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[Sometimes I run across original research, original analysis, or hard-to-get information that is exactly the kind of stuff I live for - well thought out, well written, well researched commentary, the kind that your media experts get by the pound but think is too much for you to understand.
The post below has been slightly edited for the Brown Man Thinking Hard blog. Terje Anderson has given me permission to publish her comments and photos here.]
Over the last few days when looking at the photographs of people standing in line at early voting sites across the country, I've been reminded of so many pictures I've seen of election lines before - lines of voters from throughout the world, voters who have had to fight for the fundamental right to vote, voters for whom standing in line is perhaps the easiest part of everything they've had to do to bring about change.
First I thought of this famous picture of people in Soweto lined up to vote in South Africa's first post-apartheid election.
I thought of 1990, when the people of Burma shocked the military government by showing up en masse to overwhelmingly (80%) elect the opposition National League for Democracy party (NLD) and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The military junta refused to accept the vote, and to this day the Nobel Peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest and the people of Burma, often led by Buddhist monks, continue their struggle for democracy.
I remember seeing pictures of women lining up to vote in parliamentary elections in Nepal earlier this year, elections that ushered in the first democratically elected sovereign government following the ouster of the monarchy:
Because I have many close family ties there, I especially remember Chile in 1988 when the right wing dictator Augusto Pinochet tried to arrange a window-dressing referendum that he expected to continue his term in power. His military junta was shocked when 56% of the voters were brave enough to vote "NO" - beginning the long democratization process that today has resulted in the election of Michele Bachelet, a Socialist woman, as President. During the campaign against Pinochet, the mothers of political activists who had been murdered or "disappeared" led the "NO" voices.
How about these voters in Sierra Leone, reclaiming their country after the ugly civil wars that tore the west African country to shreds?
Another picture from Sierra Leone, where thousands of citizens were maimed by the armies that terrorised the country:
After another brutal civil war, the people of Liberia were willing to wait in long lines in 2005 to elect Africa's first female head of state:
In Guatemala, these peasants had already stood in line to vote for hours, only to find out that there was a problem with their registration. But instead of going home, they stood in yet another long line to sort out registration errors to finally be able to cast a vote. (Unfortunately, a possible glimpse of what many voters may face on election day in the US on November 4th.)
After the government of Ukraine stole the 2004 election, the people of the country rose up in the "Orange Revolution". Here are Ukrainian voters lining up in a rural village to vote in the second election (this one fair) that swept the government out of power.
Voters in East Timor in 1999, lining up to vote in the first election after years of living under a brutal Indonesian military occupation.
I'll never forget the images of these brave people in Harare, Zimbabwe (another country I have strong personal ties to) risking their lives to vote for the opposition under the eyes of Mugabe's police, soldiers and ZANU-PF thugs.
I think we were all inspired by the "Velvet Revolution" in Czechoslovakia, people were willing to risk their lives in a peaceful popular uprising that heralded the arrival of democracy throughout eastern Europe.
And despite facing grinding poverty, political violence, and a history of stolen elections and military coups, these voters in rural Haiti still were willing to line up to vote in 2006.
And let's not forget the courage it took Iraqis to come out and vote under the threat of political and sectarian violence. We can appreciate their bravery and commitment even while we object to the stupidity with which Bush/Cheney/Rumsfield went to war. (A hat tip in thanks to "VA Classical Liberal" for finding this photo - not 100% sure about public domain on this, but I'll chance it).
And lest we think these struggles only happen in other countries, let's never forget the battles for the right to vote that we've fought, and are still fighting, in America.
Immediately after the Civil War, former slaves (male) gained the right to vote, and the Reconstruction period saw large numbers of African-Americans elected to offices in the former Confederacy. These rights were soon lost in the face of the emergence of the Jim Crow period, the rise of the Klan, the Poll Tax, hoax "literacy tests" and and host of other attacks on the right to vote.
Women in America were denied the suffrage for the first century and a half of the our history, and only gained the vote after decades of ridicule and struggle.
A US law passed in 1870 prohibited Chinese immigrants from becoming United States citizens - making it impossible to vote - part of a series of racist laws designed to restrict Chinese immigration to the US. These provisions were later expanded to cover other Asian-Americans, and were not fully repealed until 1965.
The first peoples of the United States, the Native Americans, were subjected to massive campaigns of ethnic cleansing, genocide, and forced removal. Despite being the original Americans, Native people were denied US citizenship until the 1920s. Even after citizenship, many states denied American Indians the right to vote until the 1940s and 50s.
The fight for full voting rights for African-Americans in the United States was long and often violent.
The Selma to Montgomery marchers were marching for voting rights, and the violence at the Edmund Pettis bridge is what finally shamed LBJ and the United States Congress into enacting the Voting Rights Act.
Finally able to register, southern blacks flooded into county offices to enroll as voters.
Cesar Chavez led a march from Merced to Sacramento to fight for the dignity of Latino farm workers in California.
The spirit of Chavez continued in the massive marches for immigrant rights, raising the level of political awareness and activism in the Latino community.
In 1978, just a few months after using the power of the vote to elect the openly gay City Supervisor Harvey Milk, San Francisco residents marched by candlelight in sadness and anger after the murder of Milk and Mayor George Moscone.
In 2004 students and residents at Ohio's Kenyon College had to wait as long as 10 hours to vote, and voting only finished after 3 a.m.
Earlier this year, hundreds of students from the historically black Prairie View College in Texas had to march 7 miles to the county seat to protect their voting rights.
We didn't let long waits and lines keep us from living up to the legacy we've inherited. On Tuesday we made sure that the frustration and intimidation the right wing wanted to use to beat us was overwhelmed by our sheer numbers and determination.
So when I think about those long lines on Tuesday, I knew that we weren't standing in those lines alone - we were accompanied by the history of millions of people a whole lot braver and tougher than we ever needed to be to stand in line for those few hours.
9 comments:
- Kit (Keep It Trill) said...
- November 6, 2008 at 7:39 PM
Brown Man, it must have taken some time to gather all those photos. Thanks for doing this.
- Brown Man said...
- November 6, 2008 at 8:03 PM
You didn't see that big orange "Guest Blogger" pic above the post? Terje Anderson deserves all the credit - when I see well done presentations like this I have to try to get them for my readers.
I can't think that straight yet.
- blackwomenblowthetrumpet.blogspot.com said...
- November 6, 2008 at 9:53 PM
Hey there!
Thank you so much for sharing those powerful images!!
Please feel welcome to stop by my blog any time and share your thoughts with the THINKING HARD black women!
Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
- S.W. Anderson said...
- November 6, 2008 at 11:23 PM
That's a really splendid presentation. Thanks for getting permission and presenting it.
I'm going to tell someone I'm sure will want to see it also.
- RiPPa said...
- November 7, 2008 at 5:16 AM
This surely puts things into perspective.
- Terrell said...
- November 7, 2008 at 5:36 AM
A great compilation. Thanks for sharing!
- rikyrah said...
- November 7, 2008 at 9:22 AM
this was so beautiful. thank you so much for this. made me cry.
- Mr. Ronalds blog said...
- January 11, 2013 at 8:24 AM
Well hello there! It was so amazing to visit this blog and especially to read this post. And there is also one thing which I wanted to ask you. How do you feel about guest blogging?
- CK said...
- July 4, 2014 at 1:02 PM
To further support your piece on voting. I thought you might like to see this:


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That is good stuff. I love it when people speak plainly and refuse to worry about being politically correct. We are way past the point of empty courtesy and feigned politeness. Bi-partisanship? That is what has gotten use where we are, both sides getting all of the goodies to placate their supporters and sinking us into a quagmire of debt. Like Ron Paul, Mr. Farage appears to be one of those men who says what he thinks even when it costs him politically. We need more men like this, here and abroad. The stakes are way too high and anyone paying attention can see where this could lead us.
In a speech last year, Mr. Farage said the following:
If you rob people of their identity, if you rob them of their democracy, then all they are left with is nationalism and violence.
Mr. Farage lives in a nation nearly destroyed in the 1940's and Europeans have , or should have , a different view of this issue given their history. World War II wasn't a war started under the banner of exterminating Jews. It was the result of an economic collapse following World War I that allowed a mad dog like Adolf Hitler to rise to power in a nation desperate for a solution. Germany in the 1930's was a fraction of size and power of the United States today. It was a nation that was ruined, powerless and disarmed. What do you suppose will happen if we have a real collapse in this country, a collapse where those relying on transfer payments stop getting them, a collapse where a population that has had entitlement drilled into their heads from birth suddenly finds the well has run dry? Half of Americans pay no income taxes and a huge and largely overlapping percentage of Americans receive some sort of transfer payment from the United States government, payments seized from other Americans. Combine that with the most powerful perpetually standing military the world has every known and you have a recipe for a dangerous situation. We already have a President that is running for re-election on a platform of promising to take money from some Americans to give to others, what makes you think that a true totalitarian leader can't rise to replace a mediocre, incompetent would be tyrant?
Think it can't happen again?
Think again.

subset: commoncrawl


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I have a big problem with these railroads as the number of avalible trains is getting lower and lower. The manual says I "can" activate another law to buy more of these trains... But there isnt.
I have already checked out that all of my units are not beign supplied by trains, so they are inside cities.
All industrialization programs have already been used, so I have all the factories ready.
Yet no option to buy trains...
Halp me, guys! The New Russian Siberian Empire needs you!


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|N'Deye Gueye
(photo courtesy of the artist)
Town Hall
An Evening with Traditional African Dance Artists in NYC:
Conversation, Demonstration and Celebration
A presentation of Dance/NYC
A presentation of Dance/NYC
Thursday, September 17
Admission is free
with required reservation.
Dance/NYC and the New York Public Library's Jerome Robbins Dance Division present an evening of conversation and dance demonstration with Master African dance artists who have greatly transformed the dance landscape in New York City. Interviewed during the African Dance Interview Project of 2014, these esteemed artists include Maguette Camara, Marie Basse-Wiles, Mouminatou Camara, Youssouf Koumbassa, and N'Deye Gueye. This initiative, conceived by Jan Schmidt with Carolyn Webb serving as Project Director, was developed to increase community knowledge, awareness, and appreciation of traditional African dance in NYC. Renowned scholar and lecturer of the African Diaspora, C. Daniel Dawson, will moderate the evening.
Bruno Walter Auditorium
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza (between Columbus and Amsterdam), Manhattan


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I have been fortunate enough to get a ticket to the Apple WWDC 2012 conference. It brings back a whole lot of memories. Last time I visited San Francisco and Moscone Center, I was a full time Java developer. That time it was JavaOne, when Sun still was existing. Now I am a full time iPhone application developer, although I sometime do some Android development. It is around 2 years since I decided to give iPhone development a try. I have not yet regretted it. See you at Apple WWDC!
Is there anyone else attending Apple WWDC?


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I am working on our monthly budget for the new year in my Quicken program and just realized something. In a few months we will have more of our monthly mortgage payment going toward principle than toward interest! That's never happened before!! We used to have a 30 year mortgage and only about $200 each month went toward the principle...way less than what was going toward interest. We refinanced last year to a 15 year mortgage and I'm so amazed at how quickly the numbers are changing.
Another exciting thing for us is that my husband just got a sort-of promotion at work and will be getting a raise along with it. Since we have a fully funded emergency fund (baby step 3 per Dave Ramsey) and are already putting 15% of our income into retirement (baby step 4 per Dave Ramsey) we will be able to dump all of his raise onto our mortgage every month. I'm excited to see those numbers go down even faster!! Take a look at your own budget and your mortgage and see if you can do the same thing. What a great feeling it will be when we can finally say that we OWN our house!
Friday, January 23, 2009
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Federal Links
Code of Federal Regulations
Searchable database for the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) provided by the National Archives and Records Administration.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Searchable database for Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provided by the Legal Institution Institute at Cornell Law School.
Federal Rules of Evidence
Searchable database for Federal Rules of Evidence provided by the Legal Institution Institute at Cornell Law School.
Links to Federal Sites
Alphabetical index of Federal Departments and Agencies provided by FirstGov™.
United States Courts
Search information on the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Courts and U.S. Bankruptcy Courts.
State of Idaho Sites
State of Idaho Homepage
Link to the State of Idaho Homepage.
Index of State of Idaho Agencies
Alphabetical index of Idaho State Agencies.
Idaho State Police Sex Offender Registry
Idaho sex offender registration information.
Ada County Sheriff's Office Registered Sex Offenders
Ada County registered sex offenders information.
Idaho State Judiciary
Information on Idaho Courts.
Idaho Legislature
Link to the State of Idaho Legislature Homepage.
Idaho State Bar
Link to the Idaho State Bar and Idaho Law Foundation, Inc.
Idaho Statutes and Constitution
Searchable Legislative database for Idaho Code.
District of Idaho, United States Courts
Link to the U.S. Courts, District of Idaho Homepage.


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Riley Banks Elect Four New DirectorsFour new directors have been elected to the boards of the First National Bank and the Union National Bank in East Chicago.They are Edwin J. Carlson, president of the Indiana Forge and Machine Co.; Edgar J. Higgins, president of the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of East Chicago; Thomas J. Leyden, executive vice president of Riley Company, and Ivy J. Shuman, executive vice president of the two banks.The new directors replace Charles A. Creahan, retired former president of the Calumet Foundry and Machine Co. of East Chicago, who died Aug. 26; Oliver E. Mount, presently an industrial consultant and former secretary-treasurer of American Steel Foundries, who now lives in Franklin, Tenn.; John J. Block, who retired Dec. 31 as a vice president of Riley Company after 41 years' service, and Joseph S. Walkowiak, who retired Dec. 31 as vice president of the Union National Bank after 43 years of service.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
In Passing
6 comments:
It's a puzzle that an important businessman would not have a more readily available obituary.ReplyDeleteReplies
Exactly what I was thinking, Wendy. On the other hand, this may be a case of a couple of seniors who chose to move from their hometown to live closer to grandchildren...or the sun ;) ...and thus ended up in a place where they were not as well known.Delete
Of course, another side of the equation may be the holdings in various online newspaper archives. Perhaps a Chicago paper noted his passing in the business section, but Chicago newspapers are notoriously missing from most online collections (except for their own, which come at a price, of course).
I've looked in three states' records to try and find Charles, without any trace so far. Someday...maybe....
Just goes to show, you got to pay attention to what you read!! I might have missed that death date!ReplyDeleteReplies
It was such a blip flying by, I may have missed it the first time around, myself! Why I'm a fan of slow reading...Delete
A date is a starting point. :)ReplyDeleteReplies
Agreed. I'm glad I have at least that. But it may take a trip back east before I can actually locate the obituary associated with that date. It's odd how some newspaper articles are so readily obtainable online, and others seem to be hidden in a black hole.Delete


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Despite being the middle of winter, our 2.5-week visit to Australia was warmed by time spent with *friends and family … as-well-as by delicious coffee. Melbourne really does have some excellent cafes. I spent one child-free day exploring central Melbourne and all it has to offer:
galleries, river walks, shop arcades, restaurants, pedestrian precincts, China town!…..
'Grandpa' and 'Grandma' were kept very busy spending time with their grandchildren – with mutual delight.
During our stay we also enjoyed bush walks, a steam train ride, motor bike rides, kangaroo spotting, bird life, eating fresh eggs that we'd collected, swings (very rare playground equipment here in Shanghai), rainbows, clean air, food and water, and above all, chatting with folk.
I would have to add that there are a few changes in Australia that bother me: urban sprawl with a lack of planning, the exorbitant cost of living (housing, education, health), and the current government's stance on a number of social issues (homosexuality, family planning…) and the environment.
* THANK YOU again mum'n'dad, Ian, Rachael, Geraldine, Joanne L, Joanne P, Joanne W, Diana, Melinda, Rebecca, Rob'n'Marg, Kate, Chris and family, Maggie and family, Theo and family, Liz'n'Bill and all of mum'n'dad's friends who loaned toys! This last trip back was probably the best since my departure in 1999.
I don't usually recount airplane flight details, but this one was pretty epic: We were 30mins from Shanghai airport – and I was eager to land as Blanche had already vomited 4 times – when we hit some VERY serious turbulence. Passengers were screaming but I pretended that I was having a good time and Antoine looked like he actually was! We were diverted to the nearest airport (Hangzhou) and I later discovered that the left wing had been hit by lightening and had been on fire. We remained in the plane for over an hour before we were shunted off and left to 'queue' for a bus to take us to a hotel. Now as China Eastern allows more luggage than other airlines, I leave you to imagine what it was like to load luggage and get on the bus after a 10-hour flight with hundreds of other tired and frustrated passengers at midnight. Blanche had one last vomit in the bus and at first I was relieved to find that I had a plastic bag … but later horrified to find that it had a hole in it! Again, I leave you to imagine that.
I've lived in China long enough to know that my best option would be to find another means of transport to get to Shanghai and so I arranged to see Ben our friendly driver at 8:30am the following morning. However I didn't expect traffic jams and so it was not until 11:00 that we were finally home-ward bound to arrive in Shanghai at 14:00 – just in time for our household belongings to be delivered to our new apartment. For those who are curious, there was still no airplane arranged to take passengers to Shanghai when I left Hangzhou at 11:00.
Sebastien's 16-year-old half-brother arrived from France on his first voyage abroad just a day after our return so I'm feeling exhausted, I'm surrounded by boxes …. but I'm happy.


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We are Moving!!!!!
We are Moving!
Please take a moment and change your bookmarks for us. We have moved to a new, and better, site.
We Look Forward to seeing you there.
There will no longer be posts on this site after January 31, 2012
Thank you and we cannot wait to see you at our new home
You Gotta Read Reviews Admin Team
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Review - The Lure of the Witch by Betty Sullivan La Pierre
Title: The Lure of the Witch
Author: Betty Sullivan La Pierre
Publisher: SynergEbooks
Buy Link: The Lure of the Witch
Rating: You Could Read
Reviewed By: Janelle
Sarah Willis, a teenager, was reported missing to the Medford police by her father. When Greg Willis decided the authorities were dragging their feet, he hired private investigator Tom Casey, better known as Hawkman, to find his daughter. When evidence of witchcraft is discovered, it becomes a race against time to find the missing girls.
Let's be clear, I like paranormal mystery. I'm a huge Dresden Files fan. And this story is no Dresden file.
This story is readable, but it won't rock your world. As far as I can tell there is not a single original thought on these pages. It is so full of stereotypes and cliches. The rich popular girl is a bitch, the ugly nerd has depression and no friends, the police couldn't find their butts with their hands glued to the seat of their pants, and everyone lives happily ever after.
More importantly, the author clearly did not bother with even the most basic of research. Private Investigators, for example, are contract labor, they work by billable hours, not flat rates. They aren't going to go have a nice chat with the police chief before they are actually hired to work a case. Furthermore, the "witchcraft" in this story couldn't have been more cookie cutter. But since no act of magic is ever shown, it might all be a delusion.
This book has nothing of note to offer the genre, it's poorly researched and remarkably bland. It will get you through a rainy day if your bored, but I cannot say I would recommend it.
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Before we ever flew anywhere with Isabella I was nervous about how she would travel in a confined space surrounded by many people. I have heard about and have been witness to many children having prolonged temper tantrums or wild runs on airplanes. Prior to my trip to the US, we flew twice within Europe with Isabella and she did great. The trip to the US was no exception, even though the day we left she officially started teething, and the day we left for our return journey she was suffering from the tremendous cold that I now have (which, incidentally, is the first illness she's had at all). We had a bulkhead seat and I was able to use the aircraft's bassinet so she could lay down for short spells, which was really nice. The flight attendants were attentive to us, but it still didn't quite make up for the ticketing issue we found out about two days before our departure. (American Airlines made me pay an additional and extortionate $500 just to have her in my lap. Flying domestically, it's $0. They also damaged my stroller and the cup holders were torn off. But enough about that unpleasantness, nobody has a good time with airlines these days anyway.) During the flights, I amazed myself with my one-handed abilities - not only was I able to quickly change her in the tiny airplane bathroom, but I could use it myself while holding her in one arm, prevent her from touching any of the nasty walls that were all within her reach AND wash both hands. Dealing with all my luggage and a baby stroller were quite another matter and I had to ask for help wherever I could get it. To all of the kind strangers who went out of their way to help me - THANK YOU.
In other Isabella news - She's teething but still hasn't cut a tooth. She's been sitting up by herself for a month and a half. She doesn't crawl but instead eyeballs her target, then scoots, rolls, and creeps in for the kill. To my horror, she has an affinity for electrical cords and goes for those first. Her intelligence often catches me off guard because she can predict what will happen in certain games we play. And right now, even though her poor little voice sounds like a smoker's, she is happily chatting away with her new surplus of toys.


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Welcome to the new Lordwallington.com New to the site is our innovative patent pending interchangeable bow tie concept that is available in our bow tie builder. Also new to the site is The Den, a carefully curated collection of antiques for your den, office, or man cave. We have also launched our shirts! All made … Continue reading
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We have reached the half way point of our Kickstarter campaign. We are almost to 40%. What a ride this has been. Thank you to everyone for the backing, sharing, and support up to this point. We still need you to keep the support up and we will make our goal! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/663650858/help-us-create-the-perfect-shirt-quality-style- Continue reading
Lord Wallington Kickstarter
This was the beginning of our dream and with your help we can continue to make our dream a reality. Please check out the link below to see our Kickstarter campaign. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/663650858/help-us-create-the-perfect-shirt-quality-style-and Continue reading
Lord Wallington Kickstarter
Lord Wallington is a hand made in the USA menswear line that redefines accessories and tailored wardrobe staples. Sometime in 2011 I bought a bow tie from Macy's but the first time I wore it I ran into a guy on the street wearing the exact same bow tie. I took it apart to see … Continue reading
The Capital of Bespoke
Savile Row, the capital of bespoke. In a recent visit to the UK we made a point of visiting the capital of bespoke tailoring, Savile Row. The row exceeded our expectations as it was lined with tailor shops that cater from businessmen to the Royal Family. We were lucky enough to have a tour of … Continue reading
Handcrafted For 2014
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AW-14 is on the way!
Lord Wallington is happy to announce our new AW-14 lineup is coming soon! We are also happy to announce we are going to have our first ever lineup of shirts. lordwallington.com Continue reading
New Bow Tie
LW by Lord Wallington is our small batch line of bow ties and ties that are available on Etsy. Here is one of our newest additions. Continue reading
Mix n' Match
Lord Wallington is pleased to carry Will Leather Goods on our site. These bags will also be available at our trunk show at the Fathers Day Pop Up on June 7th at PreFAB in The Headquarters. Bags available here: http://www.lordwallington.com/collections/bags Tie available here: http://www.lordwallington.com/collections/ties/products/tie-camo Lord Wallington Trunk Show and Fathers Day Pop Up June 7th … Continue reading


text: Top 100 bank advisors (26-50) InDepth By Lee Conrad Margarida Correia Yueqi Yang James Thorne Published December 06 2017, 12:00pm EST More in Top 100 Bank Advisors National banks Regional banks Bank channel Citigroup Raymond James Financial LPL Financial CUSO Financial Services CUNA Brokerage Services print Start Slideshow Slide 1 of 27Top 100 bank advisors (26-50)Bank Investment Consultant continues its signature ranking with those advisors who ranked 26 – 50. Our annual ranking has become a testament to consistency. To compile our list, we combine multiple variables, including assets under management, production, growth and fee business, into one composite score. The winners inevitably are those who do well across the board even if they aren't the absolute best in a specific area.You can see those advisors who ranked 1-25, and 51-100 in separate slideshows.Full Top 100 coverage:• Top 100 bank advisors: Who's in and how they did it• Top 100 bank advisors (1 – 25)• Top 100 bank advisors (26-50)•Top 100 bank advisors (51-75)• Top 100 bank advisors (76 – 100)• Courting HNW clients in the Music City next print


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I've been doing a quite a bit of reading this week. I just finished up reading The Daily 5 by "The Sisters". What a great book! It is going to completely change the literacy block in my fourth grade classroom this year. One of the main things I picked up from this book is how to help the kiddos become independent, and how to increase their stamina for reading and writing. All while letting them read and write about what they are interested in. I also just downloaded a copy of The CAFE Book by the same authors. At first I thought Daily 5 and CAFE were two separate things. However, after asking a few questions of my twitter PLN, I've realized that they can be used together. The Daily 5 is how to structure your literacy block, whereas The CAFE Book is about structures to teach comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary. I plan on reading this and then decide what changes I will need to make to modify my literacy block for the upcoming year.
I have also begun reading The Passion Driven Classroom. What a true gem! I cannot put this book down. It is changing the way I think about the learners that I teach. I'm looking forward to finishing this one over the next week or so. I'll let you know what I learn in another post.


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Here it comes, issue number 76 has just started rolling back from the printers. The usual mix of information and misinformation to delight and astound.
This time around we've got an array of old favourites and eminent friends; a little bit of looking after our own. There's stuff on books and festivals and psych folk, and the usual bits and bobs.
Howe Gelb and Chuck Prophet are interviewed by Nick West. Mick Dillingham locks horns with The Posies. Hugh Gulland talks at length with Terry Edwards; this is Part One of what looks set to run and run. Our friend Roch Parisien chaired an online session with Jim Sclavunos and we've got some excerpts from that. Then Kim Salmon and Jud Cost had a bit of a chat about this and that.
Phil Suggitt went to IPO in Vancouver, sat David Bash down and got the skinny on that moveable feast. Plus there's stuff on the Stones and the End Of The Road, Dennis Dalcin's Garage, various reviews and stuff.
Purchase the issue here and now
Or take out a three-issue subscription
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Bucketfull Of Brains #76 now available
1 comment:
- Remedy said...
Songwriter/Musician Chuck Prophet and band travels to Mexico City to record his upcoming album, ¡Let Freedom Ring!. Filmmaker Scott Compton and DP John Behrens went along for the ride armed with Canon 5D MkII HD SLR cameras.
Amid power outages, earthquakes, corrupt police and swine flu hysteria on CNN, Chuck and band managed to plug in and roll tape on a old-school rock record that takes no prisoners.
This trailer is on the upcoming documentary chronicling the adventure.
Hope you enjoy,
Remedy Editorial, The cure for the common post:
Wordpress: http://scottcompton.com/blog
Facebook: http://facebook.com/remedyeditorial
Twitter: http://twitter.com/remedyeditorial
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YouTube: http://youtube.com/user/remedyeditorial
- 12 January 2011 at 20:52


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In our example, we see a brightly lit scene in front of a convenience store. Inside the store is visible, but there's room for improvement.
In CS3, you can make exposure adjustments from the Image>Adjustments (destructive) menu or you can choose to create an exposure adjustment layer from the Layers panel (non-destructive).
In CS4, there's been a little rearranging. You can now find the adjustment layer choices clearly displayed in the Adjustments panel. The Exposure adjustment is located in the top row at the far right. Click on it to create your new exposure adjustment layer.
If you were used to making exposure adjustments in Photoshop CS3, the tools aren't much different. The nice thing now is that they are all in the same panel. No more pop-up dialog boxes that you have to drag out of the way.
For our example, I just wanted to see more information through the glass store front, but leave the rest of the image untouched. So, I painted with black on the mask to limit the effect to just those areas I was concerned with. In this way, I don't blow-out the whole image and it looks much more realistic.
The nice thing about adjustment layers is that you can always go back and change your settings. If you find that it still prints out a bit dark, bump it up another half stop or so or adjust the gamma - or both.


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|By Admin1 (admin) (220.127.116.11) on Sunday, April 19, 2009 - 11:59 am: Edit Post
Dodd faces steep road to reelection
The five-term Democrat has been beset by 10 months of damaging stories and fumbling responses to questions about mortgages he received from Countrywide Financial, a company at the heart of the nation's subprime mortgage meltdown. More recently, he has taken flak for his role in crafting legislation that allowed $165 million in federal bailout money to be used for bonuses for executives of AIG, the troubled insurance giant now owned by the American taxpayer. Dodd's circumstances echo those faced in 1994 by his close friend, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who polling showed was vulnerable to a tough challenge from Republican Mitt Romney that year. Kennedy's campaign found that Bay State voters knew more about the soap opera aspects of Kennedy's personal life than his accomplishments in more than three decades in the Senate and then launched an all-out effort to inform the electorate. Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.
Dodd faces steep road to reelection
Dodd faces steep road to reelection
Conn.'s senior senator trails 3 Republicans
By Brian C. Mooney
Globe Staff / April 17, 2009
HARTFORD - The election is still more than 18 months away, but US Senator Chris Dodd is barnstorming Connecticut this week like an incumbent in trouble. Voters who have supported him for 29 years are showing anger over his personal finances and for legislation that allowed federal bailout money to be used for executive bonuses.
The political perils for Dodd, who is being outpolled by each of three little-known Republicans, have grown so acute that President Obama weighed in yesterday with a strong endorsement and a pledge of personal support.
"I can't say it any clearer: I will be helping Chris Dodd because he deserves the help," Obama told the Globe yesterday in a phone interview from Air Force One, as he flew to Mexico on a diplomatic trip.
"Chris is going through a rough patch," Obama said. "He just has an extraordinary record of accomplishment, and I think the people in Connecticut will come to recognize that. . . . He always has his constituencies at heart, and he's somebody I'm going to be relying on and working very closely with to shepherd through the types of regulatory reforms we need."
The five-term Democrat has been beset by 10 months of damaging stories and fumbling responses to questions about mortgages he received from Countrywide Financial, a company at the heart of the nation's subprime mortgage meltdown. More recently, he has taken flak for his role in crafting legislation that allowed $165 million in federal bailout money to be used for bonuses for executives of AIG, the troubled insurance giant now owned by the American taxpayer.
Dodd said last month that he had no idea that AIG bonuses would result from what he considered technical language he inserted at the request of the Obama administration, which feared litigation involving contractual obligations.
Combined with public anxiety about the economy and mortgages, it has created a toxic environment for Dodd.
A Quinnipiac University poll released April 2 showed Dodd with a disapproval rating that has shot to 58 percent. The poll showed him trailing three potential Republican challengers, including former US representative Rob Simmons by 16 points.
"Certainly you'd like to have better poll numbers, but I also know that polls aren't terribly significant at this juncture," Dodd told reporters this week before attending a roundtable discussion in Bridgeport with Shaun Donovan, Obama's secretary of housing and urban development.
"I didn't get elected to get reelected," Dodd said. "I got elected to do a job, and I'm doing my job as best I can every single day to help people get back on their feet again."
But in a state that Obama carried by 22 points last year, his slump makes Dodd the most vulnerable Senate incumbent heading into the 2010 election cycle by most accounts.
"The fact that all three of these Republicans, none of them well known, are beating Dodd really has to worry him," said Douglas Schwartz, the Quinnipiac polling director, who has done surveys about Dodd since 1994.
"His 58 percent disapproval rating stands out - it's something we haven't seen - and 54 percent that say he's not honest and trustworthy," Schwartz said. "These negatives are so high it will be tough to turn around. People here know Dodd; he's a household name in Connecticut."
Compounding Dodd's problem was his ill-fated 2008 campaign for president, including moving his family to Iowa for two months before a woeful showing in the kickoff caucuses drove him from the race. A November 2007 poll showed that 55 percent of Connecticut voters thought he was spending too much time running for president and not enough time representing the state, Schwartz said.
The Connecticut GOP has been strafing Dodd repeatedly since the loans from Countrywide surfaced last year. Last June, Portfolio magazine reported that Dodd was on a Countrywide VIP list known as "Friends of Angelo," referring to the company's former chief executive, Angelo R. Mozilo.
Dodd has steadfastly maintained he received no special mortgage rates from Countrywide. But he waited 253 days (Republicans kept a running count) while the matter was under review by the Senate Ethics Committee before producing in February both his own records and those of Countrywide for inspection by the media. The ethics panel has not issued a finding.
"Everyone's losing their homes, and he's got three of them on a senator's salary, and people want to know how he's managing to swing all these mortgages," said Christopher Healy, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party. "After 30 years, there's a general fatigue about Dodd. You only beat people like this at the beginning or the end of his arc, and he's at the end."
As Congress broke for Easter this week, Dodd has been campaigning as though the election were next month, not next year, emphasizing his record in the Senate. He met with business groups, spoke at an environmental symposium, and met with machinists at jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, vowing to fight Defense Secretary Robert Gates's plan to terminate service of the F-22 jet.
Yesterday, Dodd chaired a field hearing in New Haven of his Senate committee on transportation issues, including commuter rail upgrades on a line linking New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield. A half-hour before the hearing, Obama, before departing for Mexico, unveiled a new report outlining plans to build a network of 10 high-speed rail corridors, including one in Connecticut.
Dodd's circumstances echo those faced in 1994 by his close friend, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who polling showed was vulnerable to a tough challenge from Republican Mitt Romney that year. Kennedy's campaign found that Bay State voters knew more about the soap opera aspects of Kennedy's personal life than his accomplishments in more than three decades in the Senate and then launched an all-out effort to inform the electorate.
Dodd, who has raised huge sums from the financial services industry he oversees as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has stepped up his fund-raising. His campaign started this month with more than $1.3 million in the bank. By some estimates, he may need 10 times that to hold the seat he won in 1980 after three terms as a congressman.
In Bridgeport and at earlier events in Hartford and New Haven on Monday, HUD Secretary Donovan was effusive in his praise of Dodd and his record, using the words "leadership," "persistence," and "incredible force" more than a dozen times to highlight Dodd's work on housing programs.
On Tuesday, in the hall of Boilermakers Local 614, not far from the vast Electric Boat Co. in Groton, a group of about 50 shipyard union leaders rose twice to cheer the state's senior senator for his efforts over the years to save jobs at the facility that builds and repairs submarines for the Navy.
Nancy Driscoll, a retired nurse and Democratic activist from Groton, attended and was ready to go to work. "We've got to start from the beginning and bring Chris back," she said. "In this environment, you can't help but be a little nervous."
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: April, 2009; RPCV Chris Dodd (Dominican Republic); Figures; Peace Corps Dominican Republic; Directory of Dominican Republic RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Dominican Republic RPCVs; Politics; Congress; Connecticut
When this story was posted in April 2009, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
March 22, 2009: Special Envoy
Holbrooke is Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan 26 Feb
Peace Corps Madagascar Program Suspended 16 Mar
Peace Corps Volunteer Murdered in Benin 12 Mar
Joseph Acaba Makes First Spacewalk 21 Mar
Michael O'Hanlon: Can Obama win in Afghanistan? 20 Mar
Dodd faces Rebellion in Connecticut 19 Mar
Mike Honda writes: Request for Internet Ideas 19 Mar
Laurence Leamer writes: Tragedy of the Peace Corps 16 Mar
Gaddi Vasquez at Annenberg Foundation Trust 16 Mar
White House defends appointment of Chris Hill 14 Mar
Ted Kennedy promotes national service bill 10 Mar
John Dunlop helps Iraq recover 8 Mar
Want a better safer world? Volunteer. 6 Mar
Guy Consolmagno writes: The Search for Earth-like Planets 5 Mar
Charles Murray to receive AEI Award 5 Mar
Sam Goldman started D.light to replace kerosene lamps 4 Mar
RPCVs apply Ideas To Hometown In Need 3 Mar
Senator Bond: Peace Corps and Smart Power 26 Feb
Bob Shacochis writes: Rebuild the Peace Corps 24 Feb
Stephen Andersen promotes Kenyan artisans 24 Feb
Francis Koster writes: A shard of glass 24 Feb
Read more stories from February 2009 and March.
PCOL's Candidate for Peace Corps Director
Honduras RPCV Jon Carson, 33, presided over thousands of workers as national field director for the Obama campaign and said the biggest challenge -- and surprise -- was the volume of volunteer help, including more than 15,000 "super volunteers," who were a big part of what made Obama's campaign so successful. PCOL endorses Jon Carson as the man who can revitalize the Peace Corps, bring it into the internet age, and meet Obama's goal of doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011.
Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL Interview
Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez.
Read the stories and leave your comments.


text: Of course, Webvan and Yelp cases share some similarities, but there are many interesting contrasts partly due to their different industries, both grocery and last-mile delivery industries for Webvan and information goods industry for Yelp. First, during the first few years, Webvan tried to launch its services in several big cities while Yelp just focused on establishing its presence in San Francisco. Second, Webvan spent over $100 million upfront on distribution centers whereas Yelp needed very small infrastructure investments. Third, Webvan needed a complicated supply chain management since it's in both grocery and last-mile delivery industries. Meanwhile, Yelp was in information goods industry and dedicated to its web content. Finally, Webvan's direct source of revenues was users and could have made profits if the number of users was big enough. In contrast, Yelp already had a great community of users but could not find ways to monetize this.


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I've been pondering all the analysis about the significance of the Obama Presidency. Some say it's the downpayment of the Dream, while others suggest it's the fulfillment of the Dream. I tend toward the former category. I worry that "ah, we have a black President - all of our racial issues are solved!" Also, I would hate for Obama 44 to be the fulfillment if it turns out that he - using a word my wife hates - SUCKED as President. I mean, he's done well out of the gate, but it's not even two weeks out of 208. Also, racial disparities still exist, the Colin Powells and Barack Obamas notwithstanding.
All of this reminded me of a treacly song called Only in America by Jay and the Americans. It was a seemingly innocuous love song by Leiber/Stoller/Weill/Mann.
Only in America
Can a guy from anywhere
Go to sleep a pauper and wake up a millionaire
Only in America
Land of opportunity, yeah
Would a classy girl like you fall for a poor boy like me
Only in America
Can a kid who's washin' cars
Take a giant step and reach right up and touch the stars
Only in America
Could a dream like this come true
Could a guy like me start with nothing and end up with you
But it was the second couplet that caused a bit of controversy:
Only in America
Can a kid without a cent
Get a break and maybe grow up to be President
As done by the Americans, this was fine. But this song was originally written with the black vocal group, the Drifters, in mind. I've read that either Atlantic Records wouldn't release it because it would be too controversial, or the group wouldn't because the lyrics had been watered down.
Regardless, maybe the kid without a cent CAN "get a break and maybe grow up to be President".
WayneJohn's post about time reminded me of another song, also somewhat appropriate in this context:
The Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come Today
B is for blowing up beautiful balloons
16 hours ago


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The Pacifica Evening News
Monday, May 7, 2012
San Mateo County Supervisors Set To Approve New Spending For Jails
San Mateo County Supervisors are expected to vote for initial design funding for a new county jail. Opponents say the county instead should spend money on programs that keep people out of jail. John Hamilton has the story.
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|Access Bolinda eAudiobooks for free as a Moreland library member.
What is an eAudiobook?
An eAudiobook is similar to a book on tape or CD, downloaded as a computer file. You can listen to the file directly from your computer or transfer it to a portable player such as an iPod or MP3 player.
How to borrow a library eAudiobook
Visit Bolinda downloadable Audiobooks to access eAudiobooks for free as a Moreland library member.
You may be prompted for a username or a library card number when you borrow an eAudiobook. This is the number printed on your Moreland City Libraries member card, for example, A2000301xxxxxxxB.
The password is your date of birth in 8 numbers, for example, ddmmyyyy.


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Shocking news for fruity Apple fans – CEO Steve Jobs is planning on doing the absolutely unthinkable – he will quit Apple!
The revelation comes after Steve Jobs presented the new MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and an updated MacBook Air yesterday at an event. He told the audience present that the company is more than himself.
"Hey, look, Apple is more than Steve." He said, "These are The Guys, the Goodfellas, the A-Team. They share the same vision I have. And they are going to push the company forward when I change my office chair for a hammock and caipirinhas on my private beach in Hawaii".
That was a downer of a statement from Steve Jobs, who generally is the star of the show. This was clearly a sign that he has transferred some money to a resort where he will spend the rest of his life in peace and tranquility, away from the bustling market.
Steve Jobs NEVER puts himself after Apple, as selfish as that may sound, it was a good thing because Billions of people across the world love and worship him for his genius. The statement he made only strengthens belief that he is going to quit and that there are other people in Apple.
In case you didn't already know, Steve Jobs hasn't quite been keeping well lately. Numerous reports of his health concerns have floated across tabloids, although Steve himself denied them. We know that Steve Jobs will remain with Apple the way Bill Gates will always stay with Microsoft, but Apple won't be the same without its fruity guru.
source: www.india.com/technology/gadgets
Shocking news for fruity Apple fans – CEO Steve Jobs is planning on doing the absolutely unthinkable – he will quit Apple!
Labels: Apple, Steve Jobs
1 comments:
- SARDSCREED said...
nice blog..keep it up
- December 11, 2008 at 6:21 AM


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I'm off on a long weekend with Anita to celebrate our anniversary, so I'm cheating a little today and running the interview I did for the DirectLife blog recently. You may have seen it already, but I bet you didn't see my correspondence with DirectLife Junior Market Intelligence Analyst Antonio Galván and DirectLife Coach José...
Dear Jack,
I sat with coach José and he would like to know your answer to the following questions:
From reading your blog we noticed how determined you are. What do you consider important when setting a goal and staying motivated?
From your experience, what is the impact of an active life in weight?
Where did your inspiration to lose weight come from?
Now that you have been so successful in losing weight, what advice would you have for our DirectLife members?
If you had to sum up your DirectLife experiences to a friend from your cell phone what would you text (146 characters)?
Thanks a lot,
Antonio Galván Puente
Junior Market Intelligence Analyst
I just wanted to quickly introduce myself. Antonio mentioned the idea of doing an interview-type blog post with you. I wanted to send you some questions that I thought would be great to have your answers for, but I believe he already went ahead and sent them to you. So, just wanted to say hi, and that I am looking forward to your answers. I sit very close to Jen in the office (we both work in India...kidding!), and it has been a lot of fun to read your interactions on your blog. Also enjoyed your "tough love" post today... like I said, it will be great to have you on our blog.
Have a great and active weekend, Jack
I don't like to brag, but do you know who's a good interviewer? Me!
I interviewed the President of Weight Watchers a few weeks back and asked him some probing, insightful questions that, quite frankly, raised the bar of interviewing about seventeen notches. That's why I was a trifle disappointed with the quality of the interview questions that Antonio forwarded on to me. Where's the kind of question that will have the reader sitting on the edge of his or her seat?
For example, "Jack, is it true that you're a cannibal?"
See? You're breathlessly waiting for me to answer that question now, because if I am a cannibal, then that changes everything you thought you knew about me! (the answer is that I'm NOT a cannibal, but I do have some really good cannibal recipes I sometimes share with my readers, some of whom just happen to be cannibals).
My disappointment aside, I'll answer your damn questions, DirectLife Coach José. And don't rub it in that you sit in such close proximity to DirectLife Coach Jen; you know that there's quite a bit of sexual tension between the two of us and now you've just about set me off into a jealous rage. Watch your back, DirectLife Coach José!
Thanks for the note.
Sorry to hear about your disappointment with the questions. I have no doubt about how good an interviewer you are and that you could come up with much more interesting and creative questions. Sorry if this took some of the fun out of it! I can imagine it did. On the other hand, from what I read in your blog.... I am totally convinced that you will be able to work with them in a way that does keep "the reader sitting on the edge of his or her seat".
Have a truly great day,
I just sent Junior Market Intelligence Analyst Antonio Galván the answers to those interview questions. And way to set the bar absurdly high, DirectLife Coach José. It's like you two want me to fail...
By the way, can you please tell DirectLife Coach Jen that her hair looks nice and shiny today? Chicks dig that kind of stuff...
Your pal,
I'm a little ticked off that you and DirectLife Coach José have those bitchin' little accent marks in your names. Do you think you're better than me because of that? Well, I do!
Here's the answers to the questions you sent last week. Let me know if you need anything else or would like to lend me some money.
From reading your blog we noticed how determined you are. What do you consider important when setting a goal and staying motivated?
Truthfully, I don't know why some journeys spark and some sputter. All I know is that when you do finally catch hold of that lightning bolt, you need to hang on and ride it for as long as humanly possible.
And I do give my blog – Jack Sh*t, Gettin' Fit – a lot of credit for getting my weight-loss journey bubbling on the front burner. I post my weigh-in numbers every week, and that's a huge incentive for me to stay on track because I have a lot of readers who'll get on my case if I slack off for very long.
My inspiration came on Easter Sunday of last year. My family was out of town and I was feeling down after another bad day of eating and drinking way, way too much. I spent some time having a long heart-to-heart talk with myself. A switch flipped over inside me and I knew, from that moment on, that things were going to change for the better.
Jack Sh*t is the mastermind behind Jack Sh*t, Gettin' Fit, the diet, health and wellness blog that chronicles one man's journey from "too fat" to "all that". Besides being a full-time blogger, Jack makes exotic animal sculptures out of candy corn, which he sells at local flea markets and craft fairs.


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- Rosey Cheeks Face Cream by Cocoon Apothecary - I've used this a handful of times as my morning and night face cream. A little goes along way so I should be able to enjoy this little container for a while! It has a wonderfully full-bodied floral aroma which I've been tolerating very well and I actually really like (surprisingly). It has a medium thickness that is rich and creamy, but doesn't leave a residue or leave you with a greasy face. I've even used it prior to applying make-up and had no issues at all! If this keeps up I'll definitely be purchasing this in the future. I looked up the ingredients and I love seeing the 0 EWG rating.
- Minerals Eye Shadow by Overall Beauty - Love the concept, the natural ingredients, but certainly not the bright pink color. I'm sure not too many people can pull off such a vibrant shade of pink though (pic below).
- Freedom Lip Gloss by Revolution Organics - I love a good lip gloss and haven't worn one in years due to harsh chemicals in all the ones I've found. This one has a pretty natural list of ingredients that I would be excited to wear if I had received a more natural color. However, the texture seems to be perfectly thick so it will stay on well for the glossy look without being too sticky. The color is quite a vibrant red though and it's just not a good color for me at all.
- Facial Exfoliating Creme by Aguacate Co Skin Care - Creamy yet gritty from the jojoba beads, just the way I like it! It leaves my face soft, smooth and exfoliated but in a very gentle way. It doesn't strip my face of it's moisture like some exfoliating face washes can.
- Natural Face Corrective Cleanser by Collective Wellbeing - This is a creamy cleanser that has a little bit of grittiness here and there. It contains oatmeal and raspberry to soothe inflamed and irritated skin, and aloe leaf and jojoba seed oil to hydrate. The fragrance smelled a bit like a harsh sunscreen and my face wasn't particularly glowing after. However, if you have oily skin this would work well since it doesn't leave a lot of moisture behind on your skin.
- Organic Eau de Parfum by Tsi-La - I am loving this KIZES fragrance! It's relatively light with a creamy citrus orange scent and floral undertones. I don't wear perfumes because they are filled with toxic chemicals. But this is made with 100% natural fragrances and I will totally wear it! I'm thrilled to check out their whole line to find my perfect scent. This is a unisex fragrance actually and I agree with that. Men can definitely pull off this scent too.
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By Karine KalantarianRussian law-enforcement authorities have stepped up their efforts to combat and avert racist attacks on Armenians and other non-Slavic immigrants, Russia's Prosecutor-General Yuri Chayka said during a visit to Yerevan on Friday.
Seeking to allay growing concerns in Armenia about ethnic violence in Russia, he said his office now directly oversees criminal investigations into racially motivated murders of Armenians, which are regularly reported from various parts of the vast country.
"Since the second half of 2005, five criminal cases involving criminals who have committed crimes [against ethnic Armenians] motivated by ethnic hatred have been under the control of the Prosecutor-General's Office," Chayka told a news conference. The agency also formed recently a special unit tasked with monitoring the enforcement of Russian laws on "federal security and inter-ethnic relations," he said.
The Russian law-enforcement bodies have been under fire in recent months for their failure to stop the increasingly endemic violence against darker-skinned immigrants from the Caucasus, Central Asia and Africa. It is widely blamed on neo-Nazi skinhead groups openly operating in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and other Russian cities. According to Russian human rights organizations, at least six Armenians and ethnic Armenian citizens of Russia have been killed in such attacks this year alone.
The most recent of those killings, reported in May, sparked a fresh outcry in Armenia that forced the authorities in Yerevan to raise the issue with Moscow. Meeting a visiting senior Kremlin official in June, President Robert Kocharian demanded tougher action against perpetrators of hate crimes, which have often been characterized as "hooligan acts" by the Russian police.
According to Simon Tsaturian, a Moscow-based lawyer who has represented the families of some of the Armenian victims, the Russian authorities have been doing more to tackle the problem since Chayka's appointment as prosecutor-general in July. "I see considerable progress in that fight under the new leadership of the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office," he told RFE/RL by phone.
Tsaturian cited recent arrests made in the fatal stabbing on a Moscow subway in April of Vigen Abramiants, a 17-year-old ethnic Armenian. The murder, which outraged Russia's sizable Armenian community, seems to have been solved, he said.
Unlike Chayka, Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev was more dismissive of the Armenian concerns as he visited Yerevan in late June. He claimed that the reported number of Armenians killed for racist motives in recent month is grossly exaggerated.
Persisting ethnic tensions in Russia were underscored last week by fighting in a Volga River town involving ethnic Armenians and others that left one Russian man dead and at least three injured. Ekho Moskvy radio reported that the café brawl was followed by an attack on ethnic Armenian students at a local technical college that left one student with a knife wound. The violence came about a week after two people were killed in clashes and rioting that targeted Chechens in the northern town of Kondopoga.
It is not clear if the issue was on the agenda of Chayka's talks with Kocharian and Armenia's Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian. A statement on the meeting issued by Kocharian's office made no mention of it, saying only that the two men discussed ways of boosting ties between the Armenian and Russian law-enforcement bodies.
The official purpose of Chayka's trip was to attend a regular meeting of Armenia's and Russia's top prosecutors. Its participants praised the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation.
According to official data made public after the meeting, the Russians have arrested and extradited 34 criminal suspects to Armenia in the first eight months of this year. The Armenian law-enforcers, for their part, have detained 99 persons wanted by their Russian counterparts. However, only one of them was extradited to Russia. Law-enforcement sources explained that the other suspects are Armenian nationals and will therefore be tried by Armenian courts.
(Photolur photo: Yuri Chayka.)


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One of my favorite columnists, Eugene Robinson, being interviewed today by Lawrence O'Donnell, ended his remarks by saying, "It's a bit confusing." I think this should win an award for being one of the greatest understatements of all time. Robinson was speaking specifically about the "war" in Libya, but I think his statement surely has a broader application.
With respect to Libya you might well say all there is, is utter confusion. There is no stated goal, no known outcome, no understanding of what might eventually happen. While President Obama has said Gadaffi must go, the Pentagon says he is not a target. It is now regarded as possible that even after our intervention Gadaffi might survive. This, it seems to me, will have rendered our efforts basically meaningless. Of course our efforts are not well defined, according to Obama we entered into this for purely humanitarian grounds (to save civilian lives). Of course in the attempt to save civilian lives from Gadaffi, we will have no doubt taken some ourselves. It is not entirely clear what will happen to Libya whether Gadaffi survives or not. There doesn't seem to be any organized opposition that could take over the running of the government. The rebels are poorly armed, poorly organized, and most probably would have no chance against Gadaffi's well armed supporters. Somewhere I read there is someone who is believed to be the successor, picked by the U.S. I don't know if this is true or not. If there is a "real" reason for our intervention (having perhaps to do with oil), it is not being reported. Some say Obama was talked into this adventure by Hillary Clinton and some other women. Who knows? Obama says we did not lead in this attack (a most questionable assertion), and that in a few days we will turn things over to someone else, but that someone else is not specified (the U.N.?). Obama has also vowed that no U.S. ground troops will ever be employed. At the same time it is widely acknowledged that air power alone will not be adequate to do the job. If that is so, will there ever be troops on the ground, and if so, whose? If we did not lead this attack, why would we be in a position to "turn things over?" Then there is the question of why intervene in Libya but not in Yemen or Bahrain, for example. Good question but can't be honestly answered because of the obvious hypocrisy involved. No one really asks about why not Saudi Arabia because the answer is so painfully obvious. It seems pretty obvious that realistically we cannot afford a third "war" in the Middle East, so where is the money coming from? Some in Congress are critical because Obama has gone too far, some are critical because he has not gone far enough. Some say he had to get Congressional permission while others say he has all the authority he needs without it. So without going further, I should think it is obvious that it really is a bit confusing (if not worse).
This situation in Libya is hardly the only thing that is confusing these days. How about those Republicans who campaigned on creating jobs but have done absolutely nothing with respect to jobs, other than promote ideas that would undoubtedly result in even fewer jobs. Or how about their promises to reduce the debt when they have done nothing that would not actually create more debt? How about the "culture wars" that were supposed to not feature in the coming elections? Since the election Republicans have launched an all-out attack on abortion. They have also attempted to do away with unions and collective bargaining, something they were clearly not elected to do. Republicans really do confuse me. They don't have the Black vote, and they certainly don't have the Hispanic vote, and now they are attacking both women and unions? Does that make any sense for a so-called political party? Not only that, they are trying to do away with Medicare and Social Security as well. That should mean they won't get the senior vote. Do they really think they can win an election with votes only from a few Tea Party nitwits and the Ku Klux Klan?
Finally, for the moment at least, there is Japan (remember Japan, nuclear disaster, happened just before Libya?). There are all sorts of conflicting reports about what is or might be happening as a result of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant problem. Some say it is under control, others say it is not. Some say the radiation levels are not dangerous, some say they are. It seems there is radiation now in some of the milk, spinach, and other foods, but the extent of this is not well established. The long range effects are unknown. In spite of this horrible disaster we have some who are determined to build more nuclear plants and argue they are completely safe (this is an argument that only makes sense if you realize you are dealing with absolute lunatics or corporations). You have to admit it truly is a bit confusing.
Here is a poem from the latest Saturday Review of Literature that I think is quite fine:
Except That It Robs You of Who You Are
Except that it robs you of who you are,
What can you say about speech?
Inconceivable to live without
And impossible to live with,
Speech diminishes you.
Speak with a wise man, there'll be
Much to learn; speak with a fool,
All you get is prattle.
Strike a half-empty pot, and it'll make
A loud sound; strike one that is full,
Says Kabir, and hear the silence.
Kabir (c. 1440-1518), translated from the Hindi
By Arvind Krishna Mehrotra
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
A Bit Confusing
Posted by morialekafa at 10:32 PM
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Macartan Mulligan, Co-Founder of Treze " Bullying is not only fought by laws and actions, it can also be fought by inspiration and these bullying poems do just that."
London, UK (PRWEB) June 30, 2013
NoBullying.com, a product of Treze Company in Northern Ireland, releases today an inspirational article on Bullying Poems.
This article lists many inspirational poems on strength and not surrendering to the destructive powers of words or bullying actions.
NoBullying.com features many pages dedicated to parents, teens, teachers, health professionals as well as posts related to cyber safety and the latest news about law making concerning curbing Bullying worldwide.
Macartan Mulligan, Co-Founder of Treze, said " Bullying is not only fought by laws and actions, it can also be fought by inspiration and these bullying poems do just that."
He also added that anyone suffering from bullying in any form can always reach out to the team of NoBullying and they will be given advice on how to stand up to bullying or protect themselves online.
The founders of the website hope that viewers can truly learn about what is cyber bullying as well as bullying and workplace bullying and put a serious effort to making it stop by education and caution and not by violence.


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- voting at 18 with only the intoxication of liberal media to influence them
- smoking at 19 so they at least extend their lives by one more year
- lotto tickets at 20 so they can have a couple of years to realize that after they pay their bills on their meager income there is no money left over to blow on gambling
- drinking at 21 because, well, we can never have enough drunk drivers.
So... back to Kendall. Her birthday got me thinking about all the things I hate about her. There are many but here are ten main things I hate about Kendall:
#1 - She is happy and positive and almost always in a good mood. She wakes up cheerful at 5am every morning for drill team. Who does that?
#2 - She's photogenic. The camera either loves you or it doesn't. I don't know why it loves some people more than others. Sometimes the reasons are obvious and other times, not so much. For whatever reason, the camera loves Kendall.
#3 - She asks not "what can you do for me mom?" but rather, "what can I do for you?" That behavior doesn't usually start to emerge until post mission for boys or well into their twenties for girls!
#4 - She not only cleans up after herself but she cheerfully cleans up after everyone else too. I used to think that out of 7 kids I did not get one single neat freak. Well, it turns out that there was a neat freak buried under all of her older sisters' clutter! She loves having her sisters back home but also looks forward to getting their room back in pristine condition when they leave.
#5 - She's self-motivated. She gets straight A's without a lick of help from me. She doesn't even need my occasional, very inspiring pep talks. (Don't worry, though, Bryan is getting his share and Kendall's too!)
#6 - She cooks! She likes to experiment in the kitchen and make amazingly delicious things. Her latest experiment was this...
What is that you ask? Why, it's a "slutty brownie" of course! (not named by Kendall). It's a bar cookie and the bottom layer is chocolate chip, the middle layer is double stuff oreos and the top layer is brownie. They are called that because they are "easy and quite filthy". I love that she bakes but why does she have to do it when I'm on a quest to lose my extra holiday pounds? Ya gotta hate her!
#7 - She is good at putting outfits together and wearing everything in her closet yet doesn't spend too much time fussing over it. She appreciates when I buy her clothes and she actually wears them - unlike some of my other kids (cough - Courtney - who won't wear color or anything with a pattern preferring browns and greys and thinks everything makes her look fat!)
#8 - She entertains. She actually invites friends over (unlike some of my other children, cough - Brad, who refused to and said our house was boring) and Kendall even plans everything and prepares everything. This girl actually plans it, shops for needed items at the store, prepares everything and cleans up. Seriously! This is the cake she made for her most recent birthday party...
#9 - She gets herself up and ready for everything. Not only do I not have to help her but she is usually prepared with plenty of time to help me.
#10 - She is content to just be at home. She loves to hang out with her friends and go on dates but she is just as happy to be home and read a book or hang out with the family. (At least, she pretends like she likes being home with us and that's good enough for me!)
Why do I hate all of these things about Kendall? Because it's going to be miserable for me to send her off to college in the fall. Now, don't get me wrong, I have not looked forward to any of my kids leaving. If I had the choice I'd keep them all right here with me for the rest of their lives but... that's kind of creepy. I knew I'd miss the other kids but at least I got to look forward to their messy rooms going away with them. And they were all somewhat helpful but nothing like Kendall. Seriously, she is setting me up for a devastating loss and that is why I hate her!
Shame on you, Kendall! Have you thought about my feelings at all? We are supposed to be arguing over curfews and fighting over why your bed needs to be made when you are just going to get back in it that night. You're supposed to sneaking around with a boy I don't approve of and telling me you're old enough to make your own choices. These are the things that give parents some small comfort in knowing that they will at least get a respite from when their child leaves for college. I fear the way you have behaved this year is going to leave me lying in the fetal position for days. The only thing I will have to look forward to is picking up Bryan's socks all over the house. At least that's a full time job so it should keep me occupied!
I hate you Kendall!


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Raspberry Cupcakes With White Chocolate
I have to say I think these are the best tasting cakes I have ever made. Which really shocked me as I'm not normally keen on white chocolate but these cake not only look beautiful but they taste wonderful too. Of course the main thing with cakes is the taste because the reason you make them are to eat so its always my number one goal to get the taste perfect. I have found through my years of cooking that people eat with their eyes too, So of course they should look as good as possible. I think people are learning a bit more about my cakes. When I first started making cakes for the salons their customers didn't think they were real and I thought it was quite a nice comment about my cakes. Also many people that I have made cakes for have not wanted to eat them as they didn't want to spoil all my work but this would be a crime to any chef who just wants people to try and enjoy the food they have made.
The lovely Hannah Jones is now a weekly feature writer on my new cookery blog
Read her weekly column every friday 'Hannah's Kitchen'
where she will share her recipes & tips or why not visit our new facebook group
Kids Cookery Corner to share your own recipes with us


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|Photo by USA Today
But something about the heat may have actually helped Orioles pitcher Freddy Garcia. The 36-year-old found a groove that had escaped him all season and used a split-finger fastball to baffle the Nationals lineup throughout Baltimore's 2-0 win.
"The split-finger he was throwing, basically like facing R.A. Dickey," Ian Desmond said. "I think the humidity and the tackiness on the ball, his fingers, there's probably a little bit of sweat going on there, that pitch was pretty unbelievable tonight."
"A knuckle or something, I don't know," Ryan Zimmerman said. "If a pitcher's got a good pitch and he throws it as much as he did obviously you start to look for it and we still can't hit it. It's just one of those nights where he had a really good pitch and he used it as much as he could and it worked for him."
Garcia pitched eight airtight, scoreless innings with zero walks and six strikeouts. At one point he retired 14 consecutive Nats hitters after giving up two hits in the second inning. Garcia would allow only three hits on the night.
Garcia was asked by reporters after the game if he liked the hot weather conditions.
"I'm from Venezuela so, you know, of course," he said. "When it's hot like that, the splitter's pretty good."
Orioles manager Buck Showalter said everything just came together for the 15-year veteran.
"People miss that Freddy's got a good split," he said. "He didn't elevate many balls, and when he did, he did it on purpose just to change the eye level and the release point."
Garcia had his way with most of the Nats' lineup, but particularly the bottom of the order. Washington's six through nine hitters - Tyler Moore, Chad Tracy, Kurt Suzuki, and Danny Espinosa - went a combined 0-for-12 with three strikeouts and six runners left on base.
All of them besides Espinosa would likely be out of the lineup if the team were fully healthy but, as the calendar switches to June, some Nats are tired of using that excuse.
"It's not early anymore," Zimmerman said. "We can only say we need to get people back in the lineup for so long. Now we just need to start producing and start scoring runs with the guys we got."
The Nats were disappointed afterwards, not just because their offense faltered after showing signs of life in previous days, but because their pitcher, Dan Haren, put in one of his best starts of the season. Haren was impressive through 7 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
The two scores were off RBI doubles, one from Nick Markakis in the third and the other from Manny Machado in the eighth.
Haren was happy with his outing, but dissatisfied with the overall outcome.
"We really needed a win today. It was a tough one yesterday and I was determined today to win this game," he said.
"It's an exhausting lineup, one through nine. Anyone can get you. I'm glad I threw the ball well, but obviously not happy with the end result."
After seing his lineup struggle to get anything going, reverting back to the habits that have plagued them all year in their seventh shutout of the season, Davey Johnson was visibly frustrated in his postgame media session. He attempted to walk away after two questions and answered a total of four.
When asked what he plans to do to get his team going:
"We'll probably make some changes," he said. "But that's for another day."
Washington dropped their second straight game while their next opponent, the Atlanta Braves, blew out the Blue Jays on the same night. They have won seven of their last ten and sit 5.5 games ahead in the division.
Facing a team they are currently chasing in the N.L. East could provide the Nationals a chance to gather some victories they can really build on, as each win against Atlanta helps close the gap. With that prospect in mind, several Nats players remained upbeat after the loss.
They look at this weekend as a chance to right the ship perhaps a little quicker than they would in another series.
"Anytime someone is in front of you it's nice to go and cover some of that ground," Zimmerman said. "They're a good team. We have to go in there and play good baseball to win."
"It's June. It's no more complacency," Desmond said. "It's time to turn it on. Sometimes a little adversity like this can break teams apart. We're going to stick together. As a team we're going to figure it out."


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You are hiring a new executive for your company. He or she will have the opportunity to make some large, high stakes investments that will shape the future direction of the firm. Should you care whether that individual was a first-born child or a younger sibling? Why would that matter?
Well, past research has shown that younger siblings engage in riskier behavior than their older brothers or sisters. A new study extends this body of work, examining whether we can see such birth-order effects in the course of the "daily work" of certain professionals. Researchers Frank J. Sulloway and Richard L. Zweigenhaft studied siblings who have played major league baseball. Sports, after all, offers a unique opportunity for scholars because of the extensive body of historical statistics that measure actions and results. The question: Do younger siblings steal more bases than older brothers? Amazingly, in more than 9 out of 10 cases, the younger sibling tried to steal more bases than the older brother, suggesting a propensity to take more risk. For more about this research, take a look at this story in the New York Times.