": "linkedinstance", "reference": { "name": "toolbar", "type": "object" }, "codeClass": null, "userConfig": {}, "customConfigs": [], "iconCls": "icon-linkedinstance", "expanded": true, "masterInstanceId": "ExtBox1-ext-gen177536" }
18 Jun 2012 7:11 AM #10
I don't quite understand the steps but you're reporting a bug, right?
Had a little play with replicating it again. It seems I can't drag in my bottom toolbar into a Nestedlist as it doesn't let me... But I can duplicate a link of it and drag that into it instead
that would be uber helpful if you think this is in fact a bugPhil Strong


text:
Tami Abdollah, Associated Press
BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. — Camping gear was found along with weapons inside the burned-out truck belonging to Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings who is the subject of a manhunt in Southern California's snow-covered mountains, authorities said Sunday.
The Nissan pickup found Thursday in this ski resort town was so charred that investigators couldn't be more specific about the nature of its contents, said Los Angeles police Sgt. Rudy Lopez.
Meanwhile, police also were investigating a taunting phone call that may have been made by Dorner to the father of the woman they believe he killed last week. Two law enforcement officers who requested anonymity because of the ongoing investigation told The Associated Press on Sunday they are trying to determine if the call days after the killing was made by the 33-year-old fugitive or a man posing as him.
SWAT teams with air support and bloodhounds fanned out for the fourth day to search for Dorner, who has vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues whom he blames for ending his career.
The effort was significantly scaled back as the weekend went on, with 25 officers and a single helicopter looking for clues in the forest and going door-to-door at some 600 cabins in the San Bernardino mountains, about 80 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Authorities planned a 1 p.m. news conference in Los Angeles to announce a reward for information leading to the arrest of Dorner.
"Hopefully the reward will motivate people that may be involved with assisting him or might be reluctant to talk to us to call us and to put an end to this," Lopez said. Officials were trying to raise up to $1 million dollars, according to LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith.
On Saturday, Chief Charlie Beck said officials would re-examine the allegations by Dorner that his law enforcement career was undone by racist colleagues. While he promised to hear out Dorner if he surrenders, Beck stressed that he was ordering a review of his 2007 case because he takes the allegation of racism in his department seriously.
"I do this not to appease a murderer. I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we do," the chief said in a statement.
Authorities suspect Dorner in a series of attacks in Southern California over the past week that have left three people dead. Authorities say he has vowed revenge against several former colleagues. The killings and threats that Dorner allegedly made in an online rant have led police to provide protection to 50 families, Beck said.
A captain who was named a target in the manifesto posted on Facebook told the Orange County Register he has not stepped outside his house since he learned of the threat.
"From what I've seen of (Dorner's) actions, he feels he can make allegations for injustice and justify killing people and that's not reasonable," said Capt. Phil Tingirides, who chaired a board that stripped Dorner of his badge. "The end never justifies the means."
Investigators have been examining the truck to determine if it broke down or was set ablaze as a diversion. Police say the truck had a broken axle. Investigators are trying to determine whether it was already broken when they found it, or whether it was damaged when it was towed away.
Also, newly released surveillance video showed Dorner tossing several items into a Dumpster behind an auto parts store in National City on Monday. The store's manager told FOX5 in San Diego that an employee found a magazine full of bullets, a military belt and a military helmet. Majid Yahyai said he and the employee took the items across the street to a police station.
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text:
I am new to the field of GIS and am trying to view source tags in OSM. I have downloaded the shapefiles from http://downloads.cloudmade.com and have loaded them into Postgres. When I view the data, I am unable to see any tagging data. Should I be following a different process or using shapefiles at all?
Download the OSM files (in .osm format) and import using osm2pgsql.
When using osm2pgsql, there's a file called
means that
It looks like the Cloudmade (and Geofabrik) shapefiles only have a minimum number of tags included. The free-form nature of tagging in OSM doesn't transfer to the shapefile format very easily.
You might want to consider a setting up a database if you want to use OSM data very extensively. OSM Stack Overflow suggests:
Shapefile on cloudmade server are final data made from osm data. If you want to get raw data (ie with osm tags) you need to download osm files.
You can find some information about how import osm files into PostGIS here: http://trac.osgeo.org/mapserver/wiki/RenderingOsmDataUbuntu
Hope it helps.


text:
A new era begins for Warren County Circuit Court Clerk.
Brandi Duvall was sworn in Saturday morning to a packed courtroom.
Duvall replaces long time Circuit Court Clerk Pat Goad who was defeated in the May primary.
She will be a new face to the office but Duvall says she is ready to get to work.
"I am grateful for everyone who voted for me. You know I said Warren County was ready for a change and we are. I intend on fulfilling my promise to be a great clerk and lead this office with the utmost respect," says Duvall.
Although she was sworn in on Saturday, Duvall's first official day will be January 2nd.


text:
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Policies & Procedures
The Policies and Procedures SIG develops promote the discipline of policies and procedures communication through networking, presentations, publications, and professional support.
We provide and support education, publications, resources, conference sessions, and networking opportunities on policies and procedures for our members, and to a limited extent, to non-members.
Discussion List: http://www.stc-pp.org/mail_lists/
- Name: Dawnell Claessen
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text:
Many times I find ideas of good things working in my head. Those ideas are good and I want to work on them tomorrow, also. And sometimes, I feel interested in a project/work, doing it with pleasure. But when I wake up after night's sleep, I do not find myself interested (at least much decreased in interest) on the matter, work or project.
I don't know why this is happening. My question is, "How can I keep myself interested even after night's sleep?"
Please note that I sometimes try to sleep by remembering the to-dos for tomorrow. But it only disturbs my sleep.


text:
Sorry if this isn't the right place for this, it hasn't gotten any answers on ME. I'm reading Lang's section on field theory and he stresses that, unlike typical "universal" constructions which are determined up to unique isomorphism, algebraic closures (and by extension, their Galois groups) are determined only up to automorphism (conjugation). It seems to me that there ought to be some interpretation of this in terms of bicategories (weak 2-categories). This intuition is supported by the fact that 2-cells are given by conjugation when we give Grp the structure of a 2-category (view groups as 1-object categories, get 2-cells via natural transformations). Is there any such interpretation?
I don't see bicategories coming into this in a useful way, but I think what you have is a consequence of two more general facts:
With the objects satisfying a universal property the comparison isomorphisms between them are unique, so that the groupoid of objects satisfying the universal property is codiscrete, i.e. there is exactly one morphism between any two objects, so in particular the vertex groups of this groupoid are trivial. For an object A in a concrete category (or in a category with a chosen class of 'embeddings') there is a groupoid of injective hulls of A that is not in general codiscrete, and so it can have non-trivial vertex groups. But this groupoid, though not codiscrete, is still connected, so that each vertex group is (non-uniquely!) isomorphic to every other via conjugation by a morphism (necessarily invertible) of injective hulls.
Edit: The fundamental group of a space, as in JSE's analogy, bears much the same relationship with the fundamental groupoid of the space -- in particular, $\pi_1$s at points in the same path-component are isomorphic via conjugation in the same way.
Not necessarily. In the higher category-theoretic setting one asks for a 'contractible space' of choices (space might mean simplicial set or n-category) instead of uniqueness. The natural 2-category one might define may not be the 'right' one to get such a collection of choices, and so one could define a 2-category such that these things are unique in the appropriate sense, but this might just be cooked up to give that result and not of intrinsic interest. For example, one can define the 2-category of fields where the underlying 1-category is $Fields$, and there is a unique 2-arrow between any two parallel 1-arrows. This is clearly not an interesting 2-category.
(Other examples of non-unique closures are given here: http://nlab.mathforge.org/nlab/show/completion#nonunique)


text:
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text:
The Eredivisie's top scorer could be on his way out of the GelreDome before Thursday, following his admission that his agent is currently speaking to several clubsWilfried Bony has admitted that he wants to leave Vitesse "as soon as possible" after suggesting that he may have played his last match for the Arnhem outfit.
The Cote d'Ivoire striker is leading the goalscoring charts in the Netherlands this season and recently took his tally for the campaign to 22, thanks to a hat-trick in Saturday's 5-3 victory over Heracles.
But in a shock revelation, the former Sparta Prague star claimed that he is ready to leave the club and will waste no time in securing a move away if he is presented with the right offer.
"If I have a chance to leave, I'll do so as soon as possible," Bony told Eredivisie Live. "My agent is in contact with several clubs.
"If I knew who they were, I would have told you. I only know that one of them is a club from Russia. I have maybe played my last match in the Eredivisie."


text:
Buster Posey Junior Giants Commissioner & San Francisco Giants Catcher
Junior Giants, the flagship program of the Giants Community Fund, is a free, non-competitive and innovative baseball program for boys and girls ages 5-18 years old.
In 1994, the Fund sought a program that would give at-risk kids a meaningful partnership with community-based organizations and provide an alternative to drugs, gangs and crime. The Junior Giants program now reaches over 22,000 children in 90 leagues across California and into Nevada and Oregon. The Community Fund provides all of the uniforms, equipment, and training necessary to run a league as well as tickets to select Giants games so the youth can experience a Major League Baseball game.
But more important than the fundamentals of baseball, Junior Giants focuses on the four bases of character development - Confidence, Integrity, Leadership and Teamwork - and offers programs in Education, Health and Violence Prevention. This framework is integrated into the Junior Giants handbook distributed to all of the kids and parents.
This program, presented by Bank of America, welcomes kids from all backgrounds and encourages them to live healthy and productive lives by getting outside and playing baseball!
Contact the Giants Community Fund staff regarding Junior Giants baseball
Giants Community Fund Hotline: 1.877.JR.GIANT
Email: email@example.com


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1958 Fod Thunderbird - Tribute T-BirdsWritten by on April 26, 2007 Richard Glymph's '58 Ford Thunderbird
Larry Watson was just a high school kid when he started putting paint to sheetmetal in a way that would make him famous and move custom car styling in a whole new direction. He's been credited with inventing scallops and panel painting, and was without a doubt years ahead of his time. It was Watson's '58 Thunderbird that got his name written indelibly in the custom car history books. If you've read those books, you know the story of how teenage Watson advance-ordered one of Ford's radically recreated T-birds from a dealership in late 1957 and, within three weeks, had it slammed and shaved, dressed up with Appleton spots, and completely repainted. Nobody knew what the car was, only that it was wearing the wildest paint job they'd ever seen. The custom was an instant sensation at drive-ins, car shows, and eventually, on the cover of the 1959 Custom Cars Annual.
Richard Glymph was in the 8th grade when that issue of CCA hit the newsstands. As soon as he saw Watson's T-bird on the front, he knew he wanted to be a painter. He started practicing on models, moved on to real cars, and has achieved his career goal with a great deal of success as paint man at Chandler Auto Body. By the time his own son, Brandon, was old enough to get interested, Richard had already owned a bunch of cools cars-but never a "square 'Bird" like the one that had inspired him.
That changed when he bought this '60 a few years back. The car was an original, second-owner car with only 53,000 miles under its wheels. The only modification at the time was the 2 inches of body filler added to hide a sideswipe scar.
The Thunderbird served as Brandon's daily driver for a couple of years. After the stock transmission died, Richard let the car sit for a couple more years, "while I was mad at it." Eventually, the inspiration came back. With help from his friends, the conversion from original to period custom progressed pretty quickly. In addition to shaved sheetmetal and rounded corners, the T-bird body was customized with a bullet-riddled '58 grille, '59 Pontiac taillights, an extended and opened scoop, and some amazing paint. The design is inspired by Watson's 'Bird, and the colors are reminiscent of Ray Moore's '52 Ford, painted by Watson during the same period. Even the chrome-taped 'stripes are a tip of the hat to a classic Watson technique.
Richard says that the paint "is not meant to copy Watson, but to pay tribute to the panel-painting era inspired by Watson's work." That's exactly what we thought when we saw Richard's custom at the Goodguys Nationals. The 1,000-mile round trip between Silver Spring, Maryland, and Columbus, Ohio, was the first big trip for the Thunderbird, which-like its inspiration-has been making a splash wherever it shows up. Now, here it is in Rod & Custom and-who knows?-maybe there's an 8th grader out there who just decided he wants to be a painter.
Richard Glymph
Silver Spring, Maryland
'60 Ford Thunderbird
As with true traditional customs from the '50s and '60s, the engine is the mildest part of the ride. In this case, the stock 352 was modified with an Edelbrock intake and single 4-bbl carburetor. The factory air cleaner was made over with a two-tone paint job, and Moon valve covers and breathers dress up the heads. Tony's Muffler (Glen Burnie, Maryland) provided the exhaust system, which includes coated header pipes, and Cherry Bomb mufflers. Carl Schinner (Highland, Maryland) assembled the C6 transmission.
Richard kept the car rolling on the original 'rails, suspended by coil springs and gas shocks. He dropped the body just enough by cutting a couple of coils up front and a pair of 3-inch lowering blocks in the rear. The stock drum brakes and steering box were also retained to keep things simple. Brandon Glymph, Len Smith, Ed Harper, and Butch Martin pitched in on chassis work.
Wheels & Tires
Reading Custom Cars Annual in his youth paid off when it was time to select the right wheel and tire combination. The rims are 14x6 repro Thunderbird wires from Wheel Vintiques with Diamond Back Classic whitewall radials to complete the look.
Body & Paint
Without Len Smith's and Ed Harper's sheetmetal work, Richard's paint wouldn't look nearly as good. All body flaws were remedied, all emblems and handles were shaved, and the hood front corners were radiused. Two inches were added to the opened-up scoop, filled with a floating bar. The '58 Thunderbird mesh grille was treated to 27 bullets, matching a pair of larger bullets in the rear bumpers. Chrome mesh backing was added to the '59 Pontiac Bonneville taillights. The spots are genuine Appletons, transplanted from Richard's '54 Chevy hardtop. When it was time for paint, there was only one way to go: the way pointed by Watson in the '50s. Richard used pearl white paint for a base coat, and shot the panels with PPG Prowler orange. Richard and Brandon are responsible for the graphics. Watson invented the use of chrome tape for graphics, and it was applied here for that very reason.
The interior works hard to not out-shout the exterior, although it's hard to beat stock seats still wearing the original black leather, matched by the custom dash pad and loop pile carpet from Doug's Upholstery. The gauges were rebuilt at Classic Instruments, and the stereo system is from Custom Auto Sound.


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Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
Shopping for a ½ size? Order down to the next smallest whole size.
risk free shopping:
Skimmer Flat
Your daily runaround is much more comfortable in the Duet Busy Day Skimmer. It starts with the stretch uppers that give you an easy fit, yet they still feel secure on your feet. So you can dash from errand to errand and feel good all day.
Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer details:
- Stretchy soft shell uppers
- Croslite™ material footbed for all-day comfort and cushion
- Easy on, easy off
- Just put them on and go
deep cushion:
feels soft with all day support.
deep cushion:
feels soft with all day support.
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®by PowerReviews
- Lightweight (15)
- Stylish/fashionable (12)
- Easy on/easy off (11)
- Fun! (8)
- Washable (7)
Best Uses
- Wear everywhere (11)
- Wear outdoors (8)
- Wear for fun! (7)
- Wear to work (6)
- Width:
Feels narrow
Feels true to size
Feels wide
(43 reviews)
- Size:
Feels small
Feels true to size
Feels large
(44 reviews)
- Comfort:
Very comfortable
(52 reviews)
- Durability:
Very durable
(48 reviews)
- Reviewer Profile:
- Comfort-seeking (13), Casual dresser (10), Fun! (5), Stylish/fashionista (5)
Most Liked Positive Review
Comfy but stinky
It fits great, feels like water shoes in a way, (material kind of feels like that). The soles are great, your feet aren't achy after 8 hours standing and walking around in...Read complete review
It fits great, feels like water shoes in a way, (material kind of feels like that). The soles are great, your feet aren't achy after 8 hours standing and walking around in the hospital. I thought it looked ugly from the pictures online, but in person they are not as bad. Looks decent. Con: hard to wear socks with them, and without the socks your feet starts to sweat and gets stinky after awhile because the soles are rubbery with no vent in the shoes. I normally wear 7-7.5, but with crocs 7 fits well.
Most Liked Negative Review
One of the worst shoes ever!
I bought this shoe for work, I do a lot of standing and walking. My go to once I get home are Crocs sandals in summer, and Crocs clogs in winter they are...Read complete review
I bought this shoe for work, I do a lot of standing and walking. My go to once I get home are Crocs sandals in summer, and Crocs clogs in winter they are comfy! I thought I would be buying a comfortable shoe comparable to the comfort in my other crocs. I'm so dissatisfied. First the shoe does run narrow, I had to go a size up, the shoe is also tight on the top of my foot and digs in, the back of the heel, gave me blisters while wearing socks. The comfort, well there really isn't any, only the removable insert is made with the Croc material that the sandals and clogs are made of. The bottom portion is made out of some very hard rubber.. To be fair I wore the shoes for a full month to try to get them broken in, everyday they now get more uncomfortable and my feet are crying well before my shift ends. My worst regret is I bought 2 because it was such a good deal.....
Reviewed by 723 customers
Displaying reviews 1-10
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Comments about Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer:
Soft and comfy, very light weight, love them
Comments about Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer:
I slipped these on and it was like walking on air. Love them!
Comments about Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer:
Super comfortable!! Love them!!
Comments about Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer:
Love, love, love these!! Color is true to the picture & fit was spot on!! Wish there were more colors in this style!!
Comments about Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer:
Oh my goodness,more than I expected! So comfortable, from the first day, with or without socks..thank you Crocs co.
Comments about Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer:
love them they do however run a little small..they are very comfortable. my husband loves them also.
Comments about Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer:
Yayyy! Comfy. Wearing them now, wore them all day. Last time I wore them it rained and they got all muddy....the mud just washed off and these pink shoes looked new again. Yayyy!
- Easy on/Easy off
- Lightweight
- Sturdy
- Unstylish/Unfashionable
- Where's the Fun?
Best Uses
- Wear Outdoors
Comments about Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer:
Bought these on sale for my mom, who suffers from a heel spur. They only had a size 10 in the store, and my mom is a wide footed size 8.5. So in Crocs she usually would go with a size 9 in the standard fit and an 8 in the relaxed fit. These shoes seem to run pretty small even for a standard fit, so when she tried on the size 10 it fit pretty well. I'm sure if we had bought the size 9 it would have fit, as well but might have been a little too snug for her foot with socks. She uses this shoe when she goes walking so I think the size 10 works for her purpose. It was comfortable for her, and she didn't feel any real pain.
Although a comfortable feature for the shoe is the fact that it has a fabric upper, I find it very unattractive. I also think that adds to the poor shape of the upper part of the shoe. It doesn't slip on and off as easily as you would think, but I wouldn't say that I was a deal breaker. I would have not bought it at full price though.
I also am not sure how long this shoe will last, or whether the fabric will come apart from the seams but I guess I will have to just see.
- Width:
- Feels narrow
- Size:
- Feels small
- Comfort:
- Comfortable
- Durability:
- Durable
Comments about Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer:
So comfortable
Comments about Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer:
Very comfortable shoes! I work standing all day and I usually leave work with my feet and legs killing me. Well, now I have no feet or leg pain. They are very light, and super comfy!! I'm very happy with my purchase!!!
Displaying reviews 1-10
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Do you have questions about this product?
Get answers from real customers and in-house experts with AnswerBox.
Q:Why did you stop making ladies size 12. I use to buy a lot of crocs, now I can't. I want a black, beige and white pair of cleos in ladies size 12Asked on 4/18/2016 by Linda
1 answer
A:I am so sorry that the Crocs Women's Duet Busy Day Skimmer is not offered in the size you need. At this time we are not expecting to go above size in this style, but your comments have been forwarded to our production team.Answered on 4/26/2016 by Cosmic Cassi from Crocs
Q:Can these shoes be hand or machine washed???Asked on 2/25/2016 by Lorraine from United States
1 answer
A:Keep your fully molded Croslite™ material Crocs shoes clean by hand washing them with cold water and soap. Please do not clean your Crocs shoes in the dishwasher or washing machine, as exposure to extreme heat may cause the Croslite material to shrink.Answered on 3/1/2016 by Wonderful Wanda from Crocs
Q:Hi are these non slipAsked on 12/9/2015 by Pam from Ny
1 answer
A:This style is not slip resistant. You may find slip resistant styles here: http://www.crocs.com/c/shop-by/activity/slip-resistant-shoesAnswered on 12/10/2015 by Wonderful Wanda from Crocs
Q:What is the fabric for the upper part of the shoe? Is it neoprene? Telling me that it is "stretchy" doesn't tell me what type of fabric it is.Asked on 11/26/2015 by Angie Mom of 6 from OR
1 answer
A:The upper on this shoe consists of Neoprene, Mesh, and Synthetic Nubuck.Answered on 1/29/2016 by BUSYDRE from CROCS
Q:is there any arch support in these shoes? If so, how much.Asked on 11/4/2015 by B from United States
1 answer
A:For our flats, we offer little to no arch support. I would highly suggest looking into some of our RX collection that offer a lot more for your needs. http://www.crocs.com/c/shop-by/activity/medical-relief-shoesAnswered on 11/4/2015 by Wonderful Wanda from Crocs
Q:Is this product available in red color and size 7?Asked on 9/23/2015 by Thandeka
1 answer
A:Unfortunately we do not have any plans to offer the red color option at this time.Answered on 9/24/2015 by Helpful Heather from Crocs
Q:I want to buy the navy one but you out of 9 I want the sale price. Do you have more?Asked on 8/29/2015 by Leo from Cary, nc
1 answer
A:I am very sorry, but at this time we do not have an expected date for additional Duet Busy Day Skimmers to be added in the navy/pool color option to be added.Answered on 8/31/2015 by Helpful Heather from Crocs
Q:Looking for a size 7 , the colors I like on here don't show my size .. Will you be getting more in at this price?Asked on 8/18/2015 by Pattie from Amite. La.
1 answer
A:I do not have an expected time for additional stock to be added in this style. Please feel free to check out some of our other Duet Busy Day styles, which are offered in a handful of other color options.Answered on 8/18/2015 by Helpful Heather from Crocs
Q:So which is it? The same rep tells one person to go up a half size and then 2 questions later she tells another to go down a half size. What?Asked on 8/17/2015 by Toots from Boston
1 answer
A:Apologies for any confusion. Certain individuals with especially narrow feet may find going down to the smaller whole size to be more ideal. However, as this style is offered in our standard fit, I will usually recommend going up to the next largest whole size. Our standard fit option is our least roomy or wide, so you may find going down to be too small. If you find that you need to create a return or have additional sizing questions, feel free to contact our customer service team. You can call them at 1-866-306-3179 or e-mail/live-chat here: http://www.crocs.com/cs-contact-methods/cs-contact-methods-v2.html.Answered on 8/18/2015 by Helpful Heather from Crocs
Q:Are they slip resistant?Asked on 8/9/2015 by Knat from Marietta, GA
1 answer
A:The Duet Busy Day Skimmer style does not feature special slip-resistant tread. Certain Crocs shoes offer CrocsLock tread, which provides slip-resistance that exceeds industry standards. Please note that while they are slip resistant, they are not completely slip proof. Please use general caution as you would in any other shoe. You can see our collection of slip-resistant styles here: http://www.crocs.com/c/shop-by/activity/slip-resistant-shoes.Answered on 8/13/2015 by Helpful Heather from Crocs


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WHEELING - About 11 months have passed since the Hockey Club of the Ohio Valley took ownership of the Wheeling Nailers.
Team governor Don Rigby, who also is executive director of the Regional Economic Develop Partnership, has seen and learned a lot during that time.
''It's not as new, but it is still new,'' Rigby said of running the team. ''It's getting more comfortable. We're putting together what we think is the long-term plan. To make the turnaround we want to have, it has to be long term.''
Article Photos
Photo provided
WHEELING?NAILERS?goalie Scott Darling and the rest of his teammates are a winter hit throughout the Ohio Valley.
Things appear headed in the right direction.
Rigby said the organization is near its financial projections, which is somewhat surprising given the late start it was left with following the purchase. In three years, he hopes to have made the team a profitable one.
''Do we feel pressure? Yes,'' Rigby said. ''Is it overwhelming? No.
''Would we be willing for a small loss on an ongoing basis? Sure, but not huge losses.''
Not long after the sale was approved, ownership - which includes team alternate governor Tim Roberts, president of the Wheeling Amateur Hockey Association - sat down with WesBanco Arena Executive Director Dennis Margruder and city officials to see how viable upgrades would be on the 35-year-old arena. Video boards on each end of the building were installed, as well as drink stations and flat-screen televisions throughout. The concourse was painted to match the colors of the team - Vegas Gold and Black.
''Along with the city, we've put some money into the arena and we're sitting back and seeing what our capital plan for next year will be,'' Rigby said. ''We're going through that process right now to see how we can do that next year and the year after.''
Rigby said he and fans of the team wish things would come together a little more quickly, but he admitted only so much is possible. Rigby noted The Hockey Club of the Ohio Valley has spent a little more capital than was originally planned, but not substantially.
''There are limitations, some that the arena itself brings, and there's some that finances bring,'' Rigby said. ''In many of the other arenas that we have been to, and we're starting to make the treks to more, the concourses are bigger and wider. There's more opportunities for different types of things.
''So far the reaction has been positive to the video boards and a little more of what I would call the 'show and the experience,'" he said. "I think it's been better than it had been in the past.''
One of the more popular additions is the DeNoon Lumber Suite, which is located in the southeast corner of the arena and available for rental during each game. It is designed to accommodate 40 patrons and features a pair of flat-screen televisions, a bar and catering service upon request.
''That's a perfect example where someone gets in and does it and comes back a second time and a third time,'' Rigby said of the suite.
''Not to name names, but we have one group who's been there four times. We're going to look at other suites but don't know that it will be exactly like what we've got here.
''High on our list would be to do at least one more suite somewhere next year,'' he added.
Though attendance has dipped - the Nailers are last in the ECHL with an average of 2,460 fans a game - the season ticket holder numbers are at an all-time high. The next step is to focus on group sales, which Rigby said have been OK despite the late start his group received.
''That is our task. We are by far the smallest market, but our season tickets are very strong,'' he said. ''We're working on our groups, and that's the hardest to do late in the game. The staff is beginning now for next year.''
Nailers merchandise is flying off the shelves at a break-neck pace, according to Craig Bommer, vice president of business operations, noting "several items have been reordered six or seven times." He has a firm grasp on the reasons for the spike in sales.
''It helps changing the logo, changing the colors,'' Bommer said. ''It gives them something new, and I think we're giving them better quality.''
Rigby noted that although corporate support for the club has always been good, it is now ''exceptional.''
''I think the vibe in the corporate world is 'now this is our team' and they want to be a part of it. I see it every day,'' Bommer said.
''Having RED involved with all their contacts, people want to help them.
''It hasn't happened in the past, but this year I've actually had people say I need to help more ... 'what can I do to help? Where can I spend?'" he continued. ''I think there will be even more next year.''
If everything goes according to plan from a profit standpoint, Rigby sees no reason to believe the Nailers won't remain in Wheeling for many years. He laughed and said he's not going to make any promises.
''We still believe that we can get it there. Keep your fingers crossed, but we think we can get it there within three years,'' Rigby said. ''We'll figure out a way to do it.
''It's a constant change and switch, but that's no different than anyone else that runs any kind of business," he added. "You have to react to what's out there and the changes in the marketplace and all those kinds of things.''
As for the arena upgrades, WesBanco Arena Executive Director Denny Magruder said while the improvements will obviously benefit the arena for other events, the upgrades made over the past year to the 35-year-old venue were made to "directly" benefit the Nailers organization and its fan base.
"It's a mutual venture right now - the hockey organization, the City of Wheeling, and the arena," said Magruder. "It's a three-party arrangement right now. ... It's still a work in progress," he added, while referring to plans for continued updates at the arena later in the year.
Magruder said all parties involved "have enough faith in each other" to move forward with improvements at the arena without having all the final pieces puzzle figured out yet. "We have to grow into this," he added.
"In general I think the fans have been very pleased. "The dream now is to add some pretty sophisticated cameras to the system," he added. He said this would allow for unique opportunities like displaying instant replay for fans attending hockey games.
Staff Writer Scott McCloskey contributed to this report


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During World War 2, what government branches, if any, existed in Germany? I've always heard about the Third Reich and Hitler, but I never heard about the rest of the government.
The government of the Third Reich evolved and subverted the institutions of the parliamentary Weimar Republic established in 1919.
Before the ascension of the Nazi party in January 1933 the legislative branch of the government was comprised of the Reichsrat, representing the various Länder (German states) and the Reichstag, a parliament elected according to a system of proportional representation.
As soon as Hitler gained power he began undermining the power of these branches of government and working towards a centralist, totalitarian dictatorship. These changes occurred incrementally:
So by 1938 local and state governments were controlled by Nazi Party leaders, known as Gauleiters. The central government itself was made up of competing, overlapping power structures all vying for personal power. The result was a convoluted and often divided administration with a tendency to implement the more radical and extreme elements of Hitler's ideology in order to gain favour with Hitler. They called it "working toward the Fuehrer." Because there was such competition to win favor (and power) by anticipating and implementing the Fuehrer's will, a process of "progressive radicalization" ensued.
To say that something like the Final Solution unfolded because the system was geared for progressively radical solutions to be dreamed up and trie dout is called "functionalism" or "structuralism". When looking from a systems perspective, it is easy to overlook the fact that Hitler did stand at the top and that the Nazis had an ideology or "worldview". When you look at Mein Kampf and the Secret Book and look at how events unfolded, you can see enough correlation to think that Hitler was indeed masterminding the whole thing, and that all unfolded through Hitler pulling the puppet strings. Quite a fair amount of that happened. There was no progressive radicalization without the Fuehrer's approval. If you put Hitler's will and ideology at the top of the causal chain, that is "intentionalism".
There are two opposing opinions on the efficacy of this system (from Hitler's perspective). 'Intentionalists' believe Hitler created that system to ensure the total loyalty and deduction of his supporters and prevent conspiracy and betrayal. 'Structuralists' believe that the system evolved by itself and limited Hitler's totalitarian power. Now we know that the Nazi regime was a bit of both.


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In the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims. The property crime category includes arson because the offense involves the destruction of property; however, arson victims may be subjected to force. Because of limited participation and varying collection procedures by local law enforcement agencies, only limited data are available for arson. Arson statistics are included in trend, clearance, and arrest tables throughout Crime in the United States, but they are not included in any estimated volume data. The arson section in this report provides more information on that offense.
The data presented in Crime in the United States reflect the Hierarchy Rule, which requires that only the most serious offense in a multiple-offense criminal incident be counted. In descending order of severity, the violent crimes are murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, followed by the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. The Hierarchy Rule does not apply to the offense of arson.


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WACO (November 12, 2012)- Two people were in a local hospital Monday evening after a three car accident.
The wreck happened just before 6 p.m. Monday near the intersection of Lake Air Drive and Valley Mills in Waco.
There were three vehicles involved in the wreck, police said.
One of the vehicles involved, a red Mustang left the scene before police could get there, police said.
Two people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, police said.
There were two other people involved in the wreck who were not hurt, police said.