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It's nearly been a year since our 9 month baking project arrived and it seems that she, like us, loves her food. So far Mini Stovies has a preference for strong tastes, Vegemite, curry, pesto, paella, she's even sampled frog's legs! (whilst Mrs Stovies shuddered in disgust)
Now that we're well and truly moving away from the days of purees we thought we'd start sharing our child friendly recipes with our readers too. Some of them are definite kid eats, but most of them are happy grown up eats too, like these meatballs. They're great as finger foods for little ones (cut into semi spheres) or for grown ups serve as tapas with spicy salsa or douse in fresh tomato sauce and serve with pasta.
500g good steak mince
1 large handful grated mozzarella (the hard type)
2 handfuls dried breadcrumbs
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp thyme
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt (omit for children)
Mix everything together with your hands. Roll into little balls, about 1 inch wide works well, although smaller for mixing through pasta opt for a much smaller ball and knock 5-10 minutes off the baking time. Lay the meatballs out on an oiled baking tray and bake for 20 minutes at gas mark 5, covering with foil for the first half of the cooking time.

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Last Thursday and Friday we had dye days at the center. I almost forgot to take any pictures but near the end of the day, I did snap a few.
There were about 5 of us each day but the only person I snapped was Sharon. She was having a blast working on a Tuesday Weaver project Thursday and then on Friday dyed for herself. Her project was inspired by a garden she saw on her morning walk with her dog. Of course, this picture is of the skein she dyed for TW.
I had a bunch of small pieces of fabric that I'd cut and serged after a project that resulted in a few seconds. So I ended up soaking them in a small bowl. It was kind of fussy but it worked. The next day I brought a set of mixing bowls to dye the fabrics in.
Rolling them up into small ovals, none of them took up much space. I'm almost finished rinsing them this afternoon.
We'll see how the projects turn out!
When we are busy doing projects like this, I seem to not think about taking pictures even though my iPad was right there!!
Tomorrow is July 4. Often on holidays, we weavers meet anyway because none of us watch sports and we need our TW fixes!! However, we decided not to meet tomorrow because July 4 is family time. I've already celebrated because Saturday was July 1, Canada Day. Canada is much younger than the US but 150 years old is still a milestone!! Tomorrow we'll all be celebrating Independence for the USA. As a transplant, I'm proud of both of my countries.
Until next week, I hope you find time to weave because I will be sidetracked with other responsibilities and my poor loom will remain empty.


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(3.14= 3/14... get it? Haha.. >.>)
Well anyway, see this dress on the right?
It's beautiful! (Just add a straw hat)
It's from Anthropologie
So it's expensive T_T
I don't have $178 to just throw around D:
But it just reminds me of beaches and sunsets and long walks with the wind blowing in my ..hijab! :D
Maybe I should be on the lookout for a replica.
Or hope it goes on sale.
Beautiful dress, you shall be mine!
(In my dreams...)


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Monday, June 14, 2010
Invisible Empire: A New World Order Defined
Some pimple faced stoner kid outside the store:
"Dudeeeeeee, I saw this shit on fuckin' Youtube last night. It was fucking crazy bro. It was like about how these dudes fucking control all the countries in the world and have all these meetings on how to like take over shit. Nah bro, it was like all legit shit with tons of facts and scientists and shit."
I love how these dudes act like they are the fucking Rebel Alliance or some shit.
Notice how they SELL tons of shit on their website not to fund their next "film" about the same bullshit, but to buy more chicken wings at Hooters. Also if you dudes were really legit wouldn't it be www.fuckingreatardedfakemovies.org and not dot com?
The fuck outta here with that shit.
You are going to tell me that these Illuminati NWO dudes are taking over the world Cobra style when they can't even stop a motherfucking oil leak in the ocean? They can blow up the Twin Towers and lie about it, but they can't fucking pass a bill to build a new highway without fucking up the paperwork?
All these "infowar" movies have ever discovered is this:
Money makes people do shady shit.
Wow. My mind is blown. Congratulations dudes you discovered something that the world has known since the invention of money. Good for you.
Also, how you gonna call yourself a director when you use royalty free footage for an entire movie? And why these shits so fucking long? 2 1/2 hours? The fuck you need 2 1/2 hours for? This ain't Lord Of The Rings homie.
Da da da dumb.
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"Every drop is green," proclaimed Fiji Water's 2008 marketing blitz. Like its much bigger competitors, Nestle (Perrier) and Coco-Cola (Dasani), the bottler began using alternative energies, lighter plastic, less packaging material, and more efficient shipping routes. Fiji Water, however, trumped the industry. It pledged not just to reduce its carbon emissions, or even merely to neutralize them, but to counteract the net impact of global climate change. According to its official website, FijiGreen.com, the company is offsetting remaining energy consumption by preserving and reforesting the Fiji's lush lowland rainforests, covering its net emissions by 120% and offering native Fijians employment opportunities other than logging.
FijiGreen.com continues to post laudatory praise by earth-loving fans, as well as by b-list entertainers, who tout the company's carbon negative campaign as an exemplary model of sustainable capitalism. The site will direct you to Elle magazine's 2008 green issue, which awarded Fiji Water a 2008 Green Award "alongside fellow recipients" Paul McCartney and Brad Pitt: "people, products and concepts that put energy and our planet in the right place." Spokesmen for Conservation International, the nonprofit group working with the company extol the virtues of compromise and caution skeptics and naysayers to wake up to a "consumer reality," where domestic sales of bottled water exceed those of beer and milk. In the last three decades, annual individual consumption has j-curved from 5.7 to 27.6 gallons. Pragmatism, they assert, dictates using "the economy as it exists to make a difference" (Deutch).
Such promotions are part of a wave of "green sheen" advertisements by long time enemies of the environmental movement, including the ("Clean") Coal industry, General Motors ("It's easy been Green") General Electric ("Using Ecomagination"), Wal-Mart ("Save and Live Green"), and, alas, British Petroleum ("Beyond Petroleum"). While marketers have appropriated environmental values for almost a century, only recently have so many industries asked people to ask themselves what saving nature means in a consumer society. Their unprecedented need to establish their sensitivity to global ecological dilemmas indicates a grudging acceptance of global warming data (a taboo conclusion only a decade ago), as well as a conviction that the carbon imprint of their products will impact purchasing behavior.
Their distortions notwithstanding, green sheens have employed conceptions of nature and ecological responsibility mirroring larger discourses on environmentalism. This is especially true of bottled water marketing, which has long emphasized wilderness ideals historically embedded in environmental protection legislation. In recent years, however, a palpable backlash against the product has forced the industry to alter its strategy. While bottled water companies are still targeting "nature lovers," their new campaigns have proffered a human-nonhuman dynamic that is at once divergent from its previous advertisements and reflective of a wider debate over the capacity of the market to generate environmental reform and, still wider, over the very definition of nature itself. Fiji Water and its competitors are not just combating global warming or the growing revulsion against the intricacies of bottled water production. They are also grappling with an emerging environmental consensus that is deconstructing the very notions of wilderness upon which much of their success has been built.
Fiji Water's new ads raised inevitable ire among activists. Even if the company curbs its own excesses, it will still have limited control over its suppliers of raw material, many of whom are located in China. More to the point, argued the executive director of the Rainforest Action Network, "bottled water is a business that is fundamentally, inherently, and inalterably unconscionable. No side deals to protect forests or combat global warming can offset that reality" (qtd. in Deutsch). The sheer volumes of fossil fuels and water needed for its manufacture and shipment, the toll taken on extraction sources, and the toxicity of polyethylene terephthalate plastic all pose serious concerns about the industry's larger sustainability. An average bottle requires an amount of oil equivalent to a quarter of its filling capacity and an amount of water that would overflow it by six-and-a-half times (Alter). Each year, some two million tons of them are added to the nation's overburdened landfills or otherwise strewn across back alleys, forests, lakes, and beaches.
The suggestion that Fiji Water was a more socially responsible choice was especially rankling. Tap water in the United States is generally more regulated, just as healthy, and, in some cases, the actual product. The increasing privatization of global water supplies invites further questions about globalism and neoliberalism. Are private entities more capable than public ones to undertake the basic needs of human kind? For that matter, is potable water a "basic human need," as it was defined by the 2000 World Water Forum, or a "right"? A need, unlike a right, confers value that can be commoditized (Steinberg 284). Real ethical choices could be framed around whether or not to purchase any bottled water or even whether it should be legal to produce it in the first place.
At the same time, the campaign condemned industrial licentiousness and business-as-usual. It asked individuals to take responsibility for their carbon footprint and stated that such responsibilities were essential for a sustainable living. In suggesting that every day activities were integral to the integrity of distant rainforests, its rhetoric implicitly rejected the notion of nature as a pristine, people-less space on the edge of civilization. It subsequently repudiated a long-standing marketing paradigm that presented nature and humans as separate, innately hostile entities.
Such imagined boundaries were central to selling bottled water. In the 1980s, its marketers successfully rebranded what was considered a luxury and even pretentious item into consummate daily fare by exploiting people's isolation from nature. They associated their product with "untrammeled nature" (to use the phrase of the 1964 Wilderness Act) and, in turn, that notion with freedom, health, and purity. They drew a line between "the pristine" and "the human" and promised their consumers not only a conduit from one to the other, but an attendant, transcendent communion. In essence, they submitted their products as if they were extracted directly from nature. They deliberately downplayed the extensive terra-forming, the scientific and technological expertise, and prodigious labor that mass production entailed. "Untouched by Man," proclaimed one of Fiji Water's earlier, ubiquitous ads, "until you unscrew the cap."
In fundamental ways, the formula was as old as the mass-production of food and drink. In the 1910s, the California Fruit Growers Exchange (the future Sunkist label) pulled off a similar coup when it transformed a semi-annual treat, a Christmas stocking-stuffer, into a dietary necessity. Orange growers tantalized newly urban American by correlating their produce with the restorative powers of sunshine. The sold ascorbic acids and vitamin C, especially in juice form, as a convenient and essential means to mitigate peoples' severed relationship with land and climate. Much like the sellers of bottled water, they deliberately obscured elaborate exploitations of nature and humans (Steinberg 178-179).
Of course, orange juice did not flow copiously and ten thousand times cheaper from one's kitchen faucet. Bottled water triumphed not only in the development of lightweight plastic, but also in the demonization of municipal water systems. To turn people away from their household taps, advertisers emphasized a wilderness ethic that bifurcated nature and humans along a geographic and righteous axis. "Out There" was pristine and uncomplicated. "Here" was toxic and adulterated. Only two years before its carbon-negative promotion, Fiji Water ads crowed, "the label says Fiji because it's not bottled in Cleveland." Its actual label, "the taste of Paradise," was predicated on the amalgamation of product and place (qtd. in Connell 349). That place according to its website, was "a virgin ecosystem at the edge of a primate rainforest," so remote "that the winds that carry acid rain and pollution to other parts of the planet just don't come our way," so pristine that its "water fell as rain more than 450 years ago: 200 years before the Industrial Revolution" (qtd. in Connell 344-345, 349).
The ascendancy of bottled water and sport utility vehicles in the 1980s marked the apex of this early model of green advertising. When environmentalism itself had attained a generational nadir, these products were the medium's luminaries, each totally transforming and revitalizing their respective industries. Small wonder they are the current "poster children" for American ecological insensitivity (as opposed to, say, bottled soda). Both products were unrivaled not only in their keen capitalization of people's alienation from nature, but also in the means by which they plied the major ideological strains of the twentieth century environmental movement.
Since the demise of the American frontier, wrote Roderick Nash, Americans conceived of wilderness as an antidote to civilization (145). In the early twentieth century, flourishing Boy Scout chapters and hunting clubs, booming sales of outdoor recreation equipment, and best-selling books by Jack London (The Call of the Wild) and Edward Rice Burroughs (Tarzan) expressed a general disquiet over modernity. Buck's harrowing progression from domesticated dog to pack leader and Tarzan's from British aristocrat to "King of the Jungle" dramatized the salubrious power of wild nature and its capacity to inspire personal excellence. Alpinists and mountain enthusiasts, the Sierra Club being the most famous, became the major architects, conveyors, and defenders of preservationist ideology. Their tales of personal daring in and around the nation's glaciers, canyon lands, and high sierras, all places regularly featured in SUV and bottled water advertisements, unfolded narratives of redemption and purification. Mountains, more than any other geographic phenomenon, came to embody sacred wilderness iconography.
Early bottled water and SUV ads illustrated the elasticity of these ideals. SUVS, which staved off the eventual collapse of the American auto industry, were proffered as an escape from one's monotonous, bureaucratic, urban reality. The Nissan Pathfinder promised, "Enough Surf for everyone. Enough mountains for everyone. Enough seats for everyone" (Aronczyk). Models were showcased barreling through challenging, exotic, and remote terrain – ice capped mountain ranges, rushing rivers, dense jungles, and desert expanses. Invariably, the footage was spliced with adrenaline-seeking, outdoor-recreation enthusiasts and feral animals associated with speed, strength, and agility. Campaigns like those of the Volvo All Wheel-Drive Cross Country ("A Volvo that can save your soul") and the Ford Explorer ("Where the pavement ends, the world begins"), observed historian Jennifer Price, denoted nature as "a Place Apart" (xv, xxi, 207, 243). Nature was a sphere totally separate from where most people conducted the daily business of survival. In a 1995 Nissan Frontier commercial, your standard "organization man" stares longingly at a new model until he morphs into a robust, bearded, flannel-wearing sportsman. He then tosses away his cell phone, climbs behind the wheel, and heads to the Rockies. Such demarcations routinely intimated that our own suburban and urban neighborhoods were unnatural.
During the same period (1990-1997), U.S sales of private water climbed from 115 million dollars to four billion. The industry's lucrative association of bottled water with "Nature as a Place Apart" hardly demanded an imaginative leap. Environmentalists and nature writers held up free-flowing (undammed and unimpounded) waters, like the snowcapped mountainscapes they emanated from and with which they were inextricably associated, as idyllic wilderness. The century's seminal environmental battles over Hetch-Hetchy Valley, Dinosaur National Park, and Glen Canyon invoked these motifs. Spring water connoted immaculateness and distance. Municipal water was "rejected by Mother Nature," a Glaceau ad teased, but it was the industry's message taken to its logical extreme.
Turn-of-the-century conservationists might not have even challenged Glaceau's characterization of municipal water systems. From their perspective, "Mother Nature's" waters flowed "uselessly" to the sea. They were waste waters, unredeemed and unreclaimed. In opposition, preservationists like John Muir argued that those waters were divine and hallowed. Bottled water ads concurred. It was indeed divine. It was also for sale (a prospect that would have disgusted Muir). The bottlers just had to maintain the elaborate fiction that theirs was not an industrialized product.
The industry was intrinsically poised to exploit the subjective meanings of nature and the sway of consumption on them. The history of bottled water illustrated how the "wilderness ideal" could be an intensely litigated, internationally disputed matter. H2O was no absolute chemical designation. For thirty years, lawsuit after lawsuit induced the FDA to grapple with appropriate guidelines for labeling spring, mineral, and artesian waters. In 1995, the Washington Post naively presented this litigation as evidence that bottled water manufactures were corporate anomalies in "their passionate crusade for federal oversight" (Skyrzycki). This stalwart image eclipsed the intense inter-trade rivalry over labeling, the capacity of the largest and wealthiest companies to define the terms, and the manner in which they used them to consolidate their oligarchy. Water classifications were driven by profits and political gamesmanship, as much as by geology and chemistry.
The most contentious quarrels in the 1990s pitted smaller American companies against the European powerhouses of Danone International (the maker of Evian) and Perrier. By mid-decade, the latter had aggressively absorbed major American operations, such as Calistoga and Arrowhead, and amassed fifty percent of the nation's market. To protect their remaining share, smaller bottlers sued the transnationals for making "false, misleading, or potentially misleading" claims regarding their product's origins (qtd. in Berton). According to the lawsuit, the bigger companies did not truly capture water from the source, which, by standard geological accounts, was the point where ground water gurgled over the surface. Instead of positioning springhouses above the spring, they utilized mechanical bore holes that pumped the aquifers from below and at a distance from the genuine orifice. According to the lawsuit, this cheaper, faster, more efficient method of extracting water was not only more destructive to local ecologies, it negated the definition of spring water.
After several years, both parties settled. European enterprises agreed to mete out ten million dollars in discounts and charities over the course of the decade, a paltry sum relative to their profits. In the interim, the market had changed significantly. Most small companies, including the suit's filers, went under, and the majority of bottled water was coming from boreholes. The Danone Corporation successfully sued the state of California to expand spring water's acceptable drilling distance to whatever span deemed necessary, and the International Bottled Water Association lobby persuaded the FDA that any labeling distinctions regarding boreholes and springs were unwarranted. Boreholes were permitted as long as they maintained the identical chemical make-up of the spring, a ruling that was practically impossible to enforce. A spokesman for Perrier Group could now contend, "It's not just our definition. It's the FDA's, the EPA's and several state health regulatory agencies" (qtd. in Berton).
The industry was thus free to continue expending hundreds of millions of dollars shaping cultural conceptions about the spiritual and physical remunerations derived from spring water. They sponsored countless sporting events, fun-runs, charitable events, Hollywood film festivals, and Earth Days. They manipulated medical axioms "to drink more water" (a popular Aquafina slogan), as much as eight glasses a day, though much of the daily requirement could be found in food such as vegetables and noodles (Royte 35-36). They cautioned consumers that dehydration was the source of myriad mental and physical maladies and that their particular brands were conducive to smooth skin, shiny hair, and longevity. Invariably, rejuvenation came not just from the intake but also from the purge. People needed to flush their bodies of the assorted toxins intrinsic to modern living.
The bottle's increasing social panache was demonstrable everywhere in popular culture. Magazines depicted the product as an essential accoutrement for beautiful models, athletes, musicians, and actors. Tabloid stories circulated about movie stars who demanded that their trailers be stocked with enough to bathe in. In the 1999 sitcom It's Like, You Know, a Seinfeld-knock-off about Los Angelinos, the tetchy New York City transplant is immediately given a bottle of Evian over his protestations and told not to ask questions. (Five years later, Fiji Water surpassed all other brand in its ability to win product placement.) Critics understandably speculated that the industry's public relations outlay undermined social expectations for what was a relatively safe, affordable, public service (Snitow and Kaufman 144). The kind of voters who spent more money on water than on gasoline might very well be less inclined to pass the bonds necessary for fixing aging municipal systems. "The most important body of water is your own," stressed Evian ads. The commons and its bureaucratic custodians were implicitly undependable.
The private sector's smashingly successful appropriation of wilderness values occurred in the context of the contemporaneous decline of the environmental movement and of the resurgent conservative culture it signified. In the Age of Reagan, the movement's aggregate triumphs in the sixties and seventies – the unprecedented litigation of nature, an emergent federal regulatory apparatus, and the injection of environmental values in the lexicon of popular culture – had to be seriously qualified. As a counterpoint to Jimmy Carter, who blamed the nation's citizenry for its energy woes, Ronald Reagan faulted big government. (Reagan ceremoniously tore down the White House's solar panels installed by his predecessor.) Critical legislation was repealed or ignored. Government regulatory agencies became toothless, underfunded entities, staffed with people not only hostile to the movement's goals, but with direct ties to the very industries in need of regulation.
Environmental dialogue, wrote historian Hal Rothman, deteriorated into "a litmus test," not unlike the debate over abortion, which "alienated people between the extremes." Policy debates painted a false choice between "jobs or nature," stark options that made compromise not just "impossible," but "an abdication of moral responsibility" (Rothman 132). In the rare instance that environmentalism was mentioned in the 1992 Presidential debates, George H. Bush derisively labeled its advocates as fringe members of "the spotted owl club," referencing the controversial efforts to regulate logging in the Pacific Northwest. The movement proved unable to either escape the pejorative label of "elitism" or transform the popularity of its agenda into concerted action. Instead, that popularity encouraged cooption by the private sector, characterized not only by advertisements hocking wilderness values by mean of personal consumption but also by a series of soft environmental policies touting "market based incentives" over government regulation and "technological optimism" over institutional change (Dowie 106).
Bottled water and SUVS ads perfectly embodied the criticism of activists, journalists, and academics, many of whom looked inward to explain the movement's waning potency. Did such industries actually distort the ideology behind environmental reform in the twentieth century, they asked, or did they use its dogmatic origins for different ends? "Wilderness" was an "unnatural…human creation," asserted MacArthur winner William Cronon, who took aim at the famous mantra: "In Wilderness is the preservation of the world" (Cronon 69-70, 81). To the complete contrary, he argued, wilderness's sacredness in American culture had been tragically predicated on its separateness from human endeavors and that disconnect has hampered our ability to overcome environmental problems. In Uncommon Ground (1995), published at the same time Big Water was driving the definition of purity, he and other leading environmental historians argued that wilderness was a social construction that subjectively valued some spaces over others and that it was employed in a way that obscured humankind's dependence on nature. Such duplicity was intellectually, if not morally, akin to the marketing strategies employed by the bottlers.
Academics argued that phenomena such as the Grand Canyon and the Mall of America were both products of nonhuman and human energies, forces simultaneously elemental and ideologica (White 557). There was no immaculate nature, no inherent human-non-human conflict, and no fall from grace when nature was utilized. Such tropes, they argued, cast all "uses of nature as abuses of nature" (Cronon 79-80). They also enabled industrialists to stake a moral high ground. Environmentalism became a wedge issue precisely because corporations took the lead in reminding consumers that their material comforts rested on nature's exploitation, when this fact should have furthered both agendas.
Critical muckraking tracts like Robert Gottlieb's Forcing the Spring (1993) and Mark Dowie's Losing Ground (1995) similarly urged the movement's sympathizers to focus less on wilderness preservation. They argued that its preoccupation had ignored the problems of non-white, non-middle class people and marginalized the movement's rank and file. As a consequence, debate ominously moved "from the courtroom to boardroom" (Dowie 106). Environmental organizations grew highly professionalized and pursued "pragmatic" and "flexible" compromises. Chemical, gas, and oil companies became major donors to environmental organizations, winning not only favorable press releases, but the right to vet any legal action taken against them (Dowie 142).
Ostensibly, these kinds of critiques validated the "elitist" label that had long dogged environmental activists. In actuality, they sought to create a more inclusive environmental consciousness, a goal that ran exactly contrary to the movement's haters.
Human influence on seemingly celestial phenomena such as ocean levels and climates informed their advocacy. By 2001, international climate research programs increasingly suggested that the planet operated as a single system, one receptive to human activity. These conclusions inevitably eroded conceptual classifications of untrammeled and exploited spaces, and, with them, the rhetorical wedge of environmental politics. A wave of popular bestsellers by authors of various political affiliations followed suit. Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, Edward Wilson's The Creation, and Ron Dreher's Crunchy Cons, among others, emphasized the universality of environmentalism and meshed its agenda with those of anti-terrorism, evangelicalism, and traditional conservative values. In the last presidential election, both candidates denied the exclusivity of "jobs and nature" and promised to outdo each other in the battle against global warming.
Fiji Water's and other opportunistic "green sheens" are indicative of this cultural and political shift, not least of which is demonstrable in their acceptance of leading climate change theory. By making consumers contemplate the consequences of their actions, marketers have endeavored to tie consumption to the natural world in ways that earlier green advertisements deliberately discouraged. We often do not think about the inner workings behind the products we buy, but it was precisely this alienation that made earlier bottled water (and SUV) advertising so mordant in the 1990s. Bottlers exploited our isolation from nature, first, to shill "nature," and, second, to mask their products' toll on natural resources. The trick was lucrative, but also tenuous.
Bottled water was "no longer cool," pronounced Fortune magazine in 2007. In the five years prior, dozens of news magazines, consumer groups, and environmental organizations published their own exposé on the industry. Many celebrities, including Madonna, who simulated oral sex with an Evian bottle in her 1996 documentary, Truth or Dare, advocated a return to the tap. All brands were jettisoned from the menu of Chez Panisse, and fashion designer Pierre Cardin offered free carafes to thirty thousand French restaurants to discourage bottled water sales. The National Association of Americans Nuns declared privatized water immoral. The U.S. Conference of Mayors formally denounced the industry for taxing municipal garbage services and landfills on one hand and undercutting public water services on the other. The mayors of San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and several others cities banned municipal-funded purchases. Chicago implemented a special "water bottle" tax. New York waged a public relations campaign on behalf of its own public supply ("Get your Fill") (Royte 137-174). Domestic sales dipped for the very first time in 2008, and, while they did so only slightly, they defied a thirty year trend. Fiji Water let go a fifth of its work force at the end of that fiscal year (Mui).
The popular recoil embraced an environmentalism that was invested in the well-being of homes, neighborhoods, and communities, not in a distant, so-called "virgin" landscape. The link between climate change and commodity exports hit Fiji Water particularly hard. Slogans like "the taste of paradise" became less an invitation to partake in an exotic locale and more of an argument to boycott the brand. Quintessential "Out There" wilderness terminology, which earlier marketers exploited, and which Fiji had exploited to the utmost, was now a liability. Fiji's distance from Cleveland portended to imminent calamites closer to home.
Critics aggressively dressed down pretentions of purity, a development hastened by the industry itself. As Coca-Cola and Pepsi corporations reconstructed and further concentrated the industry, they stretched the concept of natural water to the limits of consumer and legal countenance. Despite the mountain vistas depicted on the bottles and the label of "pure water," their brands came neither from a spring nor a borehole nor any private geologic source. Like forty-four percent of all bottles sold domestically in 2006, they came from municipal water sources. They were highly filtered, making them arguably different substances, but also more energy intensive. In 2007, a consumer advocacy organization successfully compelled Pepsi's Aquafina, the biggest selling bottle, to spell out "public water source" on its sticker. "If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public sources, then it's a reasonable thing to do," a PepsiCo spokeswoman said after the decision, even though the company had fended off related criticism for years (Tong). Aquafina's webpage eventually redefined "purity" not as a geological phenomenon, but as an outcome of "state-of-the-art…reverse osmosis and carbon filtration." Nevertheless, watchdog and investigative agencies conducted tests revealing that most bottled water was not safer than tap water. Officials from Cleveland could even cite analyses proving that Fiji Water had higher levels of arsenic than theirs.
Not only were all watersheds tainted by industrialization, but the bottles themselves embodied industrialization's worst excesses. They blighted landscapes, leached toxins into soils and streams, and posed health risks. Notably, one of the reasons it has been so hard to definitely prove the biological hazards of polyethylene terephthalate plastic is the sheer amount of pollutants already present in our body chemistry. No single study can determine which carcinogen or combination of carcinogens is more fatal than any other. "The most important body of water may be your own," as Evian says, but that water, like the aquifers are permanently laced with synthetic emissions. Thus, plastic will be presumed safe until cancer, miscarriages, and birth defects occur in preponderance and in easily discernable patterns (Markowitz and Rosner 292).
This multi-prong condemnation of bottled water spoke to human-centered environmental predicaments that necessarily undermined the mythology of pristine realms and wild spaces. In equating the consumption and protection of the rainforest, Fiji Water's carbon-negative campaign responded in kind. The rainforest remained sacred iconography, but that sacredness was not enough to justify its preservation. Rather, the company's promotion of reforestation and efficient production underscored the mutual dependence and shared fate of the Fiji rainforests and its buyers across the ocean. It placed the act of purchasing Fiji water in a larger calculation of one's carbon footprint, in the sum of one's material choices. It thus offered the purchaser the opportunity to become John Seed's deep ecologist's archetype: "part of the rainforest protecting itself" (251).
As Fiji Water and like-minded corporations strive to coop environmental reform and contain it in the private sector, they have been forced to reconcile the kind of individualism conducive to buying privatized, expensive water in disposable containers with an ethos of communal responsibility. While the antithetical impulses of consumerism and conservation are apparent, the wholesale condemnation of consumerism in all its forms (and thus all uses of nature) neglects its transcendent role in the history of environmental politics. Environmental historians have increasingly shown that modern popular attitudes toward nature have been shaped by the separation of production and consumption, a defining phenomenon of a consumer society. Paved roads, electricity, supermarkets, and shopping malls, observed Gregory Summers, transformed nature as "a means of production – a source of work, hardship, and resources – " into a source of pleasure and well-being and, accordingly, into something worthy of legal protection (Summers 11). The wilderness paradigm which dominated twentieth century environmental reform emanated from this transformation.
An emerging environmental consensus has purposely deconstructed this paradigm. The new onus for reformers, it suggests, is to undo our alienation from nature's processes and thus abandon the premise that humans and nature occupy exclusive and hostile spheres. "The issue," wrote Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shenberger in their recent eulogy for the environmental movement, "is not whether humans should control Nature but rather how humans should control natures – nonhuman and human" (Shellenberger 32). This is no simple rhetorical change. Wilderness ideals, embedded in landmark legislation like the Wilderness Act and the Endangered Species Act, have been legitimate and prominent legal mechanisms to curb development. At the same time, they have reinforced the wedge politics that have hindered comprehensive political progress. As those politics have diminished, advertisers have increasingly acknowledged (even as they "spin") the ecological impacts of their products. Perhaps those politics will one day be so diminished that they will prevent those same advertisers, the marketers of Fiji Water among them, from dominating the helm of environmental reform.
Alter, Lee. "Pablo Calculates the True Cost of Bottled Water." Treehugger 6 February 2007: http://www.treehugger.com/file/2007/02/pablo
Berton, Justin. "Slime in a Bottle." MetroActive 10 May 2001: http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/05.10.01/water-0119.html
Dowie, Mark. Losing Ground: American Environmentalism at the Close of the Twentieth Century. Cambridge Massachusetts Institute of Technology UP, 1995.
Dreher, Ron. Crunchy Cons: The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return to Roots. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006.
Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It. New York: Rodale, 2006.
Gunther, Mark. "Bottled Water: No Longer Cool." Fortune April 2007:
Holland, Ann-Christin Sjolander. The Water Business: Corporations Versus People. Bangladesh: The University Press, 2005.
Markowitz, Gerald and David Rosner. Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution. Berkeley: U of California P, 2002.
Mui, Q.Y. Lan, "Bottled Water Boom Appears Tapped Out." Washington Post 13 August 2009: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/12/AR200908
Nash, Roderick. Wilderness and the American Mind. New Haven: Yale UP, 1982.
Rothman, Hal K. The Greening of a Nation: Environmentalism in the United States since 1945. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace, 1998.
Skrzycki, Cindy. "Here's One Industry That's Exercised About Lack of Oversight; Bottled Water Companies Want FDA to Act." Washington Post 21 April 1995: F1.
Snitow, Alan and Deborah Kaufman. Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons, 2007.


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Hey. So how'd your week go? It's been a recoup week for me, filled with some California sun, good Mexican food and hugs from old friends. You can't really ask for much more than that. Well, that's not true. You can also ask for some funny Web links to help you jump start your Saturday morning. You didn't think I was going to forget about you just because I'm on vacation, did you? Of course not. Grab some coffee, some pretty coffee foam art, and let's go!
- Foreign TV Promo: Just when you thought Glee couldn't get any more awesome, this Japanese promo surfaces and takes everything to a whole new level. Oh yeah, it's good.
- Separated at Birth: I feel like this comparison almost makes my obsession with Snooki from the Jersey Shore okay. And if it doesn't, please don't tell me. Denial is my homeboy.
- Gremlins 3 in development, set for 3D?: What do you think: Totally awesome or totally killing a classic? You decide.
- The Ugly Truth About Getting Your Book Published: This crushes my soul a little. Seriously, will someone please offer me a book deal? I have hilarious material. I promise. I mean, you've SEEN my Twitter account.
- Internet Love: This takes my aforementioned crushed soul and brings it right back to life. Totally want!
- Jason Calacanis on iPad tweets: My Greatest Performance Ever?: Jason pwns the tech industry and gets CNN coverage. It's the greatest thing to happen all week.
- Hitler Responds to the iPad: Because, really, the only thing more ridiculous than the iPad hype this week was the idea of dear old Hitler chiming in. Ah, that Hitler.
- Facebook is judging you: Perhaps NSFW (barely) but…it's Saturday. You're not at work, right?
- Suicide is never the answer. Even to word problems: A poignant one from The Bloggess who argues there aren't enough misfits in the world and that we have to stick together. Who are you to argue with her?
- The scariest thing I read on the Internet this week (link now broken): #badrolemodel [This was a link to someone saying I made them join Twitter…but it seems like they already deleted their account. Soo…all's well that ends well?]
I haven't been able to obsessively read the Internet this week. What did I miss? I'm sure there's some good stuff. Let me have it!


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I was gonna post this last weekend, but of course I got busy with life and it didn't get done.
So last Friday night, I decided to have a nice bonfire in the back yard and a few marshmallows. There was a time this would have brought all the kids running. Not so much anymore, my big guys were at their dad's. My son was watching some sports something or other w/ his dad...so it was just me and baby girl(she's 8..almost 9), OH! and our retarded, marshmallow, loving dog. We didn't mind, it was nice. So we sat and enjoyed the fire for a while chatted a bit, roasted some marshmallows, tossed a few to the dog. Then as I was mellowing out, she was getting bored. I could tell cause she was getting wiggly. It was fairly dark, and the fire was nice, the neighborhood was quiet. I was content to just sit there and watch the logs burn. Finally she asked me, "Mom..can I play w/ your phone?" I figured, what the heck, I don't let her use it very often, no big deal, so I handed it to her. She says, "Ya got any games on this thing?". It's fairly new and I don't really like games, so no I don't have any games. Then she decided to go on Twitter and figured that out. She was off in phone la la land, happily amusing herself quietly beside me. I enjoyed the fire, she enjoyed the company and the electronics and we coexisted. I sat there thinking to myself, "I never would have pictured this when I was a kid" Really, sitting in my back yard letting my 9 yr old play w/ a cell phone that was smaller than my hand, fits in my pocket, doesn't require a "BAG" to carry it around because it weighs 12 pounds, didn't cost me $4000, AND has the internet w/o being plugged in. WOW! Culture shock. When I was her age I would have just been content to sit and watch the fire. Things were simpler, slower...we didn't have to go go go all the time. Maybe it was just because I was a kid, maybe it still felt hectic to my Mom, I don't know. We didn't have all day kids programming, if you missed cartoons when they were on, you missed them, we didn't have DVR's, hell we didn't even have cable cause we lived to far out of town. We lived on a lake, we had bikes, my girlfriend had horses, we were busy having fun, being kids. Life is so much different for kids now. They'll never have to open an encyclopedia or a dictionary, you can find all that online. You never have to miss your favorite show, and heck if by some chance you did, they'll rerun it so many times you'll be sick of it. You don't have to worry about talking on the phone somewhere the cord doesn't reach (we still have a land line, but cordless phones of course). One of the BIGGEST things when I was a kid was to have a phone in your room, hell now ya just walk it right in there, no big deal. Ours even work outside. You don't have to leave your house to rent a movie, you don't have to rent a VCR to watch it LOL (ever do that? we did!). No one cares about going to the arcade, cause you just play video games at your house. You don't need to ask for directions to anywhere just look it up on your phone, and it will take you there. SO many more things, it's just amazing how fast it all changes. You know when your a kid and your parents or other adults say things like, "In a flash you'll be a grown up, time goes by so fast" and you laugh it off, SURE I will.. It's so true. You blink and the week is over, blink again and it's been a year. My oldest son turned 18 in July, the middle one is 15, the youngest son is 10 almost 11, and baby girl will be 9, another year of school starts on Tuesday, where did the time go? Tonight, if it's not raining, you'll find me sitting by the fire, trying to hold on to one more night while time flies by.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Times are changing..
3 comments:
Hi! Great site! I'm trying to find an email address to contact you on to ask if you would please consider adding a link to my website. I'd really appreciate if you could email me back.ReplyDelete
Thanks and have a great day!Replies
Your post came to my email :D I will check into it later this evening.Delete
I loved this post and you're totally right, time flies and everything has changed and so fast. I was born in 1988 but I can even see the big change (cellphones instead of phones with cords or those big Ericson/Motorola, you remember?). Wonder how life is gonna be in 20 years from now?ReplyDelete
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by Lisa Kwan
Written for: The Writer's Tower
Theme: Summer (September)
Bonus words: chewing gum, ice bucket
I stood naked on the beach, everyone staring, laughing, pointing.
Or at least it felt that way.
I don't know how I let my idiotic friend convince me that swim briefs were the way to get chicks. "Bro, chicks dig the banana sling, bro. Easier for them to assess, if you know what I mean," he winked at me.
That lame-ass response and wink (who still winks, between dudes no less?!?!) would have been a warning foghorn if I weren't so desperate. And then that lying two-faced bastard had worn swim shorts.
"You….look….fabulous, bro. Real fab!" He'd greeted me, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. Which didn't last long because, in the next moment his face was buried in the hot sand as I tackled him and punched—as hard as I could—where it would hurt him the most.
He groaned so loudly, the people around us turned to look. I ignored his whimpers as I stood up and waved everyone away. What's done is done, I thought, mentally kicking myself for not thinking to bring a spare. I dusted off the sand stuck to my exposed and embarrassingly pale thighs, self-conscious.
I heard some groups of people giggling behind me and I wished I could just die right there. "Hey, bro! Nice legs!" Snickers.
I whirled around to stare angrily at them but was too humiliated, and ended up pretending to gaze at somewhere further off in the distance. I then gave my friend, who was still doubled over in pain at my feet, another kick in the crotch area, just in case he forgot how mad I was at his prank.
At his yelp of pain, and the growing snickers and chuckles I could hear—or imagined, I had no idea at that point as I could barely lift my head from the self-consciousness—I decided I'd better buy another pair of more-decent swim shorts to change into from one of the vendors. There were plenty of stalls along the beach; I could just grab one, any one. Anything was better than what I was wearing now.
As I walked the short distance to the nearest stall, the sun was blazing hot, with not a cloud in the sky—perfect weather, really, summerlike. The beach was packed with people because of the recent school holidays. So there were plenty of school kids who had come with their parents and even grandparents for a family vacation or day-trip to the beach. Which was really great for me, you see, especially in my "banana sling".
"See the uncle, so shame-shame one!" "Yerrrrrrr, so geli!" Eruption of giggles and laughter. Disapproving looks from the elderly. "Mei, come here. Don't look. Not nice to stare."
Somebody throwing an ice bucket on my head would have been less painful.
I finally reached the stall I had my eye on, which was really eye-catching because of its display of colourful floral swim shorts. They looked cheap and tacky, and I mentally cringed. But another burst of laughter from behind me made me hastily point to a bright-orange pair with white floral patterns and ask, "How much?"
The aunty tending the stall told me it was fifteen ringgit. I didn't bother to bargain and reached down to touch the right cheek of my behind before I realized I had cleverly left my wallet in my car, where it was parked quite a distance away from where I was due to the crowds.
Obviously, I didn't have any money on me. (Where else could I have put it?!) So I asked the aunty if she could let me change into the swim shorts first, and then I could run back real quick to my car to get the money and then run back here. She stared at me as if I had blue rubbery skin and tentacles growing out of the side of my head. (I may have been watching one too many sci-fi movies of late.)
Helpless, I turned around to find someone who would kindly lend a stranger-in-a-banana-sling fifteen ringgit to get out of this predicament. To my surprise, a ten and five dollar note were held out to me—in hands belonging to a…chick. No, a babe.
She was pretty, tanned with short hair, a pixie do. Though I preferred my chicks long-haired and fair, she had this aura about her, like she was cool and bad-ass. Maybe because she was furiously chewing gum.
Or because she had a snake tattoo snaking from her mid-belly down to…wherever is behind her bikini bottom.
I—uh—noticed that she was wearing a frilly bright-orange bikini and a smoking hot body. Slim and slender and taut. Wouldn't I love to pour something hot and sticky all over her and slowly lick it off her—
"Here," she said simply. I blanched. She pushed the notes into my hand. "Get the bright-orange pair," she urged. "Then we'd match," she winked and then crossed her arms beneath her bikini top, accentuating her well-endowed bosom and deep cleavage.
I visibly gulped. "I-I-I—"
"Or maybe," she looked me up and down, pausing at my banana sling, "you could just keep what you're wearing right now." She leaned forward and whispered into my ear, "I think you look delicious," and stuck her tongue in it!
Okay, I don't know how often things like these happen, especially outside of porn movies, but I'm making a wild guess here, like, hm, I don't know, NEVER?
And when a chick, no, babe like that tells you to keep your banana sling on, YOU DO IT.
"Okay." I managed to sound mildly indifferent despite me playing "We are the Champions" in my head and thinking I must be making some kind of history for all men worldwide. In my mind, my friend was giving me a standing ovation and slow-clapping.
She nodded her approval and slipped her arms around me to cup my…rear. Gave it a little squeeze. I gasped and held my breath. I had to be dreaming, I had to. But, oh god, please don't let me wake up now!
"Let's go…hang out somewhere, shall we?" She batted her eyelashes and licked her lips. "Okay," I said again, cementing my one-word vocabulary abilities.
And let me tell you, what happened after that, made it the BEST day of my life! I had to treat my bastard of a friend to dinner because he claimed that that babe would never have approached me were it not for the banana sling he had tricked me into wearing.
Honestly, I cannot deny it. Cost me a couple of hundred bucks, that dinner. But bros, I am now a firm believer, and I hope you will be too, that swim briefs are the way to go. Chicks dig the banana sling. Easier for them to assess, if you know what I mean.


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Fresh back from a 5-day trip to South America, Congressman Roy Blunt said the Attorney General of Mexico believes violence in the country "is on its way in the right direction."
"I'm hopeful that he's right," the Congressman said in a phone interview later.
Blunt held a morning conference call with reporters to explain his trip. Blunt visited Mexico, Panama and Colombia with Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer between Friday and Wednesday.
Blunt praised Mexican President Felipe Calderon for pushing for extradition of top drug leaders and cracking down on cartel corruption that is fueling much of the recent border violence. He also mentioned the impact of the Combat Meth Act, and how immediately afterwards, it caused "an immediate surge of Mexican meth," because of the crackdown here.
He said Mexican and U.S. meth prices have apparently doubled, because it's more difficult to make meth and harder to get it into the country. "It's dramatically limited the supply," Blunt explained.
Blunt also mentioned extensive meetings with the presidents of Panama and Colombia. He said both leaders are very appreciative of the Mexican government's effort to combat the drug wars. He also said they agreed on a broad consensus strategy to move forward. "It was helpful to try to figure out what has worked and didn't work in dealing with cartel corruption and the national security threats they present," Blunt said.
Asked later about Mexico's opinion of the United States putting troops on the border, he said, "I think they are highly appreciative of the cooperation."
A technical difficulty with the conference call cut off the Q & A session with reporters, but the Congressman followed up with personal phone calls to answer questions later in the day.


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The new MLBB with a plummy twist... this deluxe sample came in a Sephora special, and I am absolutely loving the formula!
Shiseido is a very classic brand in my view, and a brand that I started out on when I first became interested in luxe skincare and cosmetics. This is their lacquer gloss, which is a sheer lipstick-gloss product that is meant to provide color and shine as well as moisture.
This applicator is okay-ish, not the best I've ever used but not bad. The shape applies nicely though is a bit too flexible for my liking. I like to wipe a bit off the tip before applying as it comes out of the tube with a lot of product.
|(bounced flash)
|(indirect natural light, no flash)
Very natural looking color when sheered out, which is how I like to wear it. Very MLBB-ish with a slight twist!
The feel of this gloss is also amaaazing. It made my lips feel moisturized all day, with no peeling or cracking that I tend to get from other products. After the shine wipes off with meals, there is a light stain that remains. The more product I use in the AM the more of a stain I'll have left after lunch. 9-10 hours later I will still have a light stain though would probably touch up if I were to go out for dinner.
Overall, a great intro shade into this lacquer gloss product that makes me want to try more shades!
Have you tried this line before? What did you think?


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It's project week at my company! So every employee can spend one week on whatever he likes to, as long as it has benefits for the company.
I will spend this week trying to learn ScaLa. This would of course be really boring if I wouln't have a project at my hands that will be the result of this.
So I came up with Combo.fm. It is currently written in PHP, Smarty, some MySQLi and JavaScript. Especially PHP and partly Smarty can be a bit painful and aren't really contributing to the fun I normally have while programming.
The goal of the project is to evaluate IDE/Tomcat integration with Scala, getting to know the language and to try the LIFT-Framework. I am looking forward to a great programming experience and a lot of fun, fun and again - fun.
Combo.fm will be rewritten from scratch using the existing HTML and JavaScript code and hopefully extended by some features I wanted to have long ago, like authentication and a lot of other awesomeness.
Of course, the results will be published as open source code on a newly created git repository.
I will report about the next steps soon!


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Gordon Biersch opening soon in Myrtle Beach; an interview with the Head Brewer at the new Gordon Biersch in Myrtle Beach
Pete Velez is working on some brews that will probably make you smile.
Velez is head brewer at the local Gordon Biersch restaurant-brewery, which is scheduled to open on April 3 in The Market Common development on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base.
The Myrtle Beach location will be the first in South Carolina for Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Inc., which has 27 locations in 17 states.
And this will be the first Gordon Biersch gig for Velez, who left Capitol City Brewing Co. in the Washington, D.C., area for the job here.
The Gordon Biersch concept focuses on "upper-end casual dining," according to the company, with appetizers such as Garlic French Fries, and entrees including Sweet and Spicy Cashew Chicken Stir Fry.
And, of course, on-premise brewing. The company adheres to a German "Purity Law" for beer-making that dates back to 1516.
When Velez recently took a few minutes to tell me more about how Gordon Biersch makes and serves beer, I started looking forward to the grand opening.
First, all of the beers are made exclusively with German and Czechoslovakian ingredients, and they are all lagers, which take a little longer to brew than ales.
Gordon Biersch beers are served in half-liter glasses, although there is a smaller glass available at 0.4 liter, a difference that makes more sense when the glasses are set side-by-side, Velez said.
The prices on those glasses will be competitive with the going rates in the local market, but they haven't been finalized, he said. The Happy Hour prices at most Gordon Biersch locations are a dollar less than the regular price, he said, but those specials aren't official for Myrtle Beach yet.
Velez will offer growlers, too - a regular, half-gallon jug like Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery and Quigley's Pint and Plate offers, and possibly a more expensive, German-style jug with a flip top.
Gordon Biersch will also, probably, have a spin on the mug club, Velez said. It will be a bit more fancy and German - a stein club.
So what will be on tap when the restaurant-brewery opens? Click here to find out.


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costume wigs
there many good costumes and wigs in www.cosplayfu.com
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances represented or described, or to a particular style of clothing worn to portray the wearer as a character or type of character other than their regular persona at a social event such as a masquerade, a fancy dress party or in an artistic theatrical performance.
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Pic Katielee Arrowsmith/Deadline News
Glasgow Celtic goalkeeper John Thomson's grave
HE is a football legend known among fans as the keeper who gave his life rather than concede a goal.
Now, 80 years after his tragic death on the pitch during an Old Firm game, a play commemorating the short life of John Thomson is hitting the stage.
The Celtic goalkeeper's fearlessness cost him his life when he hit his head off the knee of Rangers' centre-forward Sam English.
The incident, in 1931, shook the football world to its core and is still remembered at Parkhead today.
Celtic Football Club, in conjunction with Ambassador Theatre Group, has announced that "The Prince – The Johnny Thomson Story" will open on September 5 – the extact date of his death.


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Saturday, January 30, 2016
Tiny M7 up near Alaska
These are the big subduction zones of the world. Here, an M7 is like a 4 to us. A clean, gently curving zone probably means a 9+ every 800 years or so, just like Japan. This is at a weird corner, with the upper zone very curved. Thus, that lower zone could probably get a 9.2 or 9.3 (two to three times longer than a 9), but the upper zone is probably limited to 8's. The zone straightens out towards Alaska and we know that can cough up 9's.
Anyway, this only matters for tsunamis, since they are in the middle of nowhere, and the ground motion saturates at 8 or so. A big one on the lower zone beams right at the NA west coast, but you would get hours of warning. Might even be long enough to evacuate some of the coasts. :) But this earthquake gives no indication as to future events, it's just cute. :)
ps. Basin Amplification
We don't know the units, nor why it is showing standing waves. Nevertheless, you don't don't want to be there if there is a 'real' earthquake.
More details - http://www.giseis.alaska.edu/input/carl/research/earthquakes/iniskin.html
There is a neat movie, and the plot is velocity showing standing waves at each time step. If you ran the whole thing, you would get PGV which should line up with Intensity. This is great work! I love it!
pps. I hope he gets some readings. The Polaris northern stations take a holiday in January when it goes to 40 below and there is no sunshine. Bad for solar cells. We need 'Martian' nuclear batteries, which can also double up as footwarmers. :)
Posted by Harold Asmis at 7:20 AM
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Sunday, November 02, 2008
Two Smart Writers. One Republican. One Democrat.
Do the same people who think of Campbell as their new hero for blasting the McCain campaign for keeping Sarah Palin under wraps still have the same opinion of her now?
Victor Davis Hanson has an insightful post about the death of journalism in this country. He highlights four topics: Campaign Financing, the VP Candidates, The Past as Present, and Socialism.
Of Campaign Financing: "...Barack Obama, remember, promised that he would accept both public funding and the limitations that went along with it, and would "aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election." Then in June 2008, Obama abruptly reneged, bowing out entirely from government financing, the first presidential nominee in the general election to do that since the system was created in 1976."
How's that for change? You'll reflect back that it is the Democrat party that has always been the advocate for public financing of elections - and the Republicans who roasted John McCain for trying to reform campaign funding on a bi-partisan basis with Russ Feingold.
"The story that the media chose to ignore was not merely that Obama about-face on public financing, or even the enormous amounts of money that he has raised - some of it under dubious circumstances involving foreign donors, prepaid credit cards, and false names. Instead, they were absolutely quiet about a historic end to liberal support for public financing."
We'll not see any pretext of accepting public financing ever again. Period.
Comparing the coverage of VP candidates, "By accepted standards of behavior, Biden has sadly proven wanting. He has committed almost every classical sin of character - plagiarism, false biography, racial insensitivity, and serial fabrication." Amen.
Biden possesses some sort of just-under-the-surface resentment towards Obama, I've noticed. He is on record more than once saying that Hillary Clinton would have been the better candidate. He's off point on the messages of the campaign. And, just says incredibly unexplainable statements. 'Warning' supporters at a fundraiser that Obama will be tested, after both campaigns were briefed on national security issues? Not only is that not helpful to the top of his ticket, it doesn't bode well for the security of our country, either. Loose lips sink ships. Oh, wait. What am I thinking? These two smart guys are part of the broadcasting a timeline of withdrawal in Iraq crowd. Never mind.
"The media has succeeded in shielding Barack Obama from journalistic scrutiny. It thereby irrevocably destroyed its own reputation and forfeited the trust that generations of others had so carefully acquired. And it will never again be trusted to offer candid and nonpartisan coverage of presidential candidates." Right as usual, Dr. Hanson.
I learned today of a speechwriter named Wendy Button. A speechwriter for Obama, Edwards and Clinton (Hillary), she has come out in support of John McCain. Wonder why she didn't receive a 30 minute commercial opportunity on Meet the Press? You know, like Colin Powell did? Oh yeah.
A lifelong Democrat, Ms. Button is fed up with the treatment of working class folks and women from the Obama campaign. She helped with Obama's announcement speech along with others. She helped with Edwards' concession speech. She helped Michelle Obama with stump speeches when the primary ended. She's been a speechwriter for more than 10 years.
She says the Democrat Party was family to her. "Now, it doesn't even feel like a distant cousin."
She uses the term, "hooker lines" - "a sure thing to get applause and the press to scribble as if they're reporting meaningful news."
"Not only has this party belittled working people in this campaign from Joe the Plumber to the bitter comments, it has also been part of tearing down two female candidates." Sums it up for me.
"Governor Palin and I don't agree on a lot of things, mostly social issues. But I have grown to appreciate the Governor. I was one of those initial skeptics and would laugh at the pictures. Not anymore. When someone takes on a corrupt political machine and a sitting governor, that is not done by someone with a low I.Q. or a moral core made of tissue paper. When someone fights her way to get scholarships and work her way through college even in a jagged line, that shows determination and humility you can't learn from reading Reinhold Niebuhr. When a mother brings her son with special needs onto the national state with love, honesty, and pride, that gives hope to families like mine as my older brother lives with a mental disability. And when someone can sit on a stage during the Sarah Palin rap on Saturday night Live, put her hands in the air and watch someone in a moose costume get shot - that's a sign of both humor and humanity."
Button gets it. If Barack Obama was truly a man of change, truly a person who worked in a bi-partisan fashion, had a 'backbone of steel', then he would have taken on the corrupt political machine on the south side of Chicago. We would be talking about his political courage and his ethical honesty. But, he didn't. Instead he chose to join the system and use it to his own advantage. That is cowardly and opportunistic. And, it is certainly not leadership.
Do I make myself clear?
"I can no longer justify what this party has done and can't dismiss the treatment of women and working people as just part of the new kind of politics. It's wrong and someone has to say that. And also say that the Democratic Party's talking points - that Senator John McCain is just four more years of the same and that he's President Bush - are now just hooker lines that fit a very effective and perhaps wave-winning political argument...doesn't mean they are true. After all, he is the only one who's worked in a bipartisan way on big challenges."
Yea, Wendy Button. Look how smart you are after all.
Use your brain. Vote McCain.
6 comments:
Good piece,Karen. Congrats on the CNN notice - toldja!!! ;)
Did you catch McCain on SNL?
- Lizzi said...
Yay you! A celebrity in our midst, eh? Can you link up the CNN.com nod?
- Karen said...
I did see McCain on SNL. He's got a great sense of humor.
Thanks. It's from the blog section that linked up to the Campbell Brown piece. I caught it from sitemeter.
- klaws said...
I see that you are also into the elections.
We can win the elections!
Just have a look on www.rightpeopleforthepresident.com
This powerful viral tool that can make the difference by involving voters for a reason can be in your blog by a simple copy-and-paste, as you insert any photo or text.
Your blog has the power to make the difference. Don't miss this opportunity for this last week before the elections. Insert your candidate's player in your blog in 1 minute.
- Beverly said...
Good for you, Karen. I'm glad ot see you are getting some recognition for your writing and your persistence.
That is quite a piece on Wendy Button. Thanks for sharing it. I'm glad to know there are those who "see the light." I wish many more would.
Thakns ofr your greetings and well wishes for Ella.
- Incognito said...
I wrote about Button as well... too bad you won't see it in the msm.
and when McCain wins, I hope all the papers lose tons of their readership for their uber biased reporting.


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Lessons Learned, Inspiration, Thoughts, Musings, Poetry, Photography, Words, Journeys, Adventures, Dreams, Hopes, Loves. Come along with me through this everchanging journey called Life. Conquer the World with Me. It's Time To Change The World.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Words I Will Tell My Daughter Someday
You will think that men are knights in shining armor. Especially if the compliment you. Tell you that you are pretty and nice. You will think that a cute and kind guy is the guy for you. But that may not be true. Behind the armor is where it counts and matters. You need someone with more than flattering words. You need someone with meaningful words. With meaningful actions. With a meaningful heart. You need someone who doesn't just look at you. But someone who sees you. Sees your heart, your beauty, your passions, the reasons why you exist and what makes your life worth living. You need someone who sees you and understands you. Not just someone who says "I'm sorry" when you're sad. But someone who embraces you and whispers words of comfort and love in your ear and holds your hand and sings you a lullaby when you have trouble sleeping. You need someone who won't just be a someone to you. There will be men who will pretend to be your someone and will try to charm you and who will break your heart and it will hurt. But when your someone comes a long, it will be more than worth it. Guard your heart, my dear. Guard it and wait. Wait for your someone.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Appearances are not what they always seem to be
You smelled like a long lasting candle but you were actually the smoke that lingered seconds after the flame was blown out.
I need a candle.
Not it's leftover smoke.
I will not let myself be to someone,
nothing more than a mere joke.
I will not let myself get caught on someone who darkens my lungs,
who makes me choke.
I need a candle.
Not it's leftover smoke.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Singleness (Yes, I am bringing it up again)
Yes, I brought up the dreaded word; "Singleness." Sometimes I don't fancy it because I imagine all these scenarios of having a boyfriend and the things we'd do on dates and all that jazz (if you're a single girl, I'm sure you understand how it is). But other times, I am completely okay. Today is a day where I realized I am completely okay. Some day (maybe, I mean it's not written in stone) I might have a boyfriend that may someday become my husband. But right now I don't and that's okay. Because right now my life is just about to blossom. It might take some time (I'm finding out as job searching is not quite as easy as I thought) but college is done and my career is something for me to figure out. But before I get whatever job it is I am supposed to have, I realize I am not wanting a boyfriend right now. This past weekend I had a wonderful time with some of my family and one of my best friends going to disney world. Tonight, I had yet another wonderful evening spent getting pie and coffee with another one of my best friends. I am so happy and content that I get to have moments like these. I am not saying I can't have both moments with my boyfriend and moments with my best friends and family, but things are going to have to change. In fact, the friend I went to disney world with is going to go back up to MA soon and maybe she'll come back but maybe she won't. I don't know yet. And my other best friend that I got pie with is hopefully going to work at a hospital as a nurse as soon as she passes her boards. And hopefully I'll get a job soon too. And our time will be limited. I won't always have as many available moments to spend with my friends and family. So, right now I'm content and happy that my time can be filled with them. One day (again, hopefully and possibly), I'll have a lifetime of moments to spend with my husband. But right now, I think I am given some of this time of singleness to be spent with some really amazing friends and family.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Sunday Night.
Disney Mix CD.
Chicken Fries.
Saratoga Springs Resort.
Horse Themed.
Huge Hotel.
Walks To The Pool.
Plans for the Next Day.
Artist's Palette Restaurant and Shop.
Ginormous Cookie.
Walk Back to Room.
Watching Tarzan in a Huge Comfy Hotel Bed.
Walking Up Early.
Delicious Joffery Coffee.
Walk Down to Breakfast.
Mickey Waffles + More Coffee.
Bus Ride to Magic Kingdom.
Pictures in front of the Castle.
New Dwarf Mine Train Ride.
Buzz Lightyear Ride.
Peter Pan.
Magic Pixie Dust.
Ariel Ride.
Haunted Mansion.
Fairytale Parade.
Splash Mountain.
Thunder Mountain.
It was a good Sunday and a good Monday. :)
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Green and Blue; the Globe is a Snap Shot Containing People like You
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Face the Storms; Wait for the Rainbows
Henna Tattoos, Dolphin Watching, Easy Breezes, Too Much Buttered Popcorn, Coffee Nights in Booths With Good Music Vibrating In My Ears, Piano Playing/ Singing, Matching Shirts, Planned Trips, Skype Chat Dates, Disney Adventures Soon To Be Had, Movie Experiences, Safari Rides, Petting Water Buffalo, Appreciating Friendships, Lebanese Restaurants.
So, job hunting had been a bit stressful. I'm still waiting to hear back from a lot of applications. I know it takes time to find jobs and it's a process. I have been very impatient and I have been dwelling on the fact that I do not have a job and I need to find one.
But today-
I'm going to appreciate the good things that have been happening.
There's been a lot that I've been over looking.
Tonight I took a step back and I had a moment where I was living life and I just took a moment to appreciate it.
So, now I'm going to share the moments that I've been having and not treasuring.
Because I need to be treasuring them.
I will face the storms when they come,
And I will wait for the rainbows.
Monday, May 9, 2016
Once Upon a Time
There was an insecure girl who cared about what other people thought about her. When she liked an attractive guy and he went for the pretty, normal, and not quite as weird girl, she felt insecure. She didn't feel as proud of herself as she did before she met this attractive guy. She once was proud of her accomplishments and okay with how she looked until she met this guy and this guy didn't give her the light of day. Well, this girl is okay now. She still struggles from time to time but her self worth is not found in this one guy's opinion of her. The truth is that just because he is attractive, it doesn't make him great. And even though he is nice, he is not perfect. Likewise, it doesn't matter about the beauty on the outside but it matters of what's inside and sure this girl needs to work on a few things, but she still has merit in what she is. She is not normal. She is sometimes weird but the thing is, she saw the inside of this guy and there was a lot of weird in him too. So, if this guy doesn't value the weirdness in this girl, that's on him. Because it's okay to be a little weird. This girl is okay with being herself now just like she was before she met him and before she strove to meet his approval. She doesn't need his approval anymore. She has her own and that's enough. She doesn't need to prove herself to anyone. She doesn't need to listen to anyone's opinion anymore. She is okay. She has value. And one day she'll find the one who will appreciate her and love her for who she is. Or if she doesn't, it's better to be by herself than with one who doesn't value her for who she is and tries to make her meet his standards. Because she is not changing for anyone. She is okay with herself and so the one for her will be okay with her too or she will not need another person.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
So I've Got My Degree
Now, how do I use it?
Or what do I do?
I'm looking for a job.
I'd love for it to be a writing job but I highly doubt that I'm going to find one in my local area and since I don't have a car right now... I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.
So, I'm looking for any place that is hiring.
You know what's funny?
I didn't think it'd be that hard.
You can go to job hiring websites and they seem easy enough to figure out...
But it's not quite as simple as it seems.
I know I have got a lot more time to find one and I need to do a lot more praying,
but it's stressing me out a bit.
I guess I just wish I had some references or ideas of where there are places that are hiring and just knew what I would be good at and where I am supposed to be.
College wasn't thaaat much of a challenge for me because I knew where I was supposed to be.
I was supposed to be taking classes and I knew I was doing that for four years.
Now I know I have to find a job but it's not something you just go up to and they basically accept you right away.
I guess there was a possibility that the colleges I went to could have not accepted me but I just kind of assumed they would accept me and they did.
And school is something you have been doing for a long time.
So, even if some of the classes were difficult and some of the teachers may have not been the best,
it was still something I knew what to do and how to handle it and how to overcome it.
But it's gone now.
Well, for now.
And now I need to find a job and it will take time and I don't know what job and I don't know who will accept me and I feel pressured.
I don't know what steps to take to get me to where I need to be.
I know I'll get there with God's guidance.
But I'm needing a lot of faith right now because I feel highly lost and uncertain right now about my future.
And I'm gonna need some patience.
That's for sure.
Anyways, have any of you struggled with this?
Got any advice?
Do any of you know of any online jobs that are hiring?
Do any of you know of jobs that are hiring in the seminole/largo area?
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Go Live Your Dream
So, it's been a bit.
I graduated this past Saturday and I've kind of been letting that sink in,
and the sort.
I already miss it.
I miss Warner.
I miss my friends.
I miss the opportunities.
I never thought I would, but I did.
But, to quote Harry Potter;
"I open at the close."
I close that chapter now and it's now opened to the rest of my life.
I can wait and I will be taking it slowly,
but my career and future awaits me now.
So, I appreciate prayer as I am finding out what God wants for me and the steps to getting there.
I appreciate for prayer in job searching and being patient.
I appreciate prayer for guidance.
I appreciate prayer.
Now it's time to live my dream.
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But the NHS! Competition is evil, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Mostly from those whose comfortable positions might be affected by a bit of honest. Or maybe these are the sort of academics who - because their conclusions challenge the current anti-competition orthodoxy - are not to be believed:
The effect of competition on the quality of health care remains a contested issue. Most empirical estimates rely on inference from nonexperimental data. In contrast, this paper exploits a procompetitive policy reform to provide estimates of the impact of competition on hospital outcomes. The English government introduced a policy in 2006 to promote competition between hospitals. Using this policy to implement a difference-in-differences research design, we estimate the impact of the introduction of competition on not only clinical outcomes but also productivity and expenditure. We find that the effect of competition is to save lives without raising costs.
And it's worth noting that this isn't the first such finding about competition and public service delivery.
So people will shut up now and support more competition in UK healthcare provision?
(h/t ASI where there's comment here)


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My friends Rumi-san and Mrs. Nakazawa came over on Friday for a bit of patchwork.
They both have so much homework that it is difficult for them to make progress in anything. But it is all of their own doing!
"Oh, this is so cute! I want to make this too!"
"That looks like it would be fun to make, can you make me a pattern for that?"
"If I'm going to make this quilt for myself, I'd like to make it for a friend too. I'll do double the work."
Rumi-san is working on a Bible quilt, a daisy quilt and a small applique wall hanging.
Mrs. Nakazawa is working on TWO Bible quilts, the same daisy quilt AND a cat quilt! Mrs. Nakazawa is my cat mentor.
Neither ladies have a sewing machine and Mrs. Nakazawa seems to think that the sewing machine I loaned her won't run unless I'm in the same room. She brought it back on Friday and did her sewing in my dining room.
And look what she got done on Friday! Isn't that adorable?! Oh, I wish I had joined her on this and had been working on the blocks along with her!!!
Oh this is going to be a winner!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
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Angry Robot, out September 26 (US), October 4 (UK)
Sam Thornton is on a tight leash but when he is double-crossed by an old "friend" he finds himself on the run across America with only a reanimated gangster for company…
If you liked Chris Holm's first Sam Thornton adventure, then you're definitely going to find this one works for you as well – but for the benefit of any newcomers, there's plenty of explanations of the set up (including Sam's reason for becoming a Collector). The odd detail may pass you by (if you want to know about the helicopter incident, buy Dead Harvest!) but The Wrong Goodbye gives you what you need, and then adds considerably to the readers' knowledge about both Sam and his world.
It was clear from the first book (and Holm's interview with us) that this isn't simply a question of good angels vs evil demons with the Collectors somewhere in the middle. The last bit is true, to an extent, but everyone has shades of grey – from Lilith, Sam's handler, to a blind transgender former showgirl whose help becomes invaluable during Sam's travels across the States.
The centrepiece of the book, in which Sam tries to infiltrate a demon's headquarters and get to the bottom of what's going on, is chilling, both in its descriptions of the otherworldly horrors and the more "real" elements that Sam encounters. The backstory for one of the key characters is in some ways even worse, since it reflects a true horror that is all the more terrible because it could be drawn from a history of the 20th Century.
Throughout, Sam Thornton remains a credible character with whom the reader can empathise and this contemporary noir thriller uses its fantasy elements to rewrite the rules of the game sufficiently that while you may think you know what's coming next, you can't be quite sure. Rather like Sam himself.
Verdict: A strong urban fantasy that will cement Holm's reputation in the field. 8/10
Paul Simpson
Click here to order The Wrong Goodbye from Amazon.co.uk


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# Necessary Tools
1. At the field
2. Cut for Split
3. Split/Storage
Some people People prepare bamboo plates for themselves to store.
After at least a years seasoning, they split to several pieces then process with fine special knives.
4. Factory made spar
A bamboo plate entered out 3 pieces of spars.
It should be fine processed with knives below to be a good fighter kite.
'How to make Bangpae' 카테고리의 다른 글
|12. Bamboo spar preparing (0)
|11. Central volume up glueing without jig (0)
|10. Voluntary service to procure Bangpae materials (0)
|9. Korean reel making process (0)
|8. Bags for reel and kites (0)
|7. Flying technics including track balancing (2)


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OK, so we get a lot of these, but the fact that the charges are in character for those involved makes it worth repeating. And yes, it may make me guilty of pushing a "false-but-true" meme: The story I am telling is false, but the facts are true, because I hate the guy involved and I want it to be true (see Rathergate for the classic example).
But so be it. I reprint, you decide - from The Canadian Free Press:
According to my source, there is talk among the highest levels of the uppermost echelon of the Department of Homeland Security, which he describes as effectively under the control of Barack Hussein Obama. During this call, he said that the DHS is actively preparing for massive social unrest inside the United States. He then corrected himself, stating that "a civil war" is the more appropriate term. Certain elements of the government are not only expecting and preparing for it, they are actually facilitating it," stated my source.
"The Obama administration and many of the un-elected 'czars,' either directly or indirectly, are engaged in covert activities with the occupy movement, various labor protests, and other subversive activities inside the U.S.," stated my source. Using untracked campaign funds, they are paying people to infiltrate the various movements to cause physical destruction of property and disrupt commerce. That began last year, but has increased ten-fold already this year," stated this source. He added that they are using some lower level DHS agents to make the payments under the context of tracking subversives, but they are the unwitting subversives. "It's like Fast & Furious" but in the social realm," he added.
"Obama is using some high profile people as pawns to foment the revolution....Farrakhan is to coordinate the Blacks and the Muslims to prepare for riots this summer, using any means necessary."
"They want to restrict travel, if not through high energy prices, then by checkpoints and curfews mandated by rioting and unrest. They understand we are the most well-armed nation in the world, yet they are aware of our vulnerabilities and intend to fully exploit them," he added. The whole purpose is to keep Obama in office for another term, no matter how unpopular he is, as he is not finished changing our country from a Constitutional Republic. This is the run-up to the 2012 elections, or perhaps causing enough chaos to delay them - indefinitely."
"Watch for a false flag event against Obama or his family, something that will outrage 'black America.' It will be carefully choreographed, but executed in a manner that will evoke the ugliest of reactions and create racial chaos in this country that will make the Watts riots, 1968 and the Rodney King riots pale in comparison. That's the third leg in this."
2011 Great Britain Riots...no racial overtones here, though....
The Obama administration, including his czars and along with his closets Progressive supporters, are planning a manufactured insurgency against America. He is using the media to his advantage to garner both sympathy and support for his unfinished goals. He is desperately seeking a way to remain in office, even if it means the surreal prospect of an indefinite postponement of elections - if it can be pulled off. So far, he's got the support of the majority of the DHS "brass" behind him, according to my source.
"They're power hungry, and they want to remain in charge," stated this source.
The "surreal" aspect of suspended elections won't look so surreal when you see any or all of the "trigger points" take place in the not-so-distant future.
"The end-game plan for America is its destruction as a Constitutional Republic, with the assistance of the agencies under the umbrella of the DHS."
Remember the Great Britain Riots of 2011? "Showing the rich we can do what we want"? That's what Obama wants to emulate this Fall:
A certain caustic, corpulent commentator made this call in heyday of the #OWS unrest in the fall:
Jackie Calmes of the New York Times asked him [Obama], "Are you aware of this? Are you watching any of it?" And he expressed his solidarity, 'cause those are his foot soldiers...
This thing just didn't bubble up out of nothing. We now find out George Soros money is behind this, and there's no doubt in my mind that the White House is behind this. I wish I could tell you who, but a very prominent person asked me to never mention his name in this regard, but for months he has been telling me, "You watch, Rush, do not doubt me," he said to me, "Obama is setting up riots. He is fanning the flames for riots and eventual violence. That's all he's got."
Expect to see the big cities burning by autumn. And a certain brazen narcissist claiming only he can heal the nation he so skillfully tore apart...


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Nashville (Tennessee), USA – The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is now accepting entries for 2006. One of the largest songwriting competitions in the world, ISC offers entrants a chance to share in over $150,000 in cash and prizes, including an Overall Grand Prize package of $25,000 (US) in cash and over $20,000 in merchandise, unmatched by any other songwriting competition. ISC winners benefit from extensive press and publicity, gaining exposure and recognition from an international music market of industry professionals and fans.
ISC is unique because of its judges. Since its inception, ISC has become internationally renowned for having the most prestigious judging panel of any songwriting competition in the world, offering entrants the unprecedented opportunity to have their songs heard by the industry's top recording artists and influential music executives. Tom Waits, Brian Wilson, Sean Paul, Robert Smith (The Cure), Craig Morgan, and Cassandra Wilson are among this year's celebrity and music executive judges
ISC is open to musicians, artists, and songwriters at every level from amateur to professional. Artists may submit as many songs as desired in each category or enter the same song in more than one category.
Entries are accepted online or by mail. For more information or to enter ISC 2006, please visit www.songwritingcompetition.com. The deadline for submission is October 16, 2006.
ISC offers 18 different categories to enter: Pop/Top 40, AAA (Adult Album Alternative), Rock, Country, Americana, R&B/Hip-Hop, Blues, Folk/Singer-Songwriter, Jazz, Gospel/Christian, Latin Music, Instrumental, Dance/Electronica, World Music, Children's Music, Lyrics Only, Teen, and Performance.
The ISC 2006 judging panel includes:
Tom Waits; Brian Wilson; Sean Paul; Charlie Walk (President, Epic Records); Monte Lipman (President, Universal Records); Mona Scott-Young (President, Violator Records); Jerry Lee Lewis; Cassandra Wilson; Robert Smith (The Cure); Craig Morgan; Rosanne Cash; John Mayall; Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse); John Scofield; Mark Chesnutt; Amy Ray (Indigo Girls); Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); MercyMe; Macy Gray; Tiësto; Peter Hook (New Order); Frank Black (Pixies); Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan); Medeski Martin & Wood; Charlie Musselwhite; Blue Man Group; Steve Lillywhite (Senior VP A&R/Producer, Columbia Records – credits include U2, Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, etc.); Angel Carrasco (President, Discos 605/Sr. VP A&R Sony/BMG Latin America; Larry Willoughby (VP A&R, Capitol Records, Nashville); Alexandra Patsavas (Owner, The Chop Shop Music Supervision – credits include The OC, Grey's Anatomy, Without A Trace, Carnivale, Rescue Me); Barbara Sedun (VP Creative, EMI Music Publishing Canada); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Cameron Strang (President, New West Records); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Dan Storper (President, Putumayo World Music); Thomas Brooman (Co-Founder/Artistic Director, WOMAD); Danny Epstein (Music Supervisor, Sesame Street/Sesame Workshop); Tara Griggs-Magee (Executive VP Gospel/Urban Music, Sony Records); Emily Wittmann (Vice-President, Nick Records); Leib Ostrow (CEO, Music For Little People); Betty Pino (DJ, WAMR and pioneer of Latin musc radio); and Manolo Gonzales (Senior VP, Regional Mexican A&R and National Promotion, Univision Records).
ISC 2006 sponsors include ASCAP, Epiphone, Berklee College Of Music, D'Addario, Shure, Fishman, Sam Ash, Cakewalk, Hear Technologies, Disc Makers, Sonicbids, Musician's Atlas, Sibelius, Planetary Group, OnlineGigs, The Music Business Registry, Mediaguide, ArtistMonitor, George Stein, Esq., Alphabet Arm Design, and Taxi.
Author: World Music Central News Department
World music news from the editors at World Music Central