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"Draw everywhere and all the time. An artist is a sketchbook with a person attached."
Irwin Greenberg
Sometimes I have to remember to tell myself not to try and do to much. I've gone through a couple of weeks where sketching is all I can really get done because there's not enough time to do anything beyond that.
than others to find the time, some nights I stay up late and pay for it the next day and because of fatigue I wind up not doing my best work anyway.
I made up my mind a long time ago to hoard my time, to decide what I absolutely must give away and to who and the remaining time belongs to painting, drawing and reading, doing whatever I can to advance what I know. For that reason I do very little visiting or spending time with friends, (I'm not antisocial. I make friends and maintain relationships within a set time but what
1- my son has his little league picnic on Saturday, (my son Jason participated in the challengers little league which was formed for children with special needs, mostly autism. This is his third year participating in the league and I'm very proud of him), and 2- on Sunday it's off to church in the morning. Both events leave the evening open, so God willing I can get some work done then, but what I'm really looking forward to is the fourth of July weekend where I'm looking forward to more time then. Until then I need to be content with making more entries in my sketch book.
|This one I painted based on the sketch above left.


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Words can either build up or tear down. We need to be careful how we use our words. I have had people say words that stick with me for years. One hurtful phase that was said to me in high school still comes to mind every now and then. A person called me "horse face". I can't remember the face of the person that said those words but the words are still painful.
I have heard so many good words spoken that have had a lasting effect on me. These word include: loveable, considerate, competent, beautiful, special, wonderful, awesome, and smart. These words are so uplifting and help me during rough times. They help me erase the old tapes from my childhood. They help me see myself in a different light. They build me up. We should all speak words that uplift others.

subset: commoncrawl


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J.D. Salenger is a demi-god to many. I didn't have to tell you this, surely. But I wasn't entirely aware of his status, of how deeply held he was until Joyce Maynard got up to read our second night. Woo-wee. She is of course the woman who had a year long romance with Salenger when she was 18 and he, 53. And she is the same woman who, 25 years later after sitting on that experience decided she would finally write about it. And she is the same woman who also got terrible criticism for doing so, not--I think--because she "exploited" her romance with him, but because he is just too close to literary deity in this country. It's like saying she fucked Siddartha Gautama, and he turned out not to be such an enlightened guy after all.
Although she didn't read about fucking him (though she did lose her virginity to him), she talked about being inspired and then reviled quite harshly by him, I was so fascinated by the percentage of people thoroughly pissed at her, considering her exploitave and wrong and dismissing her. I think she's certainly a complicated multi-faceted person, and one of those facets may include the desire to use her experiences to make money...but good ole' Jerry Salenger is just another writer, moreover, a purist, one of those who believes there is truly a line between "making art" and "selling out." And I realize I don't see this line. No. I don't believe in this line. It's a myth, clearly born in the mind of the artist themselves then fed to the public where it gets reinforced. Salenger was one of those and I will forever love his writing but not his philosophy. I think you can make art and make a living from the same tools.
What else must I remember to tell you about? Martha Cooley who I have disparaged in the past for being quite uptight, is more accessible than I expected and though she is going to ride my writing ass this coming semester and I will be sweating blood by the end, I'm looking forward to it. I can do it.
I'll be seeing you. I know my blog won't be featured in any newspapers anytime soon.


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Panasonic offers a wide variety of consumer electronics that you can enjoy in your home. For example, you can purchase a Panasonic flat screen TV for you and your family to enjoy. Once you have your flat screen TV, you should learn how to properly clean and care for it. This will ensure that your TV continues to perform at optimal levels for as long as possible. Regular cleaning extends the life of electronics, and it can help protect your family against the harmful allergens found in dust build-up.
Use a soft, dry towel to clean the screen and the monitor of your Panasonic flat screen TV. If necessary, you can dampen the cloth with a small amount of water to clean the screen, but not the monitor. Unplug the TV from the power source before cleaning it with water or any other liquid.
Create a cleaning solution of water and a small amount of mild detergent, such as dishwashing soap, in a bucket. Mild detergents can still vary in strength, so use the ratio recommended on the bottle, which is usually about two tablespoons for every 946ml of water. Never use cleaners that contain benzene, which is a flammable substance sometimes included in stronger cleaners that can damage the screen's picture.
Dip your cloth into the cleaning solution and wring it out thoroughly. Be sure it's not dripping at all.
Clean the rest of your unit with the damp cloth. Be careful not to get the cleaning solution on the monitor.
Use a clean soft cloth to thoroughly dry your entire Panasonic flat screen TV. Make sure it's completely dry before plugging it back into the power source.


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Today's favourite things posting would be a most welcome addition to our household - the fabulous Dutchtub. (Not to be confused with a dutch oven which is never greeted with a welcome.)
Normally, I'm just not a fan of hot tubs. I tend to run far far away from any vacation rental or hotel that boasts of one. (Shiver me timbers, just the thought of it makes me gag.)
The Dutchtub on the other hand is pretty darn irresistible. For more photos of this wood-fired marvel in action, check out the Flickr stream.


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(WASHINGTON) — Just days before the fifteenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, federal authorities have arrested a Kentucky woman who allegedly advocated online for terrorist attacks in the U.S. and promoted ISIS propaganda through her social media accounts, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The FBI arrested the woman, who is in her 50s, overnight, and she is expected to appear in federal court later Friday, sources said.
An arrest usually indicates charges have been filed in some form, but it's unclear when or how charges would have been filed in this case. Defendants in similar cases often face charges of providing material support to a terrorist group.
Earlier this week, the heads of FBI offices across the country took part in a classified briefing with the Department of Homeland Security, state-level intelligence fusion centers, and other local law enforcement to discuss "vigilance during the upcoming anniversary of 9/11," as the DHS chief of intelligence and analysis, Gen. Frank Taylor, put it.
However, the anniversary on Sunday is "not implicated in any way" as a reason for moving forward in the Kentucky woman's case, one source said.
Nevertheless, her case highlights the types of threats facing Americans in the post-9/11 era, and her case is a unique one.
By a margin of roughly 5 to 1, ISIS-related arrests tend to involve male suspects, according an ABC News review of cases.
In addition, the vast majority of ISIS-related suspects are under age 30, with a third of them under 21, according to Justice Department officials.
In all, over the past three years, more than 100 Americans have been charged with trying to join ISIS or are suspected of supporting the group in some other way.
"It was very important to do these disruptions and I have no doubt that lives were saved because we did these cases," the head of the Justice Department's National Security Division, John Carlin, told the Intelligence & National Security Summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
Speaking with Carlin on Wednesday, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the FBI's second-in-command, warned that "crowd-sourced terrorism" is reaching "those folks who are maybe mentally unstable to begin with" or who are otherwise "marginalized."
"We've seen those folks discover [ISIS], become radicalized and then move to mobilization in incredibly short timelines," McCabe said. "That puts a lot of pressure on us."
Two weeks ago, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin to law enforcement across the country, warning them that self-radicalized terrorists inside the United States are "focusing more on civilian targets."
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Recent posts in National News


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Affidavits in virtually any record can contain unexpected clues.
This 1887 statement made by Renke Kaiser in the homestead application of Jurgen T. Ehmen of Dawson County, Nebraska, documents how long the men have known each other. Kaiser indicates that he has known Ehmen for over twenty years and that Ehmen lived in Adams County, Illinois, until 1870 and then in Knox County, Illinois, until 1880 and then in Grand Island, Nebraska, until September of 1882 and then on his tract in Dawson County, Nebraska.
I knew Ehmen was in Adams County, Illinois, and eventually ended up in Dawson County, Nebraska, but was unaware of his residence in Knox County, Illinois. Hopefully Kaiser's testimony is accurate and his knowledge of the information firsthand. Some witnesses' answers to this question are vague and not as detailed as Kaiser's answer is. Kaiser also does not indicate whether or not he lived near Ehmen in these locations, only that he has known him for over twenty years.
Note: this image was taken from "Nebraska, Homestead, Records, 1861-1936."
Note 2: Ehmen is a first cousin of Focke Goldenstein, my ancestor who also homesteaded in Dawson County, Nebraska.


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What fun to have completed the front fence and gate to match our Storybook style house! We like open designs to let the stray cats and bumblebees through and I wanted an excuse to shop for cool hardware! Check out these cool little decorative nail-heads...
Plus, it was just nice to get back into the shop again and feel like a tough girl. All in all, a creative little project in which the only problem is I don't have an excuse to make another one! (not yet, anyway...)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Garden Gate
Posted by Christine at 9:28 PM
Labels: decorative gate, open fence, storybook style, wooden fence
2 comments:
- AnonymousJune 18, 2009 at 8:58 PM
I love gates, yours is way cool....ReplyDelete
Thanks, it was very fun to create!ReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Fess Parker as Davy Crockett
Born Fess Elisha Parker, Jr. on 16 Aug 1924 in Fort Worth, Texas [he was quick to point out that real life Davy Crockett's birthday was August 17th], he played Davy Crockett for Walt Disney from 1954 to 1956. Later, from 1964 - 1970, he played Daniel Boone, another frontier hero.
Parker's huge idol status as "King of theWild Frontier" pretty much zipped up his career, stereotyping him forever.
How well I remember watching the Davy Cockett rerus on television. But it was as Kentucky frontersman Daniel Boone that he became my first hero!
Strange for a girl, you might say. Heck no! I was proud as peacock when my Mom got me a pair of buckskin, knee-high mocassins, just like Daniel Boone's! [Even today my favorite footwear are mocassins, and I attribute that to those early Daniel Boone days!]
I walked the forests of Kentucky with Daniel Boone and his sidekick Mingo [played by actor/singer Ed Ames]. I played in and outside of the fort with Boone's son Israel, and with his dauhter Jemima. I cooked over the fireplace with his wife, Rebecca. And I fell in love with the 18th century.
I was saddened to learn of Fess Parker's death this evening. Another legend has passed. But he will live on forever in hearts and our memories.


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We offer Zero Liquid Discharge System that are widely used in various industries to remove contaminants from the waste water so the water can further be used in other process applications.
We build zero discharge stp for various industries using modern technologies like reverse osmosis, multi-effect evaporation, incineration etc. The basic principle for zero discharge plant is to concentrate the impurities in the effluent either by reverse osmosis / nano filtration / evaporation and drying the concentrated effluent in flakier dryer / spray dryer / incinerator etc.


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Monday, February 18, 2013
Avalanche Accident
I want to send my very best to the people involved in the incident and to all of the people that assisted us during the incident. I also want to thank all of the people that have contacted us expressing both support and concern.
The safety and welfare of our guests and our employees is a top priority for us and will continue to be so in the future. We will continue to provide great skiing and riding and that special vibe you have become used to. Again, thanks to everyone for their support during this challenging time.
2 comments:
- Chris W. said...
I guess that's why they call it avalanche hazard mitigation, not hazard complete elimination. I have to admit, there have been many times in the past I have looked up and seen all the bomb craters and ski-cutting tracks and thought to myself "this is overkill; just drop the rope already!"
I promise not to think that again. Just think how much worse this could have been without the deliberate, professional approach to safety taken by your expert team.
- February 19, 2013 at 8:23 AM
- Missy Smith said...
Well said Chris W! Arapahoe Basin does an amazing job with their Avalanche prevention, and when danger lurks they are also so highly trained they were able to keep everyone alive. Great Job A-Basin ski patrol! You guy's have such a tough job, with a lot of responsibillity- hat's off to you folks!
- February 19, 2013 at 3:56 PM


text: My past's dreams and goals haunt me in my dream, make it seem so real and so sweet yet so far and so bitter. Looking to renew my goal, to reactivate my destiny. Meet her again after a thousand moonlight, just to open the doors to my past, and see what I miss. Storm through the woods in search for my crown of fire. Soon, I'll return my friend. Today is only temporary, tomorrow is forever. This road never ends. Wait, I'm no longer that fool you thought I was.


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More pics at the artist's website - http://svetlana.ivanchenko.dp.ua
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Shell And Sand Mosaics by Svetlana Ivanchenko
More pics at the artist's website - http://svetlana.ivanchenko.dp.ua
6 comments:
- Judy Haughton-James said...
Wow! This is awesome! Thanks for sharing Veronica.
- December 18, 2012 at 5:01 AM
- Rosemary Nickerson said...
So lovely! What a talent to use what comes to hand, found objects, made into beauty. That's a real gift.
Hope you are enjoying the Advent week of Love. We in North America are reeling from the tragic happenings in Connecticut this week, but still rejoicing to know that God cared enough about us to send His Son to show us Love, Grace, Mercy and Truth. Many blessings,
- December 18, 2012 at 5:18 AM
- Katia said...
Lovely blog! Beautiful design and I love your About Me :-)
- December 18, 2012 at 5:38 AM
- alissa apel said...
Oh cool! That is an assignment here where I work. Another teacher assigned it. I'll send him a link.
- December 18, 2012 at 1:38 PM
- whitey said...
Unbelievable! How many hours that would take.
- December 22, 2012 at 6:17 AM
- ~ Noelle said...
that is so neat... and I just wonder how long it took.
I love to see people using the talent they were given to create beauty
- January 5, 2013 at 11:04 AM


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Spent much of this weekend just staring around in amazement, repeating the phrase "Holy freaking God" over and over again. This is a special 53rd installment of the Jay Porks Never Ending Concert Series as it takes us to Newark Airport where I hopped on a plane and came out to Washington State(Home of the Cougs) to meet up with some of the Northwest chapter of Concert Confessions: thenaturalstoner ,Mr Sparkly and maybe more of us, since my count is five of us who will be in attendance enjoying the epic bill of Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon, and The Meat Puppets on a awesome summer Saturday at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA... Had NOOOO idea what I was getting myself into..
'We're not at PNC Bank Arts Center anymore' is the thought in my head as we start to drive into the campground.. yea that's right I said it, campground. A sea of tents pitched everywhere, people getting wasted everywhere; and I know I've written similar sentences to the last two in previous show experiences, but this place was about 1000 times the size of ANY venue I've ever been to in my homeland on the Least coast. If I was at this show by myself, there's no way camping out all night would've even been a thought in my head. We don't camp in NYC, we take sweaty train rides home after shows and get home at 2AM... but there I was after the show sleeping on a folding chair outside the tent using a sleeping bag as a blanket (its been HOT in New York, couldn't let that freezing cold overnight go to waste-I've been sweating for months).
So we pitch a tent, camp out and pre-funk for a little while.. we decide to head down to the box office and claim the photo passes that were left for us through me via Meat Puppets personnel.. To not run off on a tangent here, lets just send out thanks over to those retards(Livenation) that run the box office at this place for fucking that photo pass experience up for me. If I wasn't walking over this hill and seeing heaven on the other side, I'd be super pissed-as opposed to just really pissed.
So after several up hill climbs through the scorching hot sun (Yea, I came to Washington State and didn't see one drop of rain, not one CLOUD my entire time here! False advertisement right there-I thought I was escaping the heat), we finally make it to the the gigantic mountainside that is The Gorge Amphitheater.. I've been to venues with lawn based seating, but this is ONLY lawn seating and the hill is a hell of a lot of steep then the one at PNC and that similar, bigger venue in Camden, NJ.. and it's not a polluted highway behind the stage, it's a freaking river. It's like this piece of land split in half causing a canyon to open-and they placed a stage in the middle. I know I sound a little too blown away by seeing the Northwest -but I'm from the city, this is all new to me. A one mile stretch without a cement building is something I've never seen before-let alone a valley.
Meat Puppets come out at 6PM with the guns blazing. I knew it was gonna be "Oh, Me" by the sound of the guitar jingles.. but I didn't know they were going to come out that intense with it. I was thrilled to see as many people down on the cement area in front of the stage(every part of this place is general admission-lawn tickets get you everywhere here) can walk down to the front and get rocking out.. Because I know a lot of people are missing them right now, and that sucks. Jumped into "Sam", the lyrical demonstration that it is..moving faster than R.E.M.'s "It's the end of the world as we know it".. Then "Plateau", which was fitting considering we hiked many hills and plateau's to arrive where we are. Except there was way more "nothing at the top but a bucket and a mop", there was the freaking Meat Puppets right in front of me for the seventh time. It was the first time I've ever seen Curt Kirkwood use his Les Paul live with my own eyes before, the six times on the east coast I've seen them he played his teal Fender Strat.. That's a query I need answered: Is it a coastal thing? Not like they sound any different, it's just something that's been in the back of my mind for a while. "Backwater" followed, the one Meat Puppets song I was able to get played on the radio when I was the in-studio guest at my local college radio station a week ago(88.9 WSIA or www.WSIA.fm), so we were diggin our heels in, and again I loved the people up front so into it. That one time I caught the Pups as a first opener there was like 30 of us there at a 3500+ capacity venue.. so glad I'm in WA. When they followed Backwater with "Sloop John B" (Beach Boys cover) I started getting really excited. Not for Sloop John B so much as for the fact that I was completely sold on the fact they would play "Hey Baby Que Paso", I've been going over the lyrics to the song with the kitchen staff at my day job for months. Then I recognize the little lead in that's about to be "Lake of Fire".. as much as I love that freakin' song, it was like a stab in the chest because I knew the set was ending in a little over 7 minutes when the end this song.. Damn, I figured this venue would give them at least 40 mins, they got a half hour, if not less. Again I'm not exactly from around these parts, but I know for a fact that the Meat Puppets didn't request to only play six songs. I think doors should've opened earlier and had longer sets for the bands. It's not like we're in a residential area here-we're all camping here all night.. I don't see why they needed to squeeze in a 4th band if they were just going to give them the "Sublime w/ Rome treatment" from my experience 2 weeks ago... they were done at 6:30
Which brings me to my next point: If there's one band to remove from this bill to make this a full out amazing Ménage à trois of great bands playing long sets, which one would it be? Who's the odd man out here? Then at 6:48 when Mastodon came out and we started to make our way back up the lawn, that was the question wondered aloud. And lets not take this as a shot at Mastodon, they do what they do and judging by the herds of people heading down for their set-they do it well. Caught them on the BlackDiamondSkye tour at it's Madison Square Garden stop ...so as they plowed through their 40 minutes set while we were walking up the mammoth lawn; it wasn't like they weren't loud enough where we'd hear the entire set no matter where inside the Gorge we were
Another wild card to the evening, what is Queens of the Stone Age going to play? They've been on a album-themed tour, playing their first record in it's entirety.. and we just had a 30 minute set followed by a 40 minute set. It's 7:53 when they came out, there is a lot of show left tonight.
Not recognizing the first four songs was the indicator that this first album thing was going down. First song I recognized was "Giveth then take it away".. a little while later we had Josh Homme, who is the man by the way, saying "everyone's waiting for it to get dark so they could do all those things they can't do in the light" … introduced a song called "Make It Wit-Chu", saying it was a song for the ladies. Then suddenly out of no where we turn and two people just got engaged during the song-now obviously that guy was aware of what the set list was going to be, we should've found him... from that guy popping the question and onward was magic.. my eyes are drawn to the left, as I notice the sun is beginning to set. I know it's happens everyday, but man during those last three songs "Little Sister", "Go with the Flow" and "No One Knows" with the sun setting and beams of light bouncing off the river and silhouetting the people on the lawn.. man that 8 minutes right there may have been the greatest moment of my life (well, besides Jen Cartiglia of course). They went off at 8:43.. epicness
So it's coming up on 9 and Soundgarden is on deck.. Little note to keep in mind for the duration of Soundgarden's set-I hate Eddie Vedder, and I hate Pearl Jam-personal preference, lets not muddy this up. Anyway, being the last show on Soundgarden's tour and being in their backyard(even though Eddie Vedder is from California,he wears flannel so he can say he's from there) combined with my luck I had a bad feeling we'd be having a Temple of the Dog section of the set and me in tears during everyone's glee. All the awesome stuff I've seen over here in Washington, this gorgeous venue, this epic adventure can easily be turned into another Jay Porks Bogus Journey. I hate to be the one guy in the building praying for it not to happen(no I don't), but I think I'm the only one in the building who traveled 3000+ miles for this. If would be the equivalent to finding out the hottest girl you know has a penis.
Save the suspense, as we can read in Jakob's review, there was no PJ sighting, no Vedder appearances, no Hunger Strike or whatever non sense it is that they do(Also in Jakob's review he mentions the bootleg tee shirts they were selling outside the venue.. it had all four bands listed on it. Not only did it have the wrong Meat Puppets drummer on it in the picture, but above the words Queens of the Stone Age was a picture of Pearl Jam. Vedder staring right at me, didn't notice it til the next day.. I can't get away from this guy). So besides that, I'm also thinking "How is Soundgarden going to top this? Seriously, what are they going to do, play a 2 hour set of nothing but there best?"
To answer the question in my last paragraph-Hell yes. It's exactly what Soundgarden did. The sky was still a bit pink as the sun was behind the mountains. I don't care how far away I was the sound if freaking golden on some of these videos I got.. 9:10 was the official first riff. And speaking of video"Spoonman" was the 2nd song in.. "Gun" followed-this place is rocking like I've never seen a place rock before. And I got to see "Jesus Christ Pose"! For that girl screaming it in the row in front of me at Town Hall a few weeks back for Cornell's Acoustic Songbook tour. See 2 years ago when Soundgarden said they were getting back together, I didn't think I'd have to wait this long to see them-I thought they'd do some heavy touring-they never did. So these guys were going to have to earn it blowing me away tonight.. and when "Blow up the Outside" smacked me in the face, I knew they were doing just that. Seeing Cornell acoustic songbook tour gave me a reminder that I needed to see this band live, one day, some how. Blow up the Outside at Town Hall just didn't pack the punch that I needed it too-now here, it's laying heavy fists to my face repeatedly..
What's up with the little slowed down version of "Black Hole Sun"? I need that song to blow up in my face not be kinda toned down a bit-but that's my only complaint about that set, and its minor. But really though, is that like, left over from the songbook tour or something? He's screaming like hell on every other song so it's not like he's voice is out.. And then it was only 10:18 when it ended.. which begs the question: So when do they start packing up here? I'm not used to seeing bands just keep playing awesome songs for hours .. everyone else had short sets, who knows.. And keep in mind Vedder walking around the back of my head, me thinking I was going to have to walk out and meet the group at the campground.. Out of no where, Chris Cornell, in one of the more humorous displays I've seen, got pissed off that the NBA took Seattle's basketball team. I don't know what got him, maybe he spotted a Sean Kemp jersey in the crowd- but he starts saying "Man, they fucking too away our team-It's fucking bullshit to take away a basketball team!"
Fell on Black Days, My Wave..-they're still kicking out the fucking jams. During "Burden in my Hand" I asked thenaturalstoner if the lyrics were actually "I shot my load today".. then around 10:40 he turns and is like "Pretty Noose and I'm good".. Freaking psychic is what he is, and I forgot how much I love that song. Played "Rusty Cage" and "Head Down" right before it....By now I'm playing with house money, I had stopped taking pictures(or little video snippets) for a while to just sit back and enjoy this.. I'm in the Pacific Northwest watching Soundgarden tear the place apart. We kept saying to each other (Mr Sparkly by now is down front and apparently found Phish Beard) "So what else you think they got?, what else can they play?"
Well they could play , "Head Down""Outshined", "Superunknown" before ducking off at 10:52, only to come back out at 10:56 and rock three more songs (which are believed to be new ones, since all five of us Concert Confessions brethren can't name any of them.. actually that's a lie one is called "Room 1000 years wide", but only knew it because Cornell told us).. on the last song they rocked out and eventually drifted into a pure feedback orgy.. it made me want to cream my pants. They distorted sounds from 11:13 to 11:20, and that's when the sound was turned down.. it was over.
This is usually the time where I gloat about catching whatever scheduled train I need.. but not the case tonight.. we're climbing back up the hill and all the way down back to the campsite, where we will spend the night in the tent.. not for nothing, NYC's been sweltering the last few weeks.. and here, unlike home, when the sun goes down it actually cools off significantly.. I had an extremely comfortable folding chair, plenty of bud and brews-"fuck it ,I'm sleeping outside the tent.. pass my sleeping bag over it's now a blanket". After the show while we're (Me, thenaturalstoner, Mr Sparkly) discussing the nights proceedings (so glad to be at a show with these dudes, usually when I'm telling a random cab driver or some stranger about an epic night, I spend most of the discussion explaining to them who the bands are. NY is so lame).. main topic is Sparkly being quote "Underwhelmed".. we would've been able to have a better time had those dickheads camped out next to us hadn't showed up and annoyed the crap out of us. All of a sudden the drummer has a mouth. These dudes say they're in a band that "sounds like NOFX and Blink 182" named after some actor I can't remember the name of now. Anyway, your band sounds like NOFX/Blink 182? Yea, that's just about the time we called it a night.
A side note, my alarm on my phone set to 930 eastern time woke us, and the rest of the surrounding campers up.. seems I'm the only one who didn't hear it until I was awoken.. So we packed up, and headed into Spokane to catch Willie Nelson at the Northern Quest Casino and Resort before I fly home Monday... Awesomeness.


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Posts Tagged contemporary interior
Interior Design Strategies For Apartments
Posted by interiordesign212 in Interior Design on May 10, 2011
Generating modifications is normally superior and when you decided to modify the interior of your apartment, it's vital that you simply get some valuable design and design suggestions earlier to you start. Before you make any modifications, do some looking at at to begin with. It is proposed to plan your lounge on the paper. It might be simplier and less complicated in case you draw a draft of one's rooms and how you would like them to seem like.
Read the rest of this entry »


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Over the course of two years, the study tracked 888 serodiscordant couples — that is, couples in which one partner is HIV-positive and one is HIV-negative. This included 548 different-sex couples and 340 same-sex male couples. The HIV-positive partners maintained undetectable viral levels with antiretroviral therapy (ART), but the HIV-negative partners did not use PrEP.
There were 11 cases in the study in which partners contracted HIV, but they didn't get it from their partners. Researchers tested the virus in each case and confirmed that what they had contracted was not phylogenetically linked to their partners' virus. In other words, it was conclusively proven that they only contracted HIV because they had sex outside the relationship.
Simon Collins, a member of the PARTNER study steering committee, described the results as "simple to understand." In a statement, he explained, "This provides the strongest estimate of actual risk of HIV transmission when an HIV positive person has undetectable viral load — and that risk is effectively zero."The implications of this result for public policy around HIV stigmatization in the United States are profound. There are numerous HIV-positive Americans who are serving draconian criminal sentences for having sex with other people due to misguided laws (combined with overzealous prosecutions and bigoted juries). Oftentimes, it is people of color who are disproportionately impacted, as exemplified by one of the most (in)famous of these cases, the so-called "Tiger Mandingo" case where a 23-year-old African-American man named Michael Johnson was sentenced to 30 years in jail after being convicted of multiple felonies in Missouri.
Hopefully, this new scientific evidence from the PARTNER study can be used to help organizations like the SERO Project support the repeal of some of these pernicious laws around the country.


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I've been asked to write a monthly column for Innovate My School as an Expert in the area of tech education. I invite you to read my first article on their
wonderful website. When you're done, browse around and see what else they have to offer. Quite a fascinating collection of free materials.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education. Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.


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This blog is for me to collect and share Hip-Hop from the Golden Era or reminiscent of the Golden Era
Friday, January 7, 2011
Favorite Hip-Hop Albums of 20-10
Nineteen Ninety Now- Celph Titled & Buckshot
Covered it in the last post. Celph takes on Buckshots unused beats from the 90s
I F*cking Hate Rappers- Packfm
This is another first for me. PackFM impressed me and shows doubters that not all talent is on a mainstream label. Although it may not be the most consistant album of the year, PackFM is able to demonstrate some techniqual aspects of rapping that is often overlooked in mainstream Hip-Hop. Not to bad for a guy that can't even get his own wikipedia page.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy- Kanye West
Not much can be said about this Album except WOW. Kanye West takes a different direction than he did on his last effort and surprisingly there is no autotune to be found. The complexity of the production and beats is proof alone that Kanye has grown and continues to grow as an artist. Check this out even if you are not a fan of Kanye, you might be one sooner than you think.
Distant Relatives- Nas & Damien Marley
The pairing up of Nas and Damien Marley is no surprise to many. There really isn't even too much to say. If you liked their past collaborations on their solo albums then this is the album for you. If you're not really into to either artists then stay away. I will however say that Damien Marley, in my opinion, stood out more to me.
T.I- No Mercy
Curren$y - Pilot Talk
Eminem- Recovery
The Roots- How I Got Over
Fat Joe - Tales From the Darkside Vol 1
I do have to say that I was disappointed with a more then few albums this year. Here's to 2011!
17 comments:
I didn't listen to much hip hop from 2010, but yeah let's hope 2011 will bring a lot of good music! :)ReplyDelete
Ill have to check some of these albums out.ReplyDelete
I felt Recovery was hot on some tracks but weak in others. Distant relatives was pretty cool but nothing on nas' peaks, i completely agree Marley killed most tracks he was on.
Cool cover artReplyDelete
Always been on the fence about Kanye, he's got some good stuff but his attitude pissed me off sometimes.ReplyDelete
Don't really like rap, used to love eminem when i was younger but his new stuff just doesnt do it for me.ReplyDelete
I always do enjoy the cover art on these albums.ReplyDelete
~showing my fellow bloggers some support.
recovery was a nice album i thinkReplyDelete
also thanks for the information. i didnt know most of these rappers
followin you :D nice blogReplyDelete
Nineteen Ninety Now has a great album coverReplyDelete
Nas and damian marley was imo one of the best albums of the year, top notch ;DReplyDelete
recovery was good not my favorite but goodReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 7, 2011 at 4:46 PM
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was a really great album!ReplyDelete
Awsome albums!ReplyDelete
Anyways, cool blog, I'll follow you.
Nothing can ever beat biggs redy to die imo. Good stuff tho, following.ReplyDelete
havent heard a couple of these but damian marley and nas, and kanye were pretty dope albums broReplyDelete
Nas & Damien Marley , so sickReplyDelete
I haven't listened to any of these albums :)ReplyDelete


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Remember the little kid that played Nicky Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?
Currently I'm attending college at California State University Northridge and plan to get my Cinema and Television Arts degree in the spring. I hope to produce films and television after that, but don't be surprised if you see me creep across your TV screens in the meantime.
Here is Ross Bagley now:
Where is your favorite movie star, or tv star these days? All washed up? Still going strong? You will find them here.
3 comments:
Keep the education going young man, God bless youReplyDelete
Love to ya in a production sometime!ReplyDelete
Hello dear .You put really very helpful information.ReplyDelete
It's pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be a lot more useful than ever before.
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So here we are on the last day of the year! I thought that while I sort thru and respond to our stack of Christmas letters, I could upload some pictures of things I made for the kids for Christmas. It is obvious that my skill as a photographer has a lot of room for growth - but don't worry. I've already added that to my hopes and plans for 2012. :)
Ben is our animal lover, especially puppies and kitties. He has also coveted these buttons from my button jar for a long, long time. They are rain-bow hued in concentric circles.
And maybe this Princess looks a little creepy, but Mariam likes it. :) I did them all free-hand without patterns, so sometimes that turned out okay and sometimes that turned out scary. :)
Directions for these pillows are here. They're super easy and fun to make.
And that reminds me. If you want to follow me on Pinterest, you can do so here! It's the most fun ever.
And finally, our solution to doll clothing storage. Like most little girls, I found that Mariam tended to throw her doll clothes into a basket or bag - then she ended up not using a lot of it. So, I found some doll-clothes hangers on Amazon. They are the kind made for 18" dolls and are super sturdy, came in a pack of 12 for $6. I'd like to link to them, but Amazon is still freezing up on me. We hang them on the end of Mariam's bunk bed to make a little closet of sorts. :)
Thanks for letting me share some of the projects that have kept me busy over the last month. They were all fun to make; but I'm ready to start some new knitting projects. I'm also hoping for some reading time. :)
God bless you all. We wish you a peaceful 2012.


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Last weekend the Fields Family and RW crew got together to celebrate the rebirth of the Star Trek franchise at Riverside Iowa. Depending on your franchise history, its either the birthplace or childhood home of Captain James T. Kirk. Or possibly even the construction yard of the Enterprise.
They have a plaque in a back-alley that gives all the details. And a museum. And a gift shop. And a Casey's.
It was my first Trek Fest, and from various documentaries and media coverage I was expecting a whole slew of geeks dressed up in primary colors. There were a few, but the demographics were 90% small townsfolk in howling wolf t-shirts, 10% geek. Of course the 10% true Trekkies get all of the cameras pointed at them, and also have all the fun. This year three actors from the original series were in the parade; Sulu, Ohura, and Chekov. Ohura smiled at me.
Fortunately RW came prepared with classic Star Trek V posters, so at least we can say we made an effort to geek out (I'm spock).
The 10% to 90% ratio also works for the parade. Instead of Trek Fest they should have called it Firetruck and Shriners Fest... somewhere around 50 firetrucks from SE Iowa came (God help us if there was a fire in Keokuk), along with an army of those ridiculous Shriner 'two front end' cars. In the mix of all the flashing lights, horns and sirens I was able to make out about four Sci-Fi themed floats. All four received awards, and somehow one of the winners was a squadron of Storm Troopers/Jawas/Imperial Guards. Of course most hardcore Trekkers booed when they passed.
I don't think beggars can be choosers though. Next year I'm going as a Fremen to completely cluster-f**k the genres.
Noah had a blast, and got his picture taken with pretty much everyone...even if they had a blaster instead of a phaser.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
1 comment:
- Valfatale said...
Look at Noah! He's totally gonna take that guy down!
- July 20, 2009 at 9:52 PM
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First - on Saturday we went to York's Theatre Royal to see "Under Milk Wood", Dylan Thomas' work of genius. This was a Clwyd Theatr Cymru production and really well done, very enjoyable.
We read this play in class at Grammar School - you know the thing - boys reading parts - I didn't understand it. I went to Aberystwyth University and then came across the Richard Burton recording, so I had a completely different understanding of the play, when the names really meant something, Dai Bread, Evans the Death, Organ Morgan, Nogood Boyo. Saturday was the first time I'd seen the play on stage. I believe this production is touring the UK, if you can I recommend you go to watch it.
BBC Television has shown Part One of a German production "Generation War : Our Mothers, Our Fathers". Three parts in total. This was good to see, a German production addressing the actions of some parts of the Wehrmacht in Russia. I shall watch parts two and three before I make up my mind on the production.


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Monday, March 17, 2014
My First Muslim
"I led a very sheltered life", is what I tell people all the time. I say it because I grew up on a farm, my parents were extremely protective, and I attended a small high school (with about 300 total students...the only minority student was one-half Native American). My total environment was pretty much controlled. I was not allowed to date until I was sixteen. Boys were carefully screened, and strict guidelines were enforced. I had the same circle of friends since kindergarten, and the wildest parties I ever attended were my own slumber parties. Sure, I went to downtown Des Moines, such as it was in the middle of the twentieth century, but only on Saturday mornings and under the close supervision of my mother and older sisters. Let's just say, it was a VERY sheltered existence.
When I went to college, at seventeen, I was allowed to live in the dormitory, but my parents had arranged for it to be the smallest dormitory on a campus that was only fifteen minutes away from my home. I was picked up for church every Sunday morning.
At college, however, they really had nothing to say about the people I met. I had been taught by my mother to love all people. My father had a generous portion of ethnic biases. The bottom line is, I was simply not aware of the variety of people who were "out there". A girl from Hawaii lived across the hall from me. I met my first Bostonian. He was Catholic, which had been taboo for me to date in high school, so it was kind of exciting to have him ask me out on a date. It turned out he was a terrible kisser and I could barely understand what he was saying, so we only had two dates. The same was true with the young man from Africa. He was pretty easy to understand, but when he asked me to marry him after three dates (and we had NOT kissed), I knew I had overextended my emerging reach for diversity.
So, I dated a few more guys and by the middle of my junior year in college, I finally settled on one to marry. We married and a few years later, after finishing college and living in several different states, we settled in Minnesota. It was a Lutheran haven, which pleased my parents, and I started my teaching career. My first year of teaching, I made my first openly gay friend, Tim. I had a classroom associate who was Lakota Sioux.
My principal, Dr. Sajaad Haider, was my first Muslim. I adored him, even after I personally observed him cheating on his golf score. It was really the only character flaw I found in him in the nine years I taught at his school.
Dr. Haider, or "Saj", as he wanted us to call him, was totally devoted to helping intellectually challenged kids. He was in charge of Emerson School, which educated about 200 severely handicapped students. He originally had a doctorate in entomology and came to the United States to study agriculture, but when his youngest son was born with Down Syndrome, Saj obtained his doctorate in special education and administration. He was determined to improve the quality of education for all students with special needs. Saj was from Pakistan and had his quirky pronunciations of English words. My favorite was discipline, which he pronounced as "dah sip ah lin". He knew it was wrong, but eventually just gave up ever trying to get it right.
Saj faithfully observed Ramadan, which is the Muslim holy month when there is no eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset for 29-30 days. He made no big fuss over it. He was a humble man, and extremely patient with his young staff of teachers and associates. When I saw him at the shopping mall, his traditionally-dressed wife was dutifully walking the prescribed ten feet behind him the whole time. However, on the golf course, Saj and I walked side by side down the fairway.
One time, Saj was in an awful car crash and had to have some surgery around his mouth. He walked around school holding either a newspaper or a folded white handkerchief in front of his mouth for more than a month, so none of us had to look at the mess on his face. He didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable or uneasy.
Saj always worked extremely hard to get us all the resources we needed for our students. He personally helped get Boy Scout uniforms for nearly fifty handicapped Scouts. He made sure "Santa" had nice gifts for all the students and all the staff at Christmas. He regularly brought us delicious treats from his home, always proud to tell us what a wonderful cook and loving mother his wife was. All of his five children, except the youngest, were either a doctor or a professor.
I know Muslims are extremely suspect for many people these days. I understand. I just know that the first Muslim I knew personally was a wonderful, gentle, humorous man. When he walked through the halls at school or into my classroom, I felt his fatherly presence watching over us. I worked with him every day for nine years. I know there are extremists, who are dangerous. Saj would never have hurt a fly.
Cheat on his golf score...yes, he did...but I imagine it was only because he thought he might lose to a girl...which probably had more to do with him being a man than being a Muslim.
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Paul & Joe hand cream features the signature Paul and Joe orange flower scent, in a white creamy whipped texture, housed in a beautiful metal tin (that could be reused for other things once you are done with the hand cream!)
It's 80g and about the size of my palm.
The cream is beautifully velvety and soft. Melts on contact with the skin. It really does feel like doing a mini hand spa treatment on something when using this cream.
Ingredients and instructions, click to enlarge:
Spreaded out:
Overall 4/5. It's fairly moisturising and nourishing on the hands, and cuticles. However even though I like their signature scent, the thing with handcreams is usually our hands got a certain heat and is warmer than rest of the body at times, once you apply hand cream and massage in, any scented handcream tend to have the scent even more amplified with the heat from the hand. So the scent may become a lot more noticeable and stronger. Wish the scent for this was just a bit fainter, since I tend to like a very very subtle skincare scent only.
(It's kind of annoying when you are doing work and all you can smell is the orange blossom from your hands for the next hour!).


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via CAAI
By Associated Press, Published: April 29
PRASAT, Thailand — Thai and Cambodian troops broke a brief cease-fire and clashed for an eighth day Friday, shattering hopes of a quick end to a long-running border conflict. The death toll rose to 16.
The fighting eased shortly after dawn and guns were silent the rest of the day as nearly 100,000 displaced residents on both sides waited to see if the worst skirmishes in years between the two Southeast Asian neighbors might finally end.
"I wish both sides could talk, so that there is no more fighting," said Boonteung Somsed, a 58-year-old Thai construction worker who fled to the village of Prasat, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the border.
"Every time a soldier picks up a weapon," he said, "a village has to run away from home."
Thailand and Cambodia have clashed six times since 2008 over the border, where several crumbling Hindu temples built nearly 1,000 years ago during the Khmer Empire sit atop cliffs and in jungles mined in wars past. The land has been disputed for more than half a century, but analysts say domestic politics on both sides is driving the conflict as much as any real disagreement between the countries.
Field commanders agreed to the brief truce Thursday in a meeting at the disputed border. But Cambodian Col. Suos Sothea said the Thai army fired artillery shells into Cambodia again early Friday and small arms fire crackled anew around the Ta Krabey temple, which is in a disputed area.
"We cannot trust the Thais," he said. "Yesterday they said they'd stop fighting and now they are attacking us again."
Thai army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said there had been light clashes late Thursday as well as early Friday. He blamed Cambodia for breaking the deal, saying its "local units might not agree to the talks as easily as their commanders did."
Sansern told reporters in Bangkok that the Thai army sent a 10-member delegation of middle-ranking officers across the border into Cambodia to meet with their counterparts again Friday on how to avoid further clashes. "The first step is to sustain the truce, then we can take further steps for talks," Sansern said.
The director of Phanom Dongrak hospital, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the border, confirmed one Thai soldier was killed late Thursday, bringing the total dead to 15 soldiers and one civilian.
Thai authorities say the fighting has uprooted 51,000 people from their homes. Cambodia's Red cross says more than 45,000 people there have also fled over the past week.
"I want both countries to stop fighting, so that I can go home," said 37-year-old, Saman Yingnaram, a farmer in Prasat. "My cassava field will be sabotaged by (insects) by the time I return."
On Thursday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said his Thai counterpart had agreed to allow Indonesian observers, but there was no word on when they would arrive. Cambodia had already agreed to the deployment.
Indonesia, which currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, offered to provide the observers after the last round of fighting in February.
Few believe the conflict will lead to full-scale war and neither side appears to be trying to capture territory.
Some believe Thailand's military fears the possible outcome of elections expected in June or July and is trying to rally Thais behind it. Thai media have suggested Cambodia's Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1985, was fomenting border tensions to distract his public.
Both militaries have said they were merely defending against foreign aggression.
Sopheng Cheang reported from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Associated Press writers Todd Pitman and Sinfah Tunsarawuth in Bangkok contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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|DH finished the St. George Marathon with an awesome time!
|Family picture day
|Harmony charming friends we hosted for a Hawaiian luau
|We loved having our Hawaiian friends come for a few days. Their four kids had never seen snow before. So glad we were able to drive up high enough to find some.
|Love that impish grin! Cami helped me set up for preschool pictures
|My mom and dad came and my dad taught us how to fix our drywall holes from a plumbing disaster.
|Love these girls! Senior pictures for Lillian and her friends
|I love that I have older kids who help the younger ones with school projects!
|Cami and two of her best friends
|Sarah and Eliza went as my helpers to some photo shoots. Sarah thought the wig would be a nice touch.
|Sunday evening walk in the beautiful fall weather
|Fourth Grade Wax Museum Day. Eliza was the inventor of the ice cream maker
|Fall Break in Park City.
|Painting pumpkins
|Happy Birthday hugs for Joey
|Loved having two extra little kids around for a bit!
|Allison checking out the turtles between assisting me with photo shoots
|Happy Tenth Birthday to Eliza!
|Happy Halloween!


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A much-neglected author
I suspect that many people have heard of the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs, but that relatively few remain who have actually read them. After all, to say that you are reading A Princess of Mars, or God forbid, Tarzan, tends to bring a laugh in reading circles, and outright derision in regular social circles.
But Burroughs is a wonderful pulp writer. (if you think I mean "pulp" in a derogatory sense, go read this essay by Chesterton, then come back and finish reading this post) Tarzan and John Carter are both gentlemen who would rather walk through fire than harm a woman; Dejah Thoris and Jane Porter (poor Jane; she is not the simpering weakling that she has been made out to be) would rather die than break a promise or draw their men away from a clear duty.
Burroughs writes characters who fight epic battles (approximately every three pages: but again, it's pulp, in the best sense) for honor alone, yet leave their enemies alive more often than you would expect (it is dishonorable to kill an enemy who can no longer harm you, after all).
Here is a sample, from the second Tarzan book. Tarzan has won the love of Jane Porter, but she has already promised herself to his cousin Clayton, Lord Greystoke:
"It was not for William Cecil Clayton, Lord Greystoke, that he had denied his birth. It was for the woman whom both he and Clayton had loved, and whom a strange freak of fate had given to Clayton instead of to him.
"That she loved him made the thing doubly difficult to bear, yet he knew that he could have done nothing less than he did do that night within the little railway station in the far Wisconsin woods. To him her happiness was the first consideration of all, and his brief experience with civilization and civilized men had taught him that without money and position life to most of them was unendurable.
"Jane Porter had been born to both, and had Tarzan taken them away from her future husband it would doubtless have plunged her into a life of misery and torture. That she would have spurned Clayton once he had been stripped of both his title and his estates never for once occurred to Tarzan, for he credited to others the same honest loyalty that was so inherent a quality in himself. Nor, in this instance, had he erred. Could any one thing have further bound Jane Porter to her promise to Clayton it would have been in the nature of some such misfortune as this overtaking him."
Not much contemporary literature would be able to contain words like these seriously, without any hint of sarcasm or irony. Duty. Honor. Loyalty. Keeping one's word, even when rashly given. When was the last time you heard these concepts taken seriously in a story? (well, probably Harry Potter, but then we're back to pulp. )
Now, of course the books do fall into some of the sins of their era: there is some racism, especially in Tarzan (though I hasten to add, white folk do not come off too swell, either; Burroughs seems to prefer to take people as individuals rather than groups). The important thing, though, is that they do NOT fall into the errors of today: heroism is glorified, not mocked; honor is expected; courage is praised; and both men and women are expected to act honorably.
Go read the books.
Monday, January 14
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I'm sure I read somewhere that somebody commented on how Neo-Pagans had largely remained outside the entire phenomenon of Necronomicon editions, magick, and falsifications, until fairly late in the game. This is hardly so, of course; even the most widespread version of the Necronomicon, the Simon edition, was born at that beehive of Neo-Pagan activity, the Warlock Shoppe/Magickal Childe bookstore in New York, run by the Wiccan writer Herman Slater, who was of course directly involved in the book's publication. However, that particular instance has been discussed to death and then some by Daniel Harms & John W. Gonce (The Necronomicon Files) on the debunking end, by Simon (Dead Names) himself as the foremost defender of the book's authenticity, and endless articles, individuals, groups, online forums, etc., over the last decade.
Right now I'm thinking about the other versions of the Necronomicon presented by prominent Neo-Pagans. Now there's an unexplored field of pointless bickeri- er, I mean, of enlightening debate!
Let's take one such book; The Necronomicon or The Book of Shades, edited by E. A. St. George. This is a fairly intriguing book in several ways.
Harms' and Gonce's The Necronomicon Files have precious little to say abouth this edition (just like they do about any non-Simon version of the Necronomicon, of course). Daniel briefly speaks of Elizabeth Ann Saint George's loosely-autobiographical Casebook of a Working Occultist, mentioning how she grew up in the West Indies, traveled much, and later started a psychic investigation firm, Spook Enterprises, beyond which "this book ranges from a serious account of her initiation into a Western mystery school to tales of chasing KGB agents with her family and friends, their dogs, and an archangel." Daniel adds, cautiously: "Though I am hesitant to make such judgments, I believe that much of it was written in fun." Very likely, I'd say, since she apparently has a lot of fun with her publications, as we'll soon see. Apparently, since daniel refers to her as a ceremonial magician of some sort, this autobiography does not mention that Saint George was also a Wiccan high priestess and teacher; I'd heard about her several times before I realized this was the same "St. George" of Necronomicon fame.
Daniel does commit a small mistake in quoting St. George's brief introduction; he says, "the author comments that the work is also known as 'The Book of Shades'" but St. George actually states that the book is titled The Book of Shades, and it is her who assumes that this book is the actual Necronomicon, a title St. George evidently attributed to it. An easy misreading, I guess, unless the text of the introductory note differs somehow between the original edition (by St. George's Spook Enterprises, 1983) consulted by Daniel and the currently-available Corvus Books edition (2006) currently in my possession.
According to St. George, she fount the book in 1964 at the library of the deceased husband of a peruvian lady, Madam Ruzo, who translated it for her (it's tantalizing to wonder whether there is any connection to the Peruvian occult writer and politician Daniel Ruzo; could this book come from his library?).
The Book of Shades is "the Book of Power of al Rashid of Sothis, whose sorceries have brought him renown in the eyes of men", a devout muslim as well as a magician. No other biographical information is available in the brief work (actually a slim 26-page chapbook) but that doesn't stop St. George from speculating freely about his life, education, and experiences.
Daniel points out that The Book of Shades "is unusual among Necronomicons in that it attempts to portray Alhazred as someone who knows of Islam" –very true! We do not find, for example, a single display of actual Arabic culture, folklore, or language in the writings of the Mad Arab in Simon's Necronomicon. Donald Tyson's Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred does display a lot of hard work documenting the book, but I did find it somewhat annoying that Tyson's Alhazred was very learned in Qabbalah and Hebrew traditions but there was next to none mention of actual Arabic concepts other than ghouls (which were presented in Lovecraftian rather than Arabic fashion anyways). Still, St. George's book doesn't exactly try to portray Alhazred in any way whatsoever – St. George actually says that Alhazred was a misrepresentation of Al-Rashid! She further states that in its original Arabic form, the book was a long poem. Which it should if Alhazred/Al-Rashid was a sah'ir or poet!
Daniel further comments that "the book is too short to truly fulfill its intention." Actually, that's only true if we assume that its intention was to present a book that stands in as what we all expect when our mind conjures up the name "Necronomicon" –but I wonder whether that was the case.
I actually find it likely that this little book is no hoax perpetrated by St. George, but that she genuinely found it at Mrs. Ruzo's home and was eager to publish it. The only reason to tag the book with the title Necronomicon is that at some point this little spellbook quotes a line that sounds suspiciously like Alhazred's couplet "That is not dead which can eternal lie/And with the strange Aeons even death may die." The Book of Shades actually says, "Thou shalt conjure the dead, using the names of their evil gods. They shall come forth, for they are not dead, but lie eternal, unto the time when death is vanquished. And they will come forth when thou callest them by their gods."
Now, the book is translated from an Arabic manuscript; however, I wonder whether it was an ancient manuscript or actually a modern manuscript purporting to be a trannscription of an older work. What if it was the late Mr. Ruzo who authored the whole thing, and St. George merely trusted his widow's word on the matter? It might also be an actual ancient grimoire in which Mr. Ruzo found a phrase that sounded a bit like the famous couplet and he conveniently tweaked it around (although the unlikely name Al Rashid of Sothis seems like a red flag; why would any Arab magician use Sothis, the Egyptian/Coptic name for the star Sirius, as his name or as the name of his homeland? Robert Temple's book The Sirius Mystery had popularized the name "Sothis" in 1975. Just sayin'.
At any rate, how did St. George even know this was "the Necronomicon" if the book was in Arabic, and the only clue was a brief paragraph in the middle of the text? Presumably. Madam Ruzo said as much, maybe remembering what her husband used to say, or perhaps there were notes written in Spanish that mentioned either that the book was the Necronomicon, or quoting the text similar to the couplet and remarking on the similarity. St. George is all too brief on the matter. Of course, it could also be a piece made by her in good fun.
However, this was not Elizabeth Ann St. George's first forage into the troublesome activity of publishing "forbidden" books. But concerning her publication of a large portion of a Gardnerian Liber Umbrarum or Book of Shadows I'll speak at length in another post...
lunes, 26 de abril de 2010
E. A. St. George's Necronomicon
Publicado por Luis G. Abbadie en 10:49
Etiquetas: elizabeth saint george, mad arab, necronomicon, sothis, the necronomicon files, wicca, witchcraft
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I had the opportunity to read Harlan Carvey's second edition of windows registry forensics through a kindle purchase and a hard copy that Harlan was awesome enough to give away when I asked for his feedback on my first blog post. (Thanks Harlan!) Given that a short review is available on Amazon I wanted to expand on that review further.
In the first chapter Harlan lays out,
-The structure of the registry and nomenclature
-Analysis concepts and examples of how the operating system (Windows) uses the registry.
-Location of registry hives (SYSTEM,SOFTWARE, NTUSER, USRCLASS, etc.)
-Registry redirection and virtualization (32bit vs 64bit OS architecture impact)
The takeaway from this chapter is for the analyst to understand how the registry structured, where things are as these bits of information will be useful in later chapters. Harlan sprinkles in some anecdotes (see tip, note and warning sections)
In chapter two a brief overview of tools such as Microsoft's regedit, Mitec Windows Registry Recovery, Registry Explorer, AutoRuns, Mandiant's shimcache parser, Userassist (Stevens) and Regripper. Deleted keys and values are also discussed along with a perl tool called reglack by Jolanta Thomassen. The main takeaway that I got from this chapter is that there are many tools out there that can help you view or parse the registry but the analyst must choose what tool to use based on the analysis at hand.
In chapter 3 the concept of artifact categories is discussed along with analysis of the Security, SAM, SYTEM, SOFTWARE and AmCache hives.
In this section/hive we can find the audit policy settings of a computer. How is this useful? Well this would help in identifying the reason why certain event Ids are not seen if you retrieved a copy of the event logs and would be a great place to start and review before attempting to run tools that parse out specific event IDs from the event logs.
Another key from this hive is the last write time of the policy\secrets key which could indicate possible use of the GSecDump (credential theft tool). Granted this needs further context from other time stamped sources of information but could provide a pivot point to use when hunting for this tool on endpoints.
In this hive we can find
-Local user information details
Account creation, last login
-Local group memberships
users are presented in SID format
How is this useful? As in the case of finding the audit policy we can use this information to profile a system. For example, what user accounts are members of the local administrators groups? Finding suspicious non-standard local user accounts.
The anecdotes in this section are quite useful.
Some key takeaways from this section/hive
-System Name
Make sure you are analyzing the right system
-Prefetch settings
Is it enabled?
-ShimCacher (Appcompat)
The application compatibility feature in windows keeps tracks of executable that require shimming for compatibility reasons and stores information in the registry.
-Windows services
Information such as file paths and services names is recorded in this hive an attention to non- standard paths can help in identifying suspicious services.
-Legacy_*Keys (Windows XP)
Can be used to correlate when a service starts and stops, to be used in conjunction with other keys that provide service info.
Other useful information is found in this section and I'll stop here so that future readers of the book can explore.
In this section/hive we can find the following takeaways
What user profiles are on the system (local and domain)
-Windows version
Are we dealing with windows XP, 7, 8, 10?
-Installed Software
uninstall key
-Run Key
Used by legitimate and malicious programs as persistence mechanism. The executable will start at system start up. (Be mindful of registry redirection)
-Image File Execution Options
You can add a "debugger value" to another program, attackers like to use this for the sticky keys method of persistence.
Again I will stop here and allow future readers to explore.
An overview is provided of the AmCache artifact and I will leave it to future readers to explore J
Chapter four discusses the NTUSER and USRCLASS hives, key takeaways
-User Assist Keys
Keeps track of items that are double clicked through explorer.
-Program Compatibility Assistant
Similar to shimcache
-Run Keys
Note that these executable(s) are launched when a user logs in unlike those found under the Software registry hive
-File Acces
Several keys are discussed that provide information on files accessed by the user profile, also keywords used in searches through windows explorer.
-File Association
Useful when finding artifacts of a suspicious extension type, this key can provide information on how the system is configured to handle the extension type. ie. is .mp4 handled by windows media player or VLC?
I may be wrong in my understanding and please excuse if this explanation is wrong. This artifact has to do with windows explorer and in relation to windows size and usability. This information is stored in the NTUSER hive (XP) and USRCLASS (Win 7+) and can help in identifying folder traversal, control panel applet access and FTP artifacts.
-File Acces
Several keys are discussed that provide information on files accessed by the user profile, also keywords used in searches through windows explorer.
-File Association
Useful when finding artifacts of a suspicious extension type, this key can provide information on how the system is configured to handle the extension type. ie. is .mp4 handled by windows media player or VLC?
I may be wrong in my understanding and please excuse if this explanation is wrong. This artifact has to do with windows explorer and in relation to windows size and usability. This information is stored in the NTUSER hive (XP) and USRCLASS (Win 7+) and can help in identifying folder traversal, control panel applet access and FTP artifacts.
Chapter five discusses regripper and explains what it is and how to use it. Note that throughout the previous chapters several regripper plugins are discussed which hopefully will allow you to use the tool based on your analysis needs.
I really enjoyed the book and definitely recommend it to anyone in the DFIR field as a must read. Especially if you have seen presentations at conferences discussing shimcache, shellbags, and stories of how incident responders were able to figure out what the attacker did on a system. Pay close attention to setting analysis goals and on chapters three and four as these will help in that regard. This book will assist in strengthening your DFIR skills and some of this information once understood can help you start hunting for evil in your environment.
TL;DR… from my Amazon review
"The book provides a detailed discussion on the structure of the registry, its keys and relevancy to digital forensics & incident response (DFIR). The author also focuses on presenting examples and use cases on how the reader can leverage information in the registry as part of an analysis. Discussion of tools is given and the tools presented are free and some are open source which you can modify if you understand the programming language they are written to fit your needs. The author dedicates a chapter on regripper, a tool that he wrote to parse registry hives and serves as a mini manual. After reading the previous chapters, hopefully the reader will understand the flexibility of the tool and how one can expand functionality. Overall the author does a great job in presenting the information, although short (191 pages) the content is targeted at what can bring value to the reader/analyst. I recommend to all who work in the DFIR field or are starting to."


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Volume 16 Issue 22 | Oct 28 - Nov 03, 2003
BLACKWELL AT THE DUPLEX Performer Toby Blackwell will perform his new show, Bitter, at the Duplex on Fridays through October 24 at 7 p.m. Hes been a gay Naval officer
..a cheesy theme park singer
..a wannabe Survivor contestant
..and through it all, he has remained
.BITTER. The Duplex is at 61 Christopher St.; 212-255-5438.
DIXON PLACE, 258 Bowery, 219-0736: Various shows & solo performances throughout the week, call for information.
HERE CAFE, 145 Sixth Ave., 647-0202: Call for numerous shows & performance pieces now being performed.
RAVEN CAFÉ, 194 Ave. A, 529-4712: Wed.Open stage, sign up 6:30 p.m., free, one drink min.
SURF REALITY, 172 Allen St., 2nd fl., 673-4182: Numerous performances throughout the week, call for more information.
Downtown Express is published by
Community Media LLC.
Downtown Express | 487 Greenwich St., Suite 6A | New York, NY 10013
Phone: 212.242.6162 | Fax: 212.229.2970
Email: email@example.com
Written permission of the publisher must be obtainedbefore any of the contents of this newspaper, in whole or in part, can be reproduced or redistributed.


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It seems to me that it's those of us who grew up with paper books who are most adamant about the need to keep printing books. But it is the new generation of readers who may bring about the sharp decline in those books. They read online. Online and e-books are what they're growing up with.
The Los Angeles Times reports on this bright future for the E-book.
He doesn't have a dog-eared copy of the children's classic, though. Skye, who lives in Agoura Hills, Calif., often reads on his computer, pressing the arrow button when he wants to turn a page. Sometimes the characters move around on the screen like animated cartoons on TV. If he wants, Skye can have the computer read a book to him while he's curled up in bed.Listen to these statistics:
Electronic-book sales increased 73 percent in October compared with the same month last year, according to the Association of American Publishers, while sales of adult paperbacks decreased 23 percent and children's paperbacks decreased 14.8 percent.Publishers and business are now focusing on the kid lit market via the digital world. They're not totally abandoning the print world, mind you, but they recognize that today's kids have grown up with technology and are comfortable using it. They also know there is money to be made in this form.
In any case, with the publishing industry weak, digital books are unlikely to go away because they are generating revenue. With digital books, there are no shipping, printing or return costs -- which eat into profits. The sector is Random House's fastest growing, and the publishing behemoth recently announced that it was nearly doubling the number of digital books available.We'll have to wait and see how print and e-books survive in the future. Surely, they both will. As more and more of the youngest generation today grow up, there very well could be a major shift in reading habits, though.


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the fabby tutorial over at The Crafty Pad Challenge blog......
it shows you how to use a digi image to decorate your cake. :)
Pop over and check it out - it sure amazed me..lol
Click HERE to go
It's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas!
5 years ago


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DJ Hero Review: Now Anyone Can Master The Wheels Of Steel
The first thing that I want to say is that DJ Hero is an idea and concept who's time probably should have come a long time ago. I understand however that this whole "music" market was somewhat untested and they had to find a niche for it first with the Guitar Hero's and Rock Band's of the world. DJ Hero perhaps targets another segment of the market, but I can assure you that it will appeal to a wide array of audiences. DJ Hero highlights the art of mixing and scratching which originally played background to such great rap acts as Run DMC and Curtis Blow and today can found across all genres of music.
If I had to describe DJ Hero in one word, it would probably be…Fun. The game's custom turntable controller is well designed, both in terms of form and function. As you start to play, you really feel like a DJ and you could probably throw a banging party just with DJ Hero providing the music. Getting back to that controller, its very well made and its overall configuration has been well thought out. I only had one real problem with the controller and that was the crossfader, it worked well but it seemed too loose for its function in the game. Because of this, sometimes you make some mistakes and miss some actions that you shouldn't but its nowhere near frequent enough to be considered major but you will notice it from time to time.
The game features a whopping 93 tracks (even more through DLC), each a masterfully crafted mix of two tracks that comes together to as we say, set the party off right. You can tell they spent a lot of time with real DJ's to not only get the hand movements right but to put together mixes that were worthy of something you might actually hear in a club or at a party and they are.
The game is interesting in the sense that there is not really a career or story mode like you would normally expect. instead it has a number of sets that you need to master to unlock even more sets, venues, characters and gear. To access unlockables you have to tighten your skills up and rock the party which will allow you you to get stars which will allow you to then unlock stuff. It's a very simple concept, you can get a maximum of 5 stars per performance and its clearly spelled out how many stars you need to unlock each thing. That works very well for this type of game since the goal isn't really to keep you away from all the cool music, so its more a matter of when you will unlock things than if.
The game does feature online multiplayer which in our experience worked very well. It was awesome to go head to head against a fellow DJ and see who really can keep the party moving. You can participate in ranked and unranked matches, go DJ vs DJ, DJ+DJ, and even DJ+Guitar. Oh yeah did I mention that all you Guitar Hero masters out there can now hook up with vicious DJ Hero and really do the thing right.


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We now bring you news from the Leftist, gun controlled Plantation
Monday, October 29, 2012
68-year-old man shot dead during home invasion
At least one gunman broke into the home in the 9400 block of South LaSalle Street and shot the man in his torso. Police responded there for a call of a person shot and found the man unresponsive.
Police said the victim, whose identity wasn't readily available, recently put up a fence outside his home because he was fed up with drug dealers in the neighborhood selling dope on or near his property. Police are looking into whether one of them was involved in his death.
8 comments:
Anyone with any sense would leave Chicago.
Failing that, they should heavily arm themselves and have a gun on them while at home.
- October 29, 2012 at 5:07 AM
- Da Smith's said...
Well, I have lived here my entire life and I have never been more in fer for my life in this crazy place. Time to get out while I'm young enough to start over again
- October 29, 2012 at 12:52 PM
I wish they leave our old people,kids and innocent plp alone I hate stupid wana b thugs and gangbangers they need to all b destroyed!!!
- October 30, 2012 at 7:45 AM
Fitz was a peaceful man who didnt bother anyone. And he didn't deserve this.
- October 30, 2012 at 12:16 PM
Uncalled for.Hope karma brings street justice to those responsible.Just makes you hate gangs even more.I have no respect for NONE at all.Cowards,uneducated,no heart or conscience.We need more tougher laws for these undeserving for life thugs.That's why they are dropping like leafs in the fall.Die gangbanger die.....! And when their love ones are crying over there casket thats karma .
- October 30, 2012 at 2:31 PM
If i had controll over the law each person thats responsible for takin another human life shuld get the death penalty i think that would stop a person so quick from takin another person life .
- October 30, 2012 at 7:22 PM
I hope they find the low life skum bukket who did this so sad whem an elderly get killed bcuse of a plottin ass gangbanger wit nothing else better to do then rob and steal
- October 30, 2012 at 7:29 PM
I know who did it
- September 2, 2013 at 9:30 AM


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Leaping, bounding, bouncing, running backwards and sidewise, I have gone through life in just about every direction but straight ahead until just here lately. Not much of a shock then that I would get partnered up with a horse who travels the same way.
Peter said to us several times over the past four days during his clinic at the Lancaster Event Center, Lincoln NE that our horses should operate like we are riding a cloud, no matter what we are doing. Move a foot here, there, it should follow the slack in the rope without resistance or move off the leg because it's there and you ask it to.
Peter is showing us some things with his lovely Alice, a little gray mare he says is green green. We all wish we had our broke horses looking like her.
These gorgeous photos are courtesy of Karen Johnson. We have the great fortune of having several very talented photographers as fellow riders. Lucky us!
She hangs up just a smidge, has her nose turned the wrong way just a little to the outside of what Peter wants her to do.
"Just wait here" he says. "Let her work at a little. Some folks might bump on her here but she doesn't need that." And sure enough, a couple seconds pass, she comes off her own pressure, shapes up beautifully and completes the maneuver.
During one of our morning warm ups before Foundation begins, I am asking Royal to walk around me to the right (only 54 years old, I am starting to figure out which way is right and which way is left). He's always stiffer that way for whatever reason.
True to form, instead of all four feet reaching equal, his neck is a little bent the wrong way, his rib cage is in and his nose is out. I feel the tension pick up on the lead. I bump, get off that. Bump again. He bumps back and we discuss for a moment how things ought to be.
Wait . . . WHAT?? Yes. I'll be darned. I did that. I always do that. Okay, bud, let's try that again. It hasn't changed in four years so let's see what happens if I keep my brains in my hands and do something different.
To the right. Sure enough, here comes the awkward inside out bend. I step back (yep, back) just a little. I hold but move my feet so I don't get out of position and mess him up that way. He bounces his nose a little (pretty sure looking for the bump that has always been there from me, that's my part of the disharmony). I just hold, wait.
It takes a bit because he is confused. I am not singing my part in a way that he can automatically fall into his. Eventually the nose softens my way, the body rounds out, his strides reach equally under him. I ask him to drift his hind and it takes a second. He hangs a little on the halter rope, probably awaiting my answering bump. It doesn't happen and again, he softens, steps deep under himself. Perfect.
You might have no idea how big that was, that part right there.
We work it some more. I pick up his tail and after doing first too much and then barely enough, I can send Royal into motion with a light ask from the end of it.
( I got no end of grief for wearing those light colored breeches. Someone thought I was taking riding nekkid just a little too far . . . nah, hate chafing!)
I won't tell you Royal and I floated around like cloud nine the ENTIRE time but I will tell you, we had some. We got a taste and we both LOVED it.
Rolling down the rail a different day, picking up a brisk walk (how fast can you walk your horse, EASY now) Royal's neck is arched lightly in front of me. His mane swings in time with his businesslike bob as he moves right out. I see something I have never witnessed in my horse in our years together. His ears waggle happily in time with the beat.
So relaxed and at ease.
Pick up your left rein, tip his nose to the left, step the hind a quarter turn.
It's not perfectly smooth but it happens pretty neat. I resist the impulse to bump him back off the bit when I meet a little resistance. That habit lies DEEP in me as do so many. I hold that left rein and let him find his way off the pressure. No fussing, no argument. It makes sense to him.
Back them up using both reins with FEEL. One smooth fluid motion.
We do this, first out in the middle as it was a big class but when we got a little lost (I would have once thought we were doing great) we found the rail and let it help us get straight and smooth.
We stand and breathe. Royal is completely relaxed. I can hear soft footfalls all around me. There is an air of peace. I never tell other people's stories, not my place but this time I really want to, so many people were trying so hard and things were already falling into place. Peter's work is not in vain.
Royal and I, 2012
Worst ride of our lives, 2011 or 12. Doesn't matter he looked like this both of those years.


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|Male Stars website
Inside the Male Stars members area it's kind of like a mix between a celebrity gossip magazine keeping you up to date with all the latest celeb goings on and who's doing what etc, plus movie reviews and special television features as well as some hardcore XXX video feeds and extras including a number of bonus sites - Naked Soldier, Male Celebs and Stud Dorms. The main page is split up into various different sections and has a list of navigation links across the top which include celebs, athletes, models, singers, soap, flicks, television and quickies. Listed down the side of the main page are the top ten male celebs and in 1st place is Andy Roddick followed by Kevin Zeggers and Shawn Roberts.
I found the best way to browse the site was by using a drop down menu which lists every letter of the alphabet and pulls up a selection of actors, singers etc for each letter you choose. For example clicking on the letter 'A' you're given a list containing 683 stars both male and female, it's possible to turn off the females or vice versa. For the letter 'B' it shows 1477 names and so on for every letter. Some people in the search results have more to read about and look at than others. For example the Against All Odds star Jeff Bridges has 3 short video clips and like most clips on the site the videos are taken from the nude scenes in the movies. There is also some info about each star and the movies they appear in etc plus a selection of photographs. Jeff Bridges has 43 various different photos baring his chest and showing his ass.
Don't expect full length DVD quality movies though. Most of the videos I checked out where very short clips no more than a couple of minutes. However there are so many different male and female stars to choose from you might find some have longer and better quality movies than others. Other features of the site include the sexiest men of the year bios, pics and flicks.
$ 2.95 for 3 Days (Trial)
$ 29.95 for 30 Days
Payment types:
Credit Card
Just as the free tour previews inside the members area of MaleStars you'll find an extensive collection of pictures and videos featuring male celebs, athletes, models, and singers. The site can be browsed easy enough using the various different search options, and you also have the choice to include female stars in your searches as well. Included in the membership are a number of bonus sites and xxx video feeds. Visit Male Stars.
Mobile layout: switch to mobile view


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This short column by Steven Pearlstein is old news for those of us who have been paying attention, but very important to the health care reform public discussions now underway. *§*
By Steven Pearlstein
Friday, February 13, 2009
To most Americans, the language on Page 52 of the report of the House Committee on Appropriations would have seemed perfectly sensible.
The report spelled out the committee's rationale for including $1.1 billion for something called "comparative effectiveness research" in the massive economic stimulus bill. For those of not steeped in the argot of health policy, that's research done by doctors and statisticians who troll through large number of patient records to determine, for any particular disease, which treatments work best.
"By knowing what works best and presenting this information more broadly to patients and healthcare professionals, those [treatments] that are most effective . . . will be utilized, while those that are found to be less effective and in some cases more expensive will no longer be prescribed."
There's nothing particularly new about comparative effectiveness research -- the National Institutes of Health, along with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, have been doing it for years, with a budget last year of about $335 million. But with the strong backing of the Obama administration, House Democrats are anxious to ramp up the effort, which nearly all experts agree is a necessary first step to reforming a broken health-care system.
To some, however, the wording in last month's House report was anything but innocuous. To them, it was a warning shot across the bow, the camel's nose under the tent of a government-run health system, the dangerous first step on the slippery slope toward European-style health-care rationing.
" 'Stimulus' bill may change health care forever," blared the headline in the Washington Times over a commentary written by Amy Menefee, communications director for the Galen Institute, a nonprofit think tank that aims to bring free-market ideas to the health-care debate.
"Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan," warned Betsy McCaughey, former lieutenant governor of New York and adjunct senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute, in a commentary distributed by Bloomberg News several days later.
No sooner had the McCaughey commentary hit the tape then -- what a coincidence! -- radio bloviator Rush Limbaugh was quoting it on his syndicated show, warning that under the world envisioned by the Obama stimulus bill, old people would be denied all costly medical treatments under a new "duty to die" regime meant to save taxpayer money. The McCaughey commentary also got a prominent mention by uber-blogger Matt Drudge.
The next day, the Wall Street Journal's senior economics writer, Stephen Moore, was on Fox News warning that the stimulus bill would put the government in control of what medical treatments you and your family would be allowed to receive. That set the stage for Megyn Kelly's interview with Sen. Arlen Specter, who was virtually browbeat by the anchor until he promised that "we are not going to let the federal government monitor what doctors do."
The Journal's editorial page picked up the campaign the next day, drawing the line of causation from electronic health records -- another beneficiary of the stimulus bill -- to comparative health records to government price controls and then a government-run "health tech monopoly."
This right-wing brushfire didn't start on its own, of course. It was a work of political arson by the country's drugmakers and medical device makers, which have the most to lose if there is solid research showing that some of their most expensive and high-margin products aren't really better than the low-priced spread. The flames were also fanned by "disease groups" like Easter Seals and the American Cancer Society, which fear that any attempt to determine what works best will inevitably lead to a one-size-fits-all approach to treating people with serious chronic conditions.
It's not that these various groups have no reason for concern. If comparative effectiveness research is done badly, or if the results are used simply as an excuse to deny insurance coverage for all expensive treatments, then there would be plenty of reason to get out the pitchforks and storm Capitol Hill. And there are surely examples from Britain and other countries of people being denied access to the latest drugs and procedures, including some that are significantly more effective than other treatments.
What the critics don't have, however, is any shred of evidence that the professionals who do this research are incompetent or have any but the best intentions in trying to figure out what treatments are the most effective for patients. There is no reason to believe that once this clinical research is completed, it cannot be used in a disciplined, scientific way by physicians, economists and medical ethicists to determine whether there are drugs, tests, surgical procedures or devices that simply don't deliver enough benefit to justify their cost. And there is no reason we cannot set up reasonable procedures, overseen by independent health professionals, to protect patients who can demonstrate a special need for a treatment that is not normally cost-effective.
This isn't Britain. This is a country in which there is a deep cultural and political preference for autonomy and individual choice, particularly when it comes to health care. Ours is a country that values competition, embraces innovation, respects markets, and is suspicious of politicians and government bureaucrats. It is a country that is both willing and able to spend more than any other country on its medical care.
But ours is an economy that is sinking under the weight of a health-care system that costs twice as much as any in the world while delivering poorer health outcomes. The cost of health care has crippled entire industries, disadvantaged our companies in international competition and brought millions of families into bankruptcy. Worst of all, in denying vital medical services to the 40 million Americans without health insurance, we engage in the most immoral kind of medical rationing imaginable -- rationing by the ability to pay.
The good news is that the $1.1 billion for comparative medical research has apparently survived the House-Senate conference on the stimulus bill, despite behind-the-scenes efforts to remove it or hamstring it with provisions prohibiting any kind of cost-benefit analysis or circumscribing how the results can be used in determining insurance coverage.
This little kerfuffle, however, is a warning to the Obama administration that the coming battle over health-care reform is likely to be every bit as vicious and divisive as the one that defeated the Clinton health plan, requiring not only care in designing the plan but the need to develop easy-to-understand data and compelling anecdotes that demonstrate in a compelling way how wasteful and ineffective our current system has become.
*§* Changing wrong thinking is tedious, boring, and repetitious hard work. I know because I have done it for years in the service of civil rights. Since 1963 I can report that the job today is not nearly as tough as it was when I started, but the need for it will never vanish in my lifetime. Not often, but still, I come across a few individuals who for whatever reason have grown to adulthood having never come face to face with a load of old-fashioned ignorance. And the only way past that handicap is a patient, sympathetic but uncompromising presentation of truth. When confronted with facts even the most ignorant of people will change. I know because my own father was such a person. He didn't change easily, but if confronted with a mountain of incontrovertible evidence he did on occasion change his mind.
I add this footnote to underscore the importance of patient, repetitious, unemotional arguments to anyone out to change minds and attitudes in the American public square when the subject of health care reform arises. Embedded ignorance, denial of facts and a very human fear of change is as much a barrier to progress as a cloud of flies in a bakery.


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By TLex Armed with a secret weapon, his RALF TECH WRX "A", Nelson Panciatici took part in his first 24 Hours of Le Mans for the 80th edition of the "Mancelle" challenge. For his grand debut, the driver of the G-DRIVE RACING by SIGNATECH NISSAN team finished in 10th place in the general ranking and 4th in an LMP2 category of the highest order.
Nelson Panciatici also found himself the recipient of the Jean Rondeau Trophy which rewards the best French hope in endurance. This prize was created in honour of the memory of Jean Rondeau who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1980 in a car he had constructed.