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A Few Freebies
By Douglas R. Briggs, DC, Dipl. Ac. (IAMA), DAAPM, EMT
Let's face it – patient evaluation takes time. Unless you are really into the diagnostic evaluation game, you probably have found the formal exam protocol tedious, if not downright annoying.It takes time to perform a consultation, evaluation and assessment, and then assimilate all that data into a report. As practitioners, we like to be "hands on" – most folks I know hate having to spend time doing the requisite exams and paperwork that always comes with patient care.
With that said, I like freebies. When a patient comes in with a sign that gives me a clue to what is going on, it helps me be more focused in my exam – so I don't waste time trying to figure out what test to do next. I have previously shared information about observing how a patient gets up from the exam bench / treatment table. In this article, let's talk about some quick observations you can make as soon as the patient walks in the door.
Rust's Sign
When a patient walks in holding their hand up to their head, that can be a sign as to what the patient's complaint is. The first thing you should look for is if the patient is actively using one or both hands to support their head. In fact, the patient may not even be willing to remove their hands from supporting the head. This is called Rust's sign.
This active splinting of the head and neck for support is a reflex guarding mechanism, and indicates instability – usually in the upper cervical spine. Evans' text considers this one of the most telling and important observations.1 Such a sign indicates the need for immediate stabilization and diagnostic imaging. As Rust's sign implies gross instability, possibly due to fracture, observation of this should never be taken lightly. Only after fracture has been ruled out can you pursue evaluation for other conditions such as severe sprain, subluxation or rheumatoid arthritis.
The patient with a severe soft-tissue injury may also demonstrate this sign when lying down by using their hands to support and lift the head so the cervical tissues are not strained by the action of rising. Further indications of soft-tissue injury are using the hands to hold the head while looking to the side, and twisting the trunk to avoid rotation of the neck.
The opposite of this test is also valuable in assessing a patient. When a patient presents with complaints of severe neck pain, but does not consistently demonstrate the need to support the head (especially upon distraction), you may suspect the validity of their complaints. That is not to say that the patient is lying – on the contrary, patients may tend to exaggerate their symptoms to some degree in order to legitimize their complaints – but you should observe a continuity between the patient's complaints and their physical actions. Whichever your finding, make sure you note it in the file, as it is one more diagnostic piece of information you can use.
Bakody's Sign
A similar observation of value is if a patient tends to support the arm in an elevated position, perhaps even going so far as to rest it on top of the head. This is referred to as Bakody's sign, and could be considered antalgic posturing of the neck. In a patient with neck pain, abduction and external rotation of the ipsilateral shoulder by moving the hand toward the head decreases stretching of the compressed nerve roots. Evans notes that it is not uncommon for patients to voluntarily assume this pose while waiting in the examination room, as it is the position of minimal discomfort.1
Again, also watch for the opposite of this sign. The "Reverse Bakody" can be noted when the patient resists raising the arm and hand toward the head. This finding should be correlated with other orthopedic testing, as it could indicate facet irritation, glenohumeral dysfunction, rotator-cuff trauma or myofascial spasm.2 Again, whichever your finding, note it in your records.
As all you have to do is watch the patient, it should be easy to add these tests into your exam protocol. Certainly there are other tests, signs and observations to be made in the individual case – but the more information you have to confirm your findings, the more secure you will be in your diagnosis and treatment protocol. These extra notes also help document the severity of your patients' complaints. This extra documentation can also help make the difference if you must justify your diagnosis and care to an insurer or third party. Take the extra few seconds to add these tests into your exam routine – they will serve you well.
Click here for more information about Douglas R. Briggs, DC, Dipl. Ac. (IAMA), DAAPM, EMT.


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Any barista will tell you that the easiest way
to improve the flavor of your morning cup is
to grind your own coffee—preferably right
before you're going to brew it.
All Grinders
The Perfect Cup »
A taste of our favorite coffee and
espresso drinks from around the world.
Brewing Guides & Tips »
Step-by-step help from our Brewing
Guides, useful advice and more.
Video Library »
See all our favorite brewing
methods in action.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
4 Cartons Corsair Superslims Yellow. Sold in cartons of 10 Packs of 20 Cigarettes. Meaning a Total of 40 packs or 800 cigarettes. Tar: 6mg; Nicotine: 0.5mg; Length: 97mm; Type: Superslims; Box Type: Hard Pack; Product: European made cigarettes, cigars and tobacco;
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text:
herzog wrote:How did the Canons and Sonys of the world miss this boat so badly that a little guy steps up and creates a billion dollar business from nothing?
Simple. Different markets. Canon aren't really into the cheap video market so to say but Sony is now playing catchup and is utilising its software/techinical side to gain lost time. They tend to focus on mass consumer cameras (point and shoot cameras that a todler to grandma can use) and on high end photographic equipment. Only recently has that transitioned into consumer video production using their photographic products aswell. None is better than the other. Flatout quality wise GoPro holds nothing compared to them. Price wise gopros are in another world being a couple hundred bucks all up and not a few thousand for the lens + a few more thousand for the body. You can mount GoPros on nearly anything but cameras are very limited. GoPros are lighter than a bag of chips while cameras and lenses can weight more than some airlines allow for checked baggage. The GoPro might not be able to read a number plate 600m away but with my camera I sure can. The market for small action video cameras was very small and GoPro captured that market. Just as Fuji, Canon and Sony captured the high end professional video market. The first GoPro which was a film camera that only took photos wasn't a huge success at first but as it evolved over time it became a more powerful, more usable and way more marketable. They really only started to gain in popularity with the first of the HD Hero series (GoPro HD960). I think the GoPro Hero 3 is the 7th generation of camera that they have made.


text:
I've often said if I go before my time, it'll be in a traffic accident. I've driven so much over the years, I've seen too many crazy drivers do too many crazy things.
It was about 4 p.m. on an overcast day. I was driving home from work, on the same highway I always take. I was coming up on a little hill, just high enough that you can't see what's coming on the other side. A silver car, similar to mine, was approaching in the opposite lane. Another car, also silver, was next to it.
There are little jags in the road that create an optical illusion, making it seem someone is coming right at you when, in fact, they're just following the car in the other lane.
Not this time.
It took me a second to realize the second car was headed straight at me. The driver had just started to pass the first car.
What happened next was a thing of beauty, something we couldn't have choreographed any better if we had tried. Each of us knew what we had to do instinctively, and we did it without hesitating.
Slamming on his brakes, the driver in the oncoming lane swerved to my left as far as he could toward the ditch. I went over the center line, giving the driver in my lane enough room to swerve to the ditch on the other side. The only thing that saved us, besides the grace of God, was that the second car had just started to pass the first. Had the two cars been even, there wouldn't have been any room to maneuver and we would have hit head-on.
And just like that, it was over. We avoided what would have been a multicar pileup. On another day, a few seconds either way, I probably wouldn't be here to write about this.
I thought about calling 911. Are you supposed to report something that almost happened? I also thought about stopping to see if the other driver was all right. Instead, I kept going as if nothing had happened.
I didn't panic. I'd like to think it was because of all the years and miles I've driven. The truth is, it all happened so fast there wasn't time to think, only react. Or maybe it wasn't me; maybe our guardian angels put their hands on the steering wheels for us. Whatever happened, the whole thing was unreal, like a dream where you know something is happening, but you can't quite believe it.
Instead of my life passing before my eyes, I was in this giant void where I didn't feel anything. If that was going to be the end, so be it. I suppose that's how the end will come. When it's time, it's time.
Maybe the whole thing was a message from above: always be on guard, because anything can happen at any time to change our lives forever. A Rockford TV journalist was recently diagnosed with leukemia and died two days later. She was just 29, the very picture of health.
We never know what's going to happen, which is one of the mysteries and even the beauties of life.
With Thanksgiving upon us, I definitely have something to be thankful for. It may not be what you think.
I realized it doesn't matter what I'll ever accomplish in life or what anyone thinks of me. Only one thing really matters. Almost every weekend, I recite the Lord's Prayer. It's not just something I can do from memory, from repeating it hundreds, maybe thousands, of times. It's something I truly believe. Although there are still some things I wouldn't mind doing, while I have Jesus, I don't really need a bucket list.
When my time does come, I know I'll be ready.
And that's what I'm most thankful for.
SideLines: You never know what's coming
I've often said if I go before my time, it'll be in a traffic accident. I've driven so much over the years, I've seen too many crazy drivers do too many crazy things.


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Construction Solicitor - City
- Recruiter
- Austen Lloyd
- Location
- City of London
- Salary
- £50000 - £60000 per annum + Excellent Package
- Posted
- 22 Jan 2013
- Closes
- 19 Feb 2013
- Ref
- Contact
- Austen Lloyd
- Sector
- Legal
- Contract Type
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full Time
This role has terrific potential for career development and would be a good opportunity for a recently qualified Solicitor with an initial grounding in Construction law behind them to establish an excellent career within a very prestigious, modern thinking and innovative firm.
This is a leading City based Legal 100 specialist law firm with important national and international Clients, working on some fascinating projects, so you should have solid academics and have trained at a high quality firm. There will be a mixture of contentious and non contentious work and the team ethos will bring you into daily contact and interaction with highly professional colleagues from other areas of law. This is altogether, an excellent and prestigious firm to work for, in a great Central London location.
If you are interested in this role and you think that you have the necessary experience, then Charlotte would be keen to hear from you as soon as possible, in absolute Confidence, on 01275 463 111.
Solicitor Vacancies/Law Jobs Reference: CW 12525 : (NQ+ Construction Solicitor / Associate): Austen Lloyd is a Specialist Legal Recruitment Agency. In addition to this role, we have many other excellent and specialist positions. Visit our website on: www.austwenlloyd.co.uk
Please note: our advertisements may use PQE levels purely as a guide, however we would be happy to consider applications from all candidates who can demonstrate the skills needed to perform the role.


text:
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) passed on the opportunity to cut interest rates at a policy meeting on Tuesday, but weakening economic conditions could force its hand next month, economists tell CNBC.
The RBA held rates steady at 3.25 percent, surprising analysts who were betting on a rate cut and sending the Australia dollar to a five-month high of $1.0437 .
However, it is a matter of time before the central bank has to ease again to lift the Australian economy given a weak local labor, economists say.
"We are still of the view that there will be another cut before the end of the year," said Paul Bloxham, chief economist for Australia and New Zealand at HSBC. "They didn't ease today partly because global conditions have stabilized and also because the inflation numbers surprised them a bit. But we still think that domestic conditions do warrant a rate cut."
Underlying inflation in the third quarter rose to an annual 2.5 percent, from 2 percent in the previous quarter, moving back to the middle of the RBA's long-term target band of 2 to 3 percent.
The labor market will now be a key determinant of the RBA's next move, Bloxham said. There are signs of a weakening in Australian employment conditions, with the unemployment rate rising by more than expected to 5.4 percentin September from 5.1 percent in August.
Job ads meanwhile fell 4.6 percent in October from September, the seventh consecutive monthly decline and the biggest fall in 18 months, ANZ Bank said on Monday.
If the October jobs numbers, due out on Thursday, show that the labor market has weakened further, the RBA will be moved to cut rates by 25 basis points at the December meeting, Bloxham said.
Mitul Kotecha, head of global foreign exchange strategy at Credit Agricole in Hong Kong, also expects a quarter-point rate cut next month.
(Read more: Rate Cuts Are No Threat to a Robust Aussie Dollar)
The RBA has already eased interest rates by 150 basis points in the past year in the face of a deteriorating global economic outlook. It's not the only major central bank to take action against such a backdrop, with the both the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan unleashing monetary stimulus in recent months.
Wait and See?
Monetary policy was "appropriate for the time being" because inflation has been slightly higher than expected and there have been some encouraging signs from the global economy, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said on Tuesday following the decision to leave monetary policy unchanged.
"Further effects of action already taken to ease monetary policy can be expected over time. The Board will continue to monitor those effects, together with information about the various other factors affecting the outlook for growth and inflation," he added.
A pick-up in inflation is one reason for the RBA to not rush into further monetary easing. Another is that the outlook for the global economy is less gloomy than it was a couple of months ago, with recent data pointing to some stabilization in China and steady, if slow, improvement in the United States.
Gavin Stacey, head of Australia and New Zealand rates strategy with Barclays, is therefore not expecting another rate cut this year unless fresh data point to a need to ease further.
"What they're (RBA) telling us is that inflation is a bit more of a problem than they thought," Stacey told CNBC Asia's "Capital Connection".
"And I think now they're sitting back and letting the data tell them whether or not they've got more to do on the easing front or whether they can move to the sidelines."
-By CNBC's Jean Chua.


text: This corporate music screams modern, cool, and sophisticated. The piano plays out a beautiful arpeggio as the orchestral elements take the listener on a positive and inspiring ride. The bell melodies and strings play together while the overall tone is perfect for a wide variety of applications including explainers, business, presentation, ads, television, and much more.


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Volume 16 Issue 54 | June 4 - 10, 2004
Learning to part with that oh so precious clutter
By Wickham Boyle
Is it age or disposition? Do we realize as we grow older that we are hoardaholics, keeping way too much? Or are we born that way and only reache a critical mass when we get to be middle-aged?
I notice now that I have kept far too much. I am holding on to too much weight, too many books, too much paper, too many old sheets, baby clothes, too-tight clothes, sports equipment and extra cooking accoutrements.
We are putting in a new floor in our front room and that means moving everything out. Obviously you cant build a floor with objects on top of it. So my construction guys made a simple request: Move every single item out from the huge front room. They didnt care where, just out of their way. Easier said than done. Because when I was forced to move everything, I began to experience an unsettling sense of clutter that went much further than physical stuff.
For quite a while I wanted to Feng Shui my life, to simplify, to throw out and to have a breathable sense of calm surrounding me. What stops me? After all, throwing things away is free. I simply make piles of books, or toys, and set them on the loading dock outside my loft. They disappear in no time. It might even be construed as public service if I donate my business clothes, that are WAY TOO SMALL, to an organization that bestows them on a needy, slimmer, working woman. If I gave away all the small baseball bats, skates and tennis rackets, some kids would be smacking and gliding in a park. If I gave away my deceased mothers capes some lovely older woman might be strutting her stuff happily swathed in a mohair wrap.
What keeps me keeping stuff?
I have to look at my body as the first indicator that I am not content to simply have enough. One does not become chubby, portly, round, zaftig or thick by wanting her fair share. No. Gaining and retaining weight and losing space in the house comes from wanting too much, abundance beyond what one person can use efficiently. Within that neediness is also a fear of truly needing something. That uncertainty then spins into the perception that one day we will not be able to provide for ourselves, or worse, for our family. And so we hoard.
Suppose when my daughter gets an apartment she needs sheets, pots, pans, mountains of books or tiny ice skates. Suppose when she has kids she would like to have her own baby clothes. Suppose I need to be able to pull out all of John Cheevers novels on a winter night and begin reading without waiting at the library. Suppose some of these first editions are valuable. Could the child-size spurs and velvet riding hardhats ever be valuable by any whacked-out stretch of the imagination? When I answer that I cant see any use for this stuff cluttering my home and my body, I still cant find my way to let go of it.
This supposition of potential value was a part of what kept me in a very abusive relationship for over a decade. Suppose I let go of this horrible handsome man and he becomes valuable; I will have missed it. Suppose he learns to be kind, loving and employed. Instead, I released him and he continued to be chronically unemployed and unresponsive as a parent. That was a remarkable lesson for me. I let him go. I made space in my life for a real relationship and subsequently found and married the love of my life. Why is it so much harder to throw out ice skates and sweaters?
I know that there are professional people who come into your house and douse the fires of clutter by ruthless tossing. I know there are nutrition experts and body mavens who will do the same for your body. But I am a hardheaded individualist and believe that a woman must do this for herself. I have high standards, and to many people my home looks extraordinarily neat, especially for a wide-open space with very few closets. But I am the one who knows what lurks under beds and behind bookcases. I know where my clutter is buried and it haunts me because I cannot find a way to release it.
The good news for me is that I have stopped the accretion. I know I have so little space on my bookshelves, so now there is an unspoken law: if new books come in, some have to go. Oh come on, who looks at the Samuelsons economics text from 1972? The Jean Paul Gautier red wool coat from Paris in 1990 may be cool, but would I even consider putting it on, even if I could close it? Yet, there is the fat old brown book and the glaring red coat.
I have gleaned many things from my idiosyncratic hoarding in the last year. I have some open spaces in my home and I lost 8 pounds, leaving me feeling much stronger from my new workout regime. Perhaps being on a path should be enough. But I am afraid that, along with hoarding stuff and chubbiness, I am also storing, more deeply, a sense of fear that I might need something and not have it. Maybe this new path needs to incorporate a belief that if I need something, I will find it, and further, I do not always have to possess everything that anyone else wants at a moments notice.
So I am off to cull more clutter. And work out. If you want some cool skates, spurs or books; look on my loading dock.
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text:
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Just contact me within: 14 days of delivery
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But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
Because of the nature of these items, unless they arrive damaged or defective, I can't accept returns for:
Buyers are responsible for return shipping costs. If the item is not returned in its original condition, the buyer is responsible for any loss in value.
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text: Leah Eskin writes the food column "Home on the Range" as a special contributor for the Tribune's Food & Dining section. Eskin grew up baking chocolate chip cookies in Iowa City, Iowa. She stir-fried tofu from a closet kitchen at Brown University and managed enchiladas while studying in Paris. She made a snappy paella off-hours from journalism school at Columbia University. Eskin joined the staff of the Chicago Tribune Magazine in 2000. Her column, "Sum of the Parts," considered life's urgent questions, including: Why does Ken tolerate Barbie? In 2004 she launched "Home on the Range," which offers a delicious essay and an insightful recipe each week. Though a Chicagoan at heart, she now lives with her husband and two underage food critics in Baltimore, Md.


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I want to run lampp on a 64bit system.. When i try to start it, it says "XAMPP is currently only availably as 32 bit application. Please use a 32 bit compatibility library for your system".
I found out i'd need the ia32-libs package to run it on my pc, but i have already installed it
Why refuses lampp to start even with this package installed? anyone familiar with this problem?


text:
It seems like these days fewer and fewer politicians are asking their constituents' opinions and seeking direction on laws and taxes.
Rep. Shelly Short is bucking that trend and is asking constituents to take a quick survey on Gov. Jay Inslee's proposal to raise fuel taxes at the pump.
The survey also asks constituents to weigh in on transportation-related issues as well as whether the Legislature should be called into special session before the end of the year.
We commend her efforts to get North-Central Washington residents to speak out about transportation spending.
You might think Short, being a Republican from Addy, would craft her survey questions with barbs designed to wound Democrat Inslee's position. But in looking at the questions, we believe they open the door for a candid discussion on transportation measures, a potential fuel tax increase and the need for a special session. That said, Short does take a quick shot at the governor in her introduction.
She closes her introduction with thanks for "involved and informed" residents taking time to voice their opinions on the issues. We think that's apropos given Tuesday was the last day to cast a vote in the general election.
While a fuel tax wasn't on the ballot, Short's survey gives North-Central and all Washington state residents an opportunity to be heard. The survey includes questions on support for increasing the tax, opportunities to explain your support or opposition, and an opportunity to offer input into state transportation spending.
Think the state Department of Transportation is wasting taxpayer dollars?
The survey has an area to tell Short that.
Likewise, if you think officials are doing a good job regarding ferries, road and bridge repairs, and related topics, you can tell her that too.
Without going into further detail, we suggest you take the survey online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/LQ7R8QY.
This is your opportunity to direct a state lawmaker on an issue that in rural Eastern Washington has broad implications for quality of life. This is a opportunity to have your voice heard in Olympia.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.


text:
Chicago's gay pride month, which has typically culminated with an action-packed 72 hours of Pride Fest and Pride Parade celebrations, will be divvied up differently this year.
The parade and festival during gay pride month in June will be held on separate weekends, organizers of both events have confirmed.
Attendance at the Pride Parade has increased steadily over the years – growing to 850,000 attendees in 2012 – and the change was made in part to alleviate pressure on Chicago police who patrol the big events.
"Police will have a less stressful time, hopefully," said Jen Gordon, a spokesperson for the Northalsted Business Alliance, which organizes Pride Fest.
No major incidents at the festival or parade were reported by police last year.
The Pride Fest, which features arts and crafts as well as food and live entertainment each year, will be held all day Saturday, June 22, and Sunday, June 23.
Traditionally, the event has only been a day and a half, held Friday night and Saturday, making way for the Pride Parade on the last Sunday of June.
The Pride Parade this year will be June 30.
"We look at the availability of premier entertainers, too," Gordon said. "We have greater flexibility to bring people in this way."
The change of events will give far-away travelers more time to make it to the city, Gordon said. She also said it gives these travelers an excuse to spend an entire week in the city, as opposed to a long weekend.
The Pride Parade will remain relatively unchanged, organizer Richard Pfeiffer said. Last year, the route for the parade was lengthened, to accommodate increasing crowds.
The extended route, which Pfieffer said was an "exceptional success" last year, will remain in effect.
Pfeiffer and Gordon both said having the events on separate weekends will affect crowds, but it's hard to say how.
"For us, it's going to work better for the community and business on the street as well," Gordon said. Although gay pride events will be held all month, "we want to have a whole weeklong celebration leading up to the parade."


text:
Author Notes: Ireland Creek Annie beans are a lovely light golden and beige English heirloom variety that have a mellow, earthy flavor. They make a delicious silky bean spread when blended with lots of roasted garlic and olive oil. If you can't find this variety, white kidney beans would be a reasonable substitute. For contrasting color, flavor, and texture, I've paired the bean spread with a bright, spicy, crunchy almond and roasted red pepper romesco sauce. The bruschetta come together easily and are tastiest right out of the oven, so make just as many as you will eat at a time. To make these as bite-sized appetizers, use a narrow ficelle sliced into thin rounds. —Fairmount_market
Makes: about 24 bruschetta
For the bean spread
cup dried Ireland Creek Annie beans, or substitute white kidney beans
sprigs fresh rosemary
cloves garlic
cup olive oil
salt to taste
For the romesco sauce
red bell pepper
cup slivered almonds
teaspoon smoked paprika or more for a spicier sauce
tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt to taste
- Rinse the beans and cook them over low heat with the rosemary springs, covered in an inch of water, until they are tender. The cooking time will depend on how dry the beans are. You can also cook them in a slow cooker (check after about 3 hours on low), which allows them to plump and soften slowly. Make sure that the beans stay immersed in liquid, but don't add too much water (start with about 2 cups), because you want to end up with the beans in their own thick sauce. When the beans are tender, remove the rosemary springs and salt them generously.
- To make the bean spread, roast the garlic cloves in a dry skillet until the skins are blackened in spots and the garlic is soft and fragrant. Peel the garlic cloves and combine them in a food processor with the beans in their sauce and the olive oil. Blend into a smooth paste. Add more salt or olive oil to taste.
- To make the romesco sauce, char the red pepper over an open flame or in a high heat oven until the skin is blackened. Place in a bowl covered with a plate to steam off the skin. Toast the almond slivers in a dry skillet and place in a food processor. Scrape off the charred skin from the pepper, remove stem and seeds and add to food processor. Add vinegar and smoked paprika and pulse into a course paste.
- To make the bruschetta, preheat the broiler. Cut slices of baguette on the diagonal (or to make bite-sized bruschetta, slice thin rounds from a ficelle). Spread a thick layer of the bean spread on each baguette slice, followed by a stripe of romesco sauce. Heat an oven-safe skillet, such as a cast iron pan, and coat lightly with olive oil. Add the bruschetta to the pan and let sizzle for a minute, then put the pan under the broiler for about 4 minutes, until the edges of the baguette slices are toasted.
- Enjoy as an appetizer or as an accompaniment to soup or salad.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best One-Bite Party Snack
More Great Recipes:
Vegetable|Clove|Paprika|Vinegar|Bean|Make Ahead|Cast Iron|Vegan|Vegetarian|Hors D'Oeuvre|Appetizer|Snack


text:
The 10 Best Kitchen Items To Buy at IKEA
Where would we be without IKEA? It's hard to talk about setting up a kitchen without bringing the Swedish megastore into the mix. IKEA continues to be a terrific resource for affordable kitchen tools and products, and while it's hard to pick 10 favorite items, we did our best. From a new kitchen cart (in turquoise!) to dirt cheap bag clippers, from basic glass storage jars to a hang-it-anywhere metal rail, these 10 items are tried-and-true purchases for any kitchen:
- 1 RÅSKOG Kitchen Cart, $49.99: This arrived in IKEA stores just this past year, and it's already becoming a cult favorite. It's on wheels, which means you can roll it around as needed, and it's narrow enough to fit in tight spaces.
- 2 TEKLA Dish Towels, $0.79: As we wrote last week, these towels double as dinner napkins for a rustic French look. Buy a few dozen and replace them as needed. You can afford to at this price!
- 3 KORKEN Glass Jars with Lids, $2.99 - $3.00: I have a dozen or more of these glass jars in my kitchen. They're super cheap, durable, and terrific for holding pantry staples.
- 4 GRUNDTAL Rail, $9.99: So basic yet so versatile. The Grundtal rail and the wall shelf ($14.99) are one of our go-to kitchen storage solutions.
- 5 BLANDA BLANK Serving Bowl, $4.99: This stainless steel bowl is a workhorse. It's my go-to bowl for mixing batter or serving salads.
- 6 KRAFTIG Chopping Board, $19.99: Oil this acacia wood cutting board regularly and it will last a long time.
- 7 GRUNDTAL Magnetic Knife Rack, $12.99: this is a simple, affordable, and functional storage solution for your knives if you're tight on space.
- 8 BEVARA Sealing Clips, $1.79/10 pack: Keep a few of these around and you'll soon wonder how you ever managed to live without them.
- 9 TRIPP Containers with Lids, $3.99/3 pack: I've had these containers for the last five years (in a different design - this is the newest version) and I would never have guessed how versatile they'd be. They're great for corraling packaged foods and ingredients.I keep packets of instant yeast in the smallest one, while the larger one is the perfect size to hold a few bars of chocolate.
- 10 RATIONELL Flatware Tray, $12.99: This is one of the more inexpensive wood silverware trays you can find, and it's great. So much nicer than plastic.
What are your favorite kitchen products and tools from IKEA?
Related: IKEA 2013 Catalog Preview: Trends and Inspiration
(Images: IKEA)


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Brazilian Judge Overreacts, Orders Arrest Of Head Of Google's Operations In Brazil Over Refusal To Censor YouTube Video
from the secondary-liabiity dept
To say that this is an extreme overreaction, would be an understatement. Because of one video, about one local mayoral candidate (which, thanks to this publicity many more people are likely to see), all of Google should be blocked for people in Brazil and the head of Google's operations in Brazil should be arrested? Talk about a disproportionate response. Not only is it extreme, it makes no sense. Google didn't create or upload the video. It's just hosting it. If the video is illegal, blame whoever created it and uploaded it.
Google is appealing the ruling, but it still seems extreme. Google's transparency report has noted in the past that Brazil is perhaps the most aggressive country when it comes to content removal requests -- but that only suggests that someone should be thinking more carefully about how fast the Brazilian courts are to issue these kinds of injunctions without seeming to understand Google's role.


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|Lutherville, Md.
|High School:
|Boys' Latin
2011: Three-year letterwinner ... expected to start at close defense for the fourth-straight year ... is the team's most experienced defender having played in 47 games over his first three seasons.
2010: Started all 17 games during his junior season, helping the defense rank 13th in Division III in scoring defense (6.71 GAA) and 12th in Division III in man-down percentage (.821) ... recorded Honorable Mention All-ODAC accolades ... notched 34 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers ... scooped up six ground balls and caused four turnovers in a 9-4 win over Greensboro (3/3) ... registered three ground balls and caused two turnovers in a 15-3 win over Birmingham Southern (2/23).
2009: Played in 15 games with 12 starts … caused 13 turnovers and picked up 15 ground balls … helped the Generals post a 7.50 goals-against average as a team, good for a tie for 22nd-place in Division III … forced a pair of turnovers and picked up three ground balls in a 7-6 win over Franklin & Marshall (3/14).
2008: Started all 15 games as a first-year ... earned Honorable Mention All-ODAC honors and received the C.W. Pacy Award as the team's Rookie of the Year ... finished third on the team and tops among field players with 39 ground balls ... helped the defense allow an average of just 7.88 goals per game, which ranked 36th in Division III ... picked up a season-high six ground balls in a 14-3 win over Randolph-Macon (4/12).
High School: Lettered in lacrosse, squash and soccer at Boys' Latin ... was a captain of the junior varsity lacrosse team as a rookie ... played for the Baltimore Elite club team during the summer of 2007.
Off the Field: Accounting major.


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@ University of Rhode Island
I came to UAS as a through the National Student Exchange as a junior from the University of Rhode Island majoring in marine biology. I chose to exchange here because of the setting and the marine biology program UAS offers. As a student coming from a school with about 15,000 undergraduates it was a much homier feel with an undergraduate population of about 4,000.
In my year here I have been given a number of wonderful opportunities for experience in the marine biology field. It all started with an intertidal romp at low tide with some other students. The intertidal is so rich with life here it's amazing to be able to turn over a rock and uncover multiple baby sea stars, look at baby sea anemones and adult sea anemones the size of your fist or larger.
The second big thing I was able to participate in was Sitka's WhaleFest. This was part of a class I took that reviewed and discussed scientific papers about recent work being done in the marine mammal field over the semester. In November we traveled to Sitka and had the opportunity to listen and talk to some of the big names in marine mammalogy.
Since the school is so small you have a much more intimate relationship with your professors. This helps set you up for some great opportunities first because your professor knows your name. Because of this I was able to talk to my marine mammalogy professor about working with her on her harbor porpoise research project. With this opportunity I have been exposed to field techniques and what goes into having your own research project.
In my marine mammalogy class we got some amazing first had experiences. The first was the opportunity to perform a necropsy on a harbor porpoise that had been killed in fishing line the summer before. This was a great experience to get to physically see these organs that we'd learned so much about. This was also beneficial because we got exposed to what would happen if we had to perform a necropsy in the future.
The second opportunity we were given was to be out on the Fish and Game boat the Medeia for three days and two nights. On this expedition our goal was record all marine mammals we observed and when humpbacks were spotted to photograph and identify them.
The first day on the Medeia was overcast all day; the fog was low and thick with some rain in there off and on, and no sign of marine mammals…ahh the life of a scientist. Things did eventually pick up and we observed some Dall's porpoise and got to photograph a couple of humpbacks before anchoring near Admiralty Island.
Day two started out dreary as well, but the sun came out later that morning to make for a beautiful day. Day two was much more exciting than day one, we had multiple groups of Dall's porpoise come up to the boat and bow ride, we got to count harbor seals and Steller sea lions hauled out, and got to observe multiple humpbacks. We came across two humpbacks and went over to get some photo ID's on them. Once we got closer to the whales mayhem broke out, two whales turned into three all in different directions, and everyone was trying to get that elusive fluke picture. This group was even more exciting because one of the whales was lunge feeding near the. After leaving the group we docked on an island that used to be an old logging camp. Here we got to get off the boat and explore the island, the intertidal was amazing here too, there were more clams than I had ever seen, and they were all squirting water in what could have been a choreographed water show.
Day two ended with a beautiful sunset, and day three began with the sun peeking through the clouds. On our way back to Juneau we saw some more Dalls porpoise, and came across a humpback. When things seemed to be dying down we encountered a yearling humpback breaching, and he did not breach only once it was closer to five times in the ten or so minutes we watched him. This was the last animal we saw on the trip but what a great finale.
As a marine biology student at UAS the opportunities to learn and participate in the science field are plentiful and of some of the greatest quality.


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If you're thinking about picking up Max Payne 3, you should absolutely go for it. Rockstar has done a great job with recreating this series, giving it a darker tone and making it palatable in today's market without completely losing the things that made it so unique.
Super Gamer Dude
PC Games
It has been ten years since the last Max Payne was released, so its pretty clear that the game had to change in significant ways. Remedy, the original developer of Max Payne always spent a ton of time focusing on the gameplay an the art style, and not much else. The story of the first Max Payne game leads to an odd satanic worship plot, and the second game had an extremely awkward love interest going on. These games always told their stories in a fantastic noir comic book style, but the story it was telling was not usually all that relevant to the combat, which consisted of a lot of John Woo style slo-mo shooting of guys.
Max Payne 3 certainly maintains the slo-mo shooting bit, but it throws practically everything else out the window. Instead of using noir comic book style cutscenes, the game instead gives Max Payne an internal monologue that he uses to comment on everything going on around him. This works far better for expected, mostly because of Max's extremely low self-worth and rampant alcoholism.
In fact, I've probably never seen a more interesting protagonist in a video game before. Max Payne is a seriously messed up man in this game, and its clear that his experiences in the first two games have completely ruined his mental state. He is an alcoholic and a drug addict, and working as a bodyguard for a family in Brazil.
The game's story feels a lot like a Man on Fire at the start, requiring you to chase after some terrorists that have captured the daughters of your boss endlessly. The story never really becomes all that interesting, though, and Max's internal dialogue is probably the most interesting dialogue in the entire game.
When it comes to the shooting, the game controls much like any other third person shooter on the market. The game still makes extensive use of bullet time, and there are several slow motion sequences where Max will jump off something and shoot a whole bunch of guys on his way down. There are two options when it comes to controlling the game. You can either choose to have the game help you out with lock on, or aim at everything manually. Of course, you'll want to use the free aim as long as you're playing with a keyboard and mouse on a PC.
PC performance on this game is about what you'd expect from a game running on the same engine as GTA IV. Lower-end systems will have a bit more trouble than they probably should, but otherwise it's a competent port that pulls off everything just as well as its console brethren.
If you're thinking about picking up Max Payne 3, you should absolutely go for it. Rockstar has done a great job with recreating this series, giving it a darker tone and making it palatable in today's market without completely losing the things that made it so unique.
|Submitted by
|Cheat Title
Oct 31, 2014


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Leather pumps with a kitten heel: `Staple R100-P`
Hugo Boss
Did you know that Shopcade is available in 3 countries? You can pick between UK, US and FR to check out unique content and sales.
Plus when you start shopping everything is tailored to your location, so all details automatically update! We'll race you to the checkout…


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Alert 2008-25
Subject: Counterfeit Cashier's Checks
Date: June 12, 2008
Description: The First National Bank of Talladega
Counterfeit Cashier's Checks of The First National Bank of Talladega, Talladega, AL
To: Chief Executive Officers of All National Banks; All State Banking Authorities; Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Director, Office of Thrift Supervision; Conference of State Bank Supervisors; Deputy Comptrollers (districts); Assistant Deputy Comptrollers; District Counsel; and All Examining Personnel
The above-named bank has reported that counterfeit cashier's checks issued in the bank's name and using a correct routing number of 062200961 are being presented for payment nationwide in connection with a mystery shopping scam.
The counterfeit checks are similar to the authentic items but may be identified by the following: the instruments are light blue in color and contain both a darker blue logo and top and bottom border. The following security statement as well as a padlock logo is located within the bottom border: "THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS SECURITY FEATURES. SEE REVERSE." The MICR line is printed beneath the bottom border.
Items presented to date have included a remitter of "Angela Newton," have been made payable in the amount of $4,955, and contain a 6-digit check serial number beginning with the "148" series.
Correspondence accompanying the counterfeit checks may contain the letterhead of "Shadow Shopper, 353 Sherbrook Street, Unit 12, Winnipeg, MB R3B 2W7; Tel: 1-905-462-1614; Fax: 1-484-952-4950." Note that this telephone number originates in Milton, Ontario, and the fax number originates in Pennsylvania. The letter may be signed by Scott Nicholson, Human Resource Manager. The correspondence informs the recipient that he or she has been selected to participate in a paid consumer research program as a "shadow shopper." It is explains that the enclosed cashier's check is to be used to transfer money using a nationally known wire service to "Gretchen Cline in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada." Recipients are instructed to contact 1-905-462-1614 prior to depositing the check and are required to keep the assignment confidential in accordance with the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which is enclosed with the check.
Due to possible variations in the appearance of the bank's official items and differing scams associated with the counterfeit or fictitious items, officials of The First National Bank of Talladega recommend that any recipient who receives any of the bank's official items from an unknown or questionable source should contact the bank to verify the item's authenticity.
For additional information and guidance, please contact Chad Thomas, Assistant Vice President/Auditor, 120 E. North Street, Talladega, AL 35160, by telephone at (256) 761-2298, by fax at (256) 362-3929, or via e-mail at [firstname.lastname@example.com].
Consumers who receive a counterfeit or fictitious item and associated material should file complaints with the following agencies, as appropriate:
Additional information concerning this matter that you believe should be brought to the attention of the OCC may be forwarded to:
For additional information regarding other types of financial fraud, please visit the OCC's anti-fraud resource at: https://www.occ.gov/topics/consumer-protection/fraud-resources/index-fraud-resources.html.
Richard C. Stearns


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Terror and Terrorism: Remembering 9/11's Effect on Genre Filmmaking
Gabe recalls a decade of fear, and the horror and sci-fi films it set loose...
It's easy enough to argue that every movie released after September 11th, 2001 is in someway a direct reaction to the terrorist attacks committed that day. At the very least it's easy to read 9/11 related subtext and allegories into every movie released after 9/11. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings series, it has been noted, would probably not have faired so well in a pre-9/11 atmosphere, and it, along with other box office hits like Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amélie, filled an escapist void for audiences depressed and frightened by the attacks, and their ensuing aftermath. Of course, it's difficult to argue that Fellowship of the Ring, Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Oceans 11, and Monsters Inc. wouldn't have made heaps of money without a devastating event pushing disillusioned audiences into theaters, but it's just as difficult to argue against their escapist components. For the most part the major studios treated the situation with kid gloves, and the year following 9/11 was devoted to ignoring the direct effects of the attacks, with the exception of an excess of TV specials. It wasn't until 2006 that Hollywood A-listers would get involved with movies explicitly concerned with the events of September 11th. Oliver Stone's World Trade Center would take the blandest, most inoffensive route possible, while Paul Greengrass' superior United 93 fulfilled its obligation to the victims and their families with more grace, and took more chances with mainstream sensibilities. Both films made money, but neither was particularly successful at the box office.
Mainstream Hollywood's deliberate avoidance of the issue included taking pains to temporarily bury an Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle called Collateral Damage due to its terrorist attack angle, and Sam Raimi famously digitally deleted images of the World Trade Center in the New York City centered Spider-Man (not to mention the teaser trailer that featured the title character catching a helicopter between the Twin Towers, which was quickly pulled). A few major 2002 films vaguely referenced the tragedy -– Die Another Day made a brief, off-handed comment, Gangs of New York ended with a brief visual reference, and About Schmidt reeked of the malaise affecting the nation – but nobody really talked about the issue directly. The only popular films that dealt directly with the impact of 9/11 were mostly left-wing documentaries, specifically those of Michael Moore. Most of the documentaries that rushed from Moore's wake fit into two categories: fact-driven soliloquies on the events surrounding the attacks, and mouth-foaming, fist-shaking protest films.
The ongoing hardships of the Vietnam War and the death knell of the Summer of Love hurt the nation, but the fear and chaos helped burn down the stagnant studio system, and gave rise to one of the most creative and enduring periods in American movie history. Many critics and historians have drawn direct parallels between the American public's despondent and disillusioned disposition, and the 'Silver Age' of Hollywood, from direct social allegories like The Graduate and Taxi Driver, to the moral outrage seeping from the subtext of ultra violent classics like Bonnie and Clyde and The Wild Bunch. The genre that supped the most hungrily from the bowels of implicit meanings in explicit violence was, rather obviously, horror. Though the swinging '60s had opened the floodgates to graphic gore in the form of high camp classics like Herschell Gordon Lewis's Blood Feast (following the advent of Grand Guignol theater, the Hammer Horror tradition of full colour bloodletting, and the less bloody but more disturbing 'Roughie' subgenre), it wasn't until 1968 that the trepidation surround Nam birthed George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, and the American horror film really tore its way into the era. From here things spiraled into ever darker and more brutal films like Wes Craven's Last House on the Left, and, in my opinion, culminated with Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Violence started to be fun again following Romero's next zombie film, Dawn of the Dead, which foreshadowed the hollow, hyper-capitalist culture of the 1980s, which lead into the subtextless slasher and effects driven horror films. Some great films came out of this era, but society had changed, the studio system had thoroughly taken hold again, and there wasn't a lot of effort on the part of the horror community to deal with the terrors of trickle-down economics, Iran-Contra, or crack addition, even in a subconscious manner. For the most part horror in the '80s was defined by advances in special effects, and the DIY possibilities of home video.
Implicit discussion remained stagnant, but not long after September 11th American horror started a cycle of raw violence and '70s era remakes, a process many critics have attributed to the same disquieted public aberration that birthed Night of the Living Dead. The first few years of the new millennium would mostly be defined by the lingering effects of the post- Scream, post-modern slickness that was the '90s, the gigantic success of M. Night Shyamalan's Twilight Zone tinged The Sixth Sense, and the rising popularity of Japanese horror (and excepting the work of Takashi Miike, most of Japan's horror output was not particularly graphic). 2002 was a wasteland as far as the horror genre was concerned. A small collection of hybrid efforts, such as Guillermo del Toro's Blade II, Don Coscarelli's Bubba Ho-Tep, and Neil Marshall's Dog Soldiers were released at this time, but otherwise the popular horror landscape was only a minor refuge for lifeless efforts like Feardotcom, Halloween Resurrection, Jason X, and Queen of the Damned. Only Bill Paxton's Frailty really stands out as a worthy or memorable horror vehicle, and its allegorical connections to the public psyche are negligible at best.
Things began to change in 2003. 1970s nostalgia began to grip the horror community in the form of raucously gory films like Eli Roth's Cabin Fever, Rob Zombies House of 1000 Corpses, Alexadre Aja's Haute Tension, Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill (technically not a horror movie), and Marcus Nispel's Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. Nispel's remake, despite its average quality, stood out as the touchstone for the genre in this era. The film was met with surprising box office numbers, and was followed by an official prequel in 2006 ( Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, directed by Jonathan Liebesman). Horror remakes have been par for the course since Universal and James Whale had a hit with Frankenstein. Historically, however, horror stories have been remade to better represent their specific era. For example, in 1986 David Cronenberg took Kurt Neumann's goofy creature feature The Fly, and turned it into a poignant metaphor for the very '80s fear of AIDS (or cancer, take your pick). Occasionally the subtext is still apt, which is why John Carpenter didn't change up the underlying Communist metaphor when he remade Howard Hawks' The Thing. But Carpenter didn't shoot his version in black and white, and also changed the nature of the monster to better serve the abilities of 1980s special effects. The horror remakes that followed Nispel's new Chainsaw often took measures to reenact the aesthetic of the original film's period, specifically those also released under Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes production banner. The two Chainsaw films, and Andrew Douglas's Amityville Horror were even set in the same years as their predecessors. Platinum Dunes hasn't released anything since their generally disliked Nightmare on Elm Street in 2010, and have no '70s era remakes on their release plate, signifying a possible temporary end to the practice. So far the Obama era has been more defined by the continuing cycle of remaking recent foreign horror films.
Platinum Dunes didn't have a monopoly on '70s remakes, though. In 2004 first time director Zach Snyder and screenwriter James Gunn treaded onto hallowed ground to reinvision George Romero's cerebral and darkly comedic Dawn of the Dead as a breathless action flick. Other notable (note: 'notable' does not always equal good) include:
- 2006: John Moore remade Richard Donner's The Omen (practically shot for shot), Simon West remade Fred Walton's When a Stranger Calls, Glen Morgan remade Bob Clark's Black Christmas, Neil LaBute remade Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man, and French director Alexandre Aja remade Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (arguably the best of the remakes, and the only one to best its predecessor).
- 2007: Martin Weisz directed a sequel to Aja's Hills Have Eyes remake (which coincidentally had nothing to do with Craven's original Hills Have Eyes 2).
- 2008: Josef Rusnak remade Larry Cohen's It's Alive.
- 2009: Dennis Iliadis remade Wes Craven's Last House on the Left (which itself was a loose remake of Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring).
- 2010: Breck Eisner remade George Romero's The Crazies, Stephen R. Monroe remade Meir Zarchi's I Spit on Your Grave, and Alexandre Aja went back to the '70s by remaking Joe Dante's Piranha (which just barely counts due to its lighthearted, goofy take on the material).
The most notorious 'subgenre' birthed during the post-9/11 era, at least as far as the popular media was concerned, crested around the same time as the remakes, and was dubbed 'torture porn'. The term was coined sometime around 2005, and the critical and moralist outrage would have you believe it was a new phenomenon. But the truth is that films that exploit torture in a graphic degree have been around forever, and saw their biggest influx during the 1970s, including witch-hunt movies like Mark of the Devil, and Nazisploitation movies like Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS and The Gestapo's Last Orgy. Similar torture-centric strings were plucked when Harry Callahan forced a confession from Scorpio by stepping on his .44 caliber wound in Dirty Harry. However, there is something patently Bush Jr. era about the films critics have grouped into the now officially labeled subgenre, and for the lack of a better term (post-slasher doesn't quite fit) I tend to go with it. The two films that are most often credited with bringing about the coining of the phrase were James Wan's Saw (2004) and Eli Roth's Hostel (2006).
Saw, which was a comparatively mammoth financial success (shot for around $700k, it made more than $100 million), led to six sequels (the series more or less ushered Lionsgate studios into the big leagues). At its base it is a reexamination of slasher motifs, and featured a 'masked killer', dubbed Jigsaw, who forced his victims to mutilate themselves. There wasn't a lot of political subtext behind the film, but the resurgence of hard violence and grainy photography played a part in the film's success. I suppose one could dig deep and claim that the self-inflicted nature of the gore is somehow a comment on putting destructive leaders into power, or read into the medical issues surrounding the villain's motives (I assume Jigsaw is pro-Obamacare), but the more obvious of the muddled messages behind the first film has something to do with a dying man's frustration with the stagnate culture around him. In terms of post-Vietnam motion pictures Saw has more in common thematically with revisionist vigilante movies, like Taxi Driver, Joe and Rolling Thunder. The best of the sequels, Saw III, features an inversion of the first film's themes. Jigsaw rigs a game that forces his 'victim' the choice of either rescuing the people that allowed his daughter to die, or standing by and watching them die horribly. The choice doesn't really matter because it's a Saw film, and the guilty still die horribly, but it's interesting to read intended parallels between this plot point and the public's anger towards the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.
The more obvious archetype of the torture porn genre, however, would be Hostel, which was apparently based on a true story (or at least a real old wives tale) concerning international high rollers who pay a premium to torture and kill real live people in Eastern Europe, where, as the old time huckster line will tell you, life is cheap. There's no way Hostel could have been made previous to the new millennium, and it plays into two of the major emotional triggers surrounding the post-9/11 era – a fear of foreign cultures, and a mistrust of the mega-wealthy. Eli Roth's first theatrical release, Cabin Fever, was a child of the '70s era nostalgia that overtook the genre, and was a surprise hit. Cabin Fever, like Hostel, ran on a relatively unexplored high concept idea (that of flesh eating bacteria taking the place of the usual masked teenage killer), but was almost entirely referential in execution. Hostel is notable for being one of the only genuinely modern, genuinely original horror movies to come out of the heavily '70s influenced times. It's far from a perfect film, but its concepts, and box office success should be remembered in the annals of genre history. Most intriguing is the fact that several films exploring the same fear of foreign cultures kidnapping and killing American college students were actually in production around the same time as Hostel. Zev Berman's Borderland, John Stockwell's Turistas, and Ryan Nicholson Live Feed were all released within the next year, and every filmmaker has claimed commonalities were entirely coincidental. Given the cultural zeitgeist I'm inclined to believe them. Greg McLean's Australian slow-burn Wolf Creek is often lumped in with these films. It does feature a trio of twenty-somethings trapped and tortured by a rural entity, but it generally has more in common with the other Chainsaw Massacre inspired pseudo-slashers like House of 1000 Corpses.
The rationalization behind the sudden interest in torture is among the simplest in this entire essay. Besides the war in Iraq, the most consistently controversial aspect of the George W. Bush administration's war on terror was the use of 'enhanced interrogation techniques'. 'Waterboarding' and 'stress positions' became a regular parts of the national dialogue, and Guantanamo Bay military detention camp was so commonly discussed that an abbreviated name, Gitmo, was required to ensure the debate moved along more efficiently. The most devastating events were brought before an embarrassed American public in 2004 (the year Saw was released), when pictures were released featuring the physical abuse of Iraqi detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison at the hands of United States Army personnel. These events were more literally represented in popular television ( 24, Prison Break), allegorical science fiction films ( Children of Men), and a never ending series of popular documentaries, but the brief influx of horror films labeled torture porn remains just as transparent an effect of political turmoil.
2004 was also the year The Passion (of the Christ) was released. Mel Gibson's remorseless portrayal of the final hours of Jesus Christ's life featured more graphic gore, and more prolonged scenes of bloody torture than any of the wide release horror films dubbed torture porn. It was also likely the most controversial of the entire post-9/11 era, and regardless of Gibson's objective The Passion grew into a political flash point.
Sadly Hostel Part II (2007), one of the best horror films of its decade, which built upon the themes of the first film in a surprisingly intelligent, and gender savvy fashion, was not a box office success. Shortly after its release the fast kindled sub-genre officially and publicly burned-out, as the mainstream made headline news out of the more spectacular flopping of Roland Joffé's Captivity (also 2007). Captivity began its life as an unassuming (read: boring) psycho thriller, but following the popularity of Saw and Hostel, the producers filmed a series of graphic torture sequences, and cut them awkwardly into the film. They followed the re-edit with a sensationalistic ad campaign that offended noisy members of the media. By the time of release Captivity was already labeled a failure, and moralists declared the death of the subgenre. It appears they were right for a change, and outside of straight to video features torture porn has laid dormant for some time.
The popularity of Marcus Nispel's Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake effectively birthed the remake trend, but doesn't necessarily account for the many films released around the same time that also based their plots around Tobe Hooper's original nightmare vision. Chief among these was Rob Zombies House of 1000 Corpses, which was put into production as early as 1999, but due to studio discomfort with its subject matter it was not completed and released until 2003, which itself is a sign of the changing times. House of 1000 Corpses was not particularly well received (for good reason), but was popular enough to give Zombie a shot at a sequel, The Devil's Rejects, which reaches Quentin Tarantino levels of '70s exploitation referential casting. Following The Devil's Rejects Zombie jumped on the '70s remake bandwagon, and directed a belated remake of John Carpenter's Halloween in 2007, along with a direct sequel in 2009. Zombie's Halloween takes the referential nature so far as to delegate a large section of the film to actually take place during the time period. I personally don't see it as a coincidence that interest in Zombie's vision waned with the end of the Bush administration, though the thematically repetitive nature of his output couldn't have hurt either.
The remake cycle, along with the deepening nostalgia and relative success of filmmakers like Tarantino, Roth and Zombie eventually led to a less allegorical, often more amusing series of films that aped the '70s exploitation style. These films are less a product of the culture, and more of a meta-product of the product of the culture. This ongoing phase officially started when Tarantino got together with Robert Rodriguez and paid homage to New York's 42nd Street grindhouses with an appropriately named double feature called Grindhouse in 2007. Grindhouse was made up of two full length features, and a series of both fake trailers (shot by Rodriguez, Roth, Zombie, Edgar Wright and Jason Eisener), and real period advertisements. The first feature, written and directed by Rodriguez, was Planet Terror, a biohazard zombie actioneer in the tradition of Umberto Lenzi's City of the Walking Dead. The second feature, written and directed by Tarantino, was Death Proof, a more modest and successful brew of Vanishing Point car chases, slasher and giallo tropes, and Russ Meyers brand female empowerment. The movie was a box office disappointment, likely due to general confusion on the part of the general public, yet went on to inspire two official spin-offs – Rodriguez's Machete and Jason Eisener's Hobo with a Shotgun – and inspired Scott Sanders' blaxsploitation homage Black Dynamite, and Ti West's House of the Devil.
Yet even at their most vicious American filmmakers ran second to their French counterparts in recreating the gut-punch of '70s horror, which was ironic given Conservative America's vision of French society at the start of the second Iraq invasion, and the advent of such ridiculous notions as 'Freedom Fries'. Films like Fabrice Du Welz's Calvaire ( The Ordeal), Pascal Laugier's Martyrs, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's À l'intérieur ( Inside), Xavier Gens' Frontier(s), and Kim Chapiron's Sheitan all celebrate the themes and feel of the silver age's best, and like their American counterparts, even recycled key plot points. Chief among these, despite its convoluted and nonsensical twist ending (a lingering after effect of The Sixth Sense), was Alexandre Aja's Haute Tension (released in the States as High Tension, and in the UK as Switchblade Romance). Aja's deft homage landed him his first Hollywood directing role on the Wes Craven produced remake of The Hills Have Eyes, which, as mentioned, was among the most successful of the 1970s remakes. These '70s-inspired extremes would then be 'bested' in a more modern sense by Gaspar Noé. Noé's cinema of loneliness, itself inspired by dark visions like Taxi Driver and Rolling Thunder was unleashed to minor notice with 1998's Seul Contre Tous ( I Stand Alone), but would be defined in 2002 when he released Irréversible on an unsuspecting world. Irréversible stands among the most angry films in motion picture history, and manages to capture the intents and purposes of the post-Studio era without dealing in callbacks, or sense of irony.
The post 2001 period also saw the resurgence of the George Romero brand of zombie movie. Not since the international popularity of the original Dawn of the Dead (a semi-sequel to Night of the Living Dead, which spearheaded the post-Vietnam horror movement) had the genre seen such a massive uptake, an uptake that eventually lead to a state of utter saturation with little sign of drying up in the near future (this started as a exciting time as a fan of the genre, but many of us are left jaded and tired by the walking dead at this point). This 'rebirth' was mostly kindled by the popularity of Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. Being a British production, and existing on a very modest budget, 28 Days Later tackled political subjects full force less than a year after the 9/11 attacks, and its surprisingly popularity indicated an early public interest in working through some of their problems. Boyle and his screenwriter Alex Garland's monsters aren't traditional flesh eaters (they don't bite their victims as much as vomit and bleed on them), and their 'rage' is implicitly depicted as a contagious disease. Contagions were not a prevalent part of the post-9/11 film landscape, but the filmmakers were likely building upon growing anxiety surrounding the anthrax attacks the week following September 11th. The true villains of 28 Days Later, as revealed in the third act, are not the infected, but members of the military who trick surviving 'noncombatants' into their fortified mansion lair in hopes of capturing female survivors for use as sexual slaves. This all predated the inception of the second Iraq War, but was likely informed by the looming threat. A sequel, 28 Weeks Later, was released in 2007, and revolved around American led NATO armed forces occupying the zombified UK.
The fire was then stoked when 2004's Dawn of the Dead crossed $100 million in international profits. For their remake Snyder and Gunn took cues from Boyle's infected, and made their zombies into frantic, screaming danger machines, and mostly avoided Romero's affection for allegory and ironic humour. This hard horror/action hybrid didn't need metaphors to strike a chord, and even Romero loyalists were hard-pressed to complain too much about running zombies when the box office success encouraged Universal Studios to take a chance on a fourth official film in Romero's 'dead' legacy, Land of the Dead. Following the tradition of Night of the Living Dead ('68), Dawn of the Dead ('78) and Day of the Dead ('85), Land tackled the political issues of its day with a comic book inspired passion. In Romero's story the wealthiest apocalyptic survivors sequester themselves into a fortified, decedent tower dubbed Fiddler's Green, where they continue to perpetuate the capitalist ideal, and keep the literal lower class motivated with the promise of moving up the ladder some day. When the leader of the working class infantry realizes he will never be welcomed into the high class fold, he steals their most potent weapon of mass destruction and threatens to kill them all. Meanwhile, the lowest class, the zombies, begin to evolve higher intelligence, and march on Fiddler's Green. Despite old-fashion heavy hands Romero hit the allegorical nail on the head when he decided his zombies were easily distracted by fireworks, a constant representation of patriotic spirit. During the climax the zombies finally look away from the fireworks and focus on the task at hand. Romero made two more zombie films following Land of the Dead – Dairy of the Dead (2008) and Survival of the Dead (2010), representing a loose reboot for his series.
The best zombie movie of this ten year span (arguably the best zombie film since Peter Jackson's Braindead) was the British satire Shaun of the Dead, which was released in 2004, and is also credited with helping Land of the Dead to the big screen (Universal studios was behind Dawn, Shaun and Land). Co-written by director by Edgar Wright, and star Simon Pegg, Shaun of the Dead doesn't really have a place in this essay beyond the fact that it recalls Romero's original films. Otherwise it's far too modern and generally amicable to reflect the times, though it did prove public interest in other zombie-tinged romantic comedies. Other notable (once again: 'notable' does not always equal good) zombie and zombie-inspired films released between 2002 and 2011 (a complete list would double my word count) include:
- 2002: Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil. There's a lot of evidence towards crediting the Resident Evil video game series, which was based around Romero's 'rules', with the early steps of the resurgence of zombie movies, specifically a handful of popular Japanese made films like Versus, Junk, Stacy and Wild Zero.
- 2003: Uwe Boll's House of the Dead, and Michael and Peter Spierig's Aussie set Undead.
- 2004: Brian Paulin's Bone Sickness, Marek Dobes' Choking Hazard (possibly the first Czech horror-comedy), Matthew Leutwyler's Dead and Breakfast, Richard Griffin's Feeding the Masses, Elza Kephart's Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love, Mathias Dinter's German set Night of the Living Losers, Alexander Witt's Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Taweewat Wantha's Thai set SARS Wars, and Robin Campillo's dreamy French set They Came Back.
- 2005: Jeremy Kasten's Mexican set All Saints Day, Stephen Bradley's UK set Boy Eats Girl, Yorgos Noussias's Evil (the first ever Greek zombie film), and Ellory Elkayem's Return of the Living Dead: Parts 4 and 5. The most impressive and strictly politically minded zombie tales of all was actually made for TV in 2005, under Showtime's Masters of Horror banner. Homecoming, directed by Joe Dante, was the story of Iraq War soldiers coming back from the dead to vote a George W. Bush-like president out of office.
- 2006: Steven C. Miller's Automaton Transfusion, Frank Sudol's Flash animated City of Rott, Patrick Dinhut's Dead and Deader, Andrew Currie's Fido, Jim Mickle's Mulberry Street, David Morlet's French set Mutants, Greg Passmore's Night of the Living Dead 3D, Lloyd Kaufman's Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, James Gunn's sci-fi tinged Slither, J.S. Cardone's Wicked Little Things (aka: Zombies), and Michael Bartlett & Kevin Gates' The Zombie Diaries.
- 2007: Jake Kennedy's Days of Darkness, John Kalangis's The Mad, Robert Rodriguez Planet Terror, Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza's [REC], and Russell Mulcahy's Resident Evil: Extinction.
- 2008: Gregg Bishop's high school set Dance of the Dead, Steve Miner's Day of the Dead remake, Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel's feminist-slanted Dead Girl, Tommy Wirkola's Norway set Dead Snow, and John Erick Dowdle's Quarantine (a remake of [REC]).
- 2009: Paul Solet's zom-baby epic Grace, Benjamin Rocher and Yannick Dahan's French set La Horde, Bruce McDonald's Pontypool, Kevin Hamedani's Zombies of Mass Destruction (another blatant political satire), and Ruben Fleischer's Zombieland (one of the last zombie-related box office surprises of the era).
- 2010: Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil: After Life, Charles House II's They Walk, and the first ever weekly television series based around zombies – The Walking Dead.
Before the disillusionment of the late '60s the American public was wracked with fear. They were afraid because there was a Cold War brewing between the Soviet Union and the United States, and the consequences of that war warming up would be nothing short of the end of the world. Fear of utter nuclear annihilation gave rise to a series of escapist films that still very obviously dealt in allegories underlying the fear. These films were catharsis for patrons, and were usually presented in the form of seemingly innocuous Science Fiction. Monsters, like the giant ants of Gordon Douglas' Them, became stand-ins for the bomb, and alien invaders, like those of George Pal's War of the Worlds, became stand-ins for Communist aggressors. Post-9/11 hardcore horror films were more prevalent, but the post-9/11 answer to these golden age Commie and A-Bomb sci-fi terror were more popular, and thus is the better large-gage measurement of public tastes. M. Night Shyamalan got the jump on this subgenre in 2002 with his ode du War of the Worlds – Signs. Signs was a big money maker, and exploited the public's fear of 'the other', which may have played a part in its success, despite a lack of implicit terrorist age subtext. In 2003 Lawrence Kasdan adapted Stephen Kings bizarre alien invasion/government conspiracy story Dreamcatcher, to little public notice or critical affection.
The real ground zero for modern versions of Cold War era allegorical science fiction was Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds remake (2005). Initially the thought of the world's most popular director revisiting world invasion themes so close to the highly successful launches of Independence Day and Signs seemed awkward, but Spielberg had seen the changes in the nation, and was excited at the prospect of dealing with them in a manner that would make George Pal proud. Despite a weak script, War of the Worlds tapped expertly into the conscious and unconscious public fears with images of crumbling buildings, crashed airplanes, screaming hordes, ashen faces, and a wall of missing persons pictures. The film also dealt with the psychological repercussions of invasion, chiefly the tragedy of mankind turning in on itself. Perhaps Spielberg's most valuable addition to the burgeoning field of post-9/11 sci-fi action was his use of low angles, and Cinéma Vérité camera work, which initially acted to put the audience into the shoes of the protagonists, but also recreated the experience of watching the terrorist attacks unfold on live television. Alfonso Cuarón seemed to take his cues from Spielberg when he made the politically steeped Children of Men, but other genre filmmakers took Cinéma Vérité to the next level, and created distinctive mock-documentaries using standing sci-fi tropes (which also tapped into the popularity of the never ending barrage of political documentaries following the 9/11 events).
Despite making record-breaking profits, and spawning rip-offs, 1999's The Blair Witch Project didn't have much of an immediate effect on the greater pantheon, and initially looked like it was going to be a one-off success story. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, who were inspired by Ruggero Deodato's found footage genre originator Cannibal Holocaust (1980), practically disappeared from the landscape altogether in the years that followed, but their film would eventually have a major impact on horror, science fiction and action cinema in the post-9/11 era. These included a series of zombie films (Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza's [REC], its remake Quarantine, and both sequels, Kevin Gates and Michael Bartlett's Zombie Diaries and George Romero's Diary of the Dead), and incredibly depraved serial killer and simulated snuff films (Julian Richards' The Last Horror Movie, the August Underground series, Anthony Spadaccini's Head Case and John Erick Dowdle's The Poughkeepsie Tapes). Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity (made 2007, but not released wide until 2009), was another Blair Witch-sized profit machine (it holds one of the largest recorded cost to profit gains on record), but it managed to strike a lasting chord, and was followed by a flood of similar zero budget found footage and mockumentary ghost stories including three official sequels, Fernando Barreda Luna's Atrocious (2010), and Shane Van Dyke's Paranormal Entity (2009). Daniel Stamm's The Last Exorcism (2010) also follows a similar thread, as does Joel Anderson's Lake Mungo (2008), which is arguably the most successful of these films, and which pre-dates Peli's monster success.
Cloverfield (2008) didn't quite make Paranormal Activity level profits, but it ended up the turning point picture of the revitalized of science fiction/horror. Likely spurned by Joon-ho Bong's incredibly political, environmentalist, neo-monster movie The Host (another of the best genre films of the era, 2006), popular television producer J.J. Abrams and director Matt Reeves created a modern retelling of Ishirô Honda's Gojira (known better as Godzilla, 1954). Abrams and Reeves replaced the original film's monster as a stand-in for nuclear proliferation theme with a monster that ravaged a still terrorist attack fatigued New York City. The team kept costs down, and tapped the same candid street level destruction vein by employing a single camera, found footage documentary style. Cloverfield likely inspired André Øvredal's more comedic-toned Troll Hunter.
Similar mockumentary manipulation was utilized to an even greater effect by South African director Neill Blomkamp, whose 2009 feature debut District 9 might be the most incontestably politically predisposed genre film of the entire era. District 9 inverts the alien invader tropes, and tells its story through the modern eyes of twenty-four hour news networks and YouTube links. Blomkamp sets the film in his home city of Johannesburg, the capital of the only 'Western' country in the otherwise 'alien' continent of Africa. South Africa is forever marked by the specter of the Apartheid era. The displaced alien motif recalls xenophobic problems found in pretty much every country in the world, but Johannesburg's history really is the perfect place to reap and sow a collection of worldwide relevant political ideas—from the treatment and dehumanization of the lower class, to the Military Industrial Complex. Despite such heavy racial politics, and a hard R-rating, District 9 was a box office hit, and was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. The next year UK filmmaker Gareth Edwards made Monsters, an extra low-budget mix of Cloverfield's monster revisionism, and District 9's socio-political alien exploration, which led Legendary Films to hire him to reboot the original Godzilla for American audiences.
Other allegorically appropriate sci-fi/horror films included Frank Darabont's emotionally crippling adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist (another one of the era's best, 2007), Oliver Hirschbiegel's failed fourth re-telling of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, re-titled The Invasion (2007), and Michael and Peter Spierig's post-apocalyptic vampire tale Daybreakers (2009). Unlike the '70s inspired, hard-edged horror films, similar science fiction shows little sign of slowing. In 2011 no fewer than eleven alien invasion films were/will be released, including Jonathan Liebesman's District 9 inspired Battle: Los Angeles, J. J. Abrams' Spielberg inspired Super 8, Michael Bay's ridiculous Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Greg Mottola's Simon Pegg and Nick Frost comedy Paul, Simon Wells' kid-friendly Mars Needs Moms, D. J. Caruso's teen-friendly I Am Number Four, Joe Cornish's UK set Attack the Block, Chris Gorak's Russian set The Darkest Hour, Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.'s The Thing prequel/remake, and Gonzalo López-Gallego's found footage moon landing film Apollo 18.
* Note: This essay could probably continue on for another five thousand words in covering the intricacies of hundreds of films I haven't included here. I needed to draw the line somewhere, and in the process I've skipped over some of my favourite reactive films, like Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell, a morality tale built partially around public mistrust of the banking system that didn't really fit in any of my categories, or a number of South Korean thrillers that didn't quite meet the specific definition of 'horror'. I welcome feedback, and plan to keep suggestions in mind for possible future installments.
Editorial by Gabriel Powers
Existing Posts
the best I have ever read here on dvdactive.
I have the special edition of The Passion Of The Christ and it's a must own to see how they do all the effect was beyond unreal and yet the movie is for me the hardest movie to watch in fact when I first saw it and threw up and cried so much during that movie .It a must own for sure but very hard to watch.
didn't realize they actually digitally removed the towers from Spiderman. i always figured they just made sure to use shots where they weren't visible. (not counting the CGI background stuff obviously).
i realize the movie came out after the fact but it was filmed before and they totally should have been left in. i'll never understand that strategy in america after 9/11 regarding their appearance in movies and shows. i remember they literally stopped airing an old Simpsons episodes where Homer visits them for a good 4-5yrs in syndication, it even affected the airings here in canada....crazy. lol
i realize the movie came out after the fact but it was filmed before and they totally should have been left in. i'll never understand that strategy in america after 9/11 regarding their appearance in movies and shows. i remember they literally stopped airing an old Simpsons episodes where Homer visits them for a good 4-5yrs in syndication, it even affected the airings here in canada....crazy. lol
I almost included the Two Towers name change thing, but I decided to hold back on the non horror stuff. It was pretty darn funny though.
The deletion of the Twin Towers in "Spider-Man" was one, but there an other a non-reference removed.
The 2002 film, remake, "The Time Machine". There was a pivotal story point that was redone. In the year 2037, our traveler discovers that the moon is shattering. The reason for him to be pushed far, far forward into the land of Morlocks and Eloi was a skysc**pper collapsing, a moon fragment hits a high-rise. The final film, the reason/event kinda works, but having a lava flow for no apparent reason makes little sense.
Not to mention (also in 2002) the somewhat controversy of the second installment of "The Lord Of The Rings" - there were people who wanted the title changed from "The Two Towers" to... anything else. *head shakes*
The 2002 film, remake, "The Time Machine". There was a pivotal story point that was redone. In the year 2037, our traveler discovers that the moon is shattering. The reason for him to be pushed far, far forward into the land of Morlocks and Eloi was a skysc**pper collapsing, a moon fragment hits a high-rise. The final film, the reason/event kinda works, but having a lava flow for no apparent reason makes little sense.
Not to mention (also in 2002) the somewhat controversy of the second installment of "The Lord Of The Rings" - there were people who wanted the title changed from "The Two Towers" to... anything else. *head shakes*
I like how you got The Wilson Bros pic in there.
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Mansplaining. We've all had to endure it, on the internets or IRL, so frequently we are often overwhelmed with the desire to hork up serious chunks on the mansplainer's shoes. And yet, you can't always do that. Maybe the mansplainer is your boss. Maybe he's mansplaining on your blog or your Facebook page, and you just can't get at his shoes. What to do?
First, some clarification. Just what is mansplaining? I like this definition.
Mansplaining isn't just the act of explaining while male, of course; many men manage to explain things every day without in the least insulting their listeners.
Mansplaining is when a dude tells you, a woman, how to do something you already know how to do, or how you are wrong about something you are actually right about, or miscellaneous and inaccurate "facts" about something you know a hell of a lot more about than he does.
Bonus points if he is explaining how you are wrong about something being sexist!
Think about the men you know. Do any of them display that delightful mixture of privilege and ignorance that leads to condescending, inaccurate explanations, delivered with the rock-solid conviction of rightness and that slimy certainty that of course he is right, because he is the man in this conversation?
That dude is a mansplainer.
So, herewith, I open the official TSZ "You May Be A Mansplainer If..." thread. Feel free to post your favorite examples, though I expect there may be a certain loopy repetition after awhile...
Keep in mind that if you post a comment with more than one link in it, it may get caught in the spam filter. If you feel you are not making your way out of spam as fast as you'd like, shoot me an email. I try to check as frequently as I can but sometimes life gets in the way.
I will start us off with a few recent examples. Many, many thanks to commenter Michael Hawkins for these delightful examples of You May Be A Mansplainer If...
1. You MUST explain why everything I said is beside the point, and wrong, and silly.
2. You MUST explain why you are not a mansplainer, then re-explain things to the wimminz. Also, call them sexist.
3. You MUST explain that you mansplain because you assume that blogs are written by men, then re-explain things to the wimminz AGAIN.
4. Ignore everything everyone says, then accuse everyone else of being sexist to you. Follow this with some SERIOUS explaining! Teh wimminz are slow, but they will surely understand someday! Because you are a MAN! And you are SPLAININ'!


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Mariners at Yankees 8/26/2017 Game Used Baseball
$512.49with case
$499.99without case
When will I receive my order?
Shipping Policy
When will I receive my order?
Shipping Policy
This is a game used baseball taken from the field at Yankee stadium during the 2017 season. Each ball has been authenticated through the Major League Baseball authentication program and will display a tamper proof hologram and unique ID number. Please Note: Game use and MLB hologram number on actual ball received will differ from display image above.
Authentication Number: JC357947
Ball Pitched to:


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Nymbler is the smart baby name guide that responds to your personal taste.
Nymbler makes name connections with insights from baby-naming expert Laura Wattenberg, author of The Baby Name Wizard.
LisethInspire Nymbler with Liseth
A girl's name of English and French origin. Liseth has never been a common name in the United States. Meaning: French: a form of Lisa. English: a familiar form of Elise, Elizabeth.
U.S. popularity statistics:
|Peak year:
|Rank in 2008:
|3-year trend:


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From one of the other forums I saw the ideas of this person -- she is decorating bento boxes for a class project.
http://community.livejournal.com/bentolunch/3486499.html [1]
http://community.livejournal.com/bentolunch/3490726.html [2]
and here is her blog: http://paiselypirate.livejournal.com/ [3]
She is planning on selling her extras after her class meets and may do some to sell on Etsy.
~ Begin by knowing you have already arrived ~
my blog - http://honeysheistwisted.blogspot.com/ [4]
[1] http://community.livejournal.com/bentolunch/3486499.html
[2] http://community.livejournal.com/bentolunch/3490726.html
[3] http://paiselypirate.livejournal.com/
[4] http://honeysheistwisted.blogspot.com/


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Welcome to Florida Sea Grants MAPR!
MAPR, Florida Sea Grant's Manatee Awareness and Protection Resource website, uses interactive maps and graphics to describe factors considered in the designation of manatee protection zones in Florida's coastal waters. We invite you to begin exploring the site by moving your cursor over, and selecting, the various features depicted in the graphic below. Text will appear in this box and links to "more information" provide details. You can always return to this page by clicking the "HOME" link in the banner above. We welcome your comments on MAPR, which you can provide on the contacts page.


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Mailing List
The BozemanLUG maintains a mailing list. For more information or to subscribe, please visit the BozemanLUG Mailing List page.
Web Site
The original page for the BozemanLUG was www.bozemanlug.org but now the BozemanLUG book on here is preferred.
BozemanLUG members are encouraged to sign up for an account here on MontanaLinux.org and use the services provided by the site.


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Kees KolsteegFinance Manager
Kees Kolsteeg is Finance Manager & Regional Coordinator for Central Asia. Kees is responsible for the financial management and administration of the GPPAC Foundation. He also coordinates the Quality Management in the office. Kees graduated in business administration and has been working in both profit and not-for-profit sector in the Netherlands as well as in Guinea-Bissau and Namibia. In 2014 and 2015 he provided major contributions to the development of the budgets of two EU project proposals submitted by GPPAC and worked to ensure the confirmation of GPPAC ISO Certification.


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During this past year, it's been known that the IDF and the Shin Bet have built their strategy around two red lines. Crossing them would trigger the sort of response that Israel's military can deliver but very strongly prefers not to. Those red lines are: (1) an improvement in the range of the Qassam rockets of the sort that would place the major Israeli city of Ashkelon (population around 108,000) within firing range of the Gazan terrorists. And (2) the development of an ability by the terrorists to store their rockets for longer periods of time.
Haaretz reports this afternoon that one red line has now been crossed, and the other is very close. The paper says "Hamas has recently upgraded its Qassam rocket capability in the Gaza Strip, raising grave concern in the Israeli defense establishment. Senior defense officials say that Hamas is now able to store the rockets for a relatively long period, which would allow the organization to launch a large number of Qassams at one time."
The paper says Hamas had difficulty, until recently, in storing its Qassam rockets. The explosive charge is volatile and can (and does) explode when stored for more than a few weeks.
"This is one of the reasons behind Hamas' haste to launch most of its rockets as soon as it gets them. When firing rockets is politically inconvenient, Hamas hands them over to smaller organizations such as the Islamic Jihad, various Fatah factions and the Popular Resistance Committees to launch them in its place. In previous periods of escalation between Israel and Hamas, such as last year's Independence Day, Hamas fired almost 300 rockets in a few days before running out of supplies."According to Haaretz, Israel's defense establishment is concerned that Hamas will accumulate an arsenal of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of rockets, enabling it to fire hundreds of rockets a day at Sderot for several days and prompting Israel to take extreme measures.
"The improvement in rocket-storage capability followed the entrance into Gaza in recent months of Palestinian terror experts, mostly via the Rafah crossing from Egypt. These experts, members of Islamic organizations, trained with Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon and Iran. Alongside the ability to store rockets for longer periods, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, with Iran's help, are expected to increase the Qassam rockets' 15-kilometer range, which would place Ashkelon and dozens of small communities in the northern and western Negev within rocket range."As concerned as Israelis are with the clear direction indicated by this report, most of our fellow-citizens would prefer to see the armed forces sit by the sidelines will the perpetrators of daily terror are dealt with in less-intrusive and dangerous ways.
We routinely get hate-mail here "explaining" to us the inherent justification of acts of terror against Israel and Israelis. We understand the hypocrisy and don't let it bother us too much, and the same goes for most other Israelis.
Our point is that when confronted with existential dangers like this one, and when appealing to the sense and morality of onlookers and the world "community" has no effect, you are left with no option but self-help. This has long guided this country's leaders and it looks like we're not far away from the resort to self-help once more. Sadly, that's part of the price of living in an era of uncontrolled terror and widespread ignorance of the price it exacts from civil society.