text:
Your Journey
So he's proposed and you've accepted… now it's time to find that dress
After decades in the bridal and high-fashion industries we have amassed a veritable treasure-trove of knowledge that we would like to share with you in order to help make the whole process, from finding your dream dress, to walking down the aisle as smooth and special as possible. Under the headings below you should find all the information that you require, and some that you may not have even thought of yet! Please take the time to expand each heading, and don't forget that you can feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
Our designers truly are the leaders of the industry and are the epitome of ultimate luxury. These gowns are cut and made in the UK (to the main) to order for each bride. We are proud to have a close, one to one relationship with each designer and work exclusively with them on your behalf.
The list of designers we represent is equivalent to the 'royal flush', each being the top designer of their category and style.
Suzanne Neville – unsurpassed in her hour glass figure enhancing corsetry with contemporary design.
Stewart Parvin – understated elegance with superb, subtle cut.
Alice Temperley – utterly feminine, luxurious, eclectic and timeless.
David Fielden – Creative, uber cool, sophisticated yet outstanding feminine cut.
Caroline Castigliano – Refined class, relaxed glamour and sartorial sensuality.
Clinton Lotter – Impeccable detail, contemporary style and quintessential design.
Directors Carina Baverstock and Lucy Hayward-Rodgers have both had years of experience in both the fashion and bridal industry. It is their passion and it shows in every aspect of the standards upheld throughout the Carina Baverstock Couture experience.
The style of service during your consultation is truly genuine and often candid whilst always understanding of each bride's individualities, worries and often very moving stories.
Each member of this highly trained team will always give you their best to ensure you make decisions with confidence and knowledge. Carina Baverstock Couture is respected by top designers and brides alike – word of mouth is a powerful thing and of course receiving two major national awards speaks volumes.
Carina Baverstock Couture
11 Silver Street
01225 866610
It is important to choose the right boutique for you. Bridal boutiques vary hugely in both style and price ranges, from between £600 to over £6000! You need to be sure you book the boutique that's right for you.
There should be no embarrassment in discussing budget. In order for us to help you as much as we can, straight forward honesty is the best policy. We start from around £2000 and can go beyond £5000, with most sitting between £2000 and £3000. There are, of course, charges for the complete alteration package or, if required, made-to-measure and toile. We also have our sample boutique where high quality designer gowns can be obtained at massively reduced prices. Please enquire further when booking your appointment.
We give approximately 1½ hours. During weekdays, there is no charge for this service which is a one to one consultation with an experienced stylist.
At the beginning of your consultation at Carina Baverstock Couture the stylists will listen to you and take time to get to know you and your sense of style. She will use her expertise in interpreting that into your perfect bridal gown which truly enhances your beauty. She will guide you through styles, silhouettes, necklines, colour and textures which are best for you.
If you really talk to her about your figure worries, she will be empathetic and become your new best friend in helping you feel confident about that area of your body.
The stylist will be honest and frank with you. (We believe brides know when you're lying to them!) We have a selection of shoes/strapless bras for you to wear during your consultation so no need to bring your own unless you wish to. It is always best to wear nude or pale underwear to your consultation, and as you are being 'dressed' by one of us, we're sure you'll want to wear decent knickers that cover you!
We will then guide you through trying on several dresses from our stunning collection (usually between 5 and 8 dresses) and offer advice and guidance as we go to help you narrow in on the perfect one for you!
On Saturdays we charge a £30 fee. As these consultations are so in demand, we need a serious commitment to booking. If you would like a private VIP consultation, please ask however this may not be possible on a Saturday.
There is no charge for consultations on weekdays.
As you can see from our Sample Boutique page we have a stunning range of designer samples for sale here in the boutique. Samples are dresses that have been used here in the boutique for trying on or for photo shoots and are therefore available with up to 50% off their normal retail prices. This makes buying a sample a really clever way of finding your dream dress within your dream budget!Samples are sold on a first come, first served basis so if you really want to grab that gown at a sensational price then please make sure to come to your sample appointment with everyone you would need to consult before committing to your dress, and also all of your finances in place. Sample gowns are paid in full at time of purchase so do make sure you bear that in mind as they are in demand and you may not get a second chance! There is obviously only one size of each sample available, but don't worry if you are not the exact size of the sample then all is not lost. We have a fabulous team of couture level fitters who are on hand to adjust your sample gown to fit you like it was made for you. Sample gowns can be sized down in such a way that retains the proportions of the gown – and in some cases, even if you are slightly larger than the sample size then we can occasionally work our magic there too! Please do let us know that you are interested in samples when you telephone or email to book in for your consultation- and do keep an eye out for our special sample events.
We love little ones but please try not to bring them with you to your very special consultation. We want you to be able to soak up every moment and not feel distracted, plus sometimes crying babies can upset others brides' enjoyment in the boutique.
During consultations, photographs are not permitted. These do not help anyone. Often the sample gowns do not fit well and that is what the onlooker of the photograph will focus on. Having a photo of a dress three sizes too small does not build confidence and there is already so much information on the internet that you can usually find a photo of your dress. This overload of website exposure has definitely added to the bridal 'wobbles' and nerve wracking worries.
In our experience your appointment should be a wonderful, private experience for you and your chosen advisor. Allow yourself to feel what's right, and do not get obsessed with your figure or what your friend looked like when she got married.
PLEASE don't leave the ordering of your chosen gown too late. Magazines often give out wrong information about this. Some companies can do less than six months, others need more according to how busy they are or the fabric involved where the fabric is sourced. With time, we can do anything.
Congratulations on selecting your dream wedding dress and for becoming a Carina Baverstock Couture bride!
Your relationship manager and her assistant will now hold your hand and advise you through any wobbles or queries you may have, do not hesitate to contact us with any questions at all. She will now process your order with your chosen designer and follow the orders placed with us through on your behalf. She is also there to organise all fitting appointments so feel free to call or she will contact you at the key points during the process.
These are highly trained, couture standard seamstresses. She is your new best friend and she will work with you, advising you on the right underwear, the fit of the dress and of course, carry out necessary alterations for you to ensure perfect fit. Finally she will press and professionally pack your gown for collection.
If you are struggling to find good underwear that will work with your dress, then we may have found the perfect solution for your backless, frontless and strapless needs! Please click on the following link to view this great range: www.enderlegard.com
Where possible, we will always endeavour to keep you with the same fitter throughout the entire process with us. We believe that it is best for you to see a familiar face and build a relationship with your fitter. We have two highly-trained fitters who work on opposite days of the week, one on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the other on Wednesdays and Fridays. When booking in you will be asked which day of the week is generally best for you and we would ask you to try and stick to that day for you measurement appointments, toile appointment (where applicable) and of course the first and second fit of your dress.
We will contact you at the key points throughout your journey with us to book in for your relevant fitting appointments, or do feel free to contact us.
We have two highly-trained fitters who work on opposite days of the week, one on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the other on Wednesdays and Fridays. When booking in you will be asked which day of the week is generally best for you and we would ask you to try and stick to that day for your measurement appointment, toile appointment (where applicable) and of course the first and second fit of your dress.
Please work with us and keep holiday days or half days for your all-important fittings! Buying the dress is just the first step, the fittings process is just as important and will make the gown truly yours.
These are held in our beautiful, brand new, private fitting rooms tucked away behind our boutique.
FIRSTLY – Breathe Deeply and Relax – and remember that your first fit of your actual gown is to 'perfect the fit' – don't expect it to be perfect yet – that is why you are with us, so that we can get it just right for you.
You are working with experienced, fully trained, in-house bridal fitters and couture level seamstresses who will ensure you have a beautifully fitted dress but please observe the following to help them achieve this:
- DON'T bring hoards of people with you to your fittings – just your mum or a bridesmaid as a second pair of eyes, preferably it should be the person dressing you on the day.
- DO remember your BRA and SHOES! Our fitters cannot do their job without these.
- Bring a choice of bras (leave the labels on!) and allow the fitter to advise the best bra for you and your dress. If you are struggling to find good underwear that will work with your dress, then we may have found the perfect solution for your backless, frontless and strapless needs! Please click on the following link to view this great range: www.enderlegard.com
- Knickers should be nude and seamless
- Choose shoes which are comfortable and will last the whole day and evening. If you change to a lower shoe later on your wedding day, your dress will 'drag' across the floor.
- DON'T photograph yourself in the dress. These photos taken on mobile phoes cause more neuroses and upset as they seldom show true perspective or proportion. Use your eye and the mirrors provided.
- At first fit DECIDE with the fitter on everything you feel needs to be done on your dress so that by the second fit, it should all be perfect for you. It is imperative you hold your weight between first and second fit. Third fits are available, but the less your dress is handled, the more pristine it will remain and the fewer additional costs you will incur.
- ARRIVE on time for your fittings. Unfortunately we cannot keep the next bride waiting, so it will be your appointment that is cut short.
- SMILE – you are a lucky girl wearing the most beautiful dress in the world!


text:
By Carrie Lofty
I'm a historian and an author. Sometimes I get too worked up about the history stuff, especially about the World War II era—the setting for my latest historical romance, His Very Own Girl. So bear with me while I jabber history stuff, and then we can get to the kissing… Because Joe and Lulu do a lot of kissing (and more)!
Before television, the nightly news, and goofy local weather forecasters, people only had one source of news that featured moving pictures: the newsreel. Generally brief and themed to a particular topic, newsreels were documentary films that covered world events, topical and local concerns, and entertainment gossip.
Much like movie previews today, the newsreels preceded a feature film, or else were sandwiched between two features as part of the intermission. In the 1930s and 40s, newsreels were so essential that many large cities had dedicated newsreel movie houses, and even smaller movie houses had dedicated theaters that showed the latest newsreels on a continuous loop all day—the original 24-hours news channels!
Soldiers were provided regular briefings about the progress of the war throughout the world. Often, if at camp, those briefings were accompanied by newsreel footage in makeshift tents. Here, the hero of His Very Own Girl, a paratrooper medic named Joe Weber, reflects on what he'd seen:
A frosty rain sprinkled down from low-lying clouds. Across the field of rain-drenched scrub, the riflemen of Baker Company were completing a morning of target practice. Soon enough they'd be back in the woods for combat scenarios. Smitty still had money on their dropping into France. Joe still couldn't care less.
No, that wasn't true. After the newsreel footage they'd seen of vicious hand-to-hand combat on the Marshall Islands, he was glad to be anywhere other than the South Pacific. The medics there had to battle typhus and jungle rot and a host of other tropical diseases, ones Joe had only heard about. His shiver had little to do with the chilly English rain.
Although early newsreels were silent, the clips were fully narrated by WWII. Allied
governments employed the best writers of that generation to make the news more palatable and patriotic. For example, both Dylan Thomas and John Steinbeck wrote newsreel scripts. You can hear the rhetoric and dramatic music in this vintage reel describing the attack on Pearl Harbor:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyjicU83-Zs&w=300&h=225]
Yay! You made it! Time for kissing. Here Lulu Davies, a British civilian pilot, and Joe are attending a picture show where newsreels were so common—but also common was live entertainment before and between features, including…shall we say…morale building!
"I want you to look to your left or your right. If you're here with a grand girl, if you're here with some brave boy, I want you to turn to that dear soul . . . and give them a big fat kiss for victory!"
Laughter and shouts were his reward. And then people throughout the theater began to do just as he'd asked. Couple by couple, men and women melted into each other's arms. Some were tentative. Some were eager. Some looked as if they wouldn't be sticking around for the feature.
Joe turned to Lulu. She was a tall girl, taller than he remembered. Her flushed-face excitement had not subsided. He took hold of her upper arms and pulled her close. He gave her every chance to back away or stiffen or shake her head.
Instead, their eyes met. The packed theater disappeared.
The jolt of that first touch of lip to lip snapped through him like the pulse of machine gun fire—sharp, quick, startling. The warmth of her mouth, firm and soft and giving, blew every thought from his mind. Their tongues touched, withdrew, and then pressed onward.
She tasted salty and sweet at once. Joe encircled her back, pulling her closer. Her hands wove into the hair along his nape, and her breasts pillowed against his chest.
When his body swiftly responded, eager for even more, he raised his head.
Lulu laughed. "Lipstick," she said simply.
At least the war knew how to add a few sweet surprises to an otherwise harrowing time. Best way to get through!
Summer has been a blast! Available now from Pocket Books are three Christy Family romances. FLAWLESS kicked it off with a tale of an estranged couple's search for love. The 99¢ tie-in novella, "A LITTLE MORE SCANDAL" follows two aspiring lovers to London. And the Scottish-set second novel, STARLIGHT, was an RT BookReviews 4½ Star Top Pick. "Richly nuanced characters and a superbly realized Victorian setting come together brilliantly." ~ The Chicago Tribune
I've also launched a co-written pseudonym, Katie Porter, with my long-time friend and critique partner, Lorelie Brown. Our "Vegas Top Guns" series of contemporary erotic romances launched from Samhain with DOUBLE DOWN and INSIDE BET, both of which were RT BookReviews 4½ Star Top Picks: "This racy, raunchy, hella good read…will move Fifty Shades of Grey to the children's section of the bookstore."
Where to find me:
Twitter: @carrielofty
**I'd like to give away a digital copy of HIS VERY OWN GIRL in any format. Just answer: Because news sources have changed so much, I'm curious—where do you get your news? No need to name a TV station or newspaper, just the medium and why.**
Giveaway open internationally until 9-21-12 at 11:59pm EST
Thanks again to Ramblings of a Chaotic Mind for featuring His Very Own Girl!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Opt for a clean-up with exfoliation or Italian Rica wax to flaunt flawless skin. Our highly trained professionals always have the right solution to ta...View Profile Favourite
They can tremendously help cover limp, weak hair and make it look gorgeously beautiful, thick, long, colored or styled. Super-straight, shiny tresse...View Profile Favourite
Guided by the vision of "Transforming Lives", the VLCC Group seeks to urge self transformation, spread happiness and imbibe every individual with...View Profile Favourite


text:
Clarkson Reunion 2005
I received a notice in the mail today about our five year Clarkson reunion. Is it July 7-10, 2005. It would be great to see some of those people you never expected to see again, but is it worth going to? Has anyone else made a decision yet if they are going to go or not? Who would you like to see again?
Here is who I would like to see again [1] :
- Mike Akers, Marshall Hayden, Kevin Makles, and Ryan Esty
- Always a fun group of guys to hang out with and do tech stuff with. I read Mike's blog periodically. We took a trip to North Caronlina to the 5th (and last) Linux Expo and we saw Linus at the first LinuxWorld New York. Great memories!
- Tino
- My advisor. I regret not meeting him for breakfast the day before graduation. What can I say? I didn't like getting up early in the morning and I still don't. My bad.
- Kelly Turner
- We had a lot of classes together. At graduation she didn't know what she was going to do with her math degree. I wonder what she ended up doing.
- Charlene Sickler
- She was one of those people that would make me smile, no matter how grouchy I was, just by passing by in the hallway and saying, "Hi." I think she was heading to the D.C. area to use her Environmental Science and Policy degree.
- Ben Stein
- Ben skipped the first year of C.S. like I did. He was a really smart guy, but I think he has a big StarCraft addiction. I didn't see him in class much senior year. I hope he's done well for himself.
|Before the guys that I saw this summer say, "Hey! Don't you want to see us again?" YES I DO. The thing is, I know I'll see you again. We keep in touch. I don't know what these people are up to anymore.


text:
Collection organisation essay
MANAGING/EFFECTING THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS By Margaret A. Richardson. organisation can select each other in their own best short and long term … Essay About Organisation personal statement scholarship essay sample; essay. the best australian essays a tenyear collection; how long is a general essay; aim behind collecting data, types of data collected, methods used and how the collection of the data supports the department's practices. It will also give
Examining the Organizational Structure Of Academic Libraries Essay 2 Rebecca J. Wedl Library 204-02 Professor Kenneth Dowlin Spring, 2003 Oct 21, 2016 · Essay on Some Important Organisation Structure Designs! Organizational structure according to George and Jones, "is the formal system of … Writing the Thesis pg. 1 Writing the Thesis Mark C. Griffin, Department of Anthropology, San Francisco State University, San. data collection (field and or.
Collection organisation essay
Marine Organisation Essay.. is itself a little complex and certain matters have to be comprehended and fishing is a marine operation as it involves collection of. Analysing organisation. Masters. Essay. Management. Pages 12. Data Collection Information on SWOT from primary and secondary sources made the bulk of … essay on my dream organisation essay on my dream organisation grade 7 essay writing tips websites that will do your homework global warming research paper … They have the largest database collection of well written essays on the Internet. So first try a search for a pre-written essay on your topic, as we are fairly.
Patterns of Organization. Chronological Patterns ; Sequential Patterns; Spatial Patterns; Compare-Contrast Patterns; Advantages- Disadvantages Patterns A library is a collection of sources of information and similar resources, made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or. Through HR data collection an organisation can: 1). We will write a custom essay sample on HR data collection or any similar topic specifically for you for only. The Methodology of Organizational Diagnosis. article include entry, data collection, and feedback. The methods described here are self-correcting.
Organisation Culture as there are many ways in which. In this essay, organisational culture will be. organisational culture is defined as the collection of. Patterns of Organization. Chronological Patterns ; Sequential Patterns; Spatial Patterns; Compare-Contrast Patterns; Advantages- Disadvantages Patterns Essay on my dream organization Cleaning my room essay Essay on realism theory criticism pro essay on gay marriages black macbeth disturbed character essay … Do attitudes predict behaviour essay Essay on my dream organization.MY DREAM ORGANISATION Every. Read this essay. The essay was included in a collection …
... Business and Management thesis and dissertation collection.. The Effects of Instrumental and Symbolic Organisation. Our Essay editing services are. Oct 21, 2016 · Essay on Some Important Organisation Structure Designs! Organizational structure according to George and Jones, "is the formal system of …


text:
"Meaningless killing in the name of religion can no longer be tolerated."
These are words we heard in a news report on the killings in Dhaka, Bangladesh (01 July 2016). They were uttered by a local Muslim man.
copyright 2016 – larrysmusings.com
"Meaningless killing in the name of religion can no longer be tolerated."
These are words we heard in a news report on the killings in Dhaka, Bangladesh (01 July 2016). They were uttered by a local Muslim man.
copyright 2016 – larrysmusings.com
Recently, the possibility that Japan and/or South Korea might acquire nuclear weapons has come to the public's attention. (Donald Trump may have mentioned this recently.) This idea is not really new. We first read of this possibility back in the summer of 2005 in an article in the Wall Street Journal.
Let us consider this scenario in this essay.
The United Nations is currently working towards imposing a regimen of global taxes on consumers around the world. Such a global tax will be discussed at the World Humanitarian Summit in May this year to be held in Istanbul, Turkey. Taxing the citizens of the world is also on the agenda of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Why is this important, why should we be concerned?
We now play the role of social critic.
Today, Muslim immigrants seek to subvert Europe from within. There is no assimilation nor accommodation possible for these militant, angry Muslims. Is there a European future for Europe?
A post Christian, secularized, socialist Europe has lost its sense of itself, lost its soul, lost its courage. And, is thus far not up to meeting the challenge of Islam.
the current situation
There is increasing violence in Europe by Muslim immigrants and more recently by European converts to Islam as well. There are attacks on Jews and Christians and their houses of worship. Women and girls are assaulted, raped and humiliated because they are not Muslim. Several summers ago, in France, Muslim youths went on a nightly rampage for weeks with much arson and destruction of property.
Westerners must realize that Muslims do not see crimes and attacks against "infidels"(any and all non-Muslims) as being crimes.
These violent crimes require serious prison sentences. One has to wonder about European men who cannot or will not protect their wives and daughters from raping Muslim youth. Make no mistake: Rape is a physically violent crime intended to humiliate, degrade and dehumanize the victim. Cowardly Muslims often seek the defenseless and/or the vulnerable to victimize.
It is baffling that Europe allowed immigration from Muslim dominated countries. (The former colonial status of some of these Muslim countries of origin is irrelevant.) If Europe needs immigrants to work in its economy (since no European nations are at replacement birth levels), why not accept immigrants from non-Muslim nations, from countries that are not anti-Western? There are a number of non-Muslim countries that send many workers overseas each year.
Some Europeans are belatedly waking up and in some countries are calling for limits and restrictions to immigration from Muslim lands. However, if you dare to voice your concerns on this issue, or show any "nationalist" sentiment in Europe, you will be smeared as being a "fascist" or a "Nazi".
It is important to note that militant European converts to Islam are a rapidly growing part of the challenge that Europe faces.
the Muslim desire for conquest – many centuries old
Muslims have invaded Europe more than once in the past.
In 732, Charles Martel (grandfather of Charlemagne) defeated the Muslims at Tours in France. The Muslims retreated back beyond the Pyrenees and occupied Spain for several centuries until the last Moors were expelled by Ferdinand and Isabella (circa 1492).
The Crusades (beginning in 1095) were in part a western response to the major victory of the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert in eastern Anatolia (Asia Minor) in 1071 which seriously weakened Byzantine (Greek) power.
The Ottoman Turks (who were Muslims), after conquering Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, continued threatening Christian Europe and were twice stopped at the gates of Vienna. (Ever wondered why there are Muslims in Bosnia?) In 1529, weather prevented an Ottoman success. In 1683, on 11 and 12 September, a combination of Polish aid and the modern warfare techniques of the Europeans stopped the Turks. (The croissant – or crescent – pastry was the Viennese way of celebrating these victories.)
The Wahhabists and the Saudis. The Saudi family made a deal with the Wahhabists (religious "reformers", purists) in order to secure their backing of Saudi claims to rule Arabia in the early 20th century. In return for the Wahhabists' support against the claims of rival clans, the Saudis would allow Wahhabists to control all things religious in the new kingdom. The Wahhabists, after their founding and like many other religious reformers, quickly began killing any who resisted being reformed. Today, Saudi Arabia funds many Muslim schools around the globe that indoctrinate Muslim youth in hatred of all things non-Muslim.
if Islam conquers
What might happen in Europe if the Muslims gain power?
If Islam prevails in Europe (or in America), there will be few, if any, women's rights and gays will have no rights and no legal protections. Then, women and gays will experience life in a truly oppressive society.
If the Islamists succeed, there will be a lack of freedom of religion (or of the freedom to not be religious). One may still be a non-Muslim but it will subject one to ongoing discrimination, periodic abuse and the ever-present potential to be violently persecuted.
Forced genital mutilation for both females and males. (For those readers in the US: Europeans do not circumcise their baby boys as this is not medically necessary.) When you mutilate the genitals of a person – at birth or at adolescence – female or male – it is not about God's will, and it has nothing to do with health or "cleanliness". It is about power and control. Genital mutilation causes a very significant reduction of the pleasurable sexual sensations (experienced during coitus) in mutilated adults (both males and females) as thousands of nerve endings are amputated and permanently lost. (This is why we condemn infant male circumcision in the US. Children have a right to bodily integrity.)
Far fetched, you say? Not as far fetched as you may think. Consider the reports coming out of Syria and Iraq where ISIS has conquered.
troubling situation and a question
Can atheists, moral relativists, nihilists, socialists, communists, and hedonists effectively resist these violent Muslim subversives and revolutionaries? So far, these Europeans have not given any effective resistance.
At present, it appears that these demoralized individuals do not feel it is worth fighting for their culture, for their way of life. The fight is being taken to them by the Muslims. The Muslims are not interested in mere peaceful "co-existence" in Europe.
other related items
Robert Spencer has a website called Jihad Watch that is very informative. I have heard him speak periodically on various radio programs over the past 10 years. Robert notes that there really are no "moderate" Muslims, only some lax Muslims.
Here are 2 earlier essays that may be of interest to some readers:
copyright 2014 – larrysmusings.com
the immorality of purposely bombing civilians and other Allied war crimes
Our next 2 essays are sure to be "controversial" and also politically incorrect. Thus, reader discretion is advised. In this quite lengthy essay, we take on Allied war crimes committed during and after the Second World War (1939 – 1945). (Readers do not have to take my word for the conclusions I draw. We offer many helpful and informative references (links and books) that are but a few examples of the growing literature (body of historical research) that brings to light much that was hidden or obscured (or suppressed) in the long accepted official history of this terrible period.)
This subject was poignantly driven home to me in February, 1995. The history magazine I was subscribing to at the time devoted most of its issue that month to Dresden which had been destroyed 50 years earlier over 2 successive nights (RAF attacks) and 2 successive days (American attacks) on February 14 and 15, 1945. This merciless bombing of Dresden, at the time a refugee city for those German civilians fleeing the advance of the Red Army and of no military importance, was carried out when the end of the war in Europe was clearly in sight. (Official Allied estimates of only 25,000 killed are absurdly, insultingly low.)
Americans were rightly and understandably outraged on September 11, 2001 when 3,000 Americans were killed by terrorists. Germany was enduring such murderous attacks on its civilian population nearly every day in the last 2 years of the war (1943 – 1945), and quite frequently even during 1942 as well. (There was a short pause in the bombing campaign (against German cities) as Allied war planes were engaged in supporting the D-Day operations in mid 1944.)
Some historical context is necessary here.
Prior to the war, during the mid 1930s (and also at the Disarmament Conference in 1932 and 1933), Germany had put forth proposals to neighboring countries (including England) to ban or prohibit using planes in any future conflict to bomb civilian population centers. These German proposals were not agreed to. When war came to western Europe in the spring of 1940, Germany did not bomb English cities but confined its bombing to military targets in the Low Countries and in France (Rotterdam was bombed on May 14, 1940, but this may have been due to a failure of radio communications between the Germany Army on the ground and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force).) But, in May, 1940, the RAF (Royal Air Force – England) bombed German towns of no specific military value far behind the front lines of the conflict. (Freiburg was bombed on May 10/11, and the Ruhr, an industrial area, was bombed on May 15, 1940.) England continued this bombing for 4 months before Hitler, wearying of hearing reports of German children, housewives and elderly being killed and maimed in such bombing raids and after a Berlin suburb had been bombed, decided to retaliate by bombing London in September. (German bombing of England effectively ended several months later because of heavy losses of its war planes and because those military resources were needed in the new war front in the East. As well, the scale and intensity of the German bombing of English cities never even approached that of the RAF's bombing of German cities in civilian casualties and in percentage of urban area destroyed.) The British admit that the aim of their bombing of German towns and cities in 1940 was to provoke Hitler into bombing English cities. This was "needed" to get the English people behind the war. The majority of the English public had not been enthusiastic about a war to save Poland in 1939, and when Poland was overrun so quickly saw no reason for the war.
If you read one linked article in this essay, this one ought to be it. The first paragraph gives some idea how one-sided the civilian losses due to bombing were. The quotes also give some idea how blood thirsty the British military and war-time government were, and one or two support the premise that the initial bombings' objective was to provoke Hitler into retaliating.
Who Started the Blitz? http://www.heretical.com/miscellx/blitz.html
The Hague Convention of February, 1923 drafted rules that forbade aerial bombing to terrorize civilian populations or to injure non-combatants. Also prohibited was the bombardment of cities, towns, and villages not in the immediate neighborhood of the operations of land forces. Sadly, these draft rules were not formally adopted. http://www.dannen.com/decision/int-law.html#C
(One of Hitler's major strategic blunders was permitting the evacuation at Dunkirk by ordering the Panzers to halt and not go to the beaches when the British troops would have been encircled, trapped and cut off. These same British troops, after the Dunkirk evacuation, were later sent to North Africa and battled against Rommel. But, by thinking that he could somehow make peace with England, and underestimating how intent the British war government (now run by Churchill) was on the complete destruction of Germany, Hitler opted not to invade England (Operation Sea Lion was cancelled by Hitler). A German occupation of only the southeast part of the country would have effectively taken England out of the war. And, without the troops that had been allowed to evacuate, England would have been very hard pressed to rebuff such an invasion in the summer of 1940.)
Here we see young girls walking through the ruins of Frankfurt. (Photograph: Reginald Kenny/Bettmann/Corbis) Many children were orphaned by these bombing raids.
An elderly lady in front of the bodies of school children in Cologne, Germany, after a bombing raid in 1943 (courtesy of Wikipedia).
We chose not to show more horrific pictures of civilian victims of these bombings in Germany. As well, we do not show the terribly burned civilian victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, those people who were just far enough from ground zero that they were not immediately vaporized. (Such gruesome photos do however serve to take these crimes out of the abstract for many viewers.) The immorality of purposely bombing civilians is self-evident. We do not agree with nor buy into an ends justifies the means argument.
Let's take a look at the definition of war crimes and crimes against humanity from the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal. From the Tribunal's charter:
Article 6.
(b) War Crimes: namely violations of the laws or customs of war. Such violations shall include, but not be limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave labor or for any other purpose, of civilian population or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages , or devastation not justified by military necessity. (emphasis mine)
(c) Crimes Against Humanity: namely, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war, or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of domestic law of the country where perpetrated. (emphasis mine)
The above citations are from Five Men at Nuremberg, by James McMillan, copyright 1985, Harrap Limited, London, page 26.
It is interesting that McMillan notes (on page 56 of his book) the February 1942 directive to the RAF to bomb German civilian population centers. He then opines that if the roles at the Tribunal were reversed, the British would find it hard to defend their actions (war crimes).
Clearly, the wanton and intentional targeting and bombing of civilian population centers (that results in killing, maiming and making homeless these non-combatants) is a war crime per this definition at Nuremberg. One could argue that such bombing is even a crime against humanity given the above definition. Simply complaining that the Germans were evil does not excuses these crimes. The frequent invocation of the Holocaust (of European Jewry) serves to divert attention away from these Allied crimes (really atrocities) that must not be forgotten, nor trivialized nor rationalized away.
We rarely hear of or read of Allied war crimes. This ought not surprise us as history written by the victors will serve the purposes of those victors. Much of our official history of this period in the high school and college text books is propaganda. (War time propaganda (in 1943) blamed the Germans for the Katyn Forest massacre of thousands of Polish intelligentsia and military officers. However, we now know that Stalin ordered the massacre (mass murder) and that it was carried out in 1940 by his NKVD (headed by Beria, the precursor to the KGB). Let us not forget the USSR was one of the Allies.)
A current British philosopher, A. C. Grayling, has dealt at length with the bombing campaign of the Allies against Germany and Japan in his thoroughly researched and documented book, Among the Dead Cities, The History and Moral Legacy of the WWII Bombing of Civilians in Germany and Japan (2006, Walker and Company, New York). This bombing campaign, immoral as it was, did not serve to hasten the end of the war in Europe. (Interested readers can read the many customer reviews for this book on Amazon.com.)
One of our earliest essays as a generalist blogger is relevant here:
As well, here is a link to an article that speaks about a re-examination in Britain of its war-time bombing campaign.
As to the 2 sides of the coin of justice, where was the recompense, the making whole of the innocent victims, of those who perished from these bombings, or were maimed or orphaned? In this world, there was no compensation for them. And, what of punishment for those who ordered and carried out these murderous actions (Churchill, J. M. Spaight, Arthur "Bomber" Harris, (Sir) Archibald Sinclair, Lord Cherwell (aka Professor Lindemann), and the American commanders who joined in later with the bombing of German cities and bombed Japanese cities, and those pilots and crew who obeyed immoral orders)? Again, there was none in this world.
There were other Allied war crimes that need to be noted here.
The Red Army (USSR) raped and murdered its way across East Prussia and Pomerania and Upper Silesia in its drive to Berlin in late 1944 and early 1945. The Red Army troops were exhorted to do this (kill and rape) by Stalin, Marshal (General) Zhukov and the communist propagandist Ilya Erenburg. The rapes victims (women of all ages and young girls) who were not murdered were scarred for life.
From NPR (a politically correct source) in 2009:
Silence Broken On Red Army Rapes In Germany
The forced expulsions (after the war ended) of up to 14 million ethnic Germans from former German territories in the East and from the Baltic states where they had lived for generations led to many deaths. Even Bertrand Russell complained in a letter to the editor that these expulsions (a form of "ethnic cleansing") that were to be carried out in an orderly and humane manner had degenerated into an inhumane program. Mass Deportations, The Times (London) 31st October, 1945, and Food Parcels Still Needed, The New York Times 3rd November, 1945. Both letters are reprinted in Yours Faithfully, Bertrand Russell – A Lifelong Fight for Peace, Justice, and Truth in Letters to the Editor, Edited by Ray Perkins, Jr. (copyright 2002, Open Court, Chicago) on pages 163 – 165.
Here is a recent book (2012) that I have not (yet) read that addresses this topic. It has received many favorable reviews.
These expulsions did happen and they resulted in much suffering and many deaths.
This article relies heavily on Wikipedia as a source but is worth looking at.
Anti-communist eastern Europeans (including anti-Stalin Russians) who fought with the Germans against the Red Army were forcibly returned by the Americans (on orders of General Eisenhower) to the Soviets in 1945 and 1946. These individuals were either murdered at once or sent to gulags in Siberia to perish slowly in inhumane conditions. The East Came West, by Peter J. Huxley-Blythe, (2005 (originally published in 1964), Life and Liberty Publishing, Murrieta, California) tells this sad tale. (Huxley-Blythe (1925 – 2013) served in the British Royal Navy.)
Other Losses: An Investigation into the Mass Deaths of German Prisoners at the Hands of the French and Americans after World War II, by James Bacque (1989) documents that German POWs were starved to death in holding camps after the war ended. (I have not read this book.) This book, in its reviews, appears controversial with some reviewers saying the numbers of deaths may be exaggerated, and others claiming the work is simply not true. However, the author again addresses the deaths (very high death rates) of German POWs held in Allied camps after the war ended in his other book, Crimes and Mercies. In that book, which I have read, he presents statements and accounts from doctors and Allied military personnel that were in these camps in the years 1945 – 1947. As well, documentary evidence is presented to substantiate that there was a policy in place to keep the disarmed German soldiers on a starvation diet.
Crimes and Mercies, The Fate of German Civilians Under Allied Occupation, 1944 – 1950, by James Bacque (copyright 1997, Little, Brown & Company (UK) London) tells the story of the purposeful prevention of food distribution to German civilians in the American zone of occupation after the war ended. This resulted in starvation of German civilians and very high infant mortality rates. Some groups of concerned Americans and Canadians, including former US President, Herbert Hoover tried to help the suffering German civilians in the late 1940s.
US Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau had a punitive and vindictive (vengeful) plan (known as the Morgenthau Plan) to destroy what remained of German industry after the war. Germany was to be turned into a backward agricultural land and not be allowed to rebuild its industry. German agriculture was to be deprived of modern fertilizer and farm equipment. His plan led to the deaths of many Germans after the war had ended. Despite American propaganda that this plan was not implemented, it in fact was as Bacque tells in his book.
Here we quote from Crimes and Mercies (page 185):
The record shows very clearly that the Allies were planning a devastating treatment for Germany before Nazi racist crimes were fully comprehended in the West. The Allied policy of starving the Germans was in fact decades old – in 1918/19, after the First World War, the Allies had maintained the sea-blockade, causing the deaths of close to a million Germans.
Taking into account all these post war crimes, it has been estimated that perhaps as many as several million Germans died. (The lowest estimate we saw in one article was of 3 million post war deaths.) James Bacque, on page 131 of Crimes and Mercies, summarizes the data he uncovered by grouping – expellees (mainly from the East), prisoners (POWs), and residents (civilians already resident in post war Germany, not expellees from evacuated territories) – and comes to a total estimate of all deaths as a minimum of 9,300,000 and a maximum of 13,700,000. Most of the difference between these 2 figures is attributable to the wide range in the estimate for expellee deaths.
Another post war Allied crime was the looting of intellectual property and patents from Germany.
What gives rise to this vicious hatred? Such hatred drove the British war-time government to specifically and purposely target every German city and town for destruction by bombing. And this maniacal hatred was not limited to the British. In the American war establishment, such hatred was also present and was demonstrated once US military forces made it to Europe.
In our next essay, that will deal with the guilt question for the cause of the catastrophe that was the Second World War, we will see that there were powerful groups that hated Germany, the German people and the German head of state, Chancellor Hitler, with a near insane passion. (Attaching sole blame, sole responsibility for the war to Germany is no longer tenable, nor intellectually honest.) Again, the question arises of why was there this hatred in the 1930s and throughout the war period and after? There was a confluence of self-interested special interests that gave rise to and fueled this hatred that to be sated necessitated the destruction of the German state and its people.
Egypt today, the dangers of religion, and other thoughts
Greetings from the American West. Here from our archives is a photo of some rubber ink stamps (mounted on wooden blocks) with a Southwest theme.
Every day we hear the propaganda that Islam is a "religion of peace" and that Muslims are not violent. Yet, it seems that the concept of ahimsa (non-injury) rarely applies to the adherents of Islam. Each and every day there are violent acts committed by Muslims against non-Muslims. Churches are burnt down in Egypt and Coptic Christians killed. Christian domestic servants are raped by their Muslim employers in Pakistan. Buddhists are killed in southern Thailand by Muslims. Hindus and Westerners in India have been targeted by Muslim terrorists (such as in November, 2008 in Bombay (Mumbai)). Women (both Christian and atheist) are raped in Europe by Muslim youths and now this is happening in the US as well. The list of violent acts goes on and on.
Before turning to our main theme in today's essay, we dare say that those who incite violence against innocent people are evil, even if they garb themselves in religious robes and titles. Those who follow such leaders and then commit violent acts are either evil themselves or are mentally deranged (insane). For some, religion is like a powerful drug with very destructive effects.
main body
Former President George W. Bush was disconnected from reality and incredibly naive if he truly believed that the US could install workable democracies in this region (the Middle East) that would be friendly to the West. A cursory study of the region's history would have given him a more sober and realistic view.
The so-called Arab Spring (of 2011) was encouraged, if not enabled, by President Obama (a lightweight in foreign policy) and then US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Mubarak in Egypt and Gaddafi in Libya simply had to go. There were mobs in the streets calling for this. (The radicals were making their bid for power in North Africa.) But, these "strong men" were the ones keeping the violent fanatics somewhat at bay in these countries. Hillary Clinton cackled (laughed) about the death of Moammar Gaddafi – but Libya is much more unstable, violent and radical post Moammar. (Americans, if you want a woman president, that is fine, but please choose (elect) a woman with some positive qualities, and not this miserable wretch. Please.)
Readers are aware of the events occurring in Egypt over the past several weeks. The Egyptian military cannot back down now. If the military authorities are ousted, possibly by sympathizers to the Muslim Brotherhood within the officer corps, then the Egyptian military will be purged of any senior officers that oppose the Brotherhood, possibly with executions. This is an existential struggle for the future of Egypt. (The Egyptians know this and many were cheering the military in its crackdown on the murderous fanatics.) Does Egypt return to the world of the 7th and 8th centuries, or does Egypt become a modern, secular governed state?
The mainstream news media coverage in the West has, predictably, not been comprehensive and hence not accurate. The ignorant, corrupt Western press does not wish to widely report that the Muslim fanatics had been sniping with military type rifles at military and police personnel throughout the country. The military's crackdown of this past week against these pro-Morsi protesters was provoked by these same protesters who ardently desire violence. And, yes, violence begets violence.
Let's address this never ending violence coming from Muslims which calls to mind the dangers of religion. (Reader discretion is advised from this point forward.) Authentic religion, governed by reason and not emotion, should unite, not divide us. However, if you have a concept of God as having the nature of a tribal, temperamental teenager, who is both hateful and petty – you have a false conception of God. If you are killing those who reject such a false, idiotic concept of God, you are wrong, and the world will reject you and push back against you. If you Muslim religious leaders (imams) are inciting people to hatred of others and to commit violence against others – you are evil, not "holy". You make a hell on earth with your hate and violence, and then you think that you will enter paradise after leaving this earth?! You are as false (fraudulent) as your religion is. (Some would go further and say that a religion that allows, and/or calls for, murder and rape of non-believers and destruction of churches and temples is demonic.)
(One wonders if these violent Muslim youths are sexually frustrated and repressed. "Make love, not war" may be more than a trite remark in this instance.)
To the Muslims, I say the rest of the world really does not want your religion. We do not want the violence and the hate. Peace gives the opportunity of progress and an improvement of the lot of the world's peoples. We reject your 7th century Arabian tribal thinking and its anti-values. American women really do not want to dress like it is Halloween (in a burqa) unless it is Halloween (October 31) and they are going to a costume party.
We are not done with the dangers of religion. Some, many in fact, Christians also cling to some very dangerous and bizarre beliefs. Christian Zionists – those so-called Christians (largely of the various Protestant denominations) who unquestioningly support Israel in the hopes of helping with the fulfillment of Biblical prophesy about the end of the world, we speak to you now.
If you have not come to terms with (accepted) your own individual mortality – you need to, and also really ought to refrain from trying to hurry God along in His timetable. You are not going to be "raptured" out of this world. You will have to endure bodily death as every human being ever conceived has had to.
As I have written before, people need to govern their religious fervor with reason. Otherwise, fanaticism gains traction.
Actually, if these people correctly understood the Christian teachings, they would attempt to evangelize the Jews, and stop pandering to them. (Jesus' New Covenant superceded the Old Covenant.) As well, for your information, today's Jews are Talmudists (adherents to the teachings of the Talmud, a work of various rabbis over several centuries which is Pharisaic in nature) and are not adherents of many of the Old Testament teachings. Thus, the Jews of today do not have that much in common with Christians or Christian beliefs.
It is these people, these Christian Zionists – whose political clout is added to that of the pro-Israel lobby in Washington – who help to keep the US mired in the Middle East.
I have other issues with Christian denominations in the US. But, this is enough for today.
book review of full spectrum dominance: U.S. power in Iraq and beyond
Just came across this book a few weeks ago and read it earlier this month.
Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond, written by Rahul Mahajan (2003, paperback, 207 pages, An Open Media Book, Seven Stories Press, New York).
The book is divided into 2 main sections: The "War on Terrorism", and The War on Iraq.
Published shortly after the US led invasion of Iraq in early 2003, the author makes the case that US foreign policy and military policy are geared to controlling the production and transportation of the world's oil, and to benefitting US corporations around the globe. In the post Cold War world, the US as the lone superpower is a threat to world peace. Albeit written 10 years ago, the concerns that the book raises are still relevant today.
In the first section, the author tells how the war on terrorism was used to justify an increase in US defense spending, the acquisition of more foreign military bases throughout the world, and the war in Iraq in 2003. Even today in 2013, we hear that the US spends more on defense than all other countries combined and that it has bases and/or military personnel in more than a hundred nations. One rightly wonders is this really necessary?
In the second section of the book, Mahajan deals at length with Iraq, the first Gulf War in 1991, the punitive sanctions on Iraq subsequent to the 1991 war, the lead up to the second Gulf War in 2003, and future concerns about US militarism in the region and the rest of the world. The author makes the case that Iraq posed no threat to the US as it was never allowed to recover (either economically or militarily) from the 1991 war, and thus lacked the means of attacking the US. This is all covered very extensively and backed with much research and many notes. As such, it is difficult to quarrel with the facts he presents. This leaves only his conclusions to evaluate.
Let us offer one lengthy quote from this book and then give our thoughts.
From pages 27 – 28:
Empire Corrupts
The United States has reached a new zenith of political dominance–capable of flouting the express wishes of the vast mass of humanity and the vast majority of nations and still force them to assimilate into its ever-expanding structures of control. There is no longer any pretense that the United States is not an empire, or even that it is a reluctant one. For the apologists of the new order, the entire question hangs on not whether or not an empire exists, but whether or not the empire is benevolent.
For the rest of us, two things should be clear. First, that even the most benevolent empire is no substitute for independence and international equality. Second, that empires are never benevolent; the considerations of the empire-builders cannot possibly align with the considerations of the people being ruled.
As we will discover, the claims to benevolence of this empire ring particularly hollow.
I want to focus first on punitive actions taken (by the victors) after the cessation of hostilities. The sanctions imposed after the first Gulf War in 1991 led to the collapse of Iraq's economy during the 1990s. As Mahajan points out in his book, even when Iraq tried to comply with weapons inspections and other post war requirements, the US made no move to end or reduce the severity of the sanctions, and even gave notice that complete Iraqi compliance with post war demands would not necessarily end the sanctions.
These punitive and unduly harsh sanctions led to much malnourishment and suffering for the children in Iraq. Estimates vary (some in the hundreds of thousands), but many Iraqi children died during the 1990s because of the post war sanctions. (Is it any wonder then that the Iraqis did not welcome the US forces as "liberators" in early 2003?)
(In the summer of 2001, prior to the events of September 11, there was small public display, more like an information table, with several concerned individuals protesting the harm done to the Iraqi children by the crippling sanctions. This was in the plaza in front of the federal building in Oakland, California. At that time, there was a website with more information about the children's plight under the sanctions. So there was a miniscule public awareness of this injustice in the US prior to Gulf War 2 in early 2003.)
The US and Britain have a history of engaging in punitive actions after a war is over. Britain blockaded Germany after World War One for several months during 1919. This lead to malnourishment and starvation among the civilian population. The US engaged in a punitive policy in its zone of occupation after World War II towards both the German civilians and their disarmed military men. (The US occupation in Germany was much harsher than its occupation of defeated Japan.) These types of actions are not moral.
This is why the facade of moral superiority (the holier than thou attitude and rhetoric) on the part of the Allies after the two world wars rings so hollow with some of us.
Defeated enemies (both armed forces and civilians) are still human beings.
US military leaders and political authorities need to recognize the reality of the 21st century. It is going to be a multi-polar world with several regional powers. No one nation is going to be able to run the world so to speak. There is a real danger here of falling prey to a "might makes right" mentality given the current US military superiority over all other nations.
Current threats to world peace include an arrogant China (discussed in an earlier essay back in February), a radical and violent Islamic fanaticism and chauvinism, and at least regionally, Zionism in Israel (however, war between Israel and its neighbors could easily escalate and bring major powers into the conflict). The US drive to dominance in the world has to be considered as a threat to world peace. The US ought to stop acting like an imperial power. (The founders of the country envisioned a republic, not an empire.)
Here are links to some earlier, relevant essays that you might be interested in.
Thanks for reading.
US: it is time to disengage from the middle east
Dear readers, there is a need to present this "controversial" even "incendiary" essay. In a world of so much misinformation and disinformation, what is a person to do?
We are rarely short of opinions here at larrysmusings (no joking), but we at least do try to make sure the opinions are well-informed, before we offer them to the blogosphere.
The below pic is of one source of our opinions.
Today, we assert that it is time for the United States to rethink its policy in the Middle East, and urge that it disengage from this historically troubled, volatile and unstable region.
There are 3 reasons why the US is mired in the morass of the Middle East. 1. Oil. 2. Israel. 3. The so-called war on terror. Let's address these in turn after a little history of the region. (This may get a bit long, but this is necessary to do justice to the importance of the issues raised. Junior high and high school students can draw inspiration for term papers from the below paragraphs.)
Even before the fall of Sumer (circa 2,000 B.C.), Mesopotamia (and other nearby countries) was a region of petty, warring states and numerous tribes that fought each other over the region's meager resources. Thus, the age-old hatreds and antagonisms predate the rise of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It has been rare when a power from outside the region has been able to pacify this region. Since the rise of Islam, I believe the only non-Muslim power to effectively do so was the Mongols in the 13th century under first Chingis (aka Genghis) Khan and then later, his grandson, Hulagu. (The Ottoman Turks were converts to Islam prior to their successful conquest of the region and of northernmost Africa.) The Mongols to pacify the region nearly depopulated several cities and even some entire provinces. (Baghdad was destroyed in 1258 by Hulagu's forces.)That is what it took. The Middle East has not been a peaceful region these past 4 millenia.
Although the US gets much of its imported oil from sources geographically closer to its borders (thereby reducing transport times and costs), such as Canada, Mexico, Venezuela and Nigeria, some oil is coming into the country from the Persian (or Arabian) Gulf.
Unlike Europe and Japan, the US has enormous energy reserves both in the contiguous 48 states and in Alaska that could be exploited (a dirty word?) or developed. Such development would greatly reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil regardless of source. As well, increasing domestic US energy production would effectively increase the daily supply of oil on world markets and thereby lower the cost of oil for everyone in the world. Note: All the energy consumers in the world would benefit if America would make use of what it already has.
There are 2 principal reasons this development is not taking place anywhere near to the extent that it could. First, the federal government, especially under President Obama, is greatly restricting such development on those federal lands where it is known there are significant reservoirs of oil. The federal land leases that are being approved, Nancy Pelosi, are in areas where there is little if any oil or natural gas. Ms. Pelosi misrepresented the situation when she was Speaker of the House of Representatives, as Obama currently does. This is purposeful policy by Obama and his Interior Department.
Second, thanks to bills signed by President Richard Nixon the environmental regulations in the US were greatly increased. This is not a bad thing per se. The Clean Air Act of 1970 was good. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established by Nixon in 1970 (by executive order). In recent years, however, the EPA has gotten completely out of control. It now attempts to regulate the so-called greenhouse gases of water vapor, and carbon dioxide (you, dear readers, are producing and emitting carbon dioxide with each exhalation from your lungs). The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, signed by Nixon, required environmental impact studies. All of this legislative and executive activity in Washington led to the environmental groups having "legal standing" to challenge any and all development in the courts. And, these groups do challenge any and all development of natural resources. These groups, more accurately described as "eco-fanatics", do not believe in the possibility of environmentally responsible development of natural resources. These folks either reject, or are ignorant of, the very old concepts of conservation and stewardship. (Yes, we did an essay on this back in late June during the heady days when we were knocking out an average of 2 essays each day.)
The fact remains that the US is literally sitting atop some of the world's largest known reserves of oil, natural gas, and coal. Many of these resources can be developed in an environmentally responsible way given current technology. (We oppose the further development of nuclear power. See our essay from June, 2012, on Fukushima.) If fracking for natural gas is bad for the below ground aquifers (much current controversy there), then let's open up (for development) the areas in the western states (Utah, Colorado, Wyoming) where the oil shales are nearer to the surface. (History here: much of the land in the western states is controlled by the federal government as a consequence of almost all these states having been territories prior to the Civil War. These territories then later applied for statehood and became states, but the federal government retained its control ("jurisdiction") of these lands. In the state of Nevada (with 110,000 square miles), today, 87 per cent of the land is controlled by "the Feds".)
Cleaner burning coal has been powering electric power plants since the 1970s. This coal comes from the Powder River Basin in eastern Wyoming. (The development of this area's coal has been a boon for the railroads that transport the coal to distant power generating stations in many states.) The "oil shocks' of the 1970s spurred development of this domestic resource, as well as the Alaska oil pipeline.
The resources are there. And, yes, they can be developed without trashing the planet. But, we do not take advantage of this opportunity. An analogy would be the man who eats from garbage cans when he has a bank account with hundreds of thousands of dollars in it! (Such cases of mental illness have been recorded.)
Not only would developing America's energy resources lower the prices consumers pay at the pump each week, many good paying jobs would be created within the US, tax revenues to the federal government would rise, and the monthly trade deficit America runs would be reduced. Energy independence and energy security (of supplies) helps to protect our economic security. (As well, the loss of some "petro dollars" to the Saudis, from lower world prices, would mean less money for them to fund virulently anti-Western primary schools throughout the world which brainwash young children to hate all things Western!)
Israel (caution: reader discretion is advised)
We condemn the murderous terrorist attacks directed at Israeli civilians. We also condemn the very harsh treatment of the Palestinians by the Israelis.
Today, even as we write these words, the sabres of war are being rattled in Tel Aviv and in Washington. The flash point or catalyst: Iran and its nuclear ambitions. Odd, is it not(?), North Korea now possesses a bomb or two or perhaps a few more (and has fired test missiles in the direction of Japan), and yet there is no threat of war against Pyongyang.
Israel possesses hundreds of atomic bombs and has the capability of delivering them to any and all the surrounding countries of the region. All the countries in the region know this. As well, Israel has well established defense industries and can manufacture (and does) its own munitions. Israel can take care of itself. The US does not need to protect Israel.
There is a very strong pro-Israel lobby in Washington, comprised of Jews and Christians, that keeps the pressure on our elected officials to support and back and aid Israel. (We addressed Christian Zionists in an essay last autumn, The Talmud and Christian Zionists.) We believe that US foreign policy should serve US interests and not the interests of any foreign state.
But Israel is our ally, you say. Really? Not many Americans are aware of this incident that brings your assertion into question. In June, 1967, the USS Liberty was viciously attacked by Israeli war planes when she was in international waters and was flying a very large US flag that the Israeli pilots admitted clearly seeing during their attacks on the ship. (I encourage you to do your own research on this topic. Do an Internet search.) Some US sailors were killed, and many were maimed for life. This occurred during the so-called "six day war". (There is the current belief, held by many, that Israeli intelligence knew beforehand of the attacks of September 11, 2001, but did not warn the US as Israel stood to benefit from an outraged US and its expected response (a war on terror).)
Let's briefly deal with Iran and its outspoken leader, how do you spell his name(?), Mahmoud Ahdemanijad. It is often claimed that he said he wanted to wipe Israel off the map. I do not know Farsi, so I cannot speak to the veracity of the translation of his words. But, there are those who say that a correct translation of his words from the Farsi were to the effect that Israel, the Zionist state, would fade away, collapse of its own weaknesses (perhaps in a way similar to how the old Soviet Union collapsed from its own internal weaknesses).
What Mahmoud A. did that was really unforgivable was that he publicly questioned the official story of the (Jewish) Holocaust of the 1940s in wartime Europe. He even went further, and held an international conference a few years back in Iran for open debate on the Holocaust. Please note: Calling for open inquiry into a historical event does not necessarily make one a demon. The post communist Polish government would be guilty by that standard. It has changed the plaque at Auschwitz to read "one million died here" from the previously (and universally) accepted 4 million. (They may have changed it again more recently (not sure) as the number of dead keeps decreasing upon further research of the camp's records that had been locked away in communist archives for decades.) Just to let you know that there is controversy around the official Holocaust history, soil engineers conducting forensic examinations at Treblinka, in northern Poland, have not been able thus far to locate mass burial pits where it is claimed that up to 875,000 dead human bodies were interred during the war only to be later exhumed and burned when the tide of war had turned against the Germans.
The so-called war on terror
The third and most recent reason the US is mired in the morass of the Middle East is the so-called war on terror. President George W. Bush was tilting at windmills when he proclaimed a global "war on terror". Such a war could never be won. It seems to us that the correct response to the attacks of 9/11/01 would be to go after the state sponsors of the terrorists that attacked and murdered more than 3,000 Americans (and others as there were non-American victims at the World Trade Center in New York).
Who were the state sponsors of the 9/11 terrorists?
Well, were they not, all 19 of them, bearing Saudi passports? There has been a twisted and perverse relationship between the Bush family and the Saudis for many years. This was evident during the father's presidency (George Herbert Walker Bush). Regime change ought to have occurred in Riyadh. As noted above, the Saudis fund schools of hate around the world. Saudi money is even currently reaching into these United States (in recent years funding various Muslim groups)!
If the Taliban and Afghanistan are at fault, then how about taking a lesson from history (the Mongols) in order to arrive at an effective deterrent for these people?! Do what was done in late 2001, toppling the Taliban while striving to spare the civilians. But, on our way out – which should have been no later than 2003 – tell the Afghans that if we have to come back because we were attacked again, we won't spare the civilians. When these backward people fear us more than they fear the terrorists in their midst, they will turn on the terrorists and kill them. Sadly, it really is us or them. Societal and national self-defense require a harsh approach to these peoples who are not far from the stone age.
Moammar Gaddafi was no saint. He had innocent blood on his hands. But, Libya after Gaddafi is tending to becoming even more radical and more of a safe haven for terrorists. The same is true in post-Mubarak Egypt.
The US does not need an on the ground military presence in the region. Yes, there is a need for an intelligence gathering capability. But, we do not need troops over there for that. Based on the intelligence gathered, if attacks against America and Americans are planned or are imminent, we can take various actions to prevent or thwart those attacks.
If terrorist attacks against the US succeed, then the state sponsors (of the terrorists) can be hit and hit hard from a far. We certainly have the technology to lay some serious hurt on these countries, and they know that. We may need to demonstrate the will to do so. We have the submarines, the surface ships and the missiles. We won't need troops on the ground. (Actually, there is a real deterrent at work today as regards any kind of atomic terrorist attack occurring within the USA. Even a dirty bomb being set off will likely elicit a major retaliation by the US against whatever nation(s) were involved in the act.)
We, in the US, must accept that we cannot remake this region into what we think it should be like. A democratic or republican model simply is not workable in this region, and may not be workable there for centuries to come given its very long history of strife and discord. America, it is not 1945, it is not even 1975. You must stop trying to play the role of the world's police man. Encourage the setting up of regional security alliances, but bring the troops home. Too many American service men and women have been killed and maimed in that hellish part of the world.
end of essay
As we firmly believe that the future belongs to young women, we give in to the temptation to offer again this picture from an essay last autumn. In America, she can: pursue happiness, drive a car, get an education, practice whichever religion she chooses, inherit property, own property, vote, go outside sans a veil, choose who to marry, wear a string bikini in public, consent to – or freely decline – sexual relations, is protected by federal law from having her genitals mutilated, etc.
Thanks for reading! Now, kindly share this essay with everyone you know!


text:
2015 Toyota Sequoia, Largest SUV made by Toyota
Toyota was quite late in entering the full size sedan market in Americas. But when it did, it took all leading manufacturers by surprise. In 2001 when Toyota Sequoia was launched, the full size sedan market was ruled by cars like Ford Expedition and Chevrolet Tahoe. It took this challenge of competing with these big players heads on and gave them a run for their money. And it continues to do so with 2015 Toyota Sequoia.
Two generations of international presence:
It was manufactured at its manufacturing plant in Indiana. Currently 2015 Toyota Sequoia is being sold in more than ten countries worldwide. It is being manufactured on the basis of Toyota's another successful model Toyota Tundra. Currently, it is the largest sports utility vehicle which is produced by Toyota. Two generations of Sequoia has been on road since its introduction. The first one ran between 2001 to 2007 and second one between 2008 to present.
2015 Toyota Sequoia: Engine
2015 Toyota Sequoia has a 5.7 litre V8 engine which can develop power up to 318 hp. The torque produced from it is about 401 pound feet. For driving in city, 13 mpg of fuel economy is achieved. And on highways it gives you economy of 17 miles per gallon. It is expected to have a six speed automatic transmission system.
Safety is on focus:
The interiors of 2015 Toyota Sequoia are quite nice and comfortable. There are three rows of seats with lots of space and some really nice features. The company has focused more on safety this time and it has equipped it with new safety features. Features such as Vehicle Stability Control, traction control system, airbags in front and sides etc. are provided to make journey safer. It is done so because, 2015 Toyota Sequoia is considered as primarily a family vehicle.
Interior features:
In the middle, a 9 inches LCD screen with touch facility is installed. Navigation system is also very precise. For entertainment purposes, a JBL system with 14 speakers is installed with a media player. Seats in both front row and second row are heated and ventilated. In the Limited edition of this car, Bluetooth is provided to control audio and climate control systems.
Expected announcements:
The release dates for 2015 Toyota Sequoia has not been revealed yet by its company. Also, the price which will be tagged for it is also just speculative. It is expected to be available with a price tag of forty two thousand dollars.


text:
I can't believe that it has already been a month since my last post. I am not going to bore you with the sordid details, but it has been a pretty miserable month.
So I have decided to post this today as a sign of intent for the new year. I am not going to post negative thoughts over the Christmas period, instead I am going to post positive ones in the new year.
So to everyone in blogland, Happy (bah) Christmas!
Ramsgate Margate and Broadstairs around 1800 trying to look back 200 years - Clicking on this picture of Ramsgate in 1809 should make it expand, I know it was produced in 1809 because it comes from "The New Margate, Ramsgate, and B...
8 hours ago


text:
Care homes with five-star ratings are receiving premium fees despite not meeting essential standards set out by the care regulator.
Local authorities pay higher fees to care homes awarded top ratings.
But critics say this is a "cheque book system" open to any home prepared to pay for a rating.
The Care Quality Commission advises people to visit homes and check their most recent CQC inspection report before making a decision on care.
Care regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) stopped issuing its own star ratings in 2010 and now some homes pay independent ratings companies and consultants to assess them instead
Higher fees for homes
Sefton Council pays a quality premium to homes given a high rating by the companies – a residential or nursing home with five stars receives an additional £40 per week on top of the basic fee paid for each person in its care.
Critics say not having a nationally recognised quality assurance scheme for care homes is confusing A spokesman for Sefton Council said: "All the companies providing quality ratings use assessment criteria linked to outcomes in care home provision.
"We work closely with the CQC to ensure quality standards are closely monitored. If either party feel standards have reduced, through their own monitoring activity or inspections, we will decline or even suspend a particular rating and work with CQC in relation to this."
(Source BBC) To read full story please visit the BBC website by clicking the link below
Onthespot – your online reporter www.onthespotnews.co.uk
Do you have a story to tell? Please text or phone 07930717137 or email email@example.com
Follow OTS (Onthespot) on Twitter www.twitter.com/onthespot_news


text:
One huge reason why people in this country remain perpetually confused can be found in the utter depravity passed off as normal discourse in the corporate media.
This LA Times story, titled Strike on Iran still possible, US tells Israel, describes how US officials must gingerly talk Ehud Barak down off a high limb over the possibility that the US is softening its stance on Iran, horror of horrors!!
WASHINGTON — Bush administration officials reassured Israel's defense minister this week that the United States has not abandoned all possibility of a military attack on Iran, despite widespread Israeli concern that Washington has begun softening its position toward Tehran.
In meetings Monday and Tuesday, administration officials told Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the option of attacking Iran over its nuclear program remains on the table, though U.S. officials are primarily seeking a diplomatic solution.
Is it me, or does that have the same ring of search parties reluctantly giving up hope of finding the lost victim? In this case the search parties have looked high and low for a good reason to attack Iran for Israel, but they just can't find one that would justify unleashing hell on earth. Poor Ehud Barak must be so disappointed.
At the same time, U.S. officials acknowledged that there is a rare divergence in the U.S. and Israeli approaches, with Israelis emphasizing the possibility of a military response out of concern that Tehran may soon have the know-how for building a nuclear bomb.
…Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said in an interview that U.S. officials have often made it clear to Israeli officials that Washington prefers to try to mitigate the threat from Tehran by applying economic pressure.
"The military option, although always available, is not our preferred route," Morrell said.
"We have made that point clear to them and the world in our public statements and private meetings."
Barak left Israel for Washington amid reports in the Israeli press that he would try to talk the Bush administration out of what many Israelis perceive as a more conciliatory policy toward Iran.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Ministry released a statement saying that Barak had told Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that "a policy that consists of keeping all options on the table must be maintained."
Which is all a very gentle way of noting that the Pentagon, or at least some people there, are telling the Israelis that we're not doing their crazy cuckoo plans this time, and Israel is saying back, oh yes you are.
On the one hand, I think it's really great that this cavernous rift, here euphemistically described as a polite and diplomatic 'rare divergence,' has opened up between Israel and the US. Without your Conspiracy Facts brand 3D glasses and decoder ring on, you'll never know that the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
Meanwhile, the NYT does it's level best to keep everyone in America on Israel's side by publishing some crap on July 18th from Benny Morris, a Jewish 'historian.' You can read the deconstruction of Benny's work here.
Morris's July 18th op-ed, with the catchy and oxymoronic title "Using Bombs to Stave Off War," should tip its hat to Herodotus because it is a good story that is virtually devoid of facts, an attribute also ignored by the Times editors. Morris, who is exceptionally truculent for a bookworm, may or may not be a good example of what passes for scholarship in Israel, but he is certainly not interested in cutting the Iranians any slack. He argues that Iran must be attacked, that Israel will almost certainly do so in the next four to seven months, and that it will not be Israel's fault because the rest of the world has refused to do what is right. [in classic psychopathic fashion -- deflecting blame - ed.] Per Morris, attacking Iran's nuclear program might bring peace and not doing so will inevitably lead to Israel's eventually staging a preemptive nuclear strike to solve the Iranian problem once and for all, which would be a worse outcome. As Morris is well connected to the Israeli government, his doomsday scenario must be taken seriously, even if it is bluff or deliberate disinformation. Having given warning of what might happen, the purpose in writing the piece is clearly to frighten the rest of the world into doing the dirty work so that Israel will not have to act. Obviously, the only country that can carry out the mission in a thorough fashion using non-nuclear weapons is the United States. That makes Morris's op-ed a strident call to arms from a leading Israeli for the United States to start yet another war on Israel's behalf because Israel feels threatened. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Yes, it does. And it appears that some people in the Pentagon are telling Israel that it's not going to happen this time, and that is a very big deal. But what does it mean that nobody is talking openly about the long-awaited solid pushback against Israel, and instead, legitimizes the specter of a nuclear holocaust to satisfy Israel? What does the publication by the New York Times of an article, which calls for the nuclear incineration of 70 million Iranians and the contamination of the better part of a billion people in the Middle East, Asia and Europe, tell us about US politics and culture? For it is the NYT, which informs the 'educated classes' in the US, its Sunday supplements, literary and editorial pages and which serves as the 'moral conscience' of important sectors of the cultural, economic and political elite…. The question of Zionist power in America is not merely a question of a 'lobby' influencing Congressional and White House decisions concerning foreign aid to Israel . What is at stake today are the related questions of the advocacy of a nuclear war in which 70 million Iranians face extermination and the complicity of the US mass media in providing a platform, nay a certain political respectability for mass murder and global contamination. Unlike the Nazi past, we cannot claim, as the good Germans did, that 'we did not know' or 'we weren't notified', because it was written by an eminent Israeli academic and was published in the New York Times.


text:
We've put together a beer lovers' guide for those living and visiting the Catskill, N.Y. area
The natural beauty, growing tourism industry and overall community-mindedness that make this area ideal for LUMBERYARD seem to be as appealing to creative entrepreneurs in the quickly expanding craft beer industry.
Breweries added $277 million in revenue to New York State's economy in 2015 after they increased in number to 240 from 95 in 2012.
Those breweries created 11,366 full-time equivalent jobs and $554 million in paid wages.
Needless to say, if you're upstate looking for some great tastes, or checking out next month's TAP New York Craft Beer and Food Festival, you'll be spoiled with options.
Here are some of our favourite breweries whose products and leaders stand out as exceptional:
Chatham Brewing
Ideas that co-founder, Tom Crowell, recently shared with the Register Star about what makes the Hudson Valley a great place to run a business resonated with us.
"We have our tagline, 'It is not just local, it's personal'," Crowell told the newspaper. "I think it is a pretty accurate reflection for the entire Hudson Valley…
"You can actually get to know us and interact with people making the beer on a personal level. And that is what attracts people…"
Beverages from the menu of this 10-year-old brewery will be available at our upcoming March Party, for which Chatham Brewing is a sponsor.
Chatham's ales and IPAs can also be found in stores, pubs and farm-to-table restaurants throughout the state.
In Catskill, their '8 Bottle' is also available at New York Restaurant.
Cave Mountain Brewing Company
Owner, Lisa Alinder, is one of three female brewery owners in New York State.
Lisa, who grew up in Westchester, is now at the helm of the Windham-based brew pub founded by her brother.
Last summer, she shared with us her observations about doing business in the area after Cave Mountain Brewing Company sponsored LUMBERYARD's End of Summer Shindig.
"The Hudson Valley is a four season destination," she said. "It's where adventure meets culture."
Together with other local craft breweries, Lisa has helped develop the Catskill Beverage Trail, offering tourists a route through the Valley dotted with stops at wineries, distilleries and cider houses.
They hope the trail will help others see that richness of the Valley's culture.
Crossroads Brewing Company
Crossroads founders, Janine Bennett and Ken Landin, are opening a brewery storefront this summer, adjacent to LUMBERYARD.
A passion for Hudson Valley inspired them to found the company in 2008.
"There's something about growing up in the Valley, right by the river especially. You always have a sense of home. The river is grounding. It unites us," Janine says.
"I think that's part of why people stick together and support one another: we're all in this together."
Crossroads, which sponsored LUMBERYARD's Groundbreaking event, was recognized in 2016 at New York's largest beer festival as the best brewery in Hudson Valley.
They chose Catskill, N.Y. for their storefront after an influx of entrepreneurs and investment to our historic riverside town.
"There's huge excitement surrounding LUMBERYARD coming to the area. LUMBERYARD is going to bring a spotlight to Catskill, N.Y. and bring even more arts and culture," Janine said.
"In Catskill, N.Y. the art isn't just on the walls, it's in the shops, it's in the people."


text:
Brij University Bharatpur exam result 2017, Brij university result 2017, MSBU Bharatpur result 2017, MSBU Bharatpur BBA, BSc, BCom, MSc, MA, MCom, BEd exam result for yearly examination 2017. All candidates who finished their Bharatpur university yearly written examination they all have good news because Brij university declare official notification of result for annual examination 2017, thousands of candidates also enroll various courses in the Brij university Bharatpur and they all wait for exam result name wise or want to see subject wise obtain marks list for the annual examination. All regular and private both type candidates who want to check their written examination they now need to check result online on the official website. All concern candidates also check detail online on brijuniversity.ac.in link which is the official link of the university.
MSBU Brij University Result 2017
Maharaja Surajmal Brij university bharatpur Rajasthan has declared their BA BSc BCom exam result for yearly examination 2017. All candidates who apply online application form for all courses like BBA, BSc, BCom, MSc, MA, MCom, Bed and appeared in the annual examination they now check their exam result from official web link www.brijuniversity.ac.in and go on exam date section of the university website. When candidates finished the written exam then they regularly search their BA, BSc, BCom exam result link which available on this page below.
Brij University Bharatpur basically declare their BA BSc BCom 1st, 2nd, 3rd year result in the month of June so candidates now prepare yourself for check their examination result online on brijuniversity.ac.in link and this webpage. This webpage has complete information regarding this Bharatpur university result 2017 name wise for all traditional courses like BBA, BSc, BCom, MSc, MA, MCom, Bed, Med, BA etc. first of all candidates also touch with official web link of university website and then see all latest update of the brij university results and mostly results of this university declare in this month.
MSBU Bhartpur BA 1st, 2nd, 3rd Year Result 2017
This university situated at Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. This university offer various courses for all collegiate (Regular) and non collegiate (Private) students. This university cover various district of Bharatpur shambag and give affiliation of various private and government colleges in Bharatpur shambhag of Rajasthan. All Candidates who filled their application form they now check their MSBU BA, BCom, BSc, BEd examination they now check result online.
Name Of Exam – Brij University Annual Examination 2017
Exam Status – Finished
Result – Update soon
Class – BA, BSc, BCom, MA, MSc, Mcom
Year – 1st Year, 2nd, 3rd Year
Official Link – brijuniversity.ac.in
Steps for Check MSBU Bharatpur Results 2017 –
- Open link www.brijuniversity.ac.in link which is official link of Brijuniversity results.
- Go on examination Tab of this website which show on home page.
- Choose exam result link from drop download list.
- Click on course in which exam you appeared.
- Put your roll no of all private and regular candidates and then press submit button.
Brij University BA, BSc, BCom Exam Date Sheet 2017
Maharaja Surajmal Brij University Bhartpur will declare soon their BBA, BSc, BCom, MSc, MA, MCom, BEd, MEd, PGDCA exam result. When university publish any notification regarding MSBU bharatpur university results for regular and private then we upload all detail on this page.


text:
I Just finished four XR650R suspensions and one of the bikes (Dana the Wildkat Fire Guy) has a new 2005 bike. The valves on his new bike are different from 2000~2004 bikes! Has there been a change on something on the BRP???!!!!! On all bikes that I have done 2004 and older have had compression port holes of 2.64 +/- .01mm but his had holes much smaller at 1.96mm +/- .02mm. That is a big difference. I did not check the rebound ports on the rebound valve because I don't port those to be bigger. (I drill the Compression valves out on most XR650R's to 3.64mm) The shim stacks where the same as other years but, the valve holes were smaller to slow the forks down. The fluid was different also. Nore green. His forks are new so there wasn't any whale snot and no rust. The other forks I have done were just like most XR650R forks, full of whale and rusted rebound rods.
Well anyways the smaller holes in the valve would make the forks hydrolic sooner on a big sharp hit and wouldn't be much fun for someone who realy pushes the bike. Sure wouldn't be nice to hit something sharp. I don't know if this was a fluke but, both compression valves had the small holes.


text:
20% off. 24 hours only. Get on it. Use TWENTY20
D3xAF-S VR Nikkor 500mm 1:1.4GAF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II (1.4x)
Follow the Seabirds of the Saltee Islands series on my website
puffin fratercula artica puffin photograph puffin picture saltee saltees saltee island bird seabird sea bird nature wildlife ireland irish county wexford wexford kilmore quay nature photography nature pictures wildlife photography wildlife pictures seabird pictures seabird photographs aves freedom andrew jones andrew jones photography andrewjonesfoto
Fantastic capture, what a beautiful and colorful little creature, beautiful !! xoxo
You are very kind Anna, thank you so much for visiting and leaving this nice comment. Andrew
superb image
Thank you kindly Tina, much appreciated, Andrew
What a remarkable capture! Beautifully composed, and a really cool…ahem…creature! :))
Such a sweet image, Andrew. Puffins are so photogenic; you've captured a lovely image and pose here.
Best puffin photograph I've ever seen. Thank you, Andrew!
Fantastic capture, well done indeed
Thanks Marie, so kind of you to feature this in the group
Thank you kindly for featuring this in the Group!
Loading more work by Andrew Jones...
10% off
for joining the Redbubble mailing list
Receive exclusive deals and awesome artist news and content right to your inbox.
Free for your convenience.


text:
Scotland's Energy Strategy - Join the Conversation!
Scotland's draft Energy Strategy was published in January, setting out the Scottish Government's vision for the future energy system in Scotland for the period to 2050.
The draft strategy includes two ambitious targets for 2020 and beyond:
- 1 GW of community and locally-owned energy by 2020, and 2 GW by 2030; and
- at least half of newly consented renewable energy projects will have an element of shared ownership by 2020.
- The draft Climate Change Plan is currently undergoing parliamentary scrutiny – for a period of 60 days.
- The draft Energy Strategy is open for public consultation until 30 May. Chapter 5 focuses on Smart Local Energy Systems.
There are four accompanying consultations:
- Onshore Wind Policy Statement (30th May) includes questions on shared ownership and community benefits
- Scotland's Energy Efficiency Programme (30th May)
- Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies, and Regulation of District Heating (18th April)
- Unconventional Oil and Gas – Talking 'Fracking' (31 May)
The Scottish Government is seeking your views on this vision for Scotland's future energy system. This is an opportunity for you to help shape Scotland's energy future as well as, tackle the challenges of climate change, affordability of energy and the efficiency of our energy use. Here is a link to the Citizen Space where you can respond to the consultations on line:
Local Energy Scotland welcome you to join in the conversation at the annual CARES conference on 26th and 27th April 2017 in Stirling.
1 GW of community and locally-owned energy by 2020, and 2 GW by 2030


text:
Hey, have you heard about the new girl? No? What does she look like, you ask? She's 23 years old, has purple eyes, white hair, is about 1.70m tall, and… hangs out with a little floating ball named Niev? Not ringing any bells? Well, no worries there. Let me fill you in everything you want to know about Vocallective's latest addition, NATA.
Released on January 11th, 2017, and developed by Azureflux, Tora, and Uru, NATA is the newest addition to Plogue's free voice synthesizer software Alter/Ego. While the program itself is free, NATA will run you €47.72+VAT, which is significantly less than other, more mainstream vocal synth libraries. What that minimal cost does get you, though, is a true piece of fan creation. An entire English library with a multitude of vocal parameters at your disposal, plus compatibility with most DAWs with intuitive user interface, allowing producers of all skill sets to create tracks with a mature-sounding female lead.
Here are a few examples of what NATA has to offer:
Like what you hear? Check out more at http://nata.vocallective.net/


text:
Primus Telecom has entered the booming VoIP market with its own national consumer and business service.
TalkBroadband is leading with a price-based pitch offering untimed calls anywhere within Australia for a flat 10 cents per call.
Overseas call rates start at 2.7 cents a minute, and similar to Skype, calls to other Primus TalkBroadband numbers will be free.
Primus has also launched three new plans with the service: the Starter Plan costs $9.95 a month, the Family Plan $19.95 and the Premium Plan, $29.95.
The VoIP service is modelled on Primus US' broadband phone service, Lingo, which features traditional phone services and features like call waiting, call forwarding, call return, and last number redial.
The service is not dependent on a user having a PC as it can be connected straight to a broadband connection.
Primus Telecom managing director, Greg Wilson, said the new service would be able to stand out despite the myriad of rival services, such as People Telecom and BigAir, available.
"Being one of the majors with a significant fixed line and ISP customer base provides a level of reassurance," he said. "That's backed up by our experience with the highly successful Lingo service offering in the US."
SMEs in particular were expected to adopt the new offering based on potential cost savings – particularly in long distance and international calls, Wilson said.
"Other services require handsets and headsets which plug into a PC," he said. "We just have an adapter that sits behind the DSL connection which goes straight into the standard handset – it's much cleaner."
Wilson said it was too early to determine what the likely adoption rate of the new offering would be.
Primus Telecom calls in a new VoIP service.
By Tim Lohman on Mar 6, 2006 2:30PM
Primus Telecom has entered the booming VoIP market with its own national consumer and business service.
Tags:primus telecom telco/isp