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When it comes to surfing New Zealand can hold its own among some of the greatest spots for catching waves on Earth.
It's no secret that New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but many don't realise that nestled amongst the incredible scenery are beaches that can make even the most jaded of surf junkies sit up and take notice. With so many brilliant beaches scattered across the country, it was a tough job paring them back to just 7 exemplary offerings but we've taken on the challenge and present to you some of the finest surf beaches that the Land of the Long White Cloud has to offer.
Of all the beaches that surround Auckland, Piha is arguably one of the best (and most notorious) of the lot. Located on the west coast, Piha saw the birth of board riding in New Zealand back in the 50's and today plays host to both national and international surf competitions. You'll find both left and right handers at South Piha and a challenging right hander at North Piha. Those who are unfamiliar with the beach should be aware that although the water can appear deceptively calm, strong rip currents are common along this stretch of coast and can shift position unpredictably.
The next stop on our journey lies on the opposite coast, a little less than three and a half hours southeast of Piha. Although Mount Maunganui (or 'The Mount' as it's known to locals) doesn't quite have the small beach town vibe that it once did, the beach itself hasn't changed at all. The Mount is well known for its golden sand and clean reef breaks. If you catch it when a big swell is in force, you're virtually guaranteed excellent surf. Don't forget Matakana Island either, the long spit of land that shelters nearby Tauranga harbour, as this can outdo The Mount beaches when a northeasterly swell rolls in.
It's time to return to the wild west coast - just over two hours to the west of Mount Maunganui lies the legendary Raglan. This town revolves almost entirely around the surfing lifestyle, and the breaks along the nearby coastline have achieved international renown, even featuring in the cult classic film The Endless Summer. Manu Point is the most well known of these, but Indicators offers even more consistent breaks giving surfers a long walled, fast wave with occasional barrels. Locals say that when very large swells roll in, the wave can line up with that in Whale Bay and Manu Point, creating a potential ultra-rare 2 kilometre ride.
Heading on down the coast will bring you to Taranaki's 'Surf Highway', a section of State Highway 45 blessed with a plethora of excellent surf beaches that will leave you absolutely spoiled for choice. But among all of Taranaki's breaks, Stent Road has the greatest reputation with those in the know. It's a right hand point break that boasts several different sections from hollow drop in, to barrel, to wally. The only downside to Stent is that it can get a little crowded - but don't worry, you have the whole of the Surf Highway to choose from. If Stent Road is a little too packed, just head around the corner and discover another great break!
Most visitors will know Wairarapa's Castlepoint for its impressive lighthouse, but there's a few who are aware that there's one spot nearby, known as The Gap, that offers surfers a perfect little gem of a break. It takes a decent sized swell to get into the small inlet, but when conditions are right the tight curve of this sheltered beach allows for a perfect A-frame with long, smooth walls and the occasional barrel. And while you may be here for the surf, not the wildlife, it'd be an offense not to mention the large fur seal colony that calls Castlepoint home. Make sure to check out these amazing creatures (from a respectful distance) on your way to the beach.
Don't ever believe that the North Island has all the fantastic surf beaches to itself. Some of the best surf in the country can be found off New Zealand's South Island, with Mangamaunu (just north of Kaikoura) being an ideal example. While many flock to Kaikoura for the whale watching, which incidentally is well worth the trip, keen surfers know that 15 minutes up the road is one of the nation's finest surf spots. Mangamaunu offers a right hand point break - the waves have the potential to peel off for several hundred metres, giving an incredible ride. Be aware that big swells can trigger a rip around the point - this particular beach is not a great one for beginners, but with a bit of experience under your belt you should be fine.
Half an hour northeast of Dunedin is a stretch of coast known as Aramoana or 'The Spit'. North swells (and big south swells) bring a decent sized crowd flocking from the city to the beach, but don't be put off by its popularity - there's more than enough room here for everyone. The Spit has a highly regarded beach break, characterised by hollow drop ins and barrels. The area is also a favourite for rock climbers who make use of the steep rock faces that come down to the waterline.
Those 7 spots should provide more than enough fodder for an epic New Zealand surf road trip, but if you think we've missed some great breaks please let us know - just shout out in the comments below with your picks for the best surf spots in Godzone.
For those interested in checking out the surf spots in the South Island, head on over to our Christchurch campervan hire page, otherwise our NZ campervan rental page will cover the other pick up and drop off options on offer.
Feature photo credit: CPL
Written By: Kristof Haines
It's funny how motorhome memories stick with you. I can still recall a motorhome vacation my family took when I was five years old and how awesome I thought I was, tucked away in a loft bed above the cab. From revealing unique destinations to providing tips and tricks, it's my mission to help others build great motorhome memories too.
It's funny how motorhome memories stick with you. I can still recall a motorhome vacation my family took when I was five years old and how awesome I thought I was, tucked away in a loft bed above the cab. From revealing unique destinations to providing tips and tricks, it's my mission to help others build great motorhome memories too.


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Just a short lesbian story!June 27th, 2008
Two hot student chicks are having fun in the dormitory, they are nasty and naughty, you have no idea what they can do to satisfy their sluttish pussies…
I had always had fantasies about being with other girls, but I had never really considered it seriously. I never considered it actually happened. I thought it was something I had to try, though it was something too scandalous to talk about.
Then I met Marry. She was tall and gorgeous, with dark hair and green eyes. She was so much cool, so full of life, and every guy wanted her. She was who I wanted to be. She was my example of a normal girl should be like. She studied in our college, so soon I learnt we were both assigned as roommates, and we became friends right from the start. We wore each other's clothes, sat up all night talking and sharing secrets, and did our home exercises and went to parties together. One night, I was doing my makeup at the mirror, and she came up behind me. She looked at our reflection together in the mirror. She was approximately3 inches taller than I was, with curves that made her body look always sexy. I was curvy, but shorter, and her golden olive skin quite differed in color from mine. She looked at me in the mirror and told me I looked beautiful. Then she put her arms around me and hugged me. This wasn't new; we were big huggers. But her hand brushed across my breast. We didn't say anything else about it, and when we were out at the party, we both drank a lot. We were in a big house, and there was a coffee table in the living room. It was crowded over there, I think all of our college student were there. The floor was so densely packed that we both climbed up on the table and started dancing with each other. People were watching us, but we were laughing and having such a good fun that we didn't realize how sexy we looked. Suddenly, she just leant forward and kissed me. Her lips were so soft, and I felt her tongue shove between my lips. She pulled back, threw her head back waving long locks and laughed. I was breathless, but I laughed too because I thought it was just one of her crazy jokes.
We had fun for a few more hours, then decided to go back. We walked back to our dorm in middle of the night. It was a long walk, and it was just cold enough. We were sweaty so very soon we got cold badly. We were quiet for some time, and then I said:
"That was some kiss," I told her.
"Sorry about that," she said, laughing: "I thought they would get horny with two hot chicks making out."
"You think I'm hot?" I asked, half joking, but she stopped and faced me looking at me seriously.
"You're gorgeous," she said earnestly. "I'm not kidding. You're beautiful. Anyone would be lucky to have you."
And then she kissed me again. Her fingers brushed my cheeks, then my neck, and then she wrapped her arms around my waist and just held me. I've been kissed by lots of men before, but nothing would ever compare to how I felt when Marry kissed me. Somehow, we returned back to our room kissing all the way. She was sweet, and very gentle when she kissed me and unbuttoned my shirt. She kissed my neck and moved downwards. When she breathed on my breast, pink spots appeared on my skin, and I clenched my teeth.
"If it goes too fast for you, let me know," she said, but I grabbed her face and kissed her hard. She responded by pulling off her shirt, revealing her black bra, which she removed immediately. I had seen her topless before; for we did lived together. But this wasn't the same thing, her skin was so soft, so warm, and when we kissed, our breasts pressed together! Her large, dark nipples pressing against my perky nipples! God! I reached out nervously and took her left breast in my hand, seeing how it felt. It was so new, and so wonderful. I lowered my mouth to her nipple. It hardened in my mouth: she stuck her fingers into my shoulders and moaned. I kept flicking her nipple with my tongue, and she kept breathing harder and harder. Then she pushed me away and unbuttoned my jeans. She slid my jeans carefully, and when they dropped to the floor, she kissed my stomach. Her fingers were caressing my hips, my thighs, and then she slid her hand up my inner thigh! It reached so close that I could feel the warmth of her hand against my pussy, which was already wet and starting to drip with desire.
She stood up and slid her short skirt down, then turned around. She was wearing a black string, and her ass was beautiful and soft. She pulled her underwear down her legs slowly. When she bent over like that, I could see the lips of her pussy between her legs. She turned around and took my hand. She placed my trembling hand on her pussy. I felt her silky skin on the crotch. I found her clit, and it was hard and slick. I stroked her and she moaned. Encouraged, I slid a finger inside her. She started vibrating against my hand, and I knelt down and kissed her thighs. I moved my kisses closer and closer to her pussy, and finally I pressed my lips against her clit. I kissed it gently, then flicked it with my tongue. She gasped and moaned, so I licked her harder and harder, all the while thrusting 2 fingers into her dripping cunt. I could tell that she was getting close to an orgasm, and when she came, she came hard. Her pussy clenched rhythmically around my fingers, and her juices dripped down my chin. She collapsed down onto my bed, pulling me follow her. She held me tightly against her breast, kissing me. When her breathing slowed down, I asked her:
"So was it OK? It was my first time?" In response, she lifted my chin and looked at me for a moment.
Then she kissed me again, lovingly, and said:
"So good that you deserve something"
She rolled me over onto my back and kissed me, first – my lips, then my neck, caressing my breasts and tweaking my nipples playfully. She understood every inch of my body, everything that would turn me on, and everything that would set my trembling pussy burn with desire. By the time she closed her lips around my clit, I was already on the edge of orgasm. When she took my swollen clit in her mouth, I screamed. To make me feel great, she shoved 2 fingers into my dripping cunt and then pushed one finger into my virgin asshole. I exploded cum juices all over her hand, all over her lips and dripping down her chin. But she didn't stop there. No sooner had I caught my breath as she climbed on top of me with her dripping cunt facing my mouth. I started licking her wet cunt, while she kept eating my pussy, burying her face in me. We ate each other, tasting each other's juices, drowning in love cum fluids. I loved feeling her moans vibrating over my pussy. I loved feeling her throb on my tongue. I fucked her with my tongue, shoving it into her pussy as deep as possible and licking her pink asshole at the same time. When she was ready, I gently inserted my finger into her ass. She did the same thing to me. So I thrust my finger deeper into her. When we couldn't take any more, we both collapsed. She held me against her breast! She was so beautiful. And she was mine!
Popularity: 13% [?]Live SEX CHAT with REAL girls! Become an author and send us a story that will be read and appreciated by thousands of people!
22 Responses to "Just a short lesbian story!"
AA Says:
June 28th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Dam u look sexy and I'd love 2 eat u out. Was she sweet and salty?
jaya Says:
June 28th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
hi, i am male, i want some female. only speak
he man Says:
June 29th, 2008 at 11:09 am
too hot
horybitch Says:
July 1st, 2008 at 5:10 am
this is a good story to masturbate to.
id love to have sex with these two.
Poohbear Says:
July 10th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
she she Says:
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:30 pm
boy were they HOTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Lesbian girlie Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 2:38 am
this was so hot!!!I got off to it
katie Says:
July 27th, 2008 at 8:48 am
i got so wet reading! then i put my fingers into my own pussy
jaz Says:
August 1st, 2008 at 12:41 pm
i am so turned on by this story iv always wanted this to happen to me!
sweetpussy Says:
August 19th, 2008 at 3:25 am
WOW!! Thats all i can say..im typing with one hand..my pussy is so wet and hot..
abisha Says:
August 20th, 2008 at 11:51 am
nice hot lesb story ,my wife jerked my cock while reading this story
kat Says:
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:04 am
nice story my gf lives to far away to do anything with me but i can tell u something its very nicely writen. it would b something id like reading with her
Anonymous Says:
September 6th, 2008 at 3:12 am
I shoved my hand in my wet pussy and licked every finger while readn this
The cat Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I am so wet after reading this. I want to be with another woman so bad and I feel like I just was, now to go search out the real thing
older bitch Says:
October 5th, 2008 at 4:50 am
was pretty hot would loveto be eating their pussies now!!
lexi Says:
October 28th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
i would love to suck, dildo the taller one
she sounds HAWT!
ava Says:
November 1st, 2008 at 9:34 pm
mmmmm my pussy enjoys this story!!!
Woody Says:
November 22nd, 2008 at 10:15 pm
How I envy the two girls, I've never seen a pussy that I wouldn't suck, and suck, and suck!!
Luvbird Says:
November 27th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Yowza. There are no more words. U sound hott….now i know its worth while to be a lesbian. I wasn't sure at first but u 2 have chased away all doubts. I hope i have as much luck as u did!!!
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December 5th, 2008 at 1:38 am
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Leave a Reply
- Lesbians

subset: commoncrawl


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EVERY morning and evening in one of Moscow's Soviet-era apartment buildings, bodyguards block elevator traffic for the banker who occupies the entire 16th floor. They station themselves at both ends of the elevator run and clear the car before he steps in.
Other residents grit their teeth and wait.
The banker can hardly be blamed. Russian businessmen, especially bankers, are being murdered with alarming frequency. The latest victim, the president of Lesprombank, was killed in a contract murder Nov. 8. One group of executives, the Business Roundtable of Russia, has lost nine of its top 30 members to apparent contract killings in the past year.
For protection, they rely on Moscow's finest - not the badly underpaid militia (as the police are called), but high-tech, heavily armed commercial security firms. Once a police state, Russia is becoming a state of private police.
A consultant to the Russian parliament's security committee, Andrei Kosyakov, estimates that more than 800,000 people in Russia work in private security services - 60 percent more people than serve in the standing Army of the United States.
Other analysts cannot confirm such a stratospheric count, but former KGB officer Petr Premyak, now a member of the upper house of parliament and chair of the security committee, notes that Moscow alone has at least 4,000 private security companies.
Everyone agrees that many of the most talented veterans of the Russian security services, including the former KGB, are bailing out of their impoverished ranks to join the private sector for better equipment, higher pay, and a less bureaucratic environment.
The ties between public and private police remain close. Some of the best private security officers are from the former Ninth Directorate of the KGB, which was responsible for protecting senior Soviet officials, says Alexander Gromyko, a deputy of the Moscow city council, and chair of the Law and Order Committee. ''The best of them went to private organizations to oppose criminal groups,'' he says.
Some of the private organizations, of course, are criminal groups. They may begin as extortion rackets and seek licenses as security outfits to get a legal right to bear arms.
Others don't bother. The Interior Ministry loaned out about 100,000 weapons last year - which is the legal way for firms to have them. But another 150,000 war weapons (automatic rifles and other guns with more than eight-round magazines) simply disappeared from government armories last year, says Mr. Kosyakov.
But Mr. Gromyko and others say that former state security officers are generally clean and an asset to the public safety.
In some cases, he adds, the private security officers will do most of the investigating of a crime, then hand the evidence over to the state militia for making the arrest. ''A 30-year-veteran major [of the militia or KGB] will work without mistakes,'' he says.
Guarding your assets
Alexander Orlov, the executive director of the Business Roundtable, openly wonders when he will be a target for the killings that have felled so many of his colleagues. He prefers to entrust his safety to his own guards. ''I don't trust a militia man,'' he says, because he is so poorly paid that he is more vulnerable to a payoff from a potential killer.
Salaries for patrol officers in the Moscow area are in the range of $140 to $250 per month. Interior Ministry security guards are paid even less.
Russian law does not allow private firms to protect people, which is a militia function, only property. So an entrepreneur may wear a gold chain around his neck that the guards protect, not-so-incidentally protecting the wearer too.
Russians often shrug off killings with the conviction that the businessmen targeted must have had criminal connections. Most probably do, according to experts in the field. But they may not realize it; in fact, one of the fastest-growing areas of security services in Russia is business research for firms to find out if their partners are legitimate.
A business also can get entangled with organized crime in trying to enforce contracts, since fewer than half of all court decisions are actually executed.
This means that quasi-legal entities arise to enforce the payment of debts, said Justice Minister Valentin Kovalyov recently. ''This is a great danger, and we already see signs of this happening.''
The problem, says Mr. Orlov of the Roundtable, is that Russia has been left with a ''low moral level'' because it has lost its old, Soviet set of mores, ''but we have not yet created the new.''
My name is Bondski
In the meantime, security is taking on a James Bond-like sophistication. Within months, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov plans to tie together all city emergency services - from police to ambulances to utility repair crews - in a system that uses satellite navigation and computerized maps.
The company that is making the system, staffed partly by former Russian space scientists and KGB veterans, has private customers as well. Banks can put their security and armored-car fleets on the system. If an armored car stalls in traffic, for example, its location immediately begins flashing on the map screens of police dispatchers. The car's doors and windows can be locked remotely from the central control room until it arrives at its proper destination.
The company also customizes Land Rovers into over-the-top, high-tech security machines with - to name just a few features - extinguishers for 11 different kinds of fires; scanners to detect listening devices in nearby buildings; lights for blinding oncoming drivers; and a roadblock contraption laid with large spikes set with exploding charges, which stretches from the side of a car across 50 feet of roadway.
The Moscow police are purchasing eight Land Rovers, but private companies buy them too. Eventually individuals will be able to equip a private car with an alarm that flashes its location on the computer maps for the police.
The growing sophistication of security services raises the cost of crime, literally. When a businessman is well-guarded, the price of a murder contract on him can rise to $300,000. At that point, in the cold-blooded calculus of criminal enterprise, the killing may not make business sense.
Russia's Spies Go Private


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Why is it that every obscure but promising wine region is inevitably touted as "the next Napa Valley"? As someone who recently visited one such location, I can attest that this predictive moniker isn't always totally accurate.
For years I'd read accounts of the great potential of the Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California, Mexico, an up-and-coming wine destination full of talented winemakers, ambitious restaurants and boutique hotels. Recently I set off to see the place for myself.
The Valle de Guadalupe is located northeast of the Mexican port city of Ensenada (famous for surfing and fishing), and just two hours from San Diego by car. There are currently about 50 wineries in the region, ranging from slick commercial operations to makeshift structures more like garages. The wine route is marked by contrasts, too — the main ruta del vino, Highway 3, is paved, but many wineries are located far down deeply rutted dirt roads.
Although Mexico's bottlings are rarely seen in the U.S. — the country's fine-wine industry is quite young — its wine making dates back to the arrival of the conquistadors, in the 16th century. At one point, production was banned except for liturgical purposes. The modern era of winemaking in the Valle de Guadalupe started some 20 years ago, with the arrival of Hugo D'Acosta, a Bordeaux-educated native of Mexico City who founded his flagship winery, Casa de Piedra, in 1997. Sadly, it had closed for the day at the time of my visit.
Kristin Shute, whose parents, Ray and Patty Magnussen, founded Lechuza Winery in the Valle de Guadalupe in 2005, said D'Acosta was an inspiration to them. While living in California, the couple vacationed in Mexico's Baja region for many years before deciding to build a winery. Like most producers in this part of the country, the Magnussens focus chiefly on red wines: Cabernet, Tempranillo, Merlot and Nebbiolo, although they make a little Chardonnay as well, in both oaked and unoaked versions.
The unoaked Lechuza Chardonnay was attractive and well-balanced, while the oaked version was dominated by the oak — but I preferred both to the Nebbiolo, which was quite tannic and a bit salty. The saltiness of the wines of the region has been much discussed and is even for many locals a source of pride. But it was an odd characteristic — and one I'd not encountered in a wine. (Many vintners told me they believed it came from the ground water, though some disavowed its presence altogether, calling it instead "minerality.")
An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.


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Mt. Whitney via the East Buttress 5.7 Route: Our 28-Hour Summit DayTuesday, July 31st, 2018
This past June, I summited Mt. Whitney via the East Buttress 5.7 route with my friend Joe Miller (whom you may know as a member of #TeamTender). This ended up being by the far the hardest trip of my life……so far. Read more about this grueling but amazing epic below.


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Monday, November 11, 2013
November 11, 2013
If you have not yet read 'Iran, Obama and Nuclear War' Part One, please do so before beginning this Part Two. We can read a novel all day but when it comes to digesting a lot of hard data, the human mind rebels, and drifts. That is why I am writing this as a series rather than one extensive essay that few would finish. Read Part One, take a break and come back to this.
So very many people are confused about why Obama is so willing to allow Iran to pursue its nuclear agenda, and then there are the totally ignorant who don't even want to think about it. The latter group is the most dangerous, for in spite of their lack of knowledge and concern, they still go to the voting polls, making uninformed decisions about topics they don't even hope to understand, thus handing this nation over to Obama. Ignorance and apathy combined are the bane of all who love liberty.
I am certain that most who read my efforts are well aware of the Shiite concept of the twelfth Imam who, when the entire world has been engulfed in total chaos, will rise from the dead and create a Utopia on Earth for Muslims. I generally try to avoid the topics of religion and prophecy but if those who follow this belief succeed in creating the chaos they seek through nuclear war and their prophecy fails to come to pass, then we are all in a great deal of trouble, with destroyed cities, nuclear fallout. and clouds of radiation circling the Earth.
Hussein Obama was raised in the Suni culture but is well aware of the Shiite's twelfth Imam concept and knows that the mullahs of Iran actively seek the state of chaos required for their prophecy to take place. And that leads to the question of why; why does Obama supports these madmen in their quest for nuclear weapons and a potential Armageddon?
You are probably familiar with Occam's Razor, the concept that the simplest answer is usually the correct answer. My simple answer to why Obama supports a nuclear Iran is that he wants a nuclear war. They have stated, for the entire world to hear, their intention to wipe Israel off the map. Any sensible human being would take them at their word, and do everything possible to stop their hellish scheme, but all that Obama and Kerry are doing is asking them to slow down for just six months.
Most people in their right mind would tell you that only a madman wants to see nuclear tipped missiles aloft, but Obama is not mad. Obsessed yes; mad no. He and his mentor George Soros hope to see Israel destroyed, and it is there that we encounter a Catch 22. Iran is working on their first bomb, and Israel already has between 85 and 200 nuclear warheads at their disposal.
Israel is quite small and a nuclear bomb, if successfully detonated there, would quite naturally do extensive damage, but ask yourself how is Iran going to deliver it? No bomb laden aircraft is going to penetrate Israel's defensive network. The same can be said about a missile. Iron Dome is famous for ignoring rockets that will land harmlessly in a field in southern Israel while knocking down all inbound that are headed for a city. Scratch planes and missiles.
A ship headed for the harbor in Haifa would be blown out of the water by the Israeli navy, and any truck or bus transporting a nuclear device overland is going to detected by its radiation signature and destroyed. I honestly cannot see any effective means by which Iran can hope to trigger a nuke in or over an Israeli city.
They could possibly hope for a high altitude EMP attack but Israel, unlike America, is always preparing for the worst case scenario and you can rest assured that all vital infrastructure is hard wired and protected against such an occurrence.
The only means that I regard as possibly feasible is to install a warhead on a missile that is being held in reserve. Then a massive launch of medium range conventional warhead missiles would begin, coupled with a rocket barrage from Hamas. Iran would need to have observers on scene informing them of when the Iron Dome anti missile system was overloaded and could no longer withstand the assault, and Iranian missiles were falling in Israeli cities. This would be the time to launch their one and only nuclear device among a salvo of conventional missiles. While this would not be a guarantee of success it would substantially increase the odds in Iran's favor.
And then there would be all hell to pay.
All during such an attack the Israeli Air Force would be bombing the missile launch sites, and command centers, drastically reducing Iran's supply of missiles and possibly taking out the nuclear one in the process. Worst case: That single missile is launched and one city in Israel is largely reduced to rubble and that is the end of Iran. As mentioned earlier, Israel has 85 plus nuclear warheads and they would irradiate every city in the nation that attacked them. Within minutes Israel's missiles would be killing many millions of those who have chanted "Death to Israel."
And who wins? I have a most unusual answer to that question; Obama.
Now, if you are not convinced that I have totally lost my mind I shall explain the logic behind that conclusion. First off, any sane person in the Middle East would like to see Iran's nuclear ambitions terminated as quickly as possible. As discussed in part one of this series of essays, Obama does not want to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power, he only wants to slow their efforts by six months. That in itself speaks volumes as it indicates that Obama has an agenda with a timeline attached. He wants Iran to become part of that timeline, and at the right time he wants them to have a nuclear weapon, ergo Hussein is seeking nuclear conflict in the Middle East. I will gladly welcome any dissenting views that take all of these events into account.
Many feel that Obama is a closet Muslim. I do not. I am convinced that he is an atheist but knows the ways of Muslims well. He may seem to be promoting their agenda, when in fact he is using them to promote his. Incidentally I often use the term Obama as a singular entity when in fact he is but the spearhead for a group of NWO advocates. But that spearhead seeks the destruction of both Israel and the United States, and that endeavor requires the use of nuclear weapons.
Our Commander in Chief has been rapidly reorganizing our military command structure. See 'Obama's Plan To Destroy The Military Parts One and Two' in suggested reading below. The following is excerpted from Part Two and lists Flag Officers dismissed in 2013 alone.
Note especially the highlighted officers 2 - 5. These are old school, dedicated to the Constitution, officers in charge of armed forces in the Middle East and, you guessed it, Nuclear Weapons. Further down the list at #8 we find General Mattis, commander of Central Command in the Middle East.
1. Marine Colonel Daren Margolin. Was in charge of Quantico's Security Battalion
2. Marine Major General C.M.M. Gurganus. Commander Regional Command Southwest and I Marine Expeditionary Force in Afghanistan.
3. Air Force General Michael Carey. Two star commander of 20th Air Force. Commanded three wings of ICBMs, 450 nuclear weapons. Covered three Air bases across America.
4. Navy Vice Admiral Tim Guardina. Three star Vice Commander of all US nuclear forces. Relieved of command. Demoted in rank to two stars.
5. Marine Major General Gregg A. Sturdevant. Director of strategic planning and policy for U.S. Pacific Command and commander of the Aviation Wing at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.
6. Marine Colonel James Christmas. Commanded 22nd. Marine Expeditionary Unit. Also commanded the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response Unit.
7. Army Brigadier General Bryan Roberts. Commander Fort Jackson South Carolina.
8. Marine General James Mattis. Chief of CentCom.
9. Army Major General Ralph Baker. Commander of Joint Task Force Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti Africa.
Call me conspiracy theorist, but when I see both the high command of the Middle East and those in charge of our nuclear weapons being replaced with Obama loyalists, all in such a brief period, I must ask why is such a drastic change of command occurring when so many fear that we are on the verge of WWIII. Quite frankly I do not like my own answer to that 'Why?'.
I write of Gloom and Doom for that is the Hope and Change that Obama has loosed upon this nation, but Gloom and Doom, tires the soul and makes the mind weary, and so I shall shortly end this essay and continue later with Part Three, where I shall examine some of the other players in the scenario we see taking place in the Middle East.
Just to make certain you return for round three, here is one more topic to show you that indicates that a plan is indeed in progress. Our military is being weakened, and it is by design.
From The Blaze...
Army Chief of Staff Reveals His Greatest Fears
"There is going to come a time when we simply don't have enough money to provide what I believe to be the right amount of ground forces to conduct contingency operations," he said. "We're not there yet, but it is something we are going to continue to review."
If Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno were to receive an order to deploy thousands of troops into a combat situation, he would be hard-pressed to comply. That's because the U.S. Army reportedly only has two combat-ready brigades right now.
With our ground forces weakened, poorly supplied and financed, our high command being replaced by those willing to follow Obama's lead, and Islamic nations being strengthened as ours deteriorates, it is time to ask some questions and start connecting dots. That is exactly what I am doing.
This series of essays is now complete with a total seven articles on this topic(Unless breaking news forces me to update the series). The following is an introduction to the the entire effort with links to all seven different pages:
An Introduction To Iran, Obama, And Nuclear War
Suggested Reading...
Iran, Obama, And Nuclear War
Anarchy, Its Pursuit And Its Goals
Obama's Plan To Destroy The Military
Obama's Plan To Destroy The Military-Part Two
Firestorm Coming To America
4 comments:
How do you convince someone who is a hardcore Obamanite, who served it two wars, and the only thing he holds against Obama is the ACA which really isn't. He watches only liberal news channels that don't say anything against Obama. Not to mention everything that is wrong in the government is all the repugnants fault.ReplyDelete
What can I do to wake this person?Replies
In all honesty...I do not believe that you are going to wake this person. Some simply choose not to see. As the saying goes 'There are none so blind as those who will not see." Most of my extended family are hard core supporters of this Marxist, and I have written them off as hopeless. We with the courage to face the reality before us must also face the reality that we cannot save everyone.Delete
Four more parts to this? Wow, okay, I'll get to them soon as I can.ReplyDelete
"...why does Obama supports these madmen in their quest for nuclear weapons and a potential Armageddon?"ReplyDelete
...my question is how many deaths vile Iran created in the last 60 years?
and how many graveyards America left behind all over the world in the same period of time?
...care to show the statistics?
...lets start with 1953 Iran....
and end up with the most recent Ukraine program of delivering democracy, freedom and liberty.....


text: I just have a little niggling complaint, namely that it isn't possible to wrap (u)int(32/64)_t objects into NSNumber objects(easily, I came up with a solution but its not pretty and not really cross platform). It would be wonderful if we could pass around NSNumber objects and KNOW their size regardless of the platform we are on. Is there any way I could contact Apple and ask for something like this? Has anyone ever had any luck doing so?


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Oscar De La Hoya is concerned about the long-term effect a fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor might have on boxing.
The Golden Boy Promotions founder and 10-time former boxing world champion criticized the potential matchup in a lengthy post on his Facebook page on Thursday. De La Hoya claims that boxing has only recently began to recover from the disappointing Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight that took place in May 2015.
"2017 has started off as a banner year for boxing. Joshua vs. Klitschko; Thurman vs. Garcia; Golovkin vs. Jacobs; Canelo vs. Chavez. All four of these fights – and many more -- have brought the fight game back and reinvigorated interest from the ever-elusive casual fan," De La Hoya wrote. "But if you thought Mayweather/Pacquiao was a black eye for our sport — a matchup between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters that simply didn't deliver -- just wait until the best boxer of a generation dismantles someone who has never boxed competitively at any level — amateur or professional.
"Our sport might not ever recover."
Mayweather retired from boxing with a 49-0 record following a decision triumph over Andre Berto in September 2015. He recently ended his retirement to pursue a fight against "The Notorious" one. While McGregor has never had a professional boxing bout, the UFC lightweight champion has showcased impressive skills with his hands inside the Octagon. Along the way, the Dublin native has established himself as the biggest star in the sport.
"I fully understand the initial attraction from any fan of combat sports. McGregor is almost certainly the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter. Floyd is Floyd — the most dominant boxer of his time," De La Hoya wrote.
"But success in one sport does not guarantee success in another. Far from it. And let's be clear, these are two different sports -- from the size of the gloves fighters wear, to the size and shape of the ring, to the fact the one sport allows combatants to use their legs to strike."
While McGregor could be in over his head against an all-time great in boxing, the box-office appeal of such a fight is undeniable. Regardless of how competitive the bout might be, plenty of people would tune in for the spectacle. De La Hoya, meanwhile, is promoting a blockbuster bout of his own later in 2017, when Canelo Alvarez takes on Gennady Golovkin at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sept. 16. He disputes the notion that he is against Mayweather-McGregor because it might take attention away from Alvarez vs. Golovkin.
"Now, I know critics will say that I'm only writing this letter because my company is promoting what will be the culmination of an outstanding boxing year when Canelo Alvarez takes on Gennady "GGG" Golovkin in September, and I don't want anything to distract attention away from that fight," he wrote. "But my interest is in the health of boxing as a whole. It always has been. And if Floyd were to come out of retirement to take on someone like Keith "One–time" Thurman, Errol Spence or some other top welterweight, not only would I applaud the fight, I'd be the first one on line for a ticket. That kind of fight is what the fans – and I am a fan first -- deserve."
UFC President Dana White recently said that he had completed McGregor's portion of the deal for the fight and would begin negotiations with Team Mayweather. How those talks progress remains to be seen, but if an agreement is reached it would be a financial windfall for both men. McGregor would most certainly make more than he ever has in his UFC career.
"Floyd's and Conor's motivation is clear. It's money. In fact, they don't even pretend it's not. But it's also a lack of consequences for when the fight ends up being the disaster that is predicted. After this fight, neither of them will need us anymore. Floyd will go back to retirement -- presumably for good this time with another nine-figure paycheck -- and Conor will go back to the UFC," De La Hoya wrote. "It's a win-win for them. It's a lose-lose for us. We'll be $100 lighter and we will have squandered another opportunity to bring boxing back to its rightful place as the sport of kings."
De La Hoya's full letter can be viewed below:


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Mary Robinson abandons plans to store archive in Mayo family home
Former president says she will not avail of €1.2m tax relief for donation which will be given to NUI Galway
Mary Robinson has confirmed her archive will be 'gifted to NUIG, with Mayo County Council having full access to any part of the collection which is required to support the mission of the centre in Ballina', it said. Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill / The Irish Times
Former president Mary Robinson has said she will "gift" her archive to NUI Galway and will not avail of a tax credit of about €1.2 million for the donation.
The abandonment of plans to house the archive in Mrs Robinson's former family home at Victoria House in Ballina is part of a review of the project, which was to have cost between €6 and €8 million.
In a statement issued on Monday evening, the Victoria House Foundation board reiterated its commitment to the project which has been undertaken in partnership with NUI Galway (NUIG) and Mayo County Council.
Mrs Robinson has confirmed her archive will be "gifted to NUIG, with Mayo County Council having full access to any part of the collection which is required to support the mission of the centre in Ballina", it said.
"Storage of the archive in Galway will obviate the need to duplicate expensive archival facilities in Ballina,"the foundation board statement said.
"Developing the centre around Mary's childhood home remains the preferred option of the Victoria House Foundation and other options will also be explored as part of the current review of the project,"it said.
The review would be to concluded in the first quarter of 2017,the board said.
Earlier this month , Mrs Robinson's brother Adrian Bourke resigned from the board, amid continuing negotiations over sale of the Robinson home, which he owns, for the centre.
The foundation said that the resignation took place as part of the project review, which was discussed at a board meeting in Ballina last Saturday .
Tax relief was also discussed at the meeting, and the foundation said that Mrs Robinson "reiterated" that "she does not intend to avail of any tax credit that might be available to her under section 1003".
The Robinson archive was approved for donation by Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys, the foundation said.
Tax relief for such donations of cultural value under section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 has to be considered by a selection committee, chaired by a Department of Arts and Heritage representative and involving State heritage and cultural institutions.
The Victoria House Foundation board said it was informed that the Revenue Commissioners had confirmed its valuation of the archive at €4.65 million, with its valuer reporting that it was "of the utmost importance both nationally and internationally to an Irish and world audience of scholars and academics".
"Under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, the market value is the lesser of the value placed by the donor and the value placed by the Revenue Commissioners,"the board explained.
" In this case the value obtained by Mayo County Council and accepted by Mary Robinson was the lower figure of €2.5 million, and this figure was taken for the purposes of calculating the potential tax credit of €2 million,"it said.
" Taking account of capital gains tax that may have arisen on the donation of the archive to the State, the net credit that could have arisen is estimated at €1.2 million,"it said.
The Foundation said that the cost of the project would now be lower than originally estimated, given that the archive would be handled by NUIG.
A percentage of the cost was to have come from State sources, with a pledge of €2 million from the Department of Arts and Heritage, a further pledge of €1.5 million from council funds, and tax relief from the archive donation. The Ireland Funds are also listed donors.
Mayo County manager Peter Hynes said a decision on local authority funding is now dependent on that review, and "as of now, we are committed to delivering the original objective".
NUIG president Dr Jim Browne said that the university was honoured to accept the archive, which would "offer a fabulous resource to scholars of human rights, gender equality and women's leadership all over the world".
The project's costs and transparency issued had been questioned by Sinn Féin TD Peadar Toibín who is chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts and Heritage. It is to hold a hearing on the project next month , and has asked Ms Humphreys, NUIG and Mayo County Council to attend.
Writing in The Irish Times in late October, Mr Hynes said that it was "not a vanity project", and Mrs Robinson and her husband Nick had been "extremely sceptical" about the idea after it was first mooted by Ballina Town Council in 2008.
Mr Hynes recalled Mrs Robinson has said she "neither needed nor wanted her archive to be accommodated 'in some form of mausoleum'," and"it took several years of gentle and consistent persuasion to convince her to take the risk involved in breaking with the tradition of presidents donating their papers to conventional institutions such as the National Library, the National Archives or one of the national universities".
The Victoria House Foundation said that stakeholders "reiterated their commitment to the vision to use Mary Robinson's legacy at a location in Ballina to inspire and foster personal leadership in the service of promoting human rights, gender equality and women's leadership".
"The core of this vision continues to be the tremendous gift of Mary Robinson's archive to the west of Ireland, most particularly for its scholarly value, and the opportunity to create academic and tourism activity,"it said in its statement.


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Twenty six bilateral agreements were signed as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met in Ankara on October 25. Mirziyoyev's two-day trip to Ankara is the first official visit paid by an Uzbek president to Turkey since 1999.
Turkish businesses were forced out of Uzbekistan under the late President Islam Karimov, but they are now expected to start re-engaging with the Uzbek market with Erdogan having noted that he believes relations between the two countries have this year "come to life". In May, Uzbekistan hosted an Uzbek-Turkish Business forum for the first time in nine years. During that gathering, the two sides signed agreements worth $2bn, including 30 projects in the textile, pharmaceutical and banking sectors.
Mirziyoyev, who succeeded Karimov late last year, recently signed a decree ordering a restitution of assets to Turkish company Demir Holding. The assets were confiscated during an ugly crackdown on Turkish investors in 2011.
The Uzbek president is gaining a reputation as something of a reformist, both on the economic and human rights fronts. His currency reform should attract foreign investors who can now more feasibly repatriate profits, his commitment to ending forced and child labour in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan has pleased the international financial institutions including the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development—the former is set to process a request from Tashkent for a $1bn loan, while the latter is returning to Uzbekistan after a decade, having left after falling out with iron-fisted ruler Karimov—and the release of dissident prisoners has attracted some positive headlines.
The Uzbek president's visit to Ankara also concluded with the two sides agreeing on launching Turkish Airlines flights between Istanbul and Samarkand as well as issuing one-year multiple entry visas for Turkish business persons. Mirziyoyev additionally announced that Turkish tourists will be granted one-month visas.
"The meeting at the presidential level took place after a 20-year break, so it is of great importance to us. We held one-on-one meetings with Mirziyoyev, and then negotiations between delegations. These meetings were very productive", Erdogan said.
As many as 411 Uzbek enterprises are jointly owned by Turkish investors.


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If your menu for the December holidays always features prime rib or filet mignon, this could be the year to cook your first goose instead. Even opting to serve seven courses of fish, à la the Italian Christmas Eve tradition, might be easier on the wallet than buying beef for a crowd.
Beef prices are soaring. At this time last year, live cattle traded at 64 cents per pound; now it's just over a dollar. And retail prices at some stores have shot up about 40 cents per pound.
But not all price tags reflect the increase. To protect consumers from sticker shock, some retailers are opting to absorb the extra cost, rather than raise prices. Or they might charge more for other items to make up the difference. Some restaurants are even steering customers toward other entrees. McDonald's and Wendy's, for example, are hyping salads and lean chicken pieces.
But they can't avoid raising beef prices for long, economists say.
"Grocery stores and restaurants are hoping this is a passing phenomenon," says Derrell Peel, professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University. "They figure they'll give customers a break. But beef prices will be on a higher plane for a while, and they will have to face this and drastically increase prices."
How long is "a while"?
About two years, says Ron Gustafson, beef analyst with the USDA's Economic Research Service. It will take at least that long to increase the nation's cattle supply, he explains, especially since many heifers typically retained for breeding are being sold.
He attributes the bull market to several factors: First, supply has been dramatically reduced as a result of the past several years of drought, which eliminated important "forage" (grass and wheat) for cows. The Plains states, home to the majority of American cattle ranches, were hardest hit.
In 1996, says Mr. Gustafson, the US cattle count was 103.5 million head; now it's down to 96 million. And this year's calf crop is forecast at 38 million, the smallest since 1951.
Also impacting the market is the ban on Canadian beef exports into the US, which went into effect in May as a result of one incident of mad-cow disease in Alberta. Previously, about 8 percent of American beef came from Canada.
At the same time the beef supply has been reduced, diet gurus have boosted the appeal of red meat. Both the Atkins diet and the South Beach diet tout a high-protein, low-carbohydrate approach to weight loss. So people looking to shed a few pounds are ordering steak or a burger alongside their salad. And they're willing to pay top dollar.
"They figure this is the cost of entry to losing weight," says food trends expert Phil Lempert. "The big joke," he adds, "is that a low-carb diet allows you to lose weight fast, but eventually it gets tiresome and boring to eat half a cow every week. So people give up and then gain all the weight back."
Mr. Lempert, food editor for NBC's "Today Show," gives the diet-fueled beef craze six more months. "The low-carb trend will shift back to low-fat," he says, explaining that this will be partly a result of new promotional campaigns by pasta and bread companies.
Then, he thinks, beef prices will come down.
Of course, cattle ranchers hope that Gustafson's, not Lempert's, crystal ball is the right one.
"Producers keep asking me how long this market can last," says Matt Brockman, CEO of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. "Many of them have never seen prices this high."


text:
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text:
NEW YORK Oil prices steadied on Tuesday after Kuwait said an output freeze by major oil producers would proceed without Iran, shoring up sentiment ahead of weekly data likely to show another record high in U.S. crude inventories.
A meeting of oil-producing countries in Doha on April 17 will deliver an agreement to freeze output, Kuwait's OPEC governor and two sources said.
Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Marzieh Shahdaei had said earlier Tehran will opt out of the plan to raise crude exports to pre-sanction levels. Iran is the second largest exporter in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and fourth largest oil producer in the world.
Last week, a Saudi prince was reported saying the kingdom will not participate in the production without Iran's involvement.
Brent crude LCOc1 was up 10 cents at $37.79 a barrel by 11:52 a.m. EDT (1552 GMT), after hitting a one-month low at $37.27.
U.S. crude was up 12 cents at $35.82 a barrel. It earlier sunk to $35.24, its lowest since March 4, amid worries preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute at 4:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) will show U.S. crude stockpiles at an eighth straight week of record highs. [EIA/S]
Crude oil prices remain nearly 40 percent above 12-year lows struck in mid-February, although their recovery has fizzled since last week on skepticism over the output freeze plan.
Kuwait "seems to think that a production freeze deal is possible even without Iran," said Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi Futures. "While that's technically true, we also think it would be ineffective in bending the path of future production, leaving the expected global surplus in place."
U.S. crude was weighed down earlier in the session by government data on Monday showing the first monthly drop in U.S. gasoline demand in 14 months. Gasoline demand has been one of the strongest pillars of U.S. crude for months now.
But on closer inspection there is nothing surprising about the monthly reading for January, which is in line with the low weekly consumption numbers reported during that month, Reuters market analyst John Kemp said.
U.S. gasoline demand is still strong despite poor weather in January. It only began to ramp up from the middle of February and has remained strong since then according to the weekly data. (tmsnrt.rs/1RBCJ3c)
(Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps in LONDON; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Updated Date: Apr 06, 2016 00:15 AM


text:
Every year the Abraham Lincoln High School Alumni Association gives scholarships to current students. If you would like to find out how to donate to our scholarship fund or to fund a scholarship yourself please contact the Webmaster through the link on the front page.
Scholarships for 2013 Total Given $ 30,500
1. Alumni Scholarship for Academic Achievement
Sherry Teng UCLA
2. Karl Schwarze Scholarship for Special Achievement
Demetrius Williams ____________
3. Clyde White Scholarship for Academic Achievement
Vivian Phan ____________
4. The Special Achievement Scholarship in Memory of Peter Yan
Lauren Lee San Jose State
5. Class of 1955 Men's Club Scholarship
Kristi Wong College of San Mateo
6. Class of 1955 Men's Club Scholarship
Michelle Wong _________________
7. Class of 1955 Men's Club Scholarship – in Memory of Jim Puccetti
Derek Morrell _________________
8. Class of 2004 Scholarship
Johnson Yang S F State Univ.
9. Jeanne-Marie Pannier Soderquist Scholarship
Huzaifa Shahbaz* Humboldt State Univ.
(*President of the Student Body)
10. Dolores Daubert Lewin Scholarship
Eric Wong CCSF
11. Ted Soulis Scholarship for Art
Randy Hynson SF State Univ.
12. Ted Soulis Scholarship for Athletic Achievement
Eden Yisak ____________
13. The Nasser Family Scholarship
Edgar Estanislao ____________
14. The Nasser Family Scholarship
Emilio Oliveros Sonoma State Univ.
15. The Barbara Avery Excellence in Mathematics Award
In Memory of Keiko Tsuda Lowery
Angel Chow UCLA
16. The Mollie Brill Excellence in French Award
In Memory of Keiko Tsuda Lowery
Adrian Ngai Rutgers University
17. The Gordon W. Gribble Science Scholarship
David Dinh UC Davis
18. The Whitehead Family Scholarship
Betsy Borst UC Santa Cruz
19 The Bill Buckley Memorial Scholarship
Selena Ma San Diego State Univ.
20 The Eddie O'Malaley Memorial Scholarship
Tiffany Cheung CCSF
21. Ron Pang Scholarship
Kimberly Nnaemeka San Diego State Univ.
22. The Mustanich Family Scholarship for Excellence in Athletics
Jared Vu Univ. of Pacific
23. Mustang Legacy Alumni Scholarship
Estefany Carreno SF State Univ.
24. Class of 2010 Alumni Scholarship
Oscar Flores Wheaton College
25. The Senior Class Alumni Scholarship
Sienna Mok-Reader Cal Poly SLO
Criteria for the scholarships are specified by the donor or scholarship committee. Students are nominated by the faculty of ALHS. For a list of criteria for our annual scholarships please see this word document.


text:
Current Disrepute: 0
Current Infamy: 0
Some pirates only do what they do for the promise of wealth, being little more than brigands of the waves. Others do it for the reputation, fearsomeness, and power that comes with numbering among the most notorious scallywags on the seas. That's where Infamy comes in. Numerous times over the course of their careers, the PCs—as members of a single pirate crew—will have the opportunity to recount their victories, boast of the treasures they've won, and spread tales of their outrages. All of this has the potential to win the PCs Infamy, but that alone isn't the goal.
At the most basic level, infamous pirates have the potential to pressgang unfortunates into their crews, get repairs to their ships in nearly any port, and win discounts from merchants they'd prefer not to rob. As a crew becomes more and more infamous, however, its legend stretches across the seas, allowing it to garner support from other pirate lords, win more favorable vessels, and even rally whole pirate armadas under its flag. This system allows characters to track how their legend is growing over the course of the campaign, along with providing them tangible rewards for building appropriately piratical reputations.
A party has two related scores, Infamy and Disrepute. Infamy tracks how many points of Infamy the crew has gained over its career—think of this as the sum of all the outlandish stories and rumors about the PCs being told throughout the Shackles. Infamy rarely, if ever, decreases, and reaching certain Infamy thresholds provides useful benefits and allows others to be purchased using points of Disrepute. Infamy is limited by actual skill, however, and a group's Infamy score can never be more than 4 × the PCs' average party level.
Disrepute is a spendable resource—a group's actual ability to cash in on its reputation. This currency is used to purchase impositions, deeds others might not want to do for the group, but that they perform either to curry the group's favor or to avoid its disfavor. This score will likely fluctuate over the course of a pirate crew's career and can go as high as the group's Infamy (but never higher), and at times might even drop to zero. This isn't something to worry about, though, as a low Disrepute score has no bearing on a crew's overall reputation—on the contrary, it merely means they're making use of the benefits their status has won them. However, it does represent that even the PCs' legend can only take them so far, and if a group's Disrepute drops lower than the Disrepute price of a benefit, the crew must spend time building its Disrepute back up before it can purchase that benefit.
Winning Infamy and Disrepute
A few things are required to gain Infamy: an audience, a deed to tell about, and a flair for storytelling. Proof of the group's deed in the form of plunder doesn't hurt either.
To gain Infamy, the PCs must moor their ship at a port for 1 full day, and the PC determined by the group to be its main storyteller must spend this time on shore carousing and boasting of infamous deeds. This PC must make either a Bluff, Intimidate, or Perform check to gauge the effectiveness of her recounting or embellishing. If the character succeeds at this check, the group's Infamy and Disrepute both increase by +1 (so long as neither score is already at its maximum amount). The most a party's Infamy and Disrepute scores can ever increase as a result of a single Infamy check is by 3 points. If the PC fails the Infamy check, there is no change in her group's Infamy score and the day has been wasted.
No matter how impressionable (or drunk) the crowd, no one wants to hear the same tales and boasts over and over again. Thus, a group can only gain a maximum of 5 points of Infamy and Disrepute from any particular port. However, this amount resets every time a group reaches a new Infamy threshold. Thus, once a group gains 5 points of Infamy and Disrepute in Quent, it can gain no further points of Infamy from that port until it reaches the next Infamy threshold, though the crew can travel to another port and gain more Infamy by boasting to a new audience.
Plunder and Infamy
Plunder can modify a PC's attempt to gain Infamy in two ways. Before making an Infamy check for the day, the party can choose to spend plunder to influence the result—any tale is more believable when it comes from someone throwing around her wealth and buying drinks for the listeners. Every point of plunder expended adds a +2 bonus to the character's skill check to earn Infamy. The party can choose to spend as much plunder as it wants to influence this check—even the most leaden-tongued pirate might win fabulous renown by spending enough booty.
Additionally, if a PC fails an Infamy check, the party can choose to spend 3 points of plunder to immediately reroll the check. The party may only make one reroll attempt per day, and spend the plunder even if the second attempt fails—some people just aren't impressed no matter how much loot you throw at them.
Spending Disrepute
A group's Disrepute can be spent to buy beneficial effects called impositions, though some impositions might only be available in certain places— such as at port—or might have additional costs—like forcing a prisoner to walk the plank. Spending Disrepute to purchase an imposition requires 1 full day unless otherwise noted. When Disrepute is spent, the group's Disrepute score decreases by the price of the imposition, but its Infamy (and, thus, the group's Infamy threshold) remains the same. The Infamy thresholds and benefits and a few example Impositions are detailed below.
Disgraceful (10+ Infamy) Characters may purchase disgraceful impositions.
– The PCs may choose one favored port. They gain a + 2 bonus on all Infamy checks made at that port.
Despicable (20+ Infamy) Characters may purchase despicable impositions.
– Once per week, the PCs can sacrifice a prisoner or crew member to immediately gain 1d3 points of Disrepute. This sacrifice is always fatal, and returning the victim to life results in the loss of 1d6 points of Disrepute.
Notorious (30+ Infamy) Characters may purchase notorious impositions.
– Disgraceful impositions can be purchased for half price (rounded down).
– The PCs may choose a second favored port. They gain a +2 bonus on all Infamy checks made at this new favored port and a +4 bonus on Infamy checks made at their first favored port.
Loathsome (40+ Infamy) Characters may purchase loathsome impositions.
– Despicable impositions can be purchased for half price (rounded down).
– PCs gain a +5 bonus on skill checks made to sell plunder.
Vile (55+ Infamy) Characters may purchase vile impositions.
– Notorious impositions can be purchased for half price (rounded down). Disgraceful impositions are free.
– The PCs may choose a third favored port. They gain a +2 bonus on all Infamy checks made at the new favored port, a +4 bonus on Infamy checks made at their second favored port, and a +6 bonus on Infamy checks made at their first favored port.
Sample Impositions
Yes, Sir! Cost: 2 Benefit: For the next hour, the PCs' crew completes any mundane tasks they're assigned in half the expected time. This typically relates to Craft and Profession (sailor) checks made to prepare, maintain, or repair the ship, and cannot be applied to combat or more complex deeds like crafting magic items.
Get Up, You Dogs! Cost: 10 Benefit: Every PC and allied character on the deck of the PCs' ship is affected as per the spell cure light wounds, as if cast by a cleric of the PCs' average party level. This imposition can only be used once per week.
Shiver Me Timbers! Cost: 5 Benefit: While on board their ship, the PCs and their entire crew can reroll initiative or roll initiative in what would otherwise be a surprise round. The benefit of this imposition can be used immediately, but only once per week.
Besmara's Blessings! Cost: 10 Benefit: As a standard action, a PC on board her ship can cast animate rope, control water, remove curse, remove disease, or water breathing with a caster level equal to her character level.
Honor the Code! Cost: 5 Benefit: The PCs and their crew gain a +4 bonus on all Charisma-based skill checks made against other pirates for the next 24 hours.
Chum the Waters! Cost: 15 Benefit: For every Infamy threshold they possess, the PCs summon 1d4 sharks into the waters surrounding their ship. These sharks are not under the PCs' control and viciously attack any creature in the water.
Evade! Cost: 5 Benefit: Teleport your ship 100 feet in any direction. This imposition can be used once per day.
The Widow's Scar! Cost: 20 Benefit: Choose one enemy to curse. You and your crew gain a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls against that NPC for 1 week. The enemy is aware of the curse and who cursed her, and can end the effect with a remove curse spell.
More Lashings! Cost: 5 Benefit: The speed of the PCs' ship quadruples for 1 day.
Summon the Serpent! Cost: 25 Benefit: One sea serpent comes to the aid of the PCs' ship. This sea monster is under the control of the PCs and serves for 10 minutes before disappearing back into the deep.


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Bovine Love
Donna La Mattino Pagakis 11/18/2012 12:41:19 AMToo funny, great timing!! #1498991
Julie Abston 11/18/2012 5:54:05 AMThanks! Definitely a lucky shot! #10423864
Ann Coates 11/18/2012 8:50:18 AMA fantastic moment you captured here, well done. #10424117
Avril Young 12/2/2012 1:20:37 AMBeautiful capture...wonderful timing! #10446077
Julie Abston 12/2/2012 6:29:49 PMThank you both!!
So excited to have captured this!! Those cattle sure do know their owner! :)
Exif: F Number: 3.5, Exposure Bias Value: 0.00, ExposureTime: 10/16000 seconds, Flash: did not fire., ISO: 250, White balance: Auto white balance, FocalLength: 85.00 mm, Model: NIKON D200
Uploaded on 11/17/2012 8:15:42 PM
Camera: Nikon D200 Digital SLR Camera
Copyright for this gallery photo belongs solely to Julie Abston. Images may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way without the expressed, written permission of the photographer.
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Katarina the legionnaire sniper is rolling and rolling, a ball of limbs and minimal clothing that flits between fireballs hurled by undead wizards. Our co-op partner, the archon Anjali, lies incapacitated on the floor, waiting for a helping hand. Our teammate keeps shouting at us to revive her, but it's difficult when your armoured corset looks like it doesn't even protect against the cold and you're being chased by all the skeletons in the world.
After last week's reveal of Katarina, the Legionnaire sniper and Lescanzi witch, we've had a chance to get hands-on with her in Dungeon Siege III, a combat heavy action RPG that takes the series in a new direction. Its twist is in the co-op, which is as polished as you'd expect; drop-in, drop-out multiplayer works solidly with up to four players, though you are limited to the same area.
Feargus Urquhart, Obsidian's CEO, accepts that Katarina herself is something of a departure for Obsidian and for Dungeon Siege, using firearms and being somewhat, ahem, 'pneumatic'; "We wanted a sexy female protagonist but not have her be a shrinking violet... When we were coming up with the idea for her, the idea was that she was long and short range, using curses and debuffs, as a counterpoint to Lucas who was more traditional in your face melee, tank-like. She's a great complement in co-op."
Using a gamepad (we tested the 360 version), Katarina is quick and easy to control. Each character has two stances; in Katarina's case, she can switch from a rifle to a shotgun-pistol dual wield combination. The playthrough starts in the open air, battling some particularly gruesome giant spiders, though slowly and at distance as it's a fragile pairing at hand; both Katarina and Anjali seem to be damage dealers, though Anjali has better survivability in her human form. Katarina's attacks work well at range, but excessive use of her knockback special attack and dodge is required to stay alive.
There's also a range of special attacks, buffs and debuffs for each character, much like Borderlands; for example, at recruit level Katarina can debuff enemies with her shotgun, or heal herself, and each attack can also be empowered, which produces some bonus effects. As Feargus puts it, "It's not like you have to be Ninja Gaiden to be successful - but you do have to be using all your abilities in combat."
The combat is solid, though we did find ourselves firing into walls more often than we would have liked, especially in the aftermath of an evasive roll. "It's purposeful," explains Feargus, "[it's about] balancing those super-powerful attacks with timing. One of our other characters has a really powerful lightning attack and it hits like a truck, but the cost is that the wind-up is long."
As you'd expect from an RPG it comes with a fleshed out levelling system, but where it differs from some other action RPGs is that the world is open and can be revisited, even if its plot is linear. Having defeated the spiders, we wander off in the wrong direction but a quick press of the d-pad brings up a Fable-like breadcrumb trail that sets us back on the right path.
Pleasingly, it's a path that's littered with some of Obsidian's densely entertaining stories - in dialogue, in pick-ups, on plaques throughout the dungeons – but sadly there's no sign of the much-missed mule from the first game. "The mule's a tough thing," explains Feargus, "I want to thank and punch Chris Taylor in the head for the mule."
"We didn't want people to worry about inventory anyway, to be forced to go back to town all the time." If you're truly distraught, there's hope; "We're talking about it for things in the future, as a lot of people really miss the mule - you know, [for] Hardcore Mule DLC," explains a chuckling Feargus.
Following the trail we find a Legionnaire tomb nearby and have a quick gabble with an amateur archaeologist; though how he made it through the spiders is a mystery. Though he's well-written and acted, we do find ourselves skipping through what he says to get to the action. Feargus understands that particular reaction to dialogue; "Ultimately, it's a co-op game, so we've introduced 'outs' as quickly as possible for people who don't want to talk."
But with so much changing from the original Dungeon Siege - in its combat, fantasy style, platform, and absent mule - it could be argued that the game has been hollowed out. "The lore of the world is the game," assures Feargus, "We wanted to give Dungeon Siege its own feeling as a fantasy brand. There are core things about Dungeon Siege that we've made sure are still absolutely there; so no load screens and the amount of gear you get are core to the feel. Dungeon Siege 2 came out 8 or 9 years ago... the games I made then are not the games I'd make now, no matter the IP, because gamers, consoles, expectations are all different."
That said, the changes don't really matter; the things that really distinguished Dungeon Siege previously - the amount of loot, the open world, and ease of play - are still there. It sounds like Obsidian is attempting to build a more interesting world and game around a familiar name; we can get behind that, as long as it doesn't lose the mule.


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I think the first could use more of a 'foreground' ... seems a bit like a background with a missing subject.The second has some focus issues ... a faster shutter speed or tripod would have helped a lot. With this kind of shot, detail is important and the lack of sharp focus detracts quite a bit. It also lacks 'dimension' and comes off a bit 'flat' ... even when the entirety of the image is 'far away', you still need a foreground and background to give the image some depth.I love your passion for this stuff ... you clearly enjoy it a lot! Keep going ... I look forward to helping each other get better.
Hi Shutterpup, a really nice image you have there, I imagine I could get lost in the details when this is big! What I dont like is the contrast and the colors, caused by the sun. I would convert it to b/w, and then work with curves on the contrast. I would: 1. Decrease the light tones quite a bit so these become comfortable to the eye2. Decrease also the darks so they approach black3. Leave the darker middle tones a bit lighterIt is a bit tricky so I'll attach a quick image, still not optimal, but more pleasing for my eyes. From this point you could go on with a second curve to refine your result. At least thats how I approach it You also might want to experiment further with the curves, going for entire different looks. Also, you might consider shooting with less contrasty light.Christian
Christian,So that's what it looks like in b/w. Are you of the opinion that when working with difficult lighting in this kind of landscape, that conversion to b/w helps? Thank you for including the steps you followed in your conversion.About the original colors. There are areas of the canyon that have limestone/possibly granite as well as the pinkish sedimentary rock. The color itself isn't contrasty; it is very white rock, even under the best of conditions. As for shooting under less contrasty light, this was a day trip taken out of Flagstaff to introduce my husband to the Grand Canyon; I had been there before years ago, but he'd never seen it. By the time we drove from Flagstaff, it was midday; he was ill on this trip and didn't have the stamina to stay longer than the afternoon. So much for my digression. It is what it is.Going back to the b/w conversion. I downloaded a trial version of Silver Efex last night for 15 days. I have always had a love affair with b/w, never really could get into color. I'm looking forward to my next 15 days, trying conversions.
#1 has a lot of contrasty details that make my eye wander all over, but not fix on anything. #2 looks much better - it has structure, and looks like something I would want to climb right now.
Shutterpup, it might help, it depends. I would not want to state a general rule. But when I have this midday look, where the colors are not contributing that much to the mood, I think it makes sense to just try b/w. Cant hurt, after all And the most fun part about it -at least for me - is that I may discover things I did not think about in the first place, e.g. it might completely alter the mood of a scene. And I understand you dont have easy possibility of reshooting. (To be honest, on my hikes here in the saxon switzerland as its called (german czech border) I also often dont have the possibility to reshoot. If Im there, Im there.Btw, you might also try GIMP, its free, and has similarities with Photoshop.
Christian,I hear that about altering the mood of a scene. B/W can do that, getting rid of all the extraneous stuff that can accompany color shots. Strips the subject down to the bare bones and gives some atmosphere. I'm going to play with #2, converting to b/w.I've heard of GIMP. I thought it was only for Windows. I have Mac. Not better, not worse, just what I have.Pup
I googled for "gimp mac" and as far as I read there is an version out for OS X
PupThese images look to me like you haven't used a polarizer. If your going to shoot at midday I strongly recommend doing so....you will find a massive difference when shooting things like rock faces. The effect can be duplicated in photoshop in some cases, but when you get that white glare on rocks your stuck with it.Just a suggestion if you want to stick with colour.CheersBrian


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- lastlastfirst
- 4 years ago
I'm 30 and have been off BC for 1 year now while TTC. While on BC for nearly 10 years my skin was very clear and I barely ever had a blemish. When I stopped taking BC last July I started getting acne and with each cycle since it seems to get worse and it's literally just out of control now…I am so embarrassed!
I plan to ask my doctor at my next appt, but in the meantime was wondering if any of you have experienced something similar and what you've done about it? I don't want to go on any medication that would get in the way of TTC, but I'm not sure what is safe/natural yet still effective?


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Bend and snapLeave a Comment
The latest offering from the Curve theatre saw the hit musical Legally Blonde – based on the 2001 film – make its way all the way from Broadway to Leicester.
Coinciding with the grand opening of the latest addition to the Barrie Stephen Hair Group, BStyled, the show opened on Thursday April 14th. The fantastic show saw The X-Factor's very own Lucie Jones as the lead, Elle Woods, and Hollyoake's dashing Danny Mac as Warner Huntington III.
As official sponsors, the team at BStyled had the pleasure of offering their glamorous services to guests on the Barrie Stephen Pop-up Salon as they waited for the show to start. And since we love our clients so much they all walked away with goodie bags filled with Kerastase products.
To show our appreciation for such a fantastic show, we invited the entire cast into BStyled on Tuesday April 26th for a luxury VIP pampering session. The girls enjoyed cuts and colours whilst the boys enjoyed some first class grooming from our expert barbers. What a fabulous afternoon this was as they received the full Barrie Stephen experience.


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what happens to an IRA if there's no named beneficiary ? It goes to the estate of the owner, and then to whomever is specified in the will.The downside is that it is no longer an inherited IRA and must be withdrawn in full within 5 years. thx.... would that make it taxed as ordinary incomeinstead of 'estate' taxed?
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Who Needs Copyright When You Have Broadcast Rights?
from the just-take-a-couple-steps-backwards dept
Ernest Miller has written up a pretty damning piece about a new WIPO treaty designed to "protect" broadcasters. As Miller points out, who knew that broadcasters were facing extinction? Miller also points out exactly what's so dreadful about this treaty. It basically gives more rights to the broadcaster (including webcasting) than the copyright holder of the content. In other words, if you want to have control over content that you don't own the copyright to (say, for example, stuff that's in the public domain), you just need to broadcast it, and it's all yours under this treaty.


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Play Binoculars from Cardboard Tubes
Birdwatching is a great winter activity for your preschoolers. With these "binoculars" they will feel like a pro!
All you need is some fun duct tape and cardboard tubes. Save the rolls from paper products for this project.
Lay out a strip of tape – twelve inches should be plenty – sticky side up. Lay two short cardboard tubes (toilet paper rolls or halves of paper towel rolls) on the tape side by side.
Wrap the tape up and around the tubes to make your binoculars.
If your child is old enough for it not to be a hazard, you can add a length of yarn or string so they can hang the binoculars around their neck.
Happy birdwatching!
See hundreds of other family projects and activities here.
Love this post? Support us by using our FREE service to find local child care or preschools nearby.


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For a while my skin was having what can only be described as a tantrum. It was not fun. It was dry, flaky and painful, with the days of the occasional breakout replaced by angry, inflamed spots popping up every day. I still don't know what happening, but I'm blaming the weather... it's always the weather.
Luckily it's all started to clear up now and my skin is looking better than ever. I think I've got my routine totally nailed with these four products. It's a pretty simple routine and - much to my delight - it's also pretty affordable too. If I'm being honest it's a dream come true!
Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil - £11 from The Body ShopAt first I wasn't too blown away by the Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil (first review here) but since then it's become a staple in my routine and I'll rave about it to anyone who listens. I am yet to find something that glides through my makeup as effortlessly as this. It's so easy to use (if you read the instructions unlike me at first) and means I have no excuse not to take my makeup off before bed! It lasts forever too, this is my second bottle in 10 months and I use every day I wear makeup. I use this with a muslin cloth but that's my own preference, you don't need to faff about with any cloths or cotton pads which makes it great for travelling.
Exfoliating Cleanser - £10.50 from FacetheoryAn exfoliating cleanser is a must have in my routine as it helps me keep on top of my pesky dry patches, so this cleanser from Facetheory has been a very welcome addition to my collection. With that wonder ingredient that is glycolic acid this cleanser buffs and brightens without the redness that comes alongside many other exfoliating products. It helps keep my skin soft and ensures that my pores are squeaky clean and build up free. This cleanser is intended more for oily/combination skin and mine leans a bit more on the dry side but it works really well for me without drying it out even more. It's available either scented or unscented, it's cruelty free, vegan and paraben free - an all rounder really.
Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Exfoliating Facial Pads - £12.99 from BootsAnother product that I have raved about before is the Nip + Fab Exfoliating Facial Pads which I loved from the very beginning (review here). After my initial tub ran out I made the decision to shop my stash as opposed to repurchasing so I went without for a few months and the difference was really apparent. A few weeks ago I spotted them on offer so finally picked up another tub and our love affair was rekindled. The best way to describe these pads is miracle workers. I seriously cannot get enough of them and really fancy trying out the new "extreme" version too. I might pick up some of their other ranges whilst I'm at it!
Vitamin E Overnight Serum-In-Oil - £15.00 from The Body Shop
Something I never thought that I needed in my routine was an oil, but after picking up the Vitamin E Overnight Serum-In-Oil on a bit of a whim I was swiftly proven wrong. I give the Vitamin E range from The Body Shop full credit for fixing my skin to a point that I felt confident enough to go barefaced (when I would rather sleep longer than apply my makeup) so I always look to it when I need something new. I'd used the standard serum before and had brilliant results, but this is even better. One little drop covers my entire face and after leaving it to sink in overnight the end result is beautifully soft, plump and hydrated skin - just what you're wanting.
This post contains a PR sample.
Read my full disclaimer here.


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Midwifery Birth Center Website // Grady Britton
DevelopmentLaunch Project
Nothing is so beautiful as a baby being born into this world, unless it's a beautiful website being launched! Grady Britton and 14Four formed a successful union resulting in a clean, smart site meant to educate and inform the user of the benefits of midwifery. Congratulations, it's live!Launch Project


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Recently, I've been thinking a lot about how important it is to look your very best, whether you're single, in a relationship, a mom, or childless. This is something I believe so strongly in that I never set foot in the gym without at least a coat of mascara on. That's because the way I look on the outside correlates to the way I feel on the inside. Making sure I'm groomed and put-together gives me my mojo. It's that simple.
Now I can be rough-and-tumble on occasion, wash my own car, get dirty, etc., but at heart I feel best when I know my undergarments match, I have 20 perfectly-painted nails, and there's a pair of towering heels on my feet. Consequently, I've been called vain and self-centered, and that's fine. Maybe there is a little truth in that.
But you know what I've never been called?
Slovenly. Sloppy. Haggard. Washed up. Because I take pride in myself, and that's something that society on the whole is missing.
I crack up whenever I'm invited to a party or dinner and the hostess (or friend or acquaintance) always prefaces it with an emphatic "it's casual." This is something I've heard many times over the years. I suppose because I don't wear jeans everyday, that even my casual wear is considered dressed up. That's the travesty of modern life; it's a great time to be alive, but propriety and integrity are all but dead (one need only watch a single episode of Jersey Shore to see this). It seems that these days, sloppy passes as casual, casual is dressy casual, dressy casual is cocktail, and cocktail is formal. And formal…black tie? Doesn't exist beyond the socialite stratosphere. There is a clear distinction between levels of formality, but these days no one knows the actual differences, only a watered down version of what they once were.
It's true that beauty is only skin deep, but that doesn't mean we should brush off appearances so quickly. After all, our clothing, our civility, are what differentiate us from the animals. And how many studies do we really need to do to prove that the polished, attractive, well-groomed people get the job almost every time? It's true.
Today I happened to open the paper to a great article about this very topic: Pretty is as pretty does, by Meredith Trusty. The article begins,
"A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future," Coco Chanel said. She has a point: When did women stop fixing themselves up?
In the age of leggings as pants (a sin I'm guilty of, wearing them as I write), Ugg boots and college sweatshirts, and wearing pajamas to go grocery shopping, I think Coco would be rolling over in her grave if she knew the state of women's wardrobes today."
Exactly my question, Meredith. When did women stop fixing themselves up? Because in June Cleaver's time, the women were stay-at-home moms (with larger families, I might add), and they still did their hair, put on a dress and lipstick and pumps, and retained their femininity and self-love. What the hell happened?
Don't we have more conveniences these days? More help? More shortcuts? How did those women manage to look like ladies in a world where juice boxes, DVD players, and microwave ovens didn't exist? Try cloth nappies, massive prams, and glass bottles instead. How did they do it?
You know how? They did it because they had to. They had no other choice. That's what was expected. And I think they managed it all because they took some time for themselves. They retained their identities first as women, then as wives, then as mothers. Good for the woman, good for the man, good for the kids.
In her article, Meredith closes with these thoughts, and she sums up my thoughts exactly:
There's a reason why women love Jackie Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn, and I'm guessing it's because they always looked like ladies. I have a sneaking suspicion that Jackie and Audrey would never have been caught in sweats.
So what to do, what to do?
Small steps are key, of course. And to be completely fair, the way of the world and the average lifestyle of women today hardly allow for a full skirt-blouse-heels combo every day.
But what's wrong with interpreting the ladylike looks of bygone days into something modern, and easy for that matter?
Throw on skinny black pants, a boat-neck and ballet flats, and boom—you're Audrey in "Funny Face." All-American jeans and a white button-down will make you Lauren Hutton's doppelganger. The point is, it's not hard to make it look like you tried hard. A first impression is all you get; shouldn't you look your best?
So to end this one-sided debate, I think it's fitting, if only for symmetry, to end with another pearl of wisdom from our dear Coco:
"I don't understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little – if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that's the day she has a date with destiny. And it's best to be as pretty as possible for destiny."
Amen, Coco, amen.


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The Portugal international inspired his side to a comfortable victory with a clinical 10-minute spurt in the second half of the derby clash, breaking open a tight affair.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his scintillating form with a well-taken hat trick in a 10-minute span that takes his tally in the league this season to 21. Sergio Ramos opened the scoring for the home side that extended its unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions.
Madrid manager Jose Mourinho appeared to have one eye on the Copa del Rey semifinal against Barcelona this coming Wednesday as he rested some key players for this game, and it was only after Sami Khedira was introduced at halftime that his side clicked.
Following a scoreless first half in which Ronaldo looked like the most dangerous player on the pitch, and twice came close to scoring only to be thwarted by Getafe's goalkeeper Miguel Moya. Mourinho decided to change things up. Khedira came on for Raul Albiol, which resulted in Michael Essien dropping to right back and Sergio Ramos moving inside to center back.
The switch in personnel seemed to do the trick for the hosts, as they took the lead in the 53rd minute through Ramos. The Spain international bundled home a corner after Moya failed to claim the cross, with the Getafe goalkeeper undoing some brilliant work moments before when he made a fabulous double save on Khedira and Angel Di Maria.
Madrid then went 2-0 up thanks to a blistering counterattack that was clinically finished by Ronaldo. The FIFA Ballon d'Or runner-up hammered a shot low under Moya and into the bottom right-hand corner of the net having sprinted 70 yards to support Mesut Ozil and receive the ball on the edge of the Getafe box.
Within three minutes of that goal Ronaldo then added Madrid's third. The Portuguese attacker's 20th league goal of the season came in the form of a close-range header after Di Maria had dinked an inviting cross to the back post that pulled Moya out of position.
In the 72nd minute Ronaldo completed his hat trick from the penalty spot to make it 4-0, after Luka Modric had been fouled in the area by Alberto Lopo.
Madrid is now unbeaten in 22 matches at home in the league, but still trails Barcelona this season by 12 points, with the Blaugrana having a game in hand. The two rivals meet in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals in three days.


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"For as long as the culture of business has been an integral part of American life, it has also been frowned upon by important sectors of our society. Among our intellectuals especially, the business world has been the subject of many brutal caricatures, portraying corporations large and small, and the people who run them, as heartless, soulless agents of greed. These caricatures have shaped our implicit understanding of the nature of the business world, so much that they have come to pass for conventional wisdom."
An interesting piece, although its caricature of Ayn Rand is a duff note.


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Yarn: Lana Grossa Lambwool
Pattern by me.
Needles: US #5
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in red
Pattern: from Holiday Knits
Needles: US #7
Status: hat and mittens done
Little Cables Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport
Pattern by me
Needles: US #4
Status: one foot done
Yarn: Noro Lily
Pattern from Scarf Style
Needles: US #6
Status: 1/3 done
Striped Pullover
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash
Needles: US #7
For: my nephew
Status: collar done, I need to attach the sleeves and I am done!
Debbie Bliss Simple Jacket with Collar
Yarn: Austermann Caprice
Needles: US #7-8
Status: at the armholes
Pattern by Jenna Adorno.
Yarn: SWTC Beyond in turquoise.
Needles: 24" US #4 circular
For: Principessa
Status: body done
Nothing But a T-shirt
Pattern by Alison Hansel
Yarn: Jo Sharp Desert Garden
Needles #4
Status: 3 inches after the armholes
Branching Out Wristwarmers
Pattern by me.
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool
Needles: US #6 and #8
Escher Blankets
For: don't know yet
Yarn: worsted or bulky weight
Needles: US #8
Status: 13 small fish and 4 big fish


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The last post I made was a WIP on the Nostromo icons I was working on. I was able to finish them (all 34) last night and am really happy how they turned out. I was able to get some helpful feed back from some colleagues and made adjustments to what I had started. Below is a few of them from the set. You can few the full set here.
Personal Project 1: Nostromo Icon WIP
I've been trying to think of little personal, creative projects to keep me busy and develop my skills as a designer. I decided to draw from one of my favourite sci-fi movies, Alien. Here's a peak at the progress of some iconography you can spot on the Nostromo.
Getting back into the habit
I don't like to make New Years Resolutions, so I won't be labelling my return to my sketch books as such. On that note, I'm going to start doing my best to make time for myself to work on personal things in an effort to unwind at the end of most days (fingers crossed).
I've unearthed my pencil crayons and have been trying some rough drawings of animals.
I wasn't aware of 'Inktober' until this year when some of my co-workers were having a discussion about it. I use to draw more when I was in college, but I got out of the habit of it after I started university. This 'Inktober' was my first, and while I wasn't nearly able to get 31 days of drawing in, I was still able to get back into it. Here's a few of the drawings:


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|[TenTec] Low power amplifier kit -Reply
|email@example.com (James C. Owen, III)
|Thu, 23 Apr 1998 14:16:38 -0500 (EST)
In message Thu, 23 Apr 1998 13:02:10 -0500, Roger Sellers <email@example.com> writes: > It has been common practice in other areas of electronics that a > premanufactured component could be considered a "KIT" even if the only > assembly required was to attach/solder an AC power cord. > This held up to> some serious legal manuvers I seem to remember. The type acceptance rules state that amplifier KITS must also be type accepted. They didn't leave much/any leeway for the CB amplifiers to slip through. In doing this they made it much harder on Hams to find certain amplifiers. 73 Jim K4CGY -- FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/tentecfaq.htm Submissions: firstname.lastname@example.com Administrative requests: email@example.com Problems: email@example.com Search: http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
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