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On the day of the Flight 253 incident, reporter Michael Rosenfield of WXYZ in Detroit appeared live on CNN during the evening news and reported that, earlier that day, another passenger was arrested on a different flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Same route, same airline, same day. This report appears to have been corroborated by a woman who was apparently a passenger on that flight in an on-camera interview; an interview which was even played at least once on CNN on December 25. However, the media subsequently blended this separate incident with the widely-reported "failed bombing" incident. Hence, the many media reports of Mutallab "screaming about Afghanistan" despite the fact that the witnesses actually describe him as being amazingly calm and totally silent. The End Run deconstructs this apparent, suspicious, and convenient misreporting.
January 4, 2010
On Christmas Day, the public was inundated with reports that a 23-year-old Nigerian had attempted to blow up Northwest/Delta Flight 253, which had departed from Amsterdam, as it neared its destination in Detroit. We are already seeing information coming out that indicates a deliberate cover-up on many fronts, to say the least.
One thing we have now learned is that a second man from Flight 253 was handcuffed and taken away by authorities on Christmas Day. According to witness Kurt Haskell and his wife Lori, bomb sniffing dogs had detected something in his bag, which led to an extended period of questioning in another room, followed by his (apparent) arrest.
Government officials initially denied that anyone other than Mutallab was detained; but, after other witnesses came forward to corroborate the Haskells, they had to admit that someone else was detained. However, they cited "immigration charges" as the reason, and have since changed their story at least three more times. As of now it seems they are trying to claim that this man was from a totally different flight, a claim that Kurt Haskell says is false and impossible because the passengers from his plane were "quarantined" and absolutely not permitted to comingle with passengers from any other planes. He facetiously suggests that the government official who made this claim "should become a comedian".
Haskell also says that he witnessed a "nicely dressed" Indian-looking man around 50 years of age approach the ticket counter with Mutallab in Amsterdam. He says Mutallab "never said a word" as the Indian-looking man pressed the person behind the counter to allow Mutallab to fly, even though he did not, according to the Indian-looking man, have a passport. Eventually the two were sent down a hallway to talk to a manager, according to Haskell. So far neither U.S. nor Dutch authorities have acknowledge that this took place, instead opting to make what Haskell calls "self serving play[s] on semantics".
Other passengers have reported that there was a mysterious man who video taped the entire flight with a camcorder, and when the "attempted bombing" occured, he "sat up and videotaped the entire thing, very calmly". Passenger Patricia "Scotty" Keepman, who witnessed this along with her daughter Richelle, has said: "We do know that the FBI is looking for him intensely. Since then, we've heard nothing about it."
The rest of this article will provide new information that further points to a cover-up.
On the day of the event, numerous passengers from Flight 253 were interviewed on camera while they were still in the airport.
One woman reported the following:
He was — stood up. He was belligerent. Uh, he was yelling, swearing. He would put hats on. He was screaming about Afghanistan. Umm. He was fighting with the wonderful s– err, stewards that we had. There were five men — big men — and three women. I said to my husband I was so thankful that there were three — er, five men on the, um, flight.
The video recording of this short interview is not easy to find online, but as of this writing it can still be viewed here, on the website of The Daily Telegraph, sandwiched in between interviews with two other passengers.
For your convenience I have uploaded her interview by itself:
Unlike most if not all of the other passengers who have been interviewed and quoted by the media, this woman was not identified by name at the time, and still (to my knowledge) has never been identified. As far as I can tell she has never been interviewed again.
The other two interviewees in that Telegraph video, on the other hand, were both identified by name on Christmas day in many other places as Richelle Keepman and Melinda Dennis. Both have been quoted in myriad other articles, and have subsequently appeared on mainstream news stations (For example, Keepman was interviewed on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees and Dennis on NBC's The Today Show.)
In this early BBC article she is quoted along with six other passengers. She is referred to as an "unidentified female passenger", while all others are referred to by their full name.
Given that a week has now passed and the dust has been able to settle a bit, many readers who have been following the Mutallab story will likely be able to see that there is something wrong with this witness account. Namely, all of the other passengers report Mutallab's behavior as being the total opposite of what this woman describes.
For example, in a video-recorded interview in the airport shortly after the event (later aired and transcribed by CNN), passenger Melinda Dennis (mentioned above) told WXYZ news:
"He didn't say anything. He was injured. He was burnt quite severely on his leg […] He was very calm. He didn't show any reaction to pain or any feeling of shock or nervousness. He just looked like a normal individual.
Appearing on the Fox News show "On The Record" on December 28 (transcript), passenger Daniel Huisinga told guest host Shannon Breem:
…that's one of the strangest things about this experience is he was burned very badly, he was in a situation where he was being put in a headlock, dragged into the aisle, handcuffed, but he wasn't screaming, he wasn't yelling, he wasn't really struggling. And, the — the scariest part of the whole experience was looking into the eyes of the person who at that time I thought had just sealed my death warrant and seeing no emotion, not even anger, no fear, just a blank stare, blank expression in the face of this unbelievable evil that he was attempting to commit against all of these innocent people.
Syed Jafry, a passenger who was three rows away from Mutallab, was interviewed by CNN's Ali Velshi on the day of the event. Here's what he said:
VELSHI: …did he look like he was struggling?
JAFRY: No, he — I don't recall that he was struggling, more that he appeared to be more stunned and sort of surprised with the whole act.
VELSHI: Did he seem to be yelling anything or saying anything, uttering any threats?
JAFRY: No, nothing at all. I, at least, didn't hear anything. Maybe some other people who were closer to him may have heard him, but I did not hear anything...
Jasper Schuringa, who the Herald Sun says "has been hailed as the hero of Northwest Airlines Flight 253″ for subduing Mutallab, agrees:
FREDRICKA WHITFELD (CNN ANCHOR): Now tell me about him. Was he fighting you? Was he struggling? Did he just seem to, uhh, upon discovery just kind of let it go, and — and you all were able to kind of manhandle him?
JASPER SCHURINGA: No, he was — he was just very calm. Uhh, he was shaking though. But he didn't resist anything. And uh, he was just sitting there. And, uh, he looked like a normal guy as well. But, you know, it was just, uh, just hard to — to believe that, you know, he was going to try — trying to blow up this plane.
WHITFELD: Was there — was there anything about him prior to that incident that ever made you look at him? Did you suspect anything? Did anything catch your attention about him?
SCHURINGA: No. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Absolutely nothing. So, it was a big, uh, surprise when we heard the first explosion people were just like looking around like, you know, "Okay, this is not good. What's going on?" And then the first person shouted "Fire!" And then, uh, like I got to my sense and [I thought] okay this is wrong.
WHITFELD : Were there any words?… was there any yelling, any screaming?
SCHURINGA: No. Yeah, well the — like the — like, like whole plane was screaming. And uh, but the suspect, he, he, like he didn't say a word. No nothing like that.
WHITFELD: Never said a word. Not prior, not during, not even once you all had subdued him and you were holding him waiting for authorities.
SCHURINGA: Well we were holding him, but he wasn't, uh, struggling, he wasn't saying a word, nothing. He was just [inaudible] I guess.
SCHURINGA: Well he was, uh, like, he was in trance.
By December 30, the uniformity of the witness accounts with regard to Mutallab's behavior could not be denied, even by the major media. Writing for Time Magazine that day, Michael Duffy and Mark Thompson summarized the descriptions:
Passengers later said there was something curious about the spare young man who had tried to bring down their plane: he was silent throughout the attack. He didn't panic. He didn't yell any last-second religious slogans. He was calm and methodical as he set himself on fire. It was as though he had been trained.
I began researching the "failed bombing" incident in the very early morning on December 26. I watched and read dozens of news reports, paying careful attention to the accounts of the passengers (amongst other things). I did this because I know that when these kinds of "terrorist events" occur there are usually early witness reports that contradict what will eventually become the official (government-endorsed) storyline. Since I was looking critically at the witness accounts from the very beginning in this way, it did not take me long to recognize that the "unidentified female passenger" was an anomalous account.
Later that day, while discussing the incident with a family member, I mentioned the report of this unidentified woman. She replied, "Oh, she was probably on that other flight."
I, of course, had no idea what she was talking about. She proceeded to tell me (nonchalantly) that it was reported on television the previous day that there was another man arrested on another flight from Amsterdam to Detroit whose behavior fit the description of this unidentified female passenger. Having just spent hours reading dozens of media reports, I informed her that none of them said a word about such a thing, and asked if she could be mistaken. She insisted that she was not.
I went online and searched, but could not find any reports of this. Not one. Then, finally, I found a single blog post which stated: "CNN is also reporting a weird coincidence: Another guy was arrested today on the same route, same airline, (different flight) for shouting "pro-Afghanistan, anti-American" statements and generally being rowdy. Law enforcement say the two incidents aren't related—the guy was just drunk".
The post included a link to the CNN video clip from Christmas Day — the same one my family member saw, which was, as far as I can tell, the only broadcast in which this story was ever reported on live. (Part of it re-aired at least once, see below).
Here it is:
Here is a transcript:
MICHAEL ROSENFIELD: We have also learned about another incident, also on board a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit this afternoon. Another passenger was arrested on that flight as well. Federal officials and local law enforcement here don't think the two incidents were connected, but it also did happen on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. A passenger was yelling pro-Afghanistan statements, anti-American statements as well. He was throwing food on passengers in the back part of the plane. He was taken into custody, but law enforcement officials here on the ground tell us they think that it was just a drunk passenger. They do not think these two incidents were connected. Live in Detroit, I'm Michael Rosenfield. Back to you.
ALI VELSHI (CNN ANCHOR): Mike, was that a — was that a Northwest flight as well coming in from Amsterdam, or was that a different flight?
ROSENFIELD: Yeah, that was also a Northwest Delta flight also coming in from Amsterdam to Detroit. Another incident on that case. But again, law enforcement officials think that they were not connected. But, uh, pretty coincidental that both happened on the same route on the same day.
Now does the unidentified woman — who, in diametric opposition to all of the other witnesses, reported that "he" (who?) "stood up", was "beligerent", "yelling", "swearing", "screaming about Afghanistan", "fighting with the stewards", and "would put hats on" — make sense? If you go back and watch her interview (or read the transcript), you'll notice that she gives no indication that she was on the plane with Mutallab whatsoever. She does not say one word about the "failed bombing". She simply describes someone's unruly behavior (clearly not Mutallab), and even seems somewhat amused by it. Can there be any doubt that she corroborates Rosenfield's report and was in fact on that other flight that the media, for some reason, has failed to speak of ever again?
If you answered "no, there can be no doubt" to that question, then this information ought to raises a lot of new questions. For instance, are we to believe that CNN and WXYZ did not see Rosenfield's report as worthy of following up on? Or even mentioning ever again (save one partial re-airing the following morning as described below)? Are we to believe that every other news station simply missed this story, or else saw it and found it equally uninteresting?
These kinds of considerations are particularly implausible in light of the fact that ("coincidentally", I guess) an extremely similar "coincidence" occurred on Sunday, and became a top news story of the day, if not the top story. It was covered in detail by most if not all major media outlets, including CNN. Here are a few of the countless headlines with links to the articles.
Another Delta Flight Scare in Detroit CBS/AP Dec 27Detroit terror attack: second Nigerian arrested on Amsterdam flight The Daily Telegraph Dec 27
Food Poisoning Blamed In Second Northwest Flight 253 Bomb Scare ABC News ABC News Dec 27
Northwest Airlines Passenger Taken Into Custody in Detroit Bloomberg Dec 27
New Detroit scare declared 'nonserious' CNN Dec 27
Unruly Passenger Disrupts Another Amsterdam-to-Detroit Flight Politics Daily Dec 27
Déjà vu on Flight 253 in Detroit Free Press Dec 28
Not one of these articles about the Sunday incident makes any mention of the extremely similar incident reported by Rosenfield on Friday; not even the one published by CNN! Did CNN have amnesia?
The full, live Rosenfield report aired shortly before 8:45pm EST on Christmas day. The Christmas Day part is made clear by his statements. That it's nighttime is obvious in the video. I originally derived the timeframe based on two posts found on message boards from Christmas Day.
Post #1: On the Professional Pilots Rumor Network (PPRuNe.org) the user "AASLF" in "DFW, Tx" said:
"CNN News here reporting a SECOND – separate NWA flt ex-AMS/DET today had a pax arrested on landing for shouting anti-American/pro-AQ speech in cabin and throwing food at pax. It is believed this pax was "merely" drunk. Coincidence???"
This post was dated December 25, 2009, at 2:45. After browsing the PPRuNe.org site it seems that their clock is set six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, meaning that it was posted at 8:45pm EST.
Post #2: Another post made by a user on the DetroitLuv.com message board, stamped 8:54pm on Dec 25 (that forum's clock appears to be on set to EST) reads:
"…and to add more strangeness, a second man, on a separate Amsterdam to Detroit flight, was taken off a plane upon landing shouting anti-American slogans (and pro-Afghani ones) and throwing food on the other passengers. Weirdness."
CNN has now released a transcript of that Dec 25 broadcast, which begins at "20:00 ET" (8:00pm EST). Rosenfield's report comes roughly two-thirds of the way through the broadcast, confirming the time frame implied by those message board posts.
The CNN transcript reveals a few things:
1) Rosenfield's entire report was considerably longer than that video clip. Before giving the "second flight" report, he first reported on the main Mutallab incident for what must have been at least two or three minutes, playing clips from witnesses.
2) A few minutes after Rosenfield's report, Velshi did summarized it in his own words:
"We did hear from a reporter in Detroit a few minutes ago, Michael Rosenfield, about another passenger on a different flight also a Delta Northwest flight coming in from Amsterdam to Detroit. This passenger was arrested earlier today. Now have word from Delta Airlines that that passenger was intoxicated, caused a disturbance and was subdued. That flight was also met by authorities at the request of the crew. Delta at least for now does not believe that that incident was in any way related to the incident on Northwest 253 that we're discussing now. That is the Northwest flight that came in from Amsterdam to Detroit and moments before landing, a passenger attempted to ignite something on the plane.
3) Remember that, after Rosenfield finished his report, Velshi asked him if the second incident was on the same airline, to which Rosenfield said yes, it was the same airline and route on the same day. That is where the video I found cuts off, but in the transcript we can see that, before moving on, Velshi replied "Michael, thanks very much for all this information. We appreciate it. We'll be checking in with you again."
I see no indication that they ever did check in with him again.
I see zero articles written about this story by CNN or a single other news outlet.
I see no indication that Rosenfield's report was ever re-aired except for one time the following morning (Dec 26) on CNN Saturday Morning News. The transcript begins around 7:00am EST, and the re-airing of Rosenfield's report is found about two-third of the way down the page, so it probably aired sometime between 7:30 and 8:00am EST.
Calling it a re-airing isn't exactly accurate, though. It was a partial re-airing. What's interesting is that they play his entire report (starting just after his original three-sentence introduction of general background information about the Mutallab incident), but the clip is cut off just before Velshi asks about which airline the flight was from. Rosenfield's response that it was the same airline as the "failed bombing", and his comment about the whole thing being "pretty coincidental", were therefore not re-aired.
This is from transcript of this Dec 26 re-airing:
We have also learned about another incident also aboard a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit this afternoon. Another passenger was arrested on that flight, as well. Federal officials and local law enforcement here don't think the two incidents were connected. But it also did happen on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
A passenger was yelling pro-Afghanistan statement, anti-American statements, as well. He was throwing food on passengers in the back part of the plane. He was taken into custody. But law enforcement officials here on the ground tell us they think it was just a drunk passenger. They did not think these two incidents were connected. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, a little scary there from our reporter from WXYZ, Rosenfield.
But everybody a little on edge and they will be for some time, especially during this holiday season.
BALDWIN: Yes, for good reason.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: So that's the situation on the ground at Detroit.
Again, in the original live report from Rosenfield, just after the "(END VIDEOTAPE)" mark on the re-airing, Velshi asked Rosenfield, "Mike, was that a — was that a Northwest flight as well coming in from Amsterdam, or was that a different flight?", to which Rosenfield responded, "Yeah, that was also a Northwest Delta flight also coming in from Amsterdam to Detroit. Another incident on that case. But again, law enforcement officials think that they were not connected. But, uh, pretty coincidental that both happened on the same route on the same day."
It's a bit odd that Rosenfield didn't include this very interesting and "coincidental" information in his original report until prompted, and it's also interesting that CNN left this key point out of the single re-airing of the clip, especially since the incident was apparently "dropped down the memory hole" after that entirely.
What did the major media do with the odd, extremely anomalous report given by the unidentified female "passenger"? Did they connect the dots to the second incident reported by Rosenfield? If not, did they investigate why on earth someone would be reporting Mutallab's behavior as being the total opposite of what all of the other witness reported?
No. What happened was the woman was rarely quoted at length after the first 24-48 hours. Even during that initial period, her account was already significantly edited.
Here is an article from WITN, an NBC affiliate in North Carolina, published on Dec 25, the day of the incident. Like everywhere else, the unidentified female is presented as having been on the Mutallab plane. Notice, however, that she is quoted in full, except for the part where she says that "he would put hats on", which is possibly the most blatantly eyebrow raising part. They simply omitted it.
The White House is now calling the frightening incident on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit an attempted terrorist attack. Passengers on that Northwest flight are talking about the experience. Administration officials say a passenger ignited a small explosive device at the end of the flight. Three people were injured, one of them the suspect. A federal bulletin lists the suspect as a Nigerian national who claims to have extremist affiliations. One passenger describes what she saw: "He stood up, he was belligerent, he was yelling… swearing. He… screaming about Afghanistan. Um, he was fighting with the stewardesses. There were five men on the flight. I said to my husband I was thankful that there were five men on the flight and I kept tapping him because I was nervous and he kept telling me relax, relax." The suspect has been taken into custody and is being treated for burns from the explosion.
In an article on Dec 26 entitled "'Smoke and screams' on board plane", BBC News quoted her this way. ("The "man" she is describing, at least according to BBC News, is Mutallab):
Another unidentified female passenger described the man's behavior during the incident.
"He stood up. He was belligerent. He was yelling, swearing," she said.
"He was screaming about Afghanistan. He was fighting with the wonderful stewards that we had."
Just like in the WITN report, the bizarre "he would put hats on" line (bizarre if you are trying to make this work as a description of Mutallab's behavior) is omitted. Also, again, note that she is the only unidentified passenger mentioned in the article. There are six other witnesses quoted in the article, and full names are given for all of them.
On Dec 27, Express.co.uk quoted her the exact same way as BBC News word-for-word, while also implying that she was talking about Mutallab. The one difference is that Express.co.uk presents it all as one continuous quote. Remember, in between the "yelling, swearing" part and the "screaming about Afghanistan" part, the unidentified female said that the person she was describing "would put hats on". WITN at least included an ellipsis (dot-dot-dot) to indicate that some words had been omitted. BBC broke theirs up into two pieces with a "she said" in the middle, which is a little more ambiguous. Express.co.uk gives us no ellipsis or anything else to that effect. The "hats" comment has simply disappeared. (Note: this could have just been a result of copying it from BBC News or elsewhere and not watching the primary source video.)
Another passenger described the man's behavior during the incident. She said: "He stood up. He was belligerent. He was yelling, swearing. He was screaming about Afghanistan. He was fighting with the wonderful stewards that we had."
Ironically, they quote Jasper Schuringa in the very same article saying that Mutallab was "out of it" and "staring into nothing".
While the dropping of the odd "hats" line was significant, the media went on to make almost the entire rest of the quote disappear after December 26. All but one little part, that is. If you've followed the Mutallab story, you probably know which one I am referring to: the "screaming about Afghanistan" line.
Here are a some examples of the many articles in which the major news outlets used this one little snippet from the unidentified female's account and ascribed the behavior to Mutallab, even though it was not corroborated by any other passenger, and in fact was contradicted by them (as was the rest of her account):
"Detroit terror attack: 'He was screaming about Afghanistan'"– Telegraph.co.uk (headline) Dec 26
"A woman passenger from the plane described the man as standing up and shouting and "screaming about Afghanistan". Investigators were examining the residue of the device, which was thought to contain powder and liquid."Financial Times, Dec 26
"The suspected terrorist was said to have been yelling and swearing and "screaming about Afghanistan".
– The Guardian, Dec 27
"As the bomber was being manhandled away one woman passenger said he was yelling, swearing and "screaming about Afghanistan".
– News of the World, subisidiary of News International Ltd., which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, Dec 27
Abdulmutallab, described as a devout Muslim, attempted to ignite an explosive device on a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day after shouting about Afghanistan.
– Times Online Dec 27
"When he was overpowered, Abdulmutallab was said by witnesses to be "screaming about Afghanistan"
– The Guardian Dec 28
"Although Abdulmutallab was screaming about Afghanistan when he was overpowered, it is to Africa we should look for the source of his fanaticism."
– Mail Online, Dec 28
"Abdulmutallab, described as a devout Muslim, was charged on Saturday with trying to destroy the plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day and placing a destructive device in the plane. He had attempted to ignite explosives after shouting about Afghanistan."Times Online Dec 27
" Although it has been reported that he shouted slogans about Afghanistan as he tried to trigger the device, 23-year-old Abdulmutallab does not fit the stereotype of a poverty-stricken jihadi…"
– The Independent, Dec 28
Notice that CNN is not one of the networks who makes mention of the "reports" that Mutallab was "screaming about Afghanistan".
At least not anymore.
On Google, if you preface your search terms with "site:", it allows you to search just within a specified domain (like CNN.com) or even subdomain (like TRANSCRIPTS.CNN.com). For example, the following search terms…
site:transcripts.cnn.com "Richard Gage"
…will search the "transcripts" subdomain of CNN.com for any references to "Richard Gage". (Incidentally, Richard Gage is never mentioned in any of CNN's thousands of transcripts.) If a subdomain is not specified, then it simply searches the entire domain (all of CNN.com in this case).
If one searches CNN.com for the "he would put hats on" quote, they will discover that CNN played the full clip of the unidentified woman on Dec 25.
However, viewing the full transcript that this search turns up reveals that they misattribute her words to Melinda Dennis. Dennis herself is mislabeled as an "unidentified female", the title that should have gone to the first woman.
MELINDA DENNIS, PASSENGER: He was — stood up. He was belligerent. He was yelling, swearing. He would put hats on. He was screaming about Afghanistan. He was fighting with the wonderful stewards that we had. There were five men, big men. and three women. I said to my husband, I was so thankful there were three — five men on the flight, because I kept tapping him that I was nervous. And he kept telling me, "Relax, relax."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't say anything. He was injured. I — he was burnt quite severely on his leg. They were very careful in trying to make sure that he had nothing else on him so it was easy to see that — from the exposure that he had gotten significantly burned.
If we search CNN.com for just the phrase "screaming about Afghanistan" we get four results. One is the aforementioned transcript. The other three are all for the article entitled "Passenger: Terrorist suspect seemed 'stunned'":
We can see from the Google snippets that she is quoted just before Elias Fawaz in the article. However, if one clicks any of the three links to the article, they are met with a message saying "The content item you requested is not available at this moment."
Here is a working link to the current incarnation of the article on the CNN page (it works at the time of this writing, at least). This article still contains the part about Fawaz seen in the Google snippets in the image above; however, the unidentified female's quote, which immediately preceded it, has been removed.
If we go back to our original search results and click the "Cached" link for each of the three "Terror suspect 'seemed stunned'" listings, copies of the article do come up, but they also do not contain the unidentified female's quote. What we can see by looking at these, however, is that the article was edited at least twice: once at 10:15pm EST on Dec 25 and once the following morning at 10:24am EST.
A search within the CNN domain for the article title, plus "12.25″, reveals that one more edit took place at 9:27pm EST on Dec 25, before the other two (although this could have just been the time that the article was first posted).
Another Google search reveals that the section about the unidentified female immediately followed the section about Syed Jafry — a section which still remains in the article. Further advanced Google searching yields the entire section where the unidentified female was quoted. Here is the deleted passage from the CNN report, which was previously appeared between Jafry and Fawaz, but was subsequently removed by CNN:
At one point the suspect grew agitated, a female passenger who didn't want to identify herself, told WDIV-TV in Detroit, Michigan.
"He stood up, he was belligerent, he was yelling swearing," she said.
"He was screaming about Afghanistan."
The current version on the CNN website gives no notice of there ever having been edited or updated, even though this passage is now gone. It just says "December 26, 2009 10:24 a.m. EST".
Why did someone at CNN apparently make a conscious decision to quietly remove this quote? Was it because they realized that she was not on Flight 253? If so, why didn't they notify the public of the initial error? Even if they didn't originally think it was a big deal, it certainly became one once the media began quoting the same tiny snippet from her interview ad nauseam, painting a false picture of Mutallab's behavior. Did they really not connect the dots and realize that she was apparently talking about the same man Rosenfield reported on? Did no one in the media make this connection? Did no one in the media remember anything about the story that CNN's Holmes called "a little scary"and Mike Rosenfield himself called "pretty coincidental", even as it became increasingly significant, especially Sunday?
The introduction to this article makes reference to how all of this was "convenient misreporting". It was convenient because more and more information is coming out that makes this event look like a set up, and Mutallab a patsy/dupe manipulated by U.S. intelligence assets and other interested parties to play a role in this "failed bombing", which will now serve as a pretext for further military action and probably an invasion of Yemen, virtual-strip-search body scanners at airports, renewal of the Patriot Act, and much, much more.
If you think this is a "conspiracy theory", and that our wise and benevolent leaders would never consider doing such a thing (guess again), let alone actually go through with it, you had better read some real history. False flag terrorism is nothing new. In fact, if this was an actual (failed) surprise attack, it would be an exception to the rule.
In the critical first days after the "failed bombing", when the public was most actively seeking out information about the event and people were still forming their opinions about what had transpired, the widespread reports that Mutallab was "screaming about Afghanistan" at the time of the attack surely helped sell the claims being made by usually-anonymous "official sources" that Mutallab was a monster; a true radical, linked to a larger "al Qaeda"-affiliated network which is planning to launch more attacks. "The Man, The Menace", as reporter Andrea Isom called him on Dec 25. Not a dull, quiet, "poor"-looking, "surprised"-looking patsy "in a trance".
The mainstream press seems to have essentially quietly dropped the "screaming about Afghanistan" meme. However, people who do not usually follow current events have largely tuned out already. Most people who are still following the story, and who have noticed all of the passenger reports about how calm and quiet Mutallab was, will not have the information contained in this article and therefore will not realize that the reports to the contrary were apparently bogus all along. Many will simply reconcile the supposedly "conflicting reports" in their minds as meaning that he must have been calm and quiet at one point, and "screaming about Afghanistan" at another. This means that this convenient mythical image will live on in the minds of many.
Further Reading:
False Flag Event in Detroit a Pretext to Invade Yemen
Obama Blames al-Qaeda for Christmas False Flag, Sets Stage for Yemen Attack
View the original article at Prison Planet


text:
Cave Exploration (Ranger Award elective)
From MeritBadgeDotOrg
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==Related awards==
==Related awards==
* [[Outdoor Bronze Award]]
* [[Outdoor Bronze Award]]
Revision as of 01:29, November 29, 2008
Cave Exploration is one of the electives for the Venturing Ranger Award.
Cave Exploration (Ranger Award elective) requirements
Cave Safety
Caves can be dangerous if you are not properly trained or equipped. Here are some cave safety tips:
View the change list (history) of these requirements. The text of these requirements may be locked. In that case, they can only be edited by an administrator.
Please note any errors found in the above requirements on this article's Talk Page.
Requirement resources
- 2-3 Knot Links
- Animated Knots: Basic Scout Knots - Forty Scout knots - Special Knots - Sailing knots - Fishing knots - Folsoms Knots - Animatedknots.com - Great Animations - More Animated Knots - More great Animated Knots - Still more - Knot Videos - Basics Videos - Basics2
- Other Knot Links: Advanced knots - Ropers Knots Page - Climbing Knots - Fishing knots - Knots Index
- 6 First Aid Links
- Your handbook is your primary reference. See First-Aid Skills for step-by-step instructions and lesson video links.
- See also: First Aid merit badge pamphlet - First-Aid Kit - Emergency Kit - Guide to Safe Scouting - Annual Health & Medical Record
Related awards
- 6 Emergency Preparedness Award Links
|Emergency Preparedness-related awards
See also
|Venturing portal
Ranger Award electives
|1. Backpacking
|4. Ecology
|7. Fishing
|10. Mountaineering
|13. Plants and Wildlife
|16. Shooting Sports
|2. Cave Exploration
|5. Equestrian
|8. Hunting
|11. Outdoor Living History
|14. Project COPE
|17. Watercraft
|3. Cycling/Mountain Biking
|6. First Aid
|9. Lifesaver
|12. Physical Fitness
|15. Scuba Certification
|18. Winter Sports
External links
- Venturing Bronze Award on the BSA scouting.org site.
- Venturing Quest Award on the BSA scouting.org site.
Program-level awards: Venturing Award • Discovery Award • Pathfinder Award • Summit Award
Expert-level awards: Quest Award • TRUST Award • Ranger Award
Boy Scouting ranks: Advancement for Venturers • Star rank • Life rank • Eagle Scout rank Award

subset: commoncrawl


text:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Six student-athletes from the MIT field hockey team were named to the National Academic Squad by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) on Monday. In addition to the individual accolades, MIT also received the National Academic Team award from the NFHCA for their cumulative success in the classroom.
Juniors Michelle Dion (Lunenburg, Mass.) and Molly McShane (Lake Bluff, Ill.) were tabbed to the National Academic squad for the second consecutive season. Seniors Katie Kauffman (Olney, Md.) and Kameron Klauber (Carlsbad, Calif.) and sophomores Michelle Teplensky (Somers, N.Y.) and Maddy Wharton (Swarthmore, Pa.) were recognized for the first time.
To be eligible for the National Academic squad, student-athletes must have achieved a cumulative 3.30 grade point average through the first semester of the 2011-12 academic year. The National Academic Team award is given to those institutions that achieve a minimum 3.0 team GPA during the 2011 fall semester. This marks the 10th consecutive season, in which MIT has been honored.
Tech had its most successful season in program history in 2011, winning a program record 19 games while advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III tournament before falling to reigning national champion, Bowdoin College. The Engineers also won their second New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) championship in three years, in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion, against Mount Holyoke College.
McShane and Klauber were selected to the NFHCA Division III All-America team while Wharton was an all-region honoree.


text:
Floyd Mayweather Senior Goes In On Pacquiao & Says Manny's Camp Is Trying To Make It Look Like Floyd Is Scared! "He's A Fagget. Go Stick Your Head Under Your Dress. He Aint Nothin But A Lil Sissy. That's What He Is A B*tch"
Says Manny is scared and shouldve agreed immediately agreed to
the fight. "Dont ask for the same amount of money, because you
don't deserve it" - Floyd Mayweather Senior
Posted by: @WorldStarVids
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text:
suffers from one hit in the head too many.
by Cole Smith
14, 2006 - Final
Fight: Streetwise belongs on the street and not in
your home. It's lean and lame and in no way should
have ever been made available for the Xbox - unless
as an unlockable mode or a bonus disk from another
game. To add insult to injury, Final Fight: Streetwise
offers the arcade version as a bonus unlockable -
and it doesn't play nearly as good as the original
game. If everything in this package were priced at
the bargain price of $9.95, you would be paying ten
dollars too much.
Fight: Streetwise is about fighting for a better life,
fighting to earn respect, fighting to exact revenge,
fighting to earn money to acquire more things to make
you a better fighter, and fighting for the love of
it. Needless to say there seems to be a lot of fighting
going on in this game. It's just too bad the actual
in-game fighting is not very good.
story is in all actuality not bad but it's executed
badly with awful dialog and terrible voiceacting.
It stars Kyle Travers, the younger brother of the
infamous Cody, an ex-con that is getting too old to
fight. Years ago Cody and Kyle fought various thugs
and gangs to clean up their 'hood in Metro City. But
trouble is brewing as gangs and other lowlifes are
back in town and pushing a new drug called Glow. It
gives the user superhuman strength and also causes
him or her to glow. During a fracas Cody gets abducted
by some gang members and it's up to Kyle to kick some
ass and set things right.
gameplay is somewhat open-ended but if you consider
that you have to rise through the ranks in some kind
of order, the game would be considered linear. You
will have the option to explore the city where you
will encounter a variety of opponents. But the gameplay
is not all about fighting, although the overwhelming
majority of it is. There are side missions that you
can perform for people in your 'hood. Not only will
you help improve the city but you will earn money
for your efforts. Some of the side missions are ridiculous
and have nothing to do with the gameplay at all. Things
like slide puzzles are annoying and don't particularly
add an enjoyable diversion from fighting. There are
other side missions such as helping a shopkeeper stomp
on rats and cockroaches that does figure into the
gameplay and is somewhat fun. These were the only
elements of fun that I experienced in the entire game.
earned from fighting and side missions can be used
to purchase new moves, combos and more powerful attacks.
Much of the gameplay involves button mashing. Combos
may be neat to execute but they aren't necessary.
Just acquire as much power as you can in your hits
and mash those buttons. The enemies aren't very strong
and you can usually take on an entire gang with your
fists and a simple weapon. The AI don't all attack
at once but you can usually take out a few with a
good swiping move. The boss battles are a little more
involved in that they follow a more complex pattern.
You have to exercise some patience and watch the boss's
moves carefully. It's not imperative that you memorize
the pattern so much as you block and take cover, attacking
only when you see an opening.
a Pit Fighter, Kyle's main weapons are his fists.
He can use items in the environment such as sticks,
bats, clubs and knives. His moves are a blend of Marital
Arts and wresting grapples. Overall the combat system
is shallow but it does feel better when used in the
multi-player mode, if only because your opponent must
use the same limited control system which is more
of a challenge than the single-player mode. Don't
get me wrong, there are very strong characters that
you will encounter in the single-player mode but their
intelligence is obviously artificial.
game looks bad - and I wouldn't expect anything less
considering how bad the gameplay is. Compared to the
2D cartoonish version of the original, the 3D game
is dark and low-res. The backdrop portions of the
city are generic, low-res and are repeated throughout.
There are so many repeated sections that it's difficult
to tell where you are, where you're going, and where
you've been. Fortunately there is an arrow that will
point the way. It should really be pointing at the
Quit button.
unlockable arcade version is not the arcade version
you remember. It plays very erratically with lots
of slowdown during fighting. The control commands
are, at times, delayed which makes this bonus feature
virtually unplayable.
there's any good reason to purchase, rent or even
borrow this game, I haven't found it.
Fight revolutionized the beat em up genre, easily
setting itself apart from the cartoony albeit violent
Double Dragon, by featuring realistic characters that
more than doubled the size of previous sprite characters
gamers had become accustomed to.
of Capcom's street fighting coin gobbler can still
be found in games today, which says a lot for their
vision at the time. Genre staples includes waves of
enemies all sporting their own health bars, usable
environmental objects as weapons, health icons in
the form of food like drinks, chicken etc, special
combo moves - unfortunately many of these same game
mechanics have been lifted and used so frequently
in other games that the style has become "old
is hoping to reclaim their king of the Beat Em Up
castle crown, with Final Fight Streetwise. A rough
and tumble homage to their original coin op, sporting
more realistic characters and tons of street tough
enemies waiting to bash your head in with a lead pipe.
Sounds like a night out on the town for the Platinum
visuals are certainly impressive with enough detail
to fool the eye into thinking that this might be a
next gen X360 title. That's just the beauty of programmers
who really know a system and how to grasp every ounce
out of it.
tuned over the next while for more info.
Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best


text:
The BMW X6 looks like a military weapon, with a front end that appears ready to take a chomp out of anything that gets in its way.
Yet rather than call a battlefield home, the X6 performs like a sports car in zipping into and out of each corner — be they on the track or roadway.
Thanks to twin turbos, the 2008 BMW X6 35i tested with its 3-liter, 230-horsepower in-line 6 launches from standing to full sprint. A rocket-like 4.4-liter, 400-h.p. powerplant arrives late this summer.
The X6 comes with X drive, or full-time all-wheel-drive to mere mortals, to direct power front to rear as needed to maintain straight-line traction.
As a bonus the system has dynamic performance control to direct torque side to side in back to keep the tail planted into and out of corners and turns.
Finally, stability control activates the brakes to slow the vehicle when traction's lost. To complement these systems, the X6 also offers optional adaptive drive with electronic suspension damping to smooth out the road surface. No jolts or jars. Wide-profile 20-inch radials are part of the sports package. Think racing slicks with enough steel-belted rubber to create eight regular street tires for lots of radial cling to the road.
It all means that whether big or little, coupe or sedan, if it carries the BMW badge, it's agile and stable to carry out its mission of performance.
But while it proudly carries the performance DNA, can't say the X6 is fun like the subcompact 1-Series.
BMW calls X6 an SAC for sport-activity coupe. It joins its SAVs, or sport-activity vehicles. Credit the low-slung roof for the SAC designation not the decidely sedan-like four doors.
The 2008 X6 performs a lot better than it looks, with its bloated rear quarter panels and a bulbous rear end in which the tailgate stands about chest level, so high that it nearly requires a step stool to reach it when it's open. Though the X6 tested comes with a power unlocking tailgate, it costs $500 more to open and close that tailgate at the push of a button.
A few other aggravations, such as the suede inserts on seat backs and bottoms. They help hold you in place in aggressive motoring yet the seats beneath and along the side bolsters are so stiff that the fidgets set in long before you drive too far. Driver and passenger seats come with a pull out thigh support extension that provides relief.
To account for the AWD the X6 stands high off the ground. Good for plowing through snow, bad for those less that 6 feet tall trying to enter/exit. Add to that narrow rear-door openings and wide rear wheelwells and good luck accessing the back seat. If you get there, duck; the sloping roof leaves precious little headroom.
The X6 holds four adults, with a spacious cargo hold for groceries or gear. Seat backs fold flat if you need more room. The cargo floor is flat and lifts to reveal the spare tire, some tools and a small compartment to store items.
Upfront you have iDrive to deal with, the knob in the console that's supposed to serve as the brain for any and all controls and settings. Your kid can explain it to you, providing your kid is Bill Gates.
And then there's the gearshift knob, a tiny handle that requires tugging, pulling, slapping, yanking, wiggling and jiggling to get into or out park, drive and reverse. A simple lever that slips from P to D to R would have been worked though it's not in keeping with the complex-is-better rule of BMW.
BMW also warns that the X6 AWD isn't meant to ford streams or climb mountains. Makes you wonder why the driver information center provides a reading on longitude, latitude and altitude, though not what each 'tude means. Maybe Gates knows that, too.
Oh, and there's the excessive wind noise with the sunroof open, whether a little or a lot.
Base price of the X6 xDrive 35i tested is $52,500 and includes all the power and audio goodies. Add $900 for a cold-weather package with heated seats and headlamp washers, $3,600 for a sport package with sports seats, 20-inch radials and adaptive drive; $2,000 for a technology package with backup camera and navi system; $750 for BMW assist like General Motors' OnStar, and $1,200 for a headup display that shows street names, distance to the streets and your speed low in the windshield in front of the driver.
All 10,000 X6s to be built for '08 have been sold to dealers. Now they have to find 10,000 customers. Good luck.
The new 1-Series 1 coupe or convertible is a kick, but the X6 fails to stir the same passion.
Read Jim Mateja Sunday in Transportation. Contact him at email@example.com.


text:
ROCKFORD — Schools, because they often serve as the epicenter of a child's social interactions with other children, have long been breeding grounds for bullying.
ROCKFORD — Schools, because they often serve as the epicenter of a child's social interactions with other children, have long been breeding grounds for bullying.
The advent of social media has changed that to some extent, school leaders say, especially among teens.
More so than person-to-person texting, Facebook, Twitter and a host of other applications — from ask.fm and Voxer to Kik and Reddit — create cyberspace communities where young people can post messages and have them seen and responded to by multiple people.
Years ago, if someone wanted to spread a rumor or make fun of a classmate, they'd grab a pen and scrawl a mean message on the bathroom stall or use word-of-mouth during passing periods. Today, social media allow young people to reach more people much more quickly and do it in a way where they never have to actually say the words aloud.
To school administrators, it's no surprise that incidents of traditional bullying — the face-to-face kind that takes place in school hallways, cafeterias and lockers rooms — are way down and incidents on Facebook are much more the norm.
"We're seeing way more cyberbullying among kids today," Jefferson High School Principal Don Rundall said. "Every kid has a cellphone now. ... We haven't had any issues yet this year, but last year, when we had issues, 90 percent of it started on Facebook."
The subjects that teens fight over have remained relatively the same over the years: everything from arguments over boyfriends and girlfriends to making fun of someone for the way they dress. Where they fight has changed.
For Rundall and school leaders across the Rock River Valley, it has meant changing the way they respond to bullying. It's also made them keenly aware of the roles they play in educating young people about social media, how to use it in a positive way and what to do if you're a target of cyberbullying.
Telling school officials
Whether a school has a policy against cellphone use within school walls or bans Facebook and Twitter on the school's computer network, kids will either find a way to get around the cyber walls or wait until after school to exchange barbs with a rival online.
Either way, it affects a school's learning environment, Rundall said, and needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.
"We tell kids that if they're getting bullied or having a problem with someone else online, then they need to tell us. Tell us immediately. Tell us before you don't want to come to school anymore, before it's big and involves lots of other students."
At Jefferson, students are allowed to have cellphones and use them during passing periods and lunch. If they're caught cyberbullying, they can be suspended up to 10 days.
Expectations about when students can get on social media and how they should behave there are shared with students on a regular basis. Parents are brought into the loop, as well.
Rundall's secret weapon has been moving the conversation from online to his office. At mediation sessions, students face each other and own up to the things they wrote.
"You can say things on Facebook that you can't say to someone's face. A lot of times, the thing that started it all, the thing that offended someone that got the kids fighting in the place, wasn't even true."
One thing that hasn't changed is the topics that set students off: boyfriends and girlfriends and insults about physical appearances.
The people factor
Kay Trinkle, a freshman-class counselor at Jefferson, sees it up close almost every day.
"My biggest concern for these kids is when they're not showing empathy for another human being," Trinkle said. "When you're posting online or posting anonymously, you've eliminated human interaction. When you add human interaction back into the conversation, kids start to realize that their words are really rough."
At Rockford Lutheran Schools, leaders say parental involvement in their children's social media use is crucial to keeping their kids safe.
"We had a discipline issue my first year at Lutheran, and I told the kids involved that if they got 100 kids to 'friend' me on Facebook, I would temper the punishment," Executive Director Don Gillingham said. "In about an hour, I had more than 100 friend requests. ... Just letting them know that an adult is watching is a major deterrent to inappropriate behavior."
Gillingham also suggests that parents control passwords and check in on their children's social media use — what they're saying and what's being said to them or about them.
"Just because we're in a Christian school doesn't make us immune to any of this," he said. "If it goes on in the world, it goes on here."
Corina Curry: 815-987-1371; email@example.com; @corinacurry
Cyberbullying: Special section
Everything in moderation: Monitoring rrstar.com for the bullies
Using the Web as a bully platform not just a teen phenomenon
Bullying is prevalent because we're more socially connected
Our View: Social media can be used to hurt your children


text:
A's win wild one in 11th inning
Anaheim --
- What a wild, wild night at Angel Stadium, back and forth, ragged pitching, baffling baserunning - and lots of clutch hitting from both teams.
The A's got the edge in that last and most important category, when Jed Lowrie led off the 11th inning with a base hit and Josh Donaldson doubled him home to give Oakland a strenuous 10-9 victory over the Angels. The A's are 10-4 and remain in first place in the AL West with the best record in the American League.
"It felt like three different games - we fell behind early and came roaring back, the momentum shifts go back and forth, back and forth," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "And now it's pretty much will."
"Offensive battle," Donaldson said. "The way I look at it, the longer we go, the better chance we have because our bullpen is so deep."
Jim Johnson, removed from the closer role last week, worked the final two innings and danced through a two-on, one-out situation in the 11th by getting two groundouts to end the game. "Terrific," said Melvin, who had no other relievers left available. "That was huge. That was his game. If it went another inning, he'd probably be out there again. He knew it. That was pretty impressive.
Oakland had staged a late comeback to take a three-run lead in the eighth on Tuesday night, but the Angels scraped together one run in the eighth and two more in the ninth - on a mighty home run by Mike Trout - to tie it up.
It was the first blown save of the season for Sean Doolittle, part of the A's closer-by-committee with Luke Gregerson. Doolittle gave up a leadoff double to Kole Calhoun in the ninth, then Trout's blast to left center.
The A's had scored four times in the eighth, with Brandon Moss providing a game-tying single (he was nearly thrown out rounding the bag, the night's trend) and former Angels infielder Alberto Callaspo driving in the go-ahead run with a base hit. Derek Norris added a pinch-hit two-run single in the eighth, his first non-home-run pinch hit in 23 at-bats. (He's hit three homers pinch hitting.)
For the first time in 14 games, the A's did not get a decent outing from a member of the rotation, Dan Straily got off to a rocky start, settled down, then stumbled again in the fourth inning. The right-hander, who is in the Opening Day rotation for the first time, gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings, including a two-run homer by Calhoun, who left the game with an ankle injury in the 11th and is expected to go on the DL.
Through the first 13 games, no A's starter had allowed more than three runs in any appearances, the team's longest such season-opening run since 1981.
The A's, who staged a late comeback to win the series opener, scored twice in the seventh to make it a one-run game. With one out, Josh Reddick walked, and Criag Gentry and Eric Sogard singled (the same circumstances that led to an early A's run). Sogard was nabbed rounding first too far (the second A's runner thrown out on the bases) but Reddick scored, anyway. Then a wild pitch by Richards allowed Gentry to speed in. Melvin said the A's had gone over the Angels' tendency to throw behind runners before the series started, "we just made some bad decisions tonight."
The Angels scored one run late, too; Ryan Cook walked Kendrick in the eighth and Dan Otero allowed singles to J.B. Shuck and David Freese before striking out Ian Stewart and Erick Aybar to end the inning.
Drew Pomeranz turned in some nice work in relief of Straily, facing nine batters and retiring nine, walking one.
Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: email@example.com Twitter: @susanslusser


text:
Tomorrow's forecast
Fridays high will hit a high of 52 degrees with a 50 percent chance of morning showers and North winds at 10 mph. Overnight lows will dip to 38 and be followed on Saturday with a high of 54 degrees, a 20 percent chance of rain with NNW winds at 12 mph. Overnight lows on Saturday will drop to 34 degrees. Sunday's high is expected to reach 58 with no expected rainfall in sunny skies and WNW winds at 8 mph.


text:
The Academy Awards
The Oscars®, awarded annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, showcase the best in movies and couture and always stir controversy. The awards honor films released in the previous year. For example, the 2013 awards were handed out in 2014. The 5,000-plus members of AMPAS select nominees and then vote for the winner in a secret ballot.
Minority Oscar Winners Slideshow
African-Americans at the Oscars
See also:


text:
Clear Michael Jackson's Name Once and For All
If you love Michael, truly love him, and hate what was done to him out of jealousy and racism and pure, unadulterated
If you love Michael, truly love him, and hate what was done to him out of jealousy and racism and pure, unadulterated
We have so many problems in our island Puerto Rico. We don't need a TV program that promotes the Violence against the
The resounding international acclaim for the 2012 Filipino film, "Thy Womb" by Cannes best director Brillante Ma.
Nese jeni prind, edhe do te keni veshtiresi per t'ju shpjeguar kalamajve tuaj idene e reklames, ju lutem
outLoud Radio is dedicated to helping LGBTQ youth develop the skills and confidence to decide for ourselves how we are
Save New York 1! Time Warner Cable is under threat of being rebranded as TIME WARNER CABLE NEWS (TWC News) linking up
Raising finishing funds to complete Post Production Welcoming your help with the Post Production stage... Contributions
Outfest protects our past, showcases our present, and nurtures our future by fostering artistic expression of gender,
Violence in society seems to be increasing. The number of random acts of violence are going up and massacres in movie
To support and raise funds for National Public Radio! Without alternatives to corporate media Americans will continue


text:
The B.J. Haan Auditorium is a 1,500-seat facility for concerts and solo performances that has some of the best acoustics in the region. It features a 57-rank, three manual, mechanical action Casavant pipe organ, a Steinway Model D concert grand piano, and a Kawai concert grand piano.
The music department wing includes mechanical action and electro-pneumatic pipe organs, upright and grand piano practice rooms, and instrumental practice rooms. Dordt also has a Yamaha Disklavier and a two-manual Dekker harpsichord.
A state-of-the-art digital music studio for composition, arranging, or editing of digital sound is one of the most recent additions available to musicians at Dordt College.


text:
A condition characterized by impaired walking in which a girl's badonk is so large that it obstructs her ability to walk in a regular manner. It also may cause her to lean forward when walking, thus her torso displaces the weight she's carrying on the rear end.
As Trevor was walking behind A-Train in the hallway admiring her supple badonk, he noticed that she had a distinct donk limp.
by Hasselhoff Ranger July 16, 2008
"While walking behind A-Train in the hallway, admiring her supple badonk, Trevor noticed that she had a distinct donk limp."
by Hasselhoff Ranger July 30, 2008


text:
ROCHESTER — The Police Department posted a call for the public's help on its Facebook page Tuesday morning with one question: Have you seen a motorized wheelchair?
Police say "a disabled gentleman" called police shortly after he was dropped off by a COAST bus at the corner of Quail Drive and Rochester Hill Road on Monday. At a nearby residence there, the man said he left his wheelchair in the driveway before returning 20 minutes later to retrieve it. But the wheelchair, red with two black armrests, was gone.
"It was definitely stolen," Capt. Paul Toussaint told Foster's. "We just don't have any leads at this point."
Around 10 a.m. Tuesday, just after the post was published on the popular social networking site, several people had commented, one woman writing "What is wrong with people" and another man commenting "That's horrible!" By Tuesday evening, the press release had been shared 37 times on Facebook with more than a dozen comments.
Toussaint said no information has come in that may lead to the recovery of the wheelchair so far. He noted the department has used Facebook in the past to generate tips.
Those with information in this matter are encouraged to contact Officer Gantert at 330-7128. Anonymous tips can be called in to the Rochester Crimeline at 335-6500. Texts may also be sent to CRIMES (274637) with Text4Cash in the body of the message, followed by a tip. Cash rewards are given to tips that lead to an arrest.


text:
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - The Republican minority became the majority on the Westchester County Legislature Friday afternoon and voted to pass its version of the 2013 county budget after all but two Democrats walked out of the chamber.
The Republicans said there was a quorum because Democratic legislators Virginia Perez and Michael Kaplowitz remained in the room.
Both threw support behind the minority report, the Republicans' version of the 2013 budget, which keeps the tax levy flat and restores at least 30 of the 126 jobs cut in County Executive Robert Astorino's proposed budget.
The Democrats contend that it was not an official vote. However, Astorino signed the budget Friday afternoon.
"Today's actions of the Republican legislators, along with that of Legislator Perez and Legislator Kaplowitz were despicable and made a mockery of the legislative process," said legislature Chairman Ken Jenkins, D-Yonkers.
Democrat Judy Myers, chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, had moved to recommit the budget, which would kick the spending plan back to the budget committee. Then, Jenkins adjourned the meeting.
The Republicans' version of the budget would also lower the parent share of subsidized childcare from 35 percent in the proposed budget to 27 percent. Democrats proposed keeping the share at 20 percent.
"While this compromise doesn't provide everything we would like to see, it is far more preferable than the alternative of a wholesale veto or a fiscal standoff," Perez said before the special legislators' meeting Friday.
Her Democratic colleagues said they would rather have no budget at all than pass Astorino or the Republicans' proposals. If a budget cannot be agreed upon, it would revert back to 2012 levels.
"Returning to last year's budget will be a huge improvement and big step toward fiscal stability, compared to what the County Executive is proposing," said Peter Harckham, D-Katonah, majority leader for the Democrats.
Thursday, the Democrats released their list of deletions from the budget to offset their added spending. Among the cuts were 57 members of Astorino's staff, who Democrats said make an average of $97,000.
Astorino criticized the move, as well as using $11 million of the county's reserve funds to pay for tax certioraris. His proposal would bond $13 million to pay for this year's tax certioraris.
"There's no way we sanction laying off 126 experienced professionals… while agreeing to keep 57 political hires on the county payroll," Harckham said. "This is not the kind of budget Westchester taxpayers want."
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text:
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Non-Food Post - Books Read in 2008
So, here's what I read last year:
Dark Love – ed. Nancy A. Collins
The Man Who Ate Everything – Jeffrey Steingarten
Drinking, Smoking & Screwing – ed. Sara Nicklès
Duma Key – Stephen King
The Art of Eating – MFK Fisher
Dragon's Winter – Elizabeth Lynn
Going Postal – Terry Pratchett
Consider the Eel – Richard Schweid
Best Food Writing 2001 – ed. Holly Hughes
The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar and the Geography of Desire – Richard Adams Carey
Best Food Writing 2002 – ed. Holly Hughes
Best Food Writing 2003 – ed. Holly Hughes
Best Food Writing 2005 – ed. Holly Hughes
A Fortress of Grey Ice – J.V. Jones
Best Food Writing 2006 – ed. Holly Hughes
The Amber Spyglass – Phillip Pullman
Shadows – John Saul
One Door Away from Heaven – Dean Koontz
The Man Who Ate the World – Jay Rayner
Amador – Fernando Savater
The Black Dahlia – James Ellroy
Serve the People – Jen Lin-Liu
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure – Dave Gorman
Garlic Lover's Cookbook – Gilroy Garlic Festival Committee
Eight Immortal Flavors – Charles Leong, Johnny Kan
The Origins and Development of the English Language – Thomas Pyles
A Widow for One Year – John Irving
The Magician's Guild – Trudi Canavan
The Novice – Trudi Canavan
The High Lord – Trudi Canavan
Just After Sunset – Stephen King
In Evil Hour – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Linguistic History of English – Robert A. Peters
Shattered Mirror – Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Of Love and Other Demons – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
That's 37 books in 365 days, or about 1 every 10. Admittedly, some of them were cookbooks, albeit with long sections of text and minimal recipes. Some of them were brutal (but I loved them anyway), specifically the 2 English language history books. Apparently, I like to punish myself, because I have two Anglo-Saxon Readers, an Old English anthology, and a book on the Indo-European dialects on the list for this year. Yes, I'm insane.
I'm always looking for reading recommendations - what do you suggest?
6 comments:
- Bob said...
Great list! I love knowing what people read. :)
Well, let's see. I'm a bit book crazed myself, so if you really want to open this can of worms...
I particularly enjoyed "Climbing Mount Improbable" by Richard Dawkins, if you are into biology.
Or if you like fantasy I would suggest "Assassins Apprentice" (and all the books that follow) by Robin Hobb and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
I see Stephen King on your list, have you read Clive Barker? I'm a big fan of his stuff.
My blogger profile has a list of authors under favorite books. I recommend all of them. :)
- January 14, 2009 at 9:52 PM
- Vicki said...
Hey Bob - Always meant to read Hobb, never have, and Rothfuss is a new one to me - fantasy is my go-to genre when I need to escape the heavier stuff :)
I think I've read some Barker, will have to re-explore, and being a (bio)chemist, Dawkins sounds interesting.
Thanks for the tips!
- January 14, 2009 at 10:18 PM
- Betts said...
The Black Dahlia is in my pile o'books to read. Some of your other titles look interesting, so I'll have to look into those. What a great idea to keep a list.
I would recommend something by Isabelle Allende... especially "Daughter of Fortune".
- January 15, 2009 at 9:28 AM
- Vicki said...
Hi Betts - I'm an obsessive collector of data in any form :)
Been meaning to try Allende, will add her to the to-read list.
- January 15, 2009 at 9:52 AM
- melissa said...
I have to admit the title "Drinking, Smoking & Screwing" provoked me to look it up on Amazon. Heh.
You read a great variety of stuff there. I'm interested in many of the food books. But I have a special spot in my heart for The Alchemist.
I just started reading Vonnegut in the last couple of years. I would recommend anything by him - Sirens of Titan is at the top though. It rocketed right to the top of my favorite books ever after I read it.
- January 15, 2009 at 10:15 AM
- Vicki said...
Hi Melissa -
I've got Galapagos by Vonnegut, don't think I've read anything else by him. Adding to the list...
- January 15, 2009 at 1:11 PM