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News you can use
DENVER (AP) — President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney come face to face for the first time in this presidential campaign Wednesday night for a nationally televised debate that will give millions of Americans a chance to size up two fierce competitors in a moment of high-risk theater.
Romney, trailing in polls in a number of key states and running short on time to reverse his fortunes, is angling for a breakout performance in the three 90-minute presidential debates scheduled over the next three weeks.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Barack Obama stands at the heliport overlooking the Hoover Dam, Tuesday in Boulder City, Nev.
Obama, well aware that the remaining five weeks of the race still offer enough time for tectonic shifts in his prospects, is determined to avoid any campaign-altering mistakes as he presses his case for a second term.
A pre-debate skirmish Tuesday over Vice President Joe Biden's passing reference to "a middle class that has been buried the last four years" demonstrated how just a few words can mushroom into something larger during a heated contest for the White House.
Wednesday's 9 p.m. EDT faceoff between Obama and Romney on domestic policy at the University of Denver is sure to offer a blend of choreography and spontaneity: Both men have spent hours rehearsing smart lines and pithy comebacks with proxy opponents — yet know to expect the unexpected.
"That's what so tricky about this," says Alan Schroeder, author of a book on presidential debates. "There's never a template for preparing because each one takes its own direction."
The central role of the economy in this election is evident in the topics selected for the first three of the night's six debate segments: The Economy I, The Economy II and The Economy III. The last three segments will focus on health care, the role of government and governing.
Romney has pinned his campaign on the argument that Obama has failed to adequately juice up the U.S. economy, but his challenge is reflected in recent polls showing growing public optimism about the economy and the president's leadership.
Republicans tried to frame the economic debate in their terms Tuesday by pointing to the vice president's comments in North Carolina about the beleaguered middle class as an unwitting acknowledgment that Obama's economic policies have devastated average Americans.
"We agree," GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan declared in Iowa. "That means we need to stop digging by electing Mitt Romney the next president of the United States."
Obama's camp countered that it was the policies of the president's Republican predecessors that had caused the damage.
Biden, at a later campaign event, was careful to say that "the middle class was buried by the policies that Romney and Ryan supported," calling their economic plans an amped-up rework of those from the George W. Bush years.
Romney calls Wednesday's debate the beginning of a monthlong "conversation with the American people," and the debates do tend to consume much of the political oxygen for several crucial weeks.
The candidates will be speaking to a TV audience of tens of millions in one of those rare moments when a critical mass of Americans collectively fix their attention on one event. Fifty-two million people tuned in to the first debate four years ago, and 80 percent of the nation's adults reported watching at least a bit of the debates between Obama and Republican John McCain.
"I think you're going to see the Mitt Romney that really cares about putting Americans back to work," senior adviser Kevin Madden said on "CBS This Morning" Wednesday.
Obama senior campaign adviser Robert Gibbs, appearing on the same program, said "I think what you'll hear the president do tonight is have a conversation with the American people about where we've been over the past four years."
In a quadrennial pre-debate ritual, each campaign has worked overtime to raise expectations for the opponent while lowering the bar for its own candidate. The thinking is that it's better to exceed lukewarm expectations than to fail to perform at an anticipated level of great skill.
But both men are seasoned debaters: Obama has been here before, facing off with McCain in 2008. Romney hasn't gone one-on-one in a presidential debate, but he got plenty of practice thinking on his feet during the 19 multi-candidate debates during the Republican primaries.
On a long day of debate prep — Romney in Denver and Obama in Henderson, Nev., near Las Vegas — both candidates tried to blow off some steam Tuesday. The president made a tourist's visit to nearby Hoover Dam, and Romney fit in a lunchtime outing to a Mexican grill for a burrito bowl.
The two candidates' biggest fans talked up their debating abilities in pre-debate interviews.
Michelle Obama told CNN she's like a nervous parent watching a child performing on the balance beam when her husband debates.
"I do tell him to have fun and relax and just be himself, because the truth is, if he's the Barack Obama the country has come to know and trust, he is going to do a great job," she said.
Ann Romney said her husband always looks around to find her in the debate audience and keeps a paper in front of him that says "Dad" — to remind him to make his father proud.
As for her advice, Mrs. Romney told KMGH-TV in Denver that she tells her husband: "Sweetie, you had five boys. You learned to argue really well and make your points years ago. Just go do that."
Wednesday's format: The moderator, PBS newsman Jim Lehrer, will open each 15-minute segment with a question, and then Obama and Romney will have two minutes apiece to answer. After that, it's up to Lehrer to keep the conversation going and to intervene if one candidate goes on too long.
Obama and Romney have a two-track mission with debate viewers: Motivate core supporters to turn out and vote — at a time when early voting already is under way in many states — and try to lock in some new supporters from among the small subset of viewers who haven't settled on a candidate or whose support for one man or the other is squishy.
The viewers who matter most live in the contested battleground states that will determine which candidate gets to 270 electoral votes on Nov. 6: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and, to a lesser extent, Wisconsin.
Recent national polls show the two candidates in a tight race among likely voters. But Obama has the advantage in many of the battlegrounds, including Colorado.
Romney and Obama debate again Oct. 16 in Hempstead, N.Y., and Oct. 22 in Boca Raton, Fla. Biden and Ryan have their lone debate on Oct. 11 in Danville, Ky.
Obama plans to use the first presidential debate as the hook for fundraisers and recruiting volunteers. Former President Bill Clinton will be in Boston on Wednesday night for Obama, with donors paying $20,000 a person. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is headlining a New York fundraiser.
The Obama campaign plans more than 4,000 debate-watching events around the country. And Biden is scheduled to hold a live discussion with supporters that will be streamed online after the debate.
The Romney camp planned 336 debate parties at restaurants, bars, grills, VFW halls and other sites concentrated in battleground states.
___President Barack Obama stands at the heliport overlooking the Hoover Dam, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012 in Boulder City, Nev. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)


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Today makes 14 years vegetarian and 4 years vegan! Back in 1994 (when I was 14), I made the choice to give up poultry and fish on the day after Thanksgiving. I'd given up beef and pork a few months earlier and after a day of gorging on turkey, I decided to become a vegetarian.
On the day after Thanksgiving in 2004, to celebrate my ten year vegeversary, I went a step further by entering a vegan trial run — I vowed to eat no cheese or dairy for one whole month. After a month went by, I realized that I didn't really miss dairy products and I loved vegan cheese substitutes. So I made the trial run a permanent thing and never looked back. (Technically, the anniversary date is probably not today since Thanksgiving moves around date-wise, but I find it easier to keep track of this way).
This morning, my mom and I celebrated my vegan-ness with a Black Friday shopping brunch at Brother Juniper's, an awesome breakfast joint with lots of veggie options. Here I am eating the Veggie Sausage Tofu Scramble with Home Fries and Whole Wheat Toast:
The scramble had veggie sausage chunks, spinach, and roasted red pepper. And I spread that toast liberally with Brother Juniper's special blueberry spreadable fruit (the BEST stuff!) instead of that nasty whipped butter on my plate. My omni mom even ate a tofu scramble and declared it the "best breakfast ever."
For dinner tonight, I had a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers, which I have a TON of hanging out in my fridge. Here's my plate from yesterday:
There's a yeast roll, mama's vegan cornbread dressin', homemade cranberry sauce, 2 slices of Field Roast Celebration Roast, Granny's Southwestern corn salad, vegan cole slaw, green beans, baked kabocha squash, vegan hash brown casserole, and vegan broccoli & cheeze casserole.
My mom and I always get up early on Thanksgiving Day and we cook all day long. She makes the best vegan cornbread dressin' in the whole world ever! And all the sides are veganized so I can eat them too.Here I am stirring some apples with cinnamon, sugar, and pecans:
And here's what the apples went into — the Apple Streudel from The Joy of Vegan Baking:
OMG! This stuff was amazing! Apple pie-style filling rolled up in buttery sheets of crispy phyllo and topped with toasted cinnamon pecans and vanilla icing.
Granny even veganized her Coconut Cake recipe:
This is my dad's favorite cake, and even though coconut isn't a traditional Thanksgiving ingredient, it went over really, really well. No one could even tell it was vegan. And since it sits in the fridge for three days and gets all moist and yummy, it really melts in your mouth. Granny also tried to veganize her pecan pie, but it flopped. So she made one the regular way instead. She gets bonus points for trying though ... I doubt I would have had enough room in my belly for pie anyway!
Hope ya'll had a fabulous Thanksgiving and Black Friday!

subset: commoncrawl


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Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John – 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptised, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?' 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, 'You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?' (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'
11 'Sir,' the woman said, 'you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?'
13 Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'
15 The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.'
16 He told her, 'Go, call your husband and come back.'
17 'I have no husband,' she replied.
Jesus said to her, 'You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.'
19 'Sir,' the woman said, 'I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.'
21 'Woman,' Jesus replied, 'believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.'
25 The woman said, 'I know that Messiah' (called Christ) 'is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.'
26 Then Jesus declared, 'I, the one speaking to you – I am he.'


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Author Michael Lindt points us to a photo of a card that was apparently "left in lieu of a tip."
It was originally posted on Reddit by user nickshambo who claims that the card, which is possibly fake, was left for a friend.
"I'd be livid," he adds.
As Gawker's Jordan Sargent points out, it seems to be from California, as the note mentions Proposition 30, a bill that was passed last November which raised sales taxes and taxes on the rich in California in an effort to fund schools.
"I wish it didn't have to be this way for the both of us," it says on the note.


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In the last week, I (Armin) have been taking some time off the JIT work to improve our GCs. More precisely, our GCs now take one or two words less for every object. This further reduce the memory usage of PyPy, as we will show at the end.
Background information: RPython object model
We first need to understand the RPython object model as implemented by our GCs and our C backend. (Note that the object model of the Python interpreter is built on top of that, but is more complicated -- e.g. Python-level objects are much more flexible than RPython objects.)
Consider these two RPython classes:
class A: def __init__(self, x): self.x = x def f(self): return self.x * 42 class B(A): def __init__(self, x, y): self.x = x self.y = y def f(self): return self.x + self.y
The instances of A and B look like this in memory (all cells are one word):
GC header | vtable ptr of A | hash | x |
GC header | vtable ptr of B | hash | x | y |
The first word, the GC header, describes the layout. It encodes on half a word the shape of the object, including where it contains further pointers, so that the GC can trace it. The other half contains GC flags (e.g. the mark bit of a mark-and-sweep GC).
The second word is used for method dispatch. It is similar to a C++ vtable pointer. It points to static data that is mostly a table of methods (as function pointers), containing e.g. the method f of the example.
The hash field is not necessarily there; it is only present in classes whose hash is ever taken in the RPython program (which includes being keys in a dictionary). It is an "identity hash": it works like object.__hash__() in Python, but it cannot just be the address of the object in case of a GC that moves objects around.
Finally, the x and y fields are, obviously, used to store the value of the fields. Note that instances of B can be used in places that expect a pointer to an instance of A.
Unifying the vtable ptr with the GC header
The first idea of saving a word in every object is the observation that both the vtable ptr and the GC header store information about the class of the object. Therefore it is natural to try to only have one of them. The problem is that we still need bits for the GC flags, so the field that we have to remove is the vtable pointer.
This means that method dispatch needs to be more clever: it cannot directly read the vtable ptr, but needs to compute it from the half-word of the GC header. Fortunately, this can be done with no extra instruction on the assembler level. Here is how things will look like in the end, assuming a 32-bit x86 machine (but note that as usual we just generate portable C).
The trick for achieving efficiency is that we store all vtables together in memory, and make sure that they don't take more than 256 KB in total (16 bits, plus 2 bits of alignment). Here is how the assembler code (produced by the normal C compiler, e.g. gcc) for calling a method looks like. Before the change:
MOV EDX, [EAX + 4] # load the vtable ptr from object EAX MOV EDX, [EDX + method_offset] # load the function pointer from the vtable CALL EDX
Instead, we now have:
MOVZX EDX, [EAX] # load the 16-bit part of the GC header from EAX MOV EDX, [vtable_start + 4*EDX + method_offset] CALL EDX
Note that the complex addressing scheme done by the second MOV is still just one instruction: the vtable_start and method_offset are constants, so they are combined. And as the vtables are anyway aligned at a word boundary, we can use 4*EDX to address them, giving us 256 KB instead of just 64 KB of vtables.
Optimizing the hash field
In PyPy's Python interpreter, all application-level objects are represented as an instance of some subclass of W_Root. Since all of these objects could potentially be stored in a dictionary by the application Python program, all these objects need a hash field. Of course, in practice, only a fraction of all objects in a Python program end up having their hash ever taken. Thus this field of W_Root is wasted memory most of the time.
(Up to now, we had a hack in place to save the hash field on a few classes like W_IntegerObject, but that meant that the Python expression ``object.__hash__(42)'' would raise a TypeError in PyPy.)
The solution we implemented now (done by some Java GCs, among others) is to add a hash field to an object when the (identity) hash of that object is actually taken. This means that we had to enhance our GCs to support this. When objects are allocated, we don't reserve any space for the hash:
object at 0x74B028...00... | x | y |
When the hash of an object is taken, we use its current memory address, and set a flag in the GC header saying that this particular object needs a hash:
object at 0x74B028...01... | x | y |
If the GC needs to move the object to another memory location, it will make the new version of the object bigger, i.e. it will also allocate space for the hash field:
object at 0x825F60...11... | x | y | 0x74B028 |
This hash field is immediately initialized with the old memory address, which is the hash value that we gave so far for the object. To not disturb the layout of the object, we always put the extra hash field at the end. Of course, once set, the hash value does not change even if the object needs to move again.
Running the following program on PyPy's Python interpreter with n=4000000:
def make_linked_list(n): a = None i = 0 while i < n: b = X() b.next = a a = b i += 1
the two optimizations together save 32 MB of RAM (i.e. 8 bytes per object). The version of PyPy we measured this with was built as follows:
./translate.py --gcremovetypeptr targetpypystandalone --objspace-std-withsharingdict
The total amount of RAM used on a 32-bit Linux is 247 MB, completing in 10.3 seconds. On CPython, it consumes 684 MB and takes 89 seconds to complete... This nicely shows that our GCs are much faster at allocating objects, and that our objects can be much smaller than CPython's.
Armin Rigo & Carl Friedrich Bolz


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From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...If you are looking for a meatless entree to serve tonight, I think you'll enjoy this hearty baked pasta casserole. The shells, which are combined with cauliflower and two types of cheese, take everyday mac n' cheese to a whole nother level. The pasta is rich and delicious but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that it is not quick to prepare. There are three steps to the recipe and while none of them is hard, they take some time to complete and you'll have to plan accordingly. I can assure you that your efforts will be rewarded at the table. The dish comes from the Moosewood Restaurant and this recipe can be found in the collective's latest cookbook, New Recipes from from Moosewood Restaurant. While I'm posting the recipe as it was written, I wanted you to know that I cut back on the quantity of onions it called for. My brain refused to let my hands chop 4 cups of onions for a pound of pasta, so I settled for 2 cups and cooked them until they were translucent. That worked well for me. One of these days, I'll get the courage to try the recipe with the full compliment of onions, but I didn't feel like experimenting with aromatics tonight. While I used fresh tomatoes to make the casserole, a good canned variety can be substituted if you are pressed for time or tomatoes are out of season. I hope you'll try this recipe. I know the mix of ingredients sounds a bit strange, but the combination makes for a delicious meatless meal. Here's how the shells are made.
Baked Shells with Cauliflower and Cheese...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite adapted from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant
Bechamel Sauce
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 quart warm milk
1-1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
pinch fresh nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 cups chopped onions (I used 2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
6 ripe tomatoes, chopped (or 3 cups canned, drained and chopped)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 pound medium pasta shells
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or mild provolone cheese
seasoned bread crumbs
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease or oil a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
2) To prepare Bechamel sauce: Melt butter in heavy sauce pan. Whisk in flour until a smooth paste is formed. Add warm milk slowly, whisking until sauce begins to thicken. Add mustard, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and let sauce thicken further on low heat. Remove from heat and cover.
3) Saute onions, garlic, and basil in oil. When onions are translucent, add cauliflower and saute for 5 minutes more. Add tomatoes and simmer until the cauliflower is tender.
4) Cook pasta per package instructions until al dente. Drain.
5) Combine pasta, vegetable mixture, Bechamel sauce and lemon juice in a large bowl. Put half of pasta mixture in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with half of each cheese. Add remaining pasta mixture and top with remainder of the cheeses. Top with bread crumbs. Cover pan and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until top is golden and casserole is bubbling, about 15 minutes longer. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.
One Year Ago Today: Spiced Corn on the Cob
Two Years Ago Today: White Chocolate and Lime Cookies
Three years Ago Today: Summer Rolls


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The last Republican presidential debate before Saturday's South Carolina primary was expected to be lively. It didn't disappoint.
It was clear, even before the four remaining candidates met on the stage in Charleston, SC, that at least three of them would face some fairly high-stakes moments that could change the course of the contest. The question going into the debate was would they be able to master those moments?
Newt Gingrich was going to have to deal with his ex-wife's bombshell accusation that he wanted an "open marriage" before he divorced her. Mitt Romney would have to handle the persistent question about releasing his tax returns.
Rick Santorum may have had the greatest challenge of the three. He would need to raise enough serious doubts about both Romney and Gingrich as the party's potential nominee for voters to give him another look. (As it turned out, Rep. Ron Paul's challenge was just getting CNN journalist John King who moderated the debate to let him get in on some of the questions.)
Based on what they needed to get done in the debate, Santorum and Gingrich appeared to have the best nights while it worked out less well for Romney.
Gingrich had a choice, he could be contrite or he could go after the media, the latter being the approach he used to great effect in prior debates. He decided if there was going to be a villain in the piece, it would be the media, not him.
He won a standing ovation from the audience in the hall by launching a diatribe against King of CNN:
GINGRICH: I think — "I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that." (Cheers, applause.)
Attacking the media is generally a safe strategy with many Republican voters who perceive mainstream journalists as doing the Democratic Party's bidding. And, based on the audience's response, Gingrich may have effectively tapped into those feelings by making King a scapegoat.
But if anyone should be pleased with how the evening went it's Santorum. His main task was to raise doubts about both Romney and Gingrich as the potential nominee and this he did exceptionally well. He may not win the South Carolina primary but it won't be for lack of trying.
Santorum, for instance, attacked both Romney and Gingrich as two sides of the same coin when it came to healthcare reform, saying neither of them would effectively be able to attack President Obama on the Affordable Care Act because both had supported similar approaches in the past.
Speaking of Romney and Gingrich, Santorum said:
"These are two folks who don't present the clear contrast that I do, who was the author of health savings accounts, which is the primary basis of every single — (cheers, applause) — conservative reform of health care."
He did the same on abortion, accusing Gingrich of not making it a priority when he was speaker and Romney of now talking, or whispering, a good, anti-abortion game but lacking a sufficiently absolutist track record on the subject like Santorum's.
And that may have been one of Santorum's least aggressive moments of the evening. At one point he panned Gingrich as a possible nominee because of the former House speaker's tendency to be unrestrained, calling it "worrisome" and saying "... We can't afford that in a nominee."
And that was after he accused Gingrich of being "grandiose." Gingrich, for his part, tried to neutralize that attack by saying, yes, he was a big idea kind of thinker, which only helped to make Santorum's point.
If Santorum and Gingrich had some of the strongest moments, Romney had some of the weakest.
As he did at Monday night's debate, Romney once again stumbled badly when asked if he would release his tax returns.
Romney was at his most disjointed in answering that, saying he would release his 2010 tax return in April but sounding dodgy on when or if he would release earlier returns.
When King asked if he would follow the example of his father, George Romney, who as a presidential candidate in the 1960s released 12 years' worth of returns, Romney said "Maybe." That was about as non-committal as you can get. He actually drew boos from the audience which caused him to pause in his reply for a few seconds.
Then, in a bit of illogic, he said he didn't want to release his returns piecemeal because President Obama's campaign would just use that opportunity to attack him with each release. Better to put them all out at once, he said, as though that would keep Obama from repeatedly hammering him on items in his taxes.
It was easy to get the very real sense that Romney was grasping for something, anything, that might give him some political cover on the issue and buy him some time.
Romney, who has had a habit of saying things that are later easily mocked ("Corporations are people" and his proposed $10,000 bet) had another such moment at the debate.
In an attempt to contrast himself from the present and past Washington politicians on the stage, he described himself as "someone who has lived in the real streets of America." He sounded like a hip hop artist matching his street cred against a rival rapper's. (If he's Tupac Shakur, would that make Gingrich Biggie Smalls?)
The winnowing of the field of candidates to four contributed to the debate being perhaps the best to date, allowing the rivals to develop their critiques of each other and deliver more than soundbites from their stump speeches.
There was an exchange, for instance, between Santorum and Paul on abortion that might not have happened when the debate stages were more crowded. Santorum accused Paul of having the same National Right to Life rating as Sen. Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and Senate Majority Leader.
To which Paul explained that many of his votes against federal legislation came not because he was any less anti-abortion than Santorum but because he believes that the Constitution requires the issue of abortion to be handled on state not the federal level.
PAUL: "I see abortion as a violent act. All other violence is handled by the states: murder, burglary, violence. That's a state issue. So don't try to say that I'm less pro-life because I want to be particular about the way we do it and allow the states the prerogative."
Again, it was the kind of moment that had more breathing room to occur because of the presence of only four candidates on the stage with more time to engage.
With debates playing such an important role in helping voters in the current election cycle decide who to vote for, when all is said and done, we may learn that Thursday's debate shaped the outcome of the South Carolina result, especially as opinion polling showed the race in the 48-hours before the First-in-the-South primary much closer between Gingrich and Romney than it had been.
If South Carolina winds up giving Romney a substantial victory, however, Thursday's debate could be the last one in which we see four candidates duking it out so memorably since it would be difficult, if not impossible, for Santorum and Gingrich to continue.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Design Details
Size Chart
Product Details
Rabbit Skins customizable baby hats are super soft and flexible enough to stay with them as they grow. As we all know, babies come in all shapes and sizes. This hat tends to run a little large on most newborns. It could be a great hat for babies to wear as the grow, but it might be too large to wear on the trip home from the hospital.
- 5.0 oz, 100% combed ringspun cotton
- 1x1 baby rib
- White is sewn with 100% cotton thread
- Not intended for sleepwear
- One size unisex
- PLEASE NOTE: White ink is not available on this item. If our art or your upload contains the color white, it will not print and be reflected as the color of the item.
- All measurements are provided by garment vendor; vendor tolerance for all measurements is +/-10%
- All provided measurements are in inches
Earn 10.77% when you sell this item.
Interested in Storefronts?
Interested in Storefronts?


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The Condor Amalgam Kukri Machete is a remarkable tool designed to tackle any cutting task with ease. With its distal taper and weight forward design, this machete offers unmatched chopping power. The 12.2-inch 1075 blade provides the perfect balance between strength and sharpness, ensuring your cuts are clean and precise.
But this machete isn't just about brute force. Its clever design includes a small section near the choil, allowing you to effortlessly handle small whittling chores. This versatile feature sets the Condor Amalgam apart from traditional machetes, making it a must-have for any outdoor enthusiast.
Crafted with a walnut handle, this machete offers a comfortable grip for extended use. Its ergonomic design reduces hand fatigue, enabling you to work for longer periods without discomfort. Whether you're clearing brush, carving wood, or preparing campfire kindling, this machete is an indispensable tool for your outdoor adventures.
To further enhance its practicality, the Condor Amalgam comes with a leather sheath. Not only does it protect the blade from damage, but it also allows for safe and convenient storage. The sheath's durable construction ensures long-lasting performance, making it an essential accessory for any outdoor activity.
Tested in multiple environments, the Condor Amalgam Kukri Machete has proven its reliability and durability. It's a tool you can rely on in any situation, from the densely forested trails to the open wilderness.
Specifications | |
Brand | Condor Tool & Knife |
Designer | Joe Flowers |
Model | Amalgam |
Model Number | CTK2817-11.7HC |
Blade Color | Silver |
Blade Edge | Plain |
Blade Length | 12.2 |
Blade Material | 1075 |
Country of Origin | El Salvador |
Handle Color | Brown |
Handle Material | Wood |
Knife Weight | 19.1 |
Knife Type | Fixed Blade |
Point | Kukri |
Sheath Included | Yes |
Sheath Material | Leather |
Total Length | 18.3 |
The man behind the Condor Tool & Knife designs:
Arlan started A. D. Lothe & Associates, Inc. in 1988 as a design, new product development and marketing consulting company that specializes in knives, hand tools and kitchen items.
Over the years Arlan has designed for and consulted with many nationally known firms, including Chicago Cutlery, Camillus Knife, Fiskars, Gerber, Wusthof Trident, Warner Manufacturing Company, Woodworker�?s Supply, Outers Laboratories, Condor Tool & Knife, Inc and many others. Arlan supports his knife and tool design work with a collection of over 3,000 knives, over 300 axes and a library of hundreds of knife and tool books and antique catalogs from around the world.
A most notable project was his design of the Miracle Blade 3 knives as seen on TV, with Chef Tony, which turned out to be the best selling knife line in the history of direct response television.
In 1995 Arlan and his client were awarded the �?Best New Product from the State of Minnesota�? from QVC and he went on to do over 120 live shows selling his Slices Perfect Kitchen Slicing System. He has also done shows for QVC in the UK and Germany.
In 2000 Arlan was awarded two �?Retailers�? Choice Awards�? for two of his FireStone axe designs at the National Hardware Show in Chicago. There were only 25 such awards given that year, selected from over 250,000 items on display.
Arlan is an avid hunter, outdoorsman, wood worker, gourmet chef and a knife and axe thrower. Most of his designs come from practical experience and 35 years of creative endeavors.
In 2006 Arlan was inducted into the International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame for �?out standing design�?. The IKTHF is made up of the finest knife and axe throwers in the USA who have sanctioned competitions all over the country. One of his axe designs, the FireStone Sport Axe, has won more competitions than any other axe in the history of the sport.
Arlan holds over 20 patents on items such as knives, hand tools, broad heads, knife sharpeners and others.
Arlan�?s design and product development philosophies are very elemental; make something better or develop some thing new that satisfies the wants and needs of the end user, while providing high perceived value and unique designs to better the competition, while providing clients with engineering that can be produced at above normal profit margins, which sell through well and brings repeat business. Being a �?knife nut�? him self he understands the psyche of other �?knife nut�?s�? which helps him to create �?just got to have�? designs even when a buyer all ready owns hundreds of knives.
Arlan and his wife and business partner Dottie live in central Wisconsin in a log home they designed and built from trees they cut themselves from their 160 acre woodland farm they call �?Valhalla�?. They have an office, design studio and conference center in their home; two prototype shops, one for wood and plastics and another for metal. There is also a knife and axe throwing range, archery range, rifle and pistol ranges, trap range, 22 miles of trails, three ponds and at the back of the property a 20�?X32�? Desert Storm military tent, which serves as a Whitetail Deer hunting camp.


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In New Hampshire, Serene Romney Rides Out Final Hours Before Primary
As Mount Washington calmly reigns over much of New Hampshire's geography, Mount Romney smiles down on the last day before the state holds the nation's first presidential primary.
The front-running former governor of neighboring Massachusetts spent the day getting chummy with crowds in Nashua and Hudson and Bedford, reciting his favorite lines from "America the Beautiful" and engaging in other behaviors just as risky. He came out in favor of free enterprise and job creation and got really cross with the Chinese for currency manipulation and intellectual property theft.
There is no reason for Romney to take risks, of course, because the primary is tomorrow. And despite the lukewarm way most Republicans respond to him here, no one challenger has emerged to capitalize on the dissatisfaction.
The Suffolk University tracking poll, an excellent measure in past primaries, has Romney falling 10 percentage points in the last five days. In some years, such a tumble would spell real trouble. But Romney was leading his nearest rival by more than 20 points a week ago, and most of that lead remains.
The nearest rival, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, is stuck at 20 percent. Moving up in this period has been Jon Huntsman, who has been flirting with double digits since he devoted himself exclusively to the state late last year. But Huntsman is still barely over that threshold.
Also rising somewhat is Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania who virtually tied for the title in Iowa's caucuses last week. But Santorum's surge seemed to peak in the first blush of that success, and over the weekend the energy may have ebbed.
As a result, Santorum is running not with Romney or Paul but with Huntsman and Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who has been the wild card in the debates and a free radical in the primary equation. Having roughed up Romney in Sunday's NBC-TV debate ("cut the pious baloney"), Gingrich on Monday trained his fire on Santorum.
It seems that any effort Santorum and Gingrich had tried to make at a coordinated attack on Romney has come to an abrupt halt. Now that Santorum is losing altitude again, Gingrich may see an opportunity to get back in the hunt when it moves to South Carolina later this week.
Santorum arrived here with more fanfare than he enjoyed in all of 2011. His campaign was suddenly collecting millions of dollars and getting national attention. That sort of momentum may return in South Carolina, but it found a wall of resistance in New England, where evangelicals are less than half as common in the religious census as they are in Iowa.
All but forgotten at this point is Rick Perry, the Texas governor who entered the field in August, dominated it for a month and then seemingly disappeared after disastrous showings in debates. Perry has already left New Hampshire to his rivals, preferring to push his remaining chips onto South Carolina, the first state to vote in the South.
The problem for Santorum is that South Carolina is also where rivals Paul, Gingrich and Perry all expect to revive their fortunes. So the Romney camp should be able to count on their opponents chewing on each other for the next 10 days and then dividing the anti-Romney vote five ways.
That is exactly how South Carolina wound up delivering a crucial victory to John McCain in 2008. McCain got only about a third of the Republican total there four years ago, fewer actual votes than when he lost to George W. Bush there in 2000. But it was enough for McCain to win, because the rest of the votes were divided among Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani and other Republican hopefuls — including Romney.
After winning in South Carolina, McCain cruised to victory in Florida and the nomination fight was over. A similar dynamic could well be developing in the New Hampshire and through the rest of the month.
Which is why Mount Romney looks so serene in the unseasonably moderate weather in New Hampshire this week.


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Bullet design 31-100CZ
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Every now and then, we get comments from readers that go something like this:
Well today, in honor of our friend Neil over at 1000 Awesome Things and the rest of you positive Pollyannas, we picked out a few Wrecks from our arsenal - and we're going to find something awesome to say about each and every one of them. Even if it kills us. Which, let's be honest, is entirely possible.
*pulling up happy pants*
Here we GOOOO!
I love noisemakers.
Not that you'd want to put these in your mouth, of course, considering where they've been...but, uh...yeah. Noisemakers are awesome.
Not straining while cutting the cheese? You guessed it: AWESOME.
Alright, now we're on the home stretch! [rubbing hands together] Bring on the final contender!
Ok, I think I got it:
You tell me.
I've already read it, and believe me, it lives up to its name. And speaking of names, mine's on the back cover. So that's worth the purchase price right there. (Did I mention it's also half off on Amazon right now? Yeah. That helps.)
Now go forth, and comment! Whoever makes me laugh the hardest wins the glory, while two randomly selected commenters will actually win a personalized and signed copy of The Book of Awesome. I'll even have Neil do the personalizing and signing. [waggling eyebrows]
Oh, and Neil is willing to ship anywhere in the world. So Estonia, I'm looking at you.
Chloe, Tosha B., Anony M., Molly C., Jeff H., & Rachel V., go make me proud.
- Related Wreckage: The #2 Way to Ruin a Cake
[John's rule type stuff]
When you comment, be sure to put your name. If your name is something boring like John, be sure to follow it up with something creative like (the hubby of Jen). Or, ya know, your last name. And remember, we're picking two winners at random so if you happen to be painfully unfunny like me, you can still win. Winners will be announced at 2pm (Eastern) on Friday. Finally, if you don't win, you should still buy the book. We could all stand to focus a little more on the awesome in life. Good luck and Wreck On!
UPDATE: We have our winners! (See the top of this post.) Thanks, everyone; your comments have been the best free entertainment I've had all week. ;)


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Next Time Hire the A-Team, Helicopter Prison Escape Foiled
In a daring movie style prison escape, Grek Prisoner back in hand of Authorities. On Sunday A helicopter swooped down on a prison courtyard as armed men on board fired on guards and lowered a rope to help a convicted killer make his fourth attempt to escape from a Greek prison.
But the plot was foiled after the prisoner was shot and the chopper forced to land in the prison's parking lot.
The dramatic escape attempt was one of a handful involving helicopters in Greece, and the first time such plans have failed.
Authorities said the chartered helicopter — carrying two armed passengers, a pilot and a technician — first tried to rip off the chicken-wire fence surrounding Trikala prison with a hook dangling from a rope. But that didn't work, so a rope was lowered down to whisk away Panagiotis Vlastos. Another prisoner, an unnamed Albanian national also in the courtyard at the time, may also have been part of the escape plan.
At the same time, the armed passengers used AK-47 assault rifles to fire on the prison guards. One guard, who was inside a post, was slightly injured by shards of flying glass. He and others returned fire, injuring Vlastos, who had managed to climb into the helicopter, as well as the helicopter's technician. Vlastos fell from a height of about 3 meters (10 feet) into the courtyard, and the helicopter was eventually grounded in the parking lot.
Vlastos, 43, is a convicted murderer and racketeer serving a life term who had tried and failed three times before to escape from prison.
Prison officials told TV stations Mega and NET that they recovered well over 500 bullets fired from the helicopter. The Ministry of Justice, in statements describing the escape attempt, added that the helicopter passengers also carried, but did not use, "improvised explosive devices."
Authorities said Vlastos was wounded in the legs but is being treated in the prison hospital because his injuries were not deemed serious enough for a transfer elsewhere. The technician's hand was slightly wounded.
It was not immediately clear if the pilot and flight technician had willingly participated in the escape attempt or had been forced to fly to the prison, which is located 328 km (205 miles) northwest of Athens. Also unclear was whether the second would-be escapee was in on the scheme or just happened to be in the courtyard and tried to take advantage of the situation.
The helicopter was hired from a western Athens suburb and was supposed to fly to Thessaloniki, in northern Greece. But it deviated from is flight path to head to the prison.
This is the third time a helicopter has been used in an attempted prison escape in Greece. Convicted criminals Vassilis Paleokostas and Alket Rizaj were whisked by helicopter from the high-security Korydallos prison in Athens in June 2006. They were caught, but escaped for a second time — again using a helicopter — in February 2009. Paleokostas is still at large.
Vlastos was first arrested in 1994 in the murder of two members of a rival criminal gang. He was convicted last year as the behind-the-bars mastermind of the kidnapping of shipping tycoon Pericles Panagopoulos. Panagopoulos was kidnapped in January 2009 and released after eight days, when a ransom of €30 million was paid.
While awaiting trial for the kidnapping, Vlastos tried to escape in December 2011 from Korydallos prison along with three members of armed anarchist group Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire. The four used a pistol and knives to take hostage three prison guards and 25 visiting relatives of other prisoners. The four surrendered to authorities after a five-hour standoff. Vlastos had also tried to escape, unsuccessfully, in 1994 and 1998.


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The ISO 9001:2015 standard is an integral part of an organization's efforts towards the broader aim of sustainable development. It also promotes ISO 9001 as a tool for improving an organization's overall performance.
Suitable for anyone working with quality management system (QMS) standards, the objective of this course is to provide participants with a comprehensive introduction to ISO 9001:2015.
ISO 9001:2015 covers the following areas:
- Structure and terminology, including incorporation of the Annex SL framework
- The wider internal and external context of an organization's QMS (Clauses 4 and 6)
- Detailed QMS requirements (broadly clauses 5 and 7 to 10)
After completing of this course, attendees will be able to:
- Explain the purpose and intent of the series of management system standards
- Understand the application of the principles of quality management
- Explain the relationships between the clauses of ISO 9001:2015
Course Information
We offer the following training solutions:
- Face to face: one-day course. On completion of this course, attendees will receive an SGS Certificate of Attendance
- eLearning: one-hour course (overview). On completion of this course, attendees will receive an SGS Certificate of Completion
For further information on ISO 9001:2015 training, contact SGS today.
Related Links
- Annex SL Introduction Webinar
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Saturday, February 8, 2014
The Masonic Mystery of "33"
39 comments:
"Dante's Divine Comedy divided into 3, 33 cantos sections: 33 Cantos of Inferno, 33 Cantos of Purgatorio, and 33 Cantos of Paradiso."
Incorrect. The Inferno has 34 cantos. Purgatorio has 33 & Paradiso has 33 for a total of 100 cantos not 99.
Michael Warning - July 14, 2008 at 10:06 AM
- Eric Dubay said...
Thanks, I'll update that
- July 14, 2008 at 5:39 PM
- Ajit Nathaniel said...
Timothy McVeigh was not a "suspect" who was murdered". He was a terrorist who killed 168 innocent people in a dastardly and unprovoked attack on civilians. He was given a fair trial and was judged guilty by a jury of peers. A sentence was passed upon him by a regular court under the laws of the United States of America. He was offered the opportunity to appeal, but gave up the right to do so.
- July 15, 2008 at 8:34 AM
- Torq said...
One of the difficulties that I have with your numerology is that most cultures/religions have developed their own system of metaphor and symbolism around numbers.
They are a foundation of knowledge and are abstract from the material world. They are eternal and always True. As such, can we really be surprised that writers/poets/philosophers have considered numerical patterns to be significant?
My observation, of course, does not really undermine your research. It is just a thought. - July 15, 2008 at 5:34 PM
yo there, keep up the fight against the illuminated ones.
ive noticed thou that you have alot off, and i dont mean any offence, wrong information, mainly information that all these "famous" people say against the NWO, now think, if this stuff is really going down, dont you think theve planted information? i dont mean to discourge you, but i think theres a few main things you should look into.
1. satanism - mainly how your views are split between the christain views (remember christain is anti satanism) and occult views, its like youve seen what matches and taken the info out of context. allways remember that satanism is only called such because it is direct defience to christians. learn the true value and teachings of it and use it as a weapon. (im not a satanist btw, allthou when you relise what it truley is, you could probs say we both are)
2. numerology - numerology is an amazing thing, but its mainly useless unless you know what your precisely doing, and what system is being used. (i do not doubt your skills) just finding a bunch of corosponding numbers really dosent do much, sure you might find the "big one", but without knowledge into diffrent occult systems people get lost in the "life path" stage etc...
3. DNA - ive spent tonnes of time researching stuff like this myself, and ive found that DNA holds alot of answers, and i dont just mean blood lines. 1 example to get you going, the symbol for the sun, the "swastika" is a double helix being viewd from above.
all the best dude, oh and get a copy of the I-Ching
peace - August 18, 2008 at 6:31 PM
- Mr. Mandal said...
"Ice freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and changes to water at 33 degrees"
Water freezes and melts at the same temperature, 32 degrees Fahrenheit. There is not one degree of leeway between the two. The transition between the two phases is gradual, but due to the requirements of heat of fusion, the temperature will remain 32 degrees.
The Masons may be powerful, but they cannot change the laws of nature :P - December 22, 2008 at 10:23 AM
you said that in the space shuttle disaster there were people representing all 7 continents , last time i looked, no ones lives in or on Antarctica (its a frozen wasteland)
- January 4, 2009 at 2:38 AM
- Eric Dubay said...
Thanks, I've re-worded the water part, and the space shuttle quote was from someone else, not sure what they meant by "all 7 continents." Peace
- August 1, 2011 at 11:41 PM
- Druv said...
There are 13 stripes for the 13 original colonies.
Could be the part of the same equation?
May be the American flag holds secrets too? - August 2, 2011 at 1:33 AM
- Druv said...
I would like a little help on the NATgrid system -- the same system that exists in USA is being copied and brought into India.
They are going to give out UAID, without which we will not be able to buy food/ property and any other transaction without the Government knowing about it.
It is supposed to be helping curb "terrorism" in India, but i think its just like the same Chip system in the body, they would eventually be employ in USA on a large scale.
What is the NATgrid system of USA like?
can you throw some light on it in your blogs when you have time. - August 2, 2011 at 1:42 AM
great post !!
thanks Eric
ONE LOVE - August 2, 2011 at 5:44 AM
many years ago, before i even knew about the meanings behind "33", i started pricing my paintings at 33.33
i started painting on square canvasses, and to me they looked like those old vinyl records--those 33 rpm, and that is what brought to my mind when i looked at my canvasses.
i added the .33 because duplication attracts attention, and because no one else priced their paintings at 33.33
so mine stood out, and it did indeed increase sales.
but know, i wonder if i had inadvertently sent a "calling card" out to "members"...
my paintings of the number "8" also sold quite well, and i priced those at 48.88, or 88.88 (because "8* is an asian thing--has to do with luck)
i had buyers who asked me where i got my inspiration, if there was a significance in the numbers, and i said, i grew up in the asian culture, and my mom was highly superstitious with numbers and other idiosynchrocies.
now, i think asian cultures are cross-referenced with masonic somewhere in the past, or the masons looked into the ancient asian "superstitions" regarding numbers. - August 2, 2011 at 7:51 AM
- Druv said...
Where did the words "Superstition" and "magic" originate from?
"Superstition" - classical Latin superstitio
"Magic" - has Latin classical roots, appearing as magica
"Ritual" - ritualis - Latin
Why do these words originate from the same language "Latin" and from the same region called "Rome"?
Do older languages than Latin have these words? "No"
[ My answer - destroy /defame older nature worship cultures to assimilate ]
I wonder about the terms "witch" and "witchcraft" now, which language did they originate from? hmmm - August 2, 2011 at 11:42 AM
BLaming patriarchical societies for every single ill that is confronting humanity is very much scape-goating. Men are not inherently absolutely evil, and neither are women perfectly innocent, eternal victims of men...patriarchy and matriarchy (nature worship) are two sides of the same coin...except, may be that patriarchical soceities emphasize the son/sun...and matriarchical societies emphasize the moon/luna...
It is nothing more than the worship of the sun and the moon - both sides are one and the same nonsense...and trying to lay the blame to, "brutal" empires guided by patriarchy misses the point entirely...the goal is to get you to react and get pissed off at, "men" for being so, "evil." It is exactly like the current trend in making all whites look bad via politically correct soft language without actually addressing the real causes of the troubles of the world...
I.e. Religion, god, human stupidity, ignorance, intellectual indotrination, the THOUGHT PROCESSS of education and learning...etc, etc....paganism is religion (which is a business, which is government, which is slavery).
So, have fun worshipping the sun and moon all you want, but either way, it is the road to solitary lunacy... - August 2, 2011 at 4:12 PM
- Druv said...
BLaming patriarchical societies for every single ill that is confronting humanity is very much scape-goating.
may be that patriarchical soceities emphasize the son/sun...and matriarchical societies emphasize the moon/luna...
So, have fun worshiping the sun and moon all you want, but either way, it is the road to solitary lunacy...
For all the people they [ exclusive religion/ Illuminati ] destroyed, and their continuous propaganda to take over the world -- payback is inevitable. (Karma)
Your lack of precision in your comments and the use of the word "May be" + no solid evidence nor structure makes your comments weak.
Their evil has not ended, it has only grown. Left unchecked it will completely consume every thing in its path. Hence they have to be destroyed. - August 2, 2011 at 9:04 PM
"Their evil has not ended, it has only grown. Left unchecked it will completely consume every thing in its path. Hence they have to be destroyed."
And once they are destroyed, what are you going to replace it with? The New World Order? It sure sounds like it. - August 3, 2011 at 5:28 AM
- Druv said...
Wrong Assessment, Illuminati controls the exclusive religions that has taken many lives to create the new world order of today.
I am getting bored now. - August 3, 2011 at 5:50 AM
- Druv said...
It will be replaced by the older traditions that people lost which were harmonious with nature.
It was not about exploiting nature, it was about living with harmony with nature.
Nature is the limb of God without which we cannot survive.
Any other ambiguities? - August 3, 2011 at 5:53 AM
- Druv said...
Are your thinking physical destruction? That is very one dimensional thinking.
It is the destruction of dark ideologies that are built to destroy other cultures to assimilate by certain "Exclusive Religions" that are under control of the Illuminati. - August 3, 2011 at 6:01 AM
Druv, all religion is controlled by the illuminati - there is not and has not been a single one that is not under their direct or indirect control. To worship nature or be in harmony with nature is the same thing as worshipping the light of lucifer - the worship of the 3 dimensional realm is as shallow and narrow as it can get. It is ignorance.
- August 3, 2011 at 6:20 AM
Wait, can somebody please elaborate how living in harmony with nature is worshipping the light of lucifer? Where do you get this information from?
- August 3, 2011 at 8:44 AM
If you know your physics (phi-sex), then you know that everything is just LIGHT - even your DNA double helix spirals - and therefore - everything is just a beam of light splashed into a rainbow of color.
Who is the light-bringer in the Old and New Testaments? Jehovah and Jesus - also known as Lucifer. The, "lord" from on high made it pretty clear in the first several verses of the Bible who and what God/god is. God is the Light-bringer, and in consequence, that light is the negative electron - the elect lady of NATURE - of EARTH. They fuck, and produce a son/sun.
In Islam, the light bringer is Shatain, or Satan - the prince of darkness - whether or not you worship nature is irrelevant as even the MACHINE is the MOTHER of SEXUAL DELIGHTS and SEDUCTION. How is nature any different? It is also based on golden mean mathematics and seduction, manipulation of light, and death-rebirth symbolism...and the four-square foundation of deceit (four seasons, four elements, four directions).
To live in harmony with nature then means human sacrifice - both symbolic and literal. It is the religion of Christianity, Islam, Judaism - the pagan cults of Dionysus, Saturn, Chronos, Shiva, Jupiter, Zeus, Apollo, Horus, Set...take which ever name you prefer as your, "savior" and you end up worshipping the same sun-god sacrifice religions of old...and worshipping the moon - it is a reflection of the SUN - it is the MOTHER - the worship of SOLOMON and 666 (six = sex = hex).
Now you know. - August 3, 2011 at 9:26 AM
In other words, the worship of nature and to live in harmony with nature means the rebirth and resurection of the PEOPLES' TEMPLE AGRICULTURAL PROECT.
The Green Movement and the Conspiracy-theory driven resistance movement that insists on retaliation and remaking the world once the, "other elite" is, "defeated" is the source of this new prison - this time, they will make a new prison for themselves without knowing it. The return of paganism is the same as the current religious institutions bent on murder and genocide...just on different rationales (by appearances only). - August 3, 2011 at 9:40 AM
Anon, thanks for your reply. I hardly have an idea about physics and have chosen not to follow ANY religion, or WORSHIP anything. I have chosen to provide the best care for my fellow human, while respecting the environment(nature) around me. I am not worshipping anything. I just try to be the best with what it is I have.
I am almost at a point where I don't believe in a satan, lucifer or devil. I kind of think that these are just man-made ideas that have been manipulated and exaturated so many times that it has affected our present way of thinking.
I do believe in a creator of some sort. And I do believe we need to care for this planet we survive on, without it, we would have nothing. And if that means I am worshipping a "devil" in someway, then I do not know what to think. But I have been on an amazing journey and seem to benefit as well as benefit the people around me, so I will continue to do as I do. I will also open my mind and talk with people like you, so I can only increase my knowledge and hopefully understand how to fulfill this mission for truth.
Derek - August 3, 2011 at 11:54 AM
- robbie said...
eric thanx for always posting good teachings
robbie - August 3, 2011 at 12:56 PM
I do believe in a creator of some sort. And I do believe we need to care for this planet we survive on, without it, we would have nothing.
Derek - there is no, "Creator of some sort." That is just the same thing as believing in the imaginary devil/satan/Great Beast 666 nonsense. That is cognitive dissonance - in other words - doublethink.
You're just fooling yourself by telling yourself that there is no devil, yet, for some reason, you think there is a creator (what makes you so sure that the Creator is NOT the Devil as well - i.e. the Creator is Two-Faced?)?
Even if we do all care for this,"planet" as you say - the more we, "try" to, "care" for it - the more fucked up it becomes..."caring for nature" just becomes a more self-gloating way of saying, "I have to worship, control, and revere nature...or else..."
On, the other hand - if we don't care for it - there will always be those who will guilt trip those of us who do not really, in all sincerity give a damn about the 3 dimensional light show...including Mother Nature herself. Are we all bad? Surely we are nothing like British Petroleum?
Yes, without nature, we will have nothing - but, when we had nothing - we had nothing to worry about. Nothingness is who and what we are - because everything is just light illusion based on the lie of THINKING. - August 6, 2011 at 6:38 PM
- Druv said...
Both Islam and Christianity have twisted origins that spread through out the world both by the sword, psychological manipulation , manipulation of physical evidence, bribery and many more battle tactics.
Illuminati and Freemasons were created by the Vatican, creating a web of illusion to throw people off from their real enemy.
You are right about the spiral of the DNA, and swastika. "However" Sanatan Dharma is not a religion - it existed thousands of years before Christianity.
Ram Setu or Adams bridge in India, which connects India with Lanka was carbon dated back to 1,750,000 years. This bridge was man made at the time of Ramayana.
By the way, Ram Setu being called "Adams bridge" clearly shows that Christianity ploy to wipe out the culture of India and to assimilate them in a subtle manner.
The exclusive religions are a dark weapon which i call the dark echo, which are known as "Asuras" in Sanskrit.
Sorry, but there is a God. Anyone can see him and his laws in the Double slit diagram.
To live in harmony with nature then means human sacrifice - both symbolic and literal. It is the religion of Christianity, Islam, Judaism - the pagan cults of Dionysus, Saturn, Chronos, Shiva, Jupiter, Zeus, Apollo, Horus, Set...take which ever name you prefer as your, "savior" and you end up worshipping the same sun-god sacrifice religions of old...and worshipping the moon - it is a reflection of the SUN - it is the MOTHER - the worship of SOLOMON and 666 (six = sex = hex).
Completely incorrect analysis, to live in harmony means to take from nature enough to live and replace what you take from it. Never to take a life of animals, when there are enough of fruits and vegetables to eat. etc etc
The word "Cult" was created by Christianity to reduce the value of the older cultures to assimilate them. Hence your analysis is incorrect here.
You still have Christian programming in you which was created to destroy the previous older and stable cultures. Sorry, time to wake up and smell the coffee. - August 11, 2011 at 2:34 AM
- Unknown said...
The Bible has and is revealing these things you have just got to look deep into its pages and see there is allot to do with symbolism and numerology all through it all there to warn us about the days ahead
- May 15, 2012 at 2:01 PM
- Half Navajo said...
I would get a copy of The Gospel of The Essenes. Then I would get a copy of the book, The Land of Meat and Honey by Shmuel Asher. When you are referencing the Bible, its been so messed with and paganized that it just references their own plans. I think you would find alot of your own philosophies align with the Yeshua and the Essenes.
- February 8, 2014 at 9:43 PM
- Eric Dubay said...
Hey Half Navajo, you're absolutely right. I read and posted The Essene Gospel of Peace several years ago and it definitely jives with my sensibilities and aligns with my philosophies more than the Bible ever has. Peace
The Essene Gospel of Peace - February 9, 2014 at 6:58 PM
- Half Navajo said...
I should have known you already read it. After reading the Gospel of the Essenes I finally understood why I couldn't and can't kill animals. I worked on a raw goat diary farm 10 years ago in Austin, TX that also raised pasture raised black angus and pastured turkey and chickens... I could never do the slaughtering. I was put in charge of all 80 milking goats luckily. I love goats, and raw goat milk, and it was one of the most fun jobs i have ever had... especially when they would start having kids. I also was taught how to make all kinds of cheeses, high probiotic yogurt, and how to care for the goats properly. My girlfriend and I plan on having our own farm one day so we can have an abundance of raw goat milk, our own garden, and hopefully fruit trees. I am thinking Ecuador, but she has her reservations about it... I want to get out of the USA as soon as possible though.
The Revelation in the bible compared to the Revelation in the Essenes is very different also... I couldn't believe it! In the Essenes Revelation there is so much more hope, when we change ourselves that all the wrath wont happen... compared to the Revelation in the bible where is just seems like were screwed no matter what.
As of now I am still a hypocrite, as I still eat meat on occasions... so I still need to change myself. If these damn laws here would change in most states and allow clean pasture raised raw milk for sale I would have no problem going vegetarian as soon as possible. I live in Las Vegas... local food is still considered California. Anyways, keep up the good blog! - February 10, 2014 at 6:57 PM
Eric, thank you for posting and managing this informative blog. When you get a chance, I'd like to hear your thoughts on Burning Man. I think I might have stumbled on something about this event.
- February 17, 2014 at 2:24 AM
33rd comment! Fnord!
- August 23, 2014 at 9:51 PM
- Efex Broker said...
Beyond 33.
Helllo to everyone reading this, also you in the shadows.
I am looking for the four part video called "Stanley Kubrick Exposes Illuminati". They are about 10 – 15 minutes long each. They were available on Youtube three years ago but now they have totally disappeared from the Internet. Do you happen to know anything about this?
I found some torrents and clues but all the files are missing.
I think there was Stanley Kubrick speaking by himself (or then it was Jay Weidner) and telling about the Illuminati very openly.
This is a page where are all the videos embedded but Youtube has closed the account.
Here are some other clues I have found so far:
Not sure if this is about that series because there is also a file named 1-4 by this user.
I found this torrent, no seeders tho. Might be copyrighted material also.
Red Ice Radio - Stanley Kubrick Illuminati - Jay Weidner (4 Part YouTube Audio, Video Still Shot) torrent
Torrent Size: 106 MB
Category: Video
Files: 4
Base16 hash: 7882832EB1498C061487A2E8651E5E74B9D0242E - December 5, 2014 at 12:41 PM
- Waldemar Borowski said...
"The human foot has 33 muscles."
The human foot has 33 joints. - December 11, 2016 at 1:50 PM
3 is me
- December 25, 2016 at 8:45 AM
- John said...
Awesome expose on the hidden hand of history!
However, the so-called "Star of David" has nothing to do with King David. There is no historical or archaeological or historical evidence to suggest this is the case. The ancient symbol is the logo of the god Saturn/Cronos. It is mentioned bible as the "Star of Remphan (Saturn)," and modern astrology has recently discovered a hexagon on the North Pole of Saturn. - May 6, 2017 at 2:35 PM
- Unknown said...
Dual 33s = 88 pieced together. 2 3s pieced together make an "8" symbol. Meaning this scam goes on and on infinitely. 88 McFly code. Marty had to hit 88. Noahs' name was mentioned 33 times in the bible when he promised him he wouldn't flood the earth again (meaning only if you're a 33rd degree mason) .
- April 22, 2018 at 6:31 PM
- Shelia Ball said...
Can any of you pm me a link to do my numerology, please. Thanks so much !
- November 22, 2021 at 6:59 AM


text:
"Christ did not die for the sins of the people": Head of German Catholic Bishops' Conference on TV
By Hilary White
FREIBURG, Germany April 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – According to the chairman of the Catholic bishops' conference of Germany, the death of Jesus Christ was not a redemptive act of God to liberate human beings from the bondage of sin and open the gates of heaven. The Archbishop of Freiburg, Robert Zollitsch, known for his liberal views, publicly denied the fundamental Christian dogma of the sacrificial nature of Christ's death in a recent interview with a German television station.
Zollitsch said that Christ "did not die for the sins of the people as if God had provided a sacrificial offering, like a scapegoat."
Instead, Jesus had offered only "solidarity" with the poor and suffering. Zollitsch said "that is this great perspective, this tremendous solidarity."
The interviewer asked, "You would now no longer describe it in such a way that God gave his own son, because we humans were so sinful? You would no longer describe it like this?"
Monsignor Zollitsch responded, "No."
Archbishop Robert Zollitsch was appointed to the See of Freiburg im Breisgau in 2003 under Pope John Paul II. He is he sitting Chairman of the German Episcopal Conference, to which he was elected in 2008 and is regarded as a "liberal" in the German episcopate.
In February 2008 he said that priestly celibacy should be voluntary and that it is not "theologically necessary." Zollitsch has also said he accepts homosexual civil unions by states, but is against same-sex "marriage."
He told Meinhard Schmidt-Degenhard, the program's host, that God gave "his own son in solidarity with us unto this last death agony to show: 'So much are you worth to me, I go with you, and I am totally with you in every situation'."
"He has become involved with me out of solidarity – from free will."
Christ, he said, had "taken up what I have been blamed for, including the evil that I have caused, and also to take it back into the world of God and hence to show me the way out of sin, guilt and from death to life."
However, Article 613 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the definitive work issued by the Church explaining the dogmas and doctrines of the Catholic religion, describes the death of Christ as "both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men, through 'the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world', the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the 'blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins'."
The Catechism continues, "This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. First, it is a gift from God the Father himself, for the Father handed his Son over to sinners in order to reconcile us with himself. At the same time it is the offering of the Son of God made man, who in freedom and love offered his life to his Father through the Holy Spirit in reparation for our disobedience."
To express concerns:
Congregation for Bishops
Giovanni Battista Re, Cardinal, Prefect
Palazzo della Congregazioni,
00193 Roma,
Piazza Pio XII, 10
Phone: 06.69.88.42.17
Fax: 06.69.88.53.03
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
William Joseph Levada, Cardinal, Prefect
Piazza del S. Uffizio,
11, 00193
Roma, Italy
Phone: 06.69.88.33.57; 06.69.88.34.13
Fax: 06.69.88.34.09


text:
Bounce Houses A Party Hit But Kids' Injuries Soar
They may be a big hit at kids' birthday parties, but inflatable bounce houses can be dangerous, with the number of injuries soaring in recent years, a nationwide study found.
Kids often crowd into bounce houses, and jumping up and down can send other children flying into the air, too.
The numbers suggest 30 U.S. children a day are treated in emergency rooms for broken bones, sprains, cuts and concussions from bounce house accidents. Most involve children falling inside or out of the inflated playthings, and many children get hurt when they collide with other bouncing kids.
The number of children aged 17 and younger who got emergency-room treatment for bounce house injuries has climbed along with the popularity of bounce houses — from fewer than 1,000 in 1995 to nearly 11,000 in 2010. That's a 15-fold increase, and a doubling just since 2008.
"I was surprised by the number, especially by the rapid increase in the number of injuries," said lead author Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
Amusement parks and fairs have bounce houses, and the playthings can also be rented or purchased for home use.
Smith and colleagues analyzed national surveillance data on ER treatment for nonfatal injuries linked with bounce houses, maintained by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Their study was published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
Only about 3 percent of children were hospitalized, mostly for broken bones.
More than one-third of the injuries were in children aged 5 and younger. The safety commission recommends against letting children younger than 6 use full-size trampolines, and Smith said barring kids that young from even smaller, home-use bounce houses would make sense.
"There is no evidence that the size or location of an inflatable bouncer affects the injury risk," he said.
Other recommendations, often listed in manufacturers' instruction pamphlets, include not overloading bounce houses with too many kids and not allowing young children to bounce with much older, heavier kids or adults, said Laura Woodburn, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials.
The study didn't include deaths, but some accidents are fatal. Separate data from the product safety commission show four bounce house deaths from 2003 to 2007, all involving children striking their heads on a hard surface.
Several nonfatal accidents occurred last year when bounce houses collapsed or were lifted by high winds.
A group that issues voluntary industry standards says bounce houses should be supervised by trained operators and recommends that bouncers be prohibited from doing flips and purposefully colliding with others, the study authors noted.
Bounce house injuries are similar to those linked with trampolines, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended against using trampolines at home. Policymakers should consider whether bounce houses warrant similar precautions, the authors said.
This program aired on November 26, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.


text:
(It's the cake from Mom and Pop. For real..)
First let's get the preliminaries out of the way and say YES, this year I DID get a ticket to BlogHer#10. (Holy @(#*) I am beyond excited, and can't wait to see what havoc I can wreak upon NYC!!!
The ticket was free (Thank God) because by some crazy stroke of luck they picked me to help work the registration desk! They must have seen me greeting anyone who would make eye contact with me last year, and decided that they ought to just pay me to do the same. Well, kind of. (I'll be registering people Thursday and Friday morning- so make sure to say HI!!!)
As far as travel arrangements go, New York City is conveniently only a TWO HOUR DRIVE from where I live here in Smythe, Oregon. (It's that new geography we teach in kindergarten; very high tech.)
If you remember correctly, last year an angel from heaven went behind her husband's back and bought me an airline ticket. (And not just any ticket - she paid for baggage, check in stuff, any of the five billion incidentals that come along with it AND A ROOM.) Then, when we realized I was going but DIDN'T HAVE A TICKET, another crazy wonderful woman found one and gave it to me. To make a long story even LONGER, incredible people did some good deeds and sent me a gift beyond measure.
I learned many, many things last year, and today I am going to give my own BlogHer advice. There is no way I can improve upon Amy's post (it's a must read if you are attending) or Marinka's post, so I won't even try.
These are the tiny tidbits that I learned last year.
1. Before committing to share a room with people, make sure you aren't emailing people with duplicate names. While I thought it was exciting to share a four-person room with seven people, not everyone else did. (Guess how many people in the world are named Megan? GUESS? Well, I slept with three.)
2. If you want to remain anonymous, don't put your name, address, phone number and PICTURE on the five hundred business cards you pass out. (Good God.)
3. If by some crazy twist of fate the storm of the century closes all airports up and down the eastern seaboard, be open minded about finding alternate forms of transportation that might involve a total stranger. However, if your route takes you smack into the CENTER of the storm – you may want to rethink that particular plan. Unless of course you love danger and the off chance you might slide head on into a mack truck; then, by all means, go for it.
4. Always check your itinerary before laughing and chatting in the lobby of your hotel thinking you have HOURS until your flight. Odds are great that you have 45 minutes.
5. When someone (an amazing and generous friend) asks you if you want to go to a small gathering where you might see some famous writers and perhaps a celebrity singer? Do it! It may turn into a night you'll never forget. (Poppy, you are the best.)
6. Have an open mind and an open heart. Spend time chatting with people you connect with, and remember that we are all in the same boat. We are mothers, sisters, husbands, fathers, sons, daughters and friends; but we all have one thing in common.
We blog..
Sure, I've got an extra 15 pounds to lose, I'm rolling quarters for meals, I don't wear Tommy Hilfiger and I could probably use a facelift (or two), but guess what? Everyone else there is in the same boat. We are all normal and real, and no one really gives a crap what you are wearing or how much you weigh. (Except maybe BJH, but that's another post entirely.)
If you go into this adventure with no expectations you will leave it with memories that will last a lifetime. (But make sure you bring a huge extra bag. Some of those memories may include incredible amounts of swag.)
(And this year watch out- Bitchy and Sassy will be right there with me. If they don't piss me off too much before we leave...)


text:
It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.
And I'm Steve Inskeep.
President Obama visits Oklahoma today, talking of speeding construction for a major oil pipeline. Yesterday, he visited a solar panel farm in Nevada. Those were just two of the stops on a presidential effort to defend his energy policies. He's under pressure from Republicans because of rising gas prices.
And we start our coverage with NPR's Scott Horsley.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: President Obama stood on a windswept oil field in New Mexico last night, boasting, not for the first time, that U.S. oil production is at an eight-year high.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: If you hear anybody on TV saying that somehow we're against drilling for oil, then you'll know that they either don't know what they're talking about or they're not telling you the truth.
HORSLEY: But Mr. Obama argues, because oil is priced on the world market, in which U.S. producers play a relatively small part, drilling alone is not enough to rein in gas prices. He says the U.S. also needs to boost its fuel efficiency, and develop alternative sources of energy.
OBAMA: I believe this all-of-the-above approach is the only way we can continue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and ultimately put an end to some of these gas spikes that we're going through right now and that obviously hurt a lot of families all across the country.
HORSLEY: This two-day tour is meant to showcase that all-of-the-above approach. Yesterday, Mr. Obama also dropped by a sprawling solar farm, where acres of photovoltaic cells turn sunshine into electricity. Republicans criticized the administration for sinking taxpayer dollars into failed solar companies like Solyndra. The GOP budget would sharply curtail support for alternative energy. But Mr. Obama insists he's not giving up.
OBAMA: The payoffs aren't always going to come right away. Sometimes you need a jumpstart to make it happen. That's been true of every innovation that we've ever had.
HORSLEY: A Pew Research poll released this week suggests public support for an all-of-the-above strategy. While Republicans in the survey lean towards fossil fuels and Democrats lean towards alternative energy, pollster Andrew Kohut says majorities in both parties support a multi-pronged approach.
ANDREW KOHUT: The solution for most of them is, let's do everything. I mean we get 78 percent say, require better fuel efficiency for vehicles. Sixty-nine percent say let's - I favor more funding for research on wind, solar, and hydrogen. And, of course, you get 65 percent saying allow more offshore drilling in U.S. waters.
HORSLEY: Public attitudes can be volatile. Support for offshore drilling dropped sharply two years ago in the wake of the BP oil spill. Since then, it's bounced back, and Kohut says today, it's as if the spill never happened.
KOHUT: Our short memories are boosted by high prices at the pump.
HORSLEY: That's what prompted the president to launch this largely defensive energy tour. Three of his four stops are in political battleground states where Mr. Obama can ill afford to lose votes among disgruntled drivers.
The fourth stop is the Republican stronghold of Oklahoma. Energy analyst Philip Verleger says Cushing, Oklahoma has long been a crossroads for oil pipelines. Today, it's jammed up.
PHILIP VERLEGER: Cushing has become the bottleneck for the distribution of crude oil in the United States. Production has grown very rapidly and they didn't build enough pipelines quickly enough.
HORSLEY: Mr. Obama signs an executive order today, expediting permits for a pipeline running from Cushing to refineries in Port Arthur, Texas. The line is being built by the same company that wants to build a pipeline from Canada to the U.S. The Obama administration blocked that line - at least temporarily. The president says pipelines that do go forward must protect natural resources and meet the concerns of local communities.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, with the president in Oklahoma City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.