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Tagged: H&F bottle shop
No. 2
2011 Château l'Oiselinière de la Ramèe
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, France
Occasionally–I discovered in the midst of my second week of winebbling–walking into wine shops as a twenty-something snoobie can be something like this (please click hyperlink and listen to receive the full effect of this post).
At first, you stand at the doorway of a brand new wineventure. Young. Fresh. Broke. With not a care in the world and not a penny to your name. You've got style though–in that I don't care how uncool I am to the point of actually becoming too cool sort of way.
And then, the perfect moment greets you at the threshold of purchase and peruse. You, winebbler, are certain–beyond any measure of a doubt–that you will leave this place happy as a clam. Directly resulting from an encounter with the gaping and mysterious vats of knowledge made available to you by the woman behind the counter. But, this moment is fleeting my friends. (Stop music here).
And, reality sinks in. Hence, the second realization intrudes upon a brief detour past Rosé and the safety nets of Argentinian Malbec. All the things that could have happened in there aren't happening, and you really are just some poor kid trying to move up in a world that has no more room at the inn. Just ask China.
That jazzy theme music playing in your head is now abruptly revealed as the show-boat it truly was. And any ideation of impending glory is crashing down like an old familiar Thursday afternoon where you left that (would be) enchanting person who works on floor six in an elevator as the music traveled down and down with the closing cold metal doors. In such a space–there is no hope. Only the bitter truth that being in a wine shop can be really damn boring.
Sans the knowledge I sought and sans $16.20, I left H&F bottle shop in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta with a metaphorical empty-handed purchase–to no fault of the wine selling lady. Only my own pitiful attempt to appear to understand her jargon is to blame. For speaking wine speak is a tough game to play–and can oft times turn the biggest of fish into the tiniest of guppies and make the nosiest of bloggers forget all of the right questions.
Alas, home I went with the first bottle recommended to me: a 2011 Château l'Oiselinière de la Ramèe in a little red bag twisted at the top. Worried of what I was getting into at two in the afternoon, I uncorked (and nearly broke) the Muscadet wine which hails from the confluence of the rivers Sévre and Maine in the northwest of France. This wine is crafted by the Chéreau family–who apparently has privy to a house amazing enough to receive the nomenclature of Château and the ability to consume their wine on a hilltop overlooking the banks of a rather (I can only imagine) picturesque riverside. Lucky bastards.
The head guy in charge of the whole Château enterprise is named Bernard Chéreau. This seemingly benign French gentleman possess a tinge of badass as he spearheaded the creation of an export market. Merci beaucoup monsieur from all of us wanna-be winos over here in 'Merica.
The wine hails from Appellation Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Contrôlèe and boasts the seal of French legitimacy (and stuck-up-edtry (kidding!)) that we learned of last week. Evidently, the family is highly loyal to the Melon de Bourgogne varietal from the Loire Valley region and is also highly partial to Muscadet grapes. Basically, this just means that they stick with what they love and keep it simple. Makes sense.
The cool (and kind of gross) thing about this wine is that it goes through a special process known as Sur Lie. Basically, this just means that the newly created wine ferments ( the process of turning sugar into ethanol) on top of dead yeast for an entire miserable winter. Apparently, this makes it "enriched and full-bodied" (whatever the hell that means). To me, the idea of drinking something that has laid soaking in dead anything is mildly repulsive. I try not to think about it too much as the sparkly taste is still quite dazzling.
Well, gang, let's get down to business.
1. Look:
Pale straw-yellow–a bit like the sunshine I am currently missing.
2. Smell:
Floral, fruity, and fresh. Did I mention longings for summer? While refreshing, it did accidentally invoke the overhanging fear of being a sweet wine–a thing I loathe more than Lindsay Lohan on a Friday night. Die, Arbor Mist.
3. Taste:
The beginning: Smooth and foreshadowing of surprises to come. (So Robert Parker right now.)
The middle: Apple and citrus. Oh! It bursts like spring and has just the slightest bit of…salt? Perhaps?
The end: Made me want another sip–and I am usually not a white wine drinker. But this tingles and sparks like pop rocks.
The verdict: For all those Februaries that made me want June back, I'll take it as a worthy fill-in. This wine is well worth the freshness it brought to rainy gray winter days this past week. Thanks H&F for recommending a bit of fun, after all.


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Gayana Eco Resort
The Overview
The Marine Ecology Research Centre is the heart and soul of Gayana Eco Resort. The MERC, as it's known, is a conservation and education facility that runs the robust Save the Giant Clams campaign, which over four years has nurtured 3,000 of these endangered mollusks that are vital to the local ecology. There's also a reef program that regenerates coral and plants artificial structures.
Head off of Malaysian Borneo into the South China Sea for close encounters with a cornucopia of plant and animal life: monkeys, wild boars and hornbills in the mangroves and rainforest; hundreds of species of fish in the aquamarine waters. Much of Gayana is on stilts, getting you as close as possible to the water, while also minimizing the place's impact on the environment. The local chef concocts fantastic Chinese and Western fare using organically farmed seafood and veggies. Sabah, home to Mt. Kinabalu and a rich cultural history, is just a short boat ride away.
The 52 thatched-roof, stilted villas—made of local, durable hard wood—offer jungle, mangrove, lagoon and sea views from their private decks. But if your focus is on the world below, book one of the new glass-floored palm villas.
Participate first-hand in the MERC's work, by becoming a reef "foster parent" and planting your own coral frame, which will eventually get a new home in the sea, or by spending a day as a marine biologist, researching and learning about the ecosystem.
Tel: +60 88 380 390
Website: gayana-eco-resort.com
Facebook: facebook.com/bungaraya.gayana
Published on Dec 11, 2012

subset: commoncrawl


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Are you affected by airtel Fair Usage Policy?
Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal
Chairman & Managing Director
Bharti Airtel Ltd.
Dear Mr. Mittal,
This is in reference to the new "Airtel Fair Usage Policy" that is purported to be implemented by Airtel Broadband on its unlimited broadband Internet plans. While your company has failed to inform its customers and has failed to give notice of this change in policy, news of this new policy has spread over the Internet like wildfire, solely to your detriment. As we understand it, this policy seeks to place "caps" on 'unlimited' plans after which a subscriber's speed would be halved/reduced for the rest of the billing period.
We, the undersigned, are loyal subscribers of Airtel Broadband Services. We have come to appreciate the quality of service provided by Airtel, and this quality has not gone unnoticed. Typically, we are people who others come to for advice when it comes to computer and other technological issues. We have (till now) proudly recommended Airtel Broadband wholeheartedly to any and everyone. Some of us even work in the IT industry, and have recommended Airtel's services to our employers. Some of us are small to medium business owners who use Airtel Broadband at our offices. Some of us, in fact, are even shareholders of Bharti Airtel Ltd. Also amongst us are other concerned citizens who feel that this draconian policy serves as a dangerous precedent for Internet Service Providers to start controlling the Internet and dictate how consumers should use the Internet.
We, the undersigned feel that this policy, under the garb of "fair usage" seeks to essentially place limits on 'unlimited' plans and is one that will wipe away all your goodwill in the market in one fell swoop. We feel that this is a tremendously regressive move towards Internet usage in India. As it is, it's a shameful situation that our country, which is world-famous today for its Information Technology industry, has some of the slowest broadband plans in the world. While the world is upgrading to Gbps connections from Mbps connections, Airtel and other ISPs are still content in feeding the Indian consumer Kbps connections, and now believes that it has to even degrade those outdated plans. To add salt to the wound, policies such as your "Fair Usage Policy" now seek to drive the last nail into the proverbial coffin and seal India's fate to be technologically inferior to most other countries, including other developing nations.
Unfortunately, one badly thought out policy will shatter your most valuable marketing asset – word of mouth recommendation.
I hope you can understand that the Internet is the most powerful tool in the world today, connecting multi-national businesses (such as your own) as well as supporting the freedom of speech of billions of democratically inclined people around the globe. I hope you can appreciate that the message your "Fair Usage Policy" sends out is that, "We are fine if consumers use the Internet for e-mail and light browsing, but how dare you use it for anything really useful." I hope you can further appreciate that the Internet today offers a myriad of services that are bandwidth heavy, but go towards increasing the power of the internet exponentially. For your information and convenience, we are listing a few such services which would directly be threatened by your fair-usage policy:
Video conferencing/telecommunication – Not only is video telecommunication important for families that are spread over the globe to keep in touch with each other, but for companies to conduct job interviews as well as conference calls between different branches spread across the word. It is also quintessential for students who are enrolled in e-learning courses to virtually 'sit' in a classroom.
Video streaming is increasingly being used as an educational tool enabling a person sitting in any remote corner of this country to get the latest cutting-edge education. In fact our very own IITs and IIMs offer such educational videos which require a very high speed unlimited internet connection. In addition, it also allows the common Indian student to enroll in online education courses from universities and institutions around the world. For example, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is undoubtedly one of the finest and most renowned educational institutions worldwide, offers such videos and programs through its "MIT Open Courseware" website. I hope you can appreciate the value in our country of a student sitting in a village being able to read lecture notes and watch videos of actual MIT courses.
Distribution of legitimate software – You would be well aware of the cost advantages of using the internet as a distribution medium by companies making software. Progressively, more and more companies will sell their software products at a cheaper rate (or even free!) but only so long as the end-users (i.e. your customers) have the ability to download large installation files without the apprehension of being penalized for doing so. You would, for example, be well aware of the emergence of Linux as a formidable Operating System, which would never have happened if it was not for the collaboration of tens of thousands of users, downloading huge distribution files every week, which was possible only because of an "unlimited Internet."
Legal distribution of movies, music etc. – You would be well aware of the tremendous potential of the Internet as a marketplace for both independent artists offering their art for free, as well as for big studios who have realized that the internet has immense potential as a marketplace. The success of iTunes, Netflix, and other online media services, only serve as a reminder that online distribution is the future of the media business. Apparently, Bharti Airtel Ltd. feels that India should be denied this opportunity.
Work from home – The Internet today enables millions of people to work from home by connecting to and collaborating with associates and clients all around the globe. The work from home formula is so successful that not only are people capable of earning livelihoods working solely from home, but many multi-national companies are encouraging their employees to work from home as it not only makes them happier, more productive, well-rounded employees, but also saves the companies millions of dollars every year.
Connecting businesses – The Internet today enables businesses abroad to productively collaborate with businesses in India. In fact, without the Internet, the BPO, KPO, LPO etc. boom would never have reached our shores. Companies and firms abroad cannot have a meaningful commercial interaction with India in terms of back office work, without the presence of unfettered high-speed broadband internet.
VOIP – As you are well aware, VOIP is emerging as a technology in the mainstream with a tremendous potential to revolutionize the telephone industry. Curbing download/upload speeds virtually renders this technology useless.
In short, the Internet today stands as the single largest tool for commerce, education and entertainment.
We respectfully submit, therefore, that your "Fair Usage Policy" is unfair to anyone who wishes to use the internet productively, and is fair solely to your own profit margin (as it allows you to give the consumer up to 42% less download capacity than before while charging the same amount). We feel that it is an excuse for Bharti Airtel Ltd. for not ensuring the adequacy of its network infrastructure or upgrading it in order to support the services it purports to offer. It is merely a thinly veiled effort to sell a donkey to a person buying a horse.
We, the undersigned, therefore pledge that, should Airtel not rollback and discontinue this "Fair Usage Policy" within 15 days of receipt of this petition:
We shall discontinue our subscription to all Airtel services.
We shall discontinue, with immediate effect, recommending Airtel to all friends, acquaintances, relatives, businesses , etc.
We shall make all efforts, including the use of mainstream media, to educate Airtel subscribers and shareholders about the regressiveness of this policy.
We shall initiate all legal action against you in the competent courts of law, solely at your risk, costs and consequences.
You may kindly note that this petition is being presented to you in the utmost good faith, and as a sign of our loyalty to your brand (which unfortunately is fast eroding). The goodwill, which you have so painstakingly built over the years solely through excellence in service, compels us to appeal to your better senses before taking the aforesaid measures. However, being informed consumers, it is our intention to communicate to you that this policy is entirely and wholly unacceptable to us. Not only is it bad in law, but more importantly, it is bad in taste.
We would be grateful if you could kindly take the appropriate actions, and channel your efforts towards improving the broadband scenario in India, instead of condemning it to the dark ages.
The Undersigned.
We the undersigned ask you to sign our petition.
Archived Signatures:


text:
Things are looking up at El Monte RV – not that they ever really looked down.
Mike Dwan, the company's national sales director, says he's seen a big uptick in business over the past year, the Pasadena (Calif.) Star-News reported.
"Our rentals have always been good," he said. "We might be up about 15% on rentals for this year over last year. But in terms of sales we're probably up 40% over last year."
Those numbers speak to a national trend.
The recreational vehicle sector measures its strength in shipments of travel trailers and motorcoaches from manufacturers to dealers. It's been on the upswing since 2009, according to Phil Ingrassia, president of the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association (RVDA).
Through the end of May, RV shipments increased 8.6% to 127,454, compared with 117,352 in the first five months of 2011, he said.
For all of this year the association is forecasting a 6.9% increase in shipments to 269,700. That's an increase of 62.8 percent from the recession low of 165,700 in 2009.
"It's definitely on the rebound," Ingrassia said. "RVs are a discretionary purchase. One of the things we look at is consumer sentiment. When consumer sentiment takes a dive, usually RV shipments drop as well."
Camping trailers dominate the market, but coach sales have been on the rise, too.
Dwan said there's been a lot of pent-up demand among consumers to buy RVs.
"People are tired of sitting on the fence and waiting for the government to stop playing their games," he said. "They are out, and they're spending some money."
And when people are spending, it certainly doesn't hurt to have some of the lowest prices around. El Monte RV is primarily an RV rental business, but the company does sell used vehicles at a big discount.
"We sell nothing but used units," Dwan said. "We have roughly 1,600 units in inventory nationwide, so our national business is off the charts. Our units are anywhere from a third to half off of what a new vehicle would cost."
The increasing health of the industry is also reflected by the fact that Airstream Inc. opened a new Airstream Los Angeles dealership in San Gabriel just two months ago.
The dealership, at 1212 E. Las Tunas Drive, offers a variety of the stylish, aluminum-skinned vehicles.
Ken Baker, the facility's general manager, said Airstreams have a special place in the RV world.
"There is not another RV built like an Airstream," he said recently. "They have easy towability, they're stable on the road and they are aerodynamic."
They're also well made. Before leaving the production floor, every Airstream spends 40 minutes under 100 pounds per square inch of water pressure in a special booth to ensure that it's water-tight.
The RVDA does a dealer census every five years and there were 3,000 nationwide in 2007. He expects the figure to be significantly lower when the 2012 figure is released, though business is starting to recover.
"Now we're seeing some expansion and consolidation. We're not seeing dealers close like they did in 2008 and 2009," Ingrassia said.


text:
- Physician work component (work RVU)
- Practice expense component (pe RVU)
- Malpractice component (mal RVU)
These are the complex guidelines payers have been instructed to use when determining whether a doc has over billed an E/M visit. These are the rules that may be used to accuse doctors of fraud in billing and threaten to shut down offices and send doctors to jail. These are the codes that comprehensive care doctor use as their major source of billing (office visits and hospital visits). You can find more details in my hospitalist resource center.
- In a practice expected to be fully supported by Medicare, which for all the single payer, government run fanatics out there is the equivalent scenario, you see that under the current government mandated payment system a comprehensive care physician making $150,000 a year in 1997 would be making $154, 279 a year, with out increasing the volume of services being performed. In other words, without increasing volume, a physician would be making no more now than they did 10 years ago. When you factor in the cost of living increases by the consumer price index (CPI), that physician would have to make $196,382 a year in 2007, just to maintain their lifestyle of 1997. It is no wonder why volume rules in a system that uses top line cost control measures. For comprehensive care physicians, that means double and triple booking clinics and extenders. For specialists that means hiring extenders for all their low paying E/M encounters and spending more time in the procedure lab making the much higher relative profit while adding exponential cost to Medicare without an increase in quality.
- If the 2008 July 1st cuts are allowed to stand, a comprehensive care physician would earn 23% less now than they did in 1997, on an absolute basis. Adjusted for inflation, that is a 59% paycut from 1997.
- The current SGR mandated by Congress is set to make comprehensive care physician income on par with the average take home pay for all Americans in 4 short years. That means a college educated nurse will be making more than the average comprehensive care physician. The unionized laboror with a high school education will be making more than your comprehensive care physician.
- Based on current SGR economics mandated by your Congress, in five short years, your comprehensive care physician will be collecting welfare, earning the approximate equivalent of minimum wage.


text:
Commodities group Louis Dreyfus has agreed to take a minority stake in Malaysian palm oil firm Felda, it said on Monday, conditional on a successful June stock market float for Felda. The amount could be US$150m.
Louis Dreyfus Commodities told FT it was planning to take part in the wave of consolidation among agribusinesses, unveiling a US$7bn warchest, underpinned by cashflow and the trader's first access to capital markets in its 160-year history. It is likely to raise US$500m in bonds soon.
The farm commodities trading giant, which earlier this month agreed to buy US sugar refiner Imperial Sugar for US$203m including debt, said it was to spend US$7bn building assets and buying companies, following investment of $4.9bn in the 2006-11 timespan.
It plans to move from middleman to a vertically integrated trading house: like Wilmar. Seems to be the fashion. Olam is doing this too.
Update on !7 May 2012:
Fidelity and Hong Kong-based Value Partners Group have agreed to become cornerstone investors of Felda Global Ventures Holdings' US$3.3 billion (S$4.2 billion) initial public offering (IPO) in Malaysia, the Edge daily reported yesterday, citing unnamed financial executives involved in the listing.
Other cornerstone investors include Malaysian tycoons Quek Leng Chan and Chua Ma Yu, pension fund Employees Provident Fund and state-owned asset manager Permodalan Nasional, the report cited the executives as saying.


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How To Root Your Android Phone Or Tablet
Android is based on Linux and comes locked with only standard user access given to its user. Root access – also known as Superuser access – is the access level on Linux-based devices that lets their users perform administrative tasks including writing to the system partition, installing Linux binaries and scripts at the core level, modifying protected system files and changing their permissions, and using several apps that require such privileges that aren't possible without root access. We have been covering rooting procedures for several Android devices in the past and in this post, we aim to bring them all together. In the beginning, you might see just a few devices listed here but over time, we will be updating this guide with rooting procedures for all the devices we have already covered as well as those we will be covering in the future.
The procedure for rooting an Android phone or tablet varies from device to device, based on its version of Android as well as any manufacturer or carrier-specific restrictions placed in its firmware. Fortunately, we have already covered several universal rooting methods that should work on many Android phones and tablets. In addition, we have also written about specific rooting procedures for almost all popular Android phones and tablets, as well as for some relatively less popular ones.
So, all you have to do is try out the universal methods, and if they don't work for your device, use the specific procedure for it from the list below. We shall be adding more devices here as they get released and their rooting methods become available.
Disclaimer: Rooting your device will void its warranty. In addition, performing the rooting procedure incorrectly may have unexpected consequences. Please follow this guide at your own risk. AddictiveTips will not be liable if your device gets damaged or bricked during the process.
Universal Rooting Methods
If one of these methods works for your device, you don't need to go through any dedicated procedure. Just confirm that the method you are using supports your device, before trying it out. The methods listed first are for the latest versions of Android, but often support many earlier versions as well, so trying them first should do it for most users.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.1, 4.2 & 4.3 Jelly Bean, & Earlier
Kingo Android ROOT
Android 2.3 Gingerbread & Earlier
Android 2.2 Froyo & Earlier
Universal Androot
Device-Specific Rooting Methods
Here are the device-specific methods for many popular Android phones and tablets that you can use if none of the universal methods listed above work for you.
Google Nexus Devices
Root Google Nexus One | Root Google Nexus One from Ubuntu Linux
Root Google Nexus S
Root Google Galaxy Nexus on Android 4.0 | On Android 4.0.2 (CF-Root) | On Android 4.1 to 4.2
Root Google Nexus 4 on Android 4.2
Root Google Nexus 4, 7, 10 & Galaxy Nexus on Android 4.3
Root Google Nexus 5 on Android 4.4
Root Google Nexus 7 (2012)
Root Google Nexus 7 (2013) on Android 4.3
Root Google Nexus 10 on Android 4.2 | Using Superboot
Root Acer Iconia A500
Root Advent Vega
Root Amazon Kindle Fire
Root Asus Eee Pad Transformer
Barnes & Noble
Root Nook Color
Root Nook Color running Honeycomb
Root Nook Tablet (Windows) | Root Nook Tablet (Linux & Mac)
Root Dell Venue
Root Dell Streak 7
Root HTC Aria
Root HTC Desire
Root HTC Desire HD | Root HTC Telus Desire HD
Root HTC Desire Z / T-Mobile G2
Root HTC Droid Incredible
Root HTC Droid Eris
Root HTC EVO 4G
Root HTC EVO Shift 4G
Root HTC Hero
Root HTC Incredible S (S-OFF devices only)
Root HTC Inspire 4G
Root HTC Legend
Root HTC myTouch 3G Slide
Root HTC myTouch 4G
Root HTC Tattoo
Root HTC Thunderbolt | Root HTC Thunderbolt on Mac
Root HTC Wildfire
Root HTC One S
Root HTC One X
Root HTC One X+
Root HTC DROID DNA
Root HTC Butterfly X920D
Root HTC One (M7)
Root LG Ally
Root LG T-Mobile G2X | Root LG T-Mobile G2X from Mac/Linux
Root LG / T-Mobile G-Slate from Linux
Root LG Optimus 2X
Root LG Optimus One
Root LG Optimus GT540
Root LG Optimus T
Root LG Optimus V
Root Motorola Atrix 4G
Root Motorola Backflip
Root Motorola Bravo
Root Motorola Defy
Root Motorola Devour
Root Motorola Droid
Root Motorola Droid 2
Root Motorola Droid X
Root Motorola Flipout
Root Motorola i1
Root Motorola Milestone
Root Motorola Milestone XT720
Root Motorola Moto X, Droid Ultra, Mini & Maxx
Root Motorola Moto X on Android 4.4 KitKat
Root Motorola XOOM | Root Motorola XOOM after Android 3.1 update
Notion Ink
Root Notion Ink Adam
Root Samsung Captivate
Root Samsung Continuum
Root Samsung Epic 4G
Root Samsung Fascinate (Telus)
Root Samsung Galaxy 3
Root Samsung Galaxy S 4G
Root Samsung Galaxy S I9000 | Root Samsung Galaxy S I9000 running any stock ROM
Root Samsung Galaxy S II I9100 | Root Samsung Galaxy S II I9100 With Single Click
Root Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700
Root Samsung Intercept
Root Samsung Vibrant
Root Samsung Galaxy Note
Root Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Root Samsung Galaxy S III I9300 | Root Samsung Galaxy S III With CF-Root
Root Samsung Galaxy S4 19500 International Exynos 5 Version
Root Samsung Galaxy S4 19505
Root Samsung Galaxy Tab | Root Samsung Galaxy Tab running 2.3.3 Gingerbread
Root Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Root Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
Root Smartbook Surfer
Root Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc
Root Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo
Root Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
Root Sony Ericsson Xperia X8
Root Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
Root Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini / Pro
Root Sony Xperia S On Gingerbread
Root Sony Xperia Z
Root Toshiba Folio 100
Root Viewsonic G Tablet
Root Viewsonic Viewpad 7 Tablet
Root ZTE Racer
If none of the universal procedures listed above worked for your device and you din't see a dedicated method for your device listed here either, do a quick Google search for it and you will most likely find it. Also let us know about it in the comments and while we don't guarantee it (especially for less popular devices), we will cover it for you here if possible.
Done with rooting and want to customize your device further? We have you covered, in our comprehensive Android customization series that covers custom ROMs, themes, apps, wallpapers, lock screens, boot screens, fonts, status bar tweaks and more. Ready for it? View our series on how to customize the looks of your Android phone or tablet.


text:
09 January 2011
So little knowledge known to me...
photos by Tom b.
- Dear Creatures dress
- H&M knit tights
- Jeffrey Campbell boots
- vintage wool beret
- vintage Coach bag
- listening to: The Veils - The Runaway Found "Talk Down the Girl"
I'm not in a terribly wordy mood right now so I think I'll let the photos do most of the talking for this post. Long story short, we had a lovely weekend. A little bit of snow that's already mostly gone, lots of rearranging the furniture in the house as we're still trying to decorate, skipping our usual First Friday outing in favor of dinner at home and a little bit of piling on the couch to watch a Firefly marathon (can you tell I'm a Joss Whedon nerd?). Did you have a nice weekend too?
28 comments:
- Melai said...
Your photos are incredibly amaaaazing!!! :)
Melai of Style and Soul
- January 09, 2011
- Unknown said...
Gorgeous! I love your hat - you pull it off so well :)
- January 09, 2011
- shelly said...
loving this last photo. so majestic!
- January 09, 2011
- Devin said...
These photos are just gorgeous! The scenery mixed with your outfit makes it feel like stepping back in time. I just love it!
- January 09, 2011
- the spectator said...
The countryside in your neck of the woods is so pretty.
P.S. In the November issue of Elle Decoration (yes we are a bit behind down under) there is an interview with Jane Birkin.
- January 10, 2011
- LivingInSong said...
My weekend would have been better if I had thought to have a Firefly marathon. I had no idea you were a fellow fan! :)
- January 10, 2011
- The Magpie said...
I love your outfit! Especially the boots. I also love the landscape, sooo pretty!
- January 10, 2011
- melissa hojnacki said...
you are a true inspiration
- January 10, 2011
- Carys said...
I love this dress, it's so beautiful!! And it goes really well with the camel beret too.
From Carys of La Ville Inconnue
- January 10, 2011
- lyzi said...
Lovely outfit. I especially love the last photo, of you in the tree :) xxx
- January 10, 2011
- Chaucee said...
Your photos are always so "epic". That's the only word I can think to describe them. They always seem to tell a story.
- January 10, 2011
- Rosaspina Vintage said...
Wow, that is an amazing tree! Beautiful.
I remember that dress was in your wishlist, I'm so glad you got it! Looks lovely on you.
A very relaxing weekend here, cooking sweets for boyfriend's birthday and going to the second sunday vintage fair. Have a great week Jennifer!
- January 10, 2011
- Casey Maura said...
Your outfit is so lovely--but I really adore that satchel you're carrying! :)
♥ Casey | blog
- January 10, 2011
- Victoria / Justice Pirate said...
This is quite a beautiful outfit and I love how unique it is. The boots are perfect. Love all the nature shots of course too.
- January 10, 2011
- Lexie said...
I have a terrible weakness for dresses with sleeves! And it looks soooo comfortable! Great pictures as usual. :)
- January 10, 2011
- blouse said...
that tree is unreal! i love it.
you're dress isn't half bad either ;)
- January 10, 2011
- Jenni said...
I love this dress! It's very 70s-does-the-30s. Love it with the boots, too.
- January 10, 2011
- Unknown said...
Love the outfit and those photographs are simply amazing!
- January 10, 2011
- Sidewalk Chic said...
This is such a beautiful photoshoot. I'm really impressed by Tom's skills. Your outfit is lovely -- what a great way to spend an afternoon.
- January 10, 2011
- Rebecca said...
This is such a great outfit. I love the dress. A little bit edwardian a little bit french... it's nice to see a different take on the stripey dress.
- January 10, 2011
- kathy said...
Love the dress x
- January 10, 2011
- Maria Confer said...
I almost bought that dress with the discount! Now, you're making me wish I had. It's so lovely on you.
Lulu Letty
- January 10, 2011
- Cybelle e Fabi said...
Beautiful pictures!!!Love the blog!!!Please visit our blog
xoxox Cybelle and Fabi
- January 11, 2011
- Moocy said...
Love that dress! And the setting for these photos is great too. Old trees like that are magical. :)
- January 11, 2011
- Meg said...
Not everyone looks good in a beret but you look absolutely adorable! :)
- January 12, 2011
- Unknown said...
This season once again made friends with beret :)
- January 12, 2011
- Annalise said...
Great dress! I love Dear Creatures but don't quite have the funds to get something for myself yet. I've heard really good things about Firefly so I might just have to get that on my netflix.
Hummingbird Girl
- January 13, 2011
- Mode • Arte said...
All your pictures are amazing! Love all of them, and your clothes.. Wow!
What camera do you use? (sorry for my bad english, i'm french)
Good continuation, i will follow you : )
- January 16, 2011


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© Zahir Ebrahim
September 2003
One fine afternoon, as the bombing of Iraq was about to be launched, I suddenly found myself in the periscopic cross-hairs of the FBI and Homeland Security agencies under the USA Patriot Acts just because I am a "Muslim" living in America. While complaining to my attorney about this unwarranted and offensive intrusion into the bliss and sanity of my idyllic life without any just cause, and without even being truthfully informed what it was all about, he suggested that I go public if it was upsetting me so much, as it might bring awareness to the offensive Patriot Acts that enabled this harassment. The idea of going public took instant root as a means of ordinary civilians peacefully fighting back in the same intellectual space that had seeded the world's harassment at the hands of the hectoring hegemons in the first place. However, instead of talking to reporters which is what my attorney had suggested, I sat down to write despite never having written (for public) before.
And with some trepidation – as I don't really relish the thought of being hauled off to jail for using my "inalienable" rights of free speech as a further test case of the USA Patriot Acts – and in order to fight back the tyranny of my own conscience, I now break my uncourageous silence to no longer be among those deserving the curse of posterity, of having known, and complicitly remained silent.
I will state at the outset that this humble and rather plebeian maiden book presents mainly a critical and dissenting perspective. It does not provide the opposing viewpoint of its antagonists other than in their own words to make my case. The antagonists generally speak quite vocally for themselves; they own the media and the propaganda machinery and already reach almost 100% of the American homes with their mantra of "war on terrorism". Their views are propagated throughout the planet as news and unquestioned statements of fact. In order to be fair to their perspective, I decided to not speak for them as their official viewpoints are already known to everyone and easily accessible to anyone (e.g. for an eloquent and scholarly précis of their perspectives see the book with the insulting title Crisis of Islam – Holy War and Unholy Terror). It is their deception game that I have tried to unravel here. In that sense, I feel my book is well balanced as it shows the American public the contrarian and analytical view that is generally not available to them in the mainstream news media. Furthermore, before I am accused of holding extreme positions, I will admit (borrowing from Bertrand Russell's diction on commonsense) that I am prepared to accept any evidence to the contrary, and prepared to give it "as much weight as the evidence warrants", in order to derive logical conclusions whatever they might be. I am prepared to "admit the ordinary beliefs of common sense" when making any empirical observation or evaluating any proposition. I have used these tools in deriving the thesis of this book, the same tools that an American jury is instructed to employ in order to reach any fair decision.
On these grounds, I feel further justified in claiming that my book is well balanced. Finally, a balance in perspective is impossible when one has to take sides – in this case the side of whatever the truth is. It is only for the politicians and the diplomats to stay neutral in front of a moving train or double speak their way out of it. I do not proclaim to maintain a balance between truth and falsehood. Hence I also stake claim to prejudice – extreme prejudice towards the altar at which truth burns. Michael Moore calls this Fahrenheit 911 – the temperature at which truth spontaneously ignites!
I will also admit at the outset that I employ the definition of "Terrorism" provided by St. Augustine when he described the supposed interlocution of a pirate by the world conquering emperor Alexander:
"When the King asked him what he meant by infesting the sea, the pirate defiantly replied: 'the same as you do when you infest the whole world; but because I do it with a little ship I am called a robber, and because you do it with a great fleet, you are an emperor.'" (The City of God against the Pagans, Page 148).
Being a computer scientist at heart and appreciating the importance of identifying and pursuing the "higher order bits" in any problem solving, instead of incompletely understanding the problem and often getting bogged down in the pursuit of distracting issues which turn out not to determine the course of events after all unless and until the "higher order bits" are settled first, I dwell on the more significant of the two crimes in this book: the criminality of the emperor. That is the raison d'être of the book.
I would like to state up front that I have generally enjoyed living in America. The disciplined, organized, and free spirited environment has allowed the educated, and even the uneducated but enterprising and hard working new immigrants, to fare rather well in this country. This spirit of enterprise and unfettered pursuit of the "American Dream" consequently composes the multicultural milieu of cross-pollinating ideas and diversity which today is America's strength – and also her weakness. Before the large scale immigration of German and other European scientists to America in the 1930s, despite her enormous industrial capacity and many incredible inventions, America was not even counted among the leading scientific nations in the world; some suggest it was rather third rate among the developed nations, and lagging far behind Europe and Japan. Yet today, within a span of only a handful of decades, it is that welcome to immigrants and the pursuit of the "American Dream" which makes America dominate the planet – that, and her imperial brutality in imposing her plunderous will on all other weaker nations through the mass deception of her own peoples who remain diligently busy in their private pursuits of their "American Dream" to be bothered about others.
In this book unfortunately, I cannot dwell on the wonderful things about America as the more pressing task of preventing them from being lost through subjugation and domination of the rest of the less fortunate peoples on the planet, is at hand. See the eloquent expression of what many immigrants fleeing from the tyrannies of their own constricting societies in the poorer nations have generally found in America, in the book What's so Great About America by the eloquent Indian immigrant, Dinesh D'souza. Little further needs to be added about that topic here.
Why should a mainstream American, my primary audience, want to read my book? To answer this question, I must first show the American reader how they are generally perceived by ordinary people in the world today, especially in the third world nations, where America's political, economic, and military dominance overwhelmingly impacts many aspects of an ordinary persons life in unexpected and often negative ways. This negative impact can in places span the entire gamut from neoliberalism to neoconservatism, the two sides of the new imperial coin du jour that deftly harvests the Global South of its assets and resources in the service of the denizens of the Global North. The ring leader of this enterprise, as well as the de facto policeman of course, the judge, jury, and executioner rolled into one, is the Goliath du jour. As Thomas Friedman aptly put it:
'The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist -- McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the builder of the F-15. And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley's technologies is called the United States Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. "Good ideas and technologies need a strong power that promotes those ideas by example and protects those ideas by winning on the battlefield," says the foreign policy historian Robert Kagan. "If a lesser power were promoting our ideas and technologies, they would not have the global currency that they have. And when a strong power, the Soviet Union, promoted its bad ideas, they had a lot of currency for more than half a century."' (Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, March 28, 1999)
What the Americans are usually told by the "institutional and ruling elite" in many of these nations, and seconded by many American opinion writers and scholars opposed to oppressive American Foreign Policies of hoisting clandestine client-states on the third world, is that while many in the local populace may hate the American government for her oppressive polices and support of dictatorships, they don't hate the American people. This however is not a complete description. Let me provide a more complete picture as I see it.
How the majority in the world view the American People
Having lived in America for most of my adult life, I have discovered the general American public, from the college educated to the blue collar, to be the most trusting of their own government, the least cynical about what they see and hear on their televisions which more or less is exclusively their main source of news and world views, and most uninformed about the reality of the world outside their own minuscule microcosm. Far more so, than the general public living in other nations.
Many of these people outside America, especially in the poorer nations of the planet that constitute 3/4 to 4/5 of all humanity, perceive the American nation not too dissimilarly. They also generally tend to believe however, that the general American public is also very selfish and self-serving, purposely prefers to live with its eyes shut to the world, and knowingly turns a blind eye to what its ruling elite does in the world in its name! That the daily grind of industriousness the American people have been snared in by their search for the "American Dream", leaves them little time or inclination to reflect about the rest of the world. That they really only care about their SUVs, their Wall Street, their taxes, and their fun weekends, and purposely don't want to think too deeply about the ultimate source of their continued prosperity and "good life" in America. That an average American is wasteful and spoiled, and consumes orders of magnitude more "goods" than an average person in the poorer nations, and generates orders of magnitude more "trash", often sending it for disposal to the poorer nations. They believe that most people in America generally hog more than their fair share of the world's limited resources just because they happen to reside in an empire that is all too willing to get it for them. That (the fact that) their government is striving to harvest the world of all its resources, by hook or by crook, the main thrust of their "American Foreign Policy" and "American Interests Abroad", is in their own best interests so that they may continue their "American Dream". A "Dream" that relies very heavily on the American economy doing well, and the price and availability of oil – their lifeline. They believe that this egregious attempt at reshaping of the Middle East by the neo-con Bush administration, is just one more link in the long successive chain of American Foreign Policy initiatives for securing their lifelines and hegemony. That as far as the peoples of the poor nations of the South are concerned, there is hardly any difference to their lives between the George Kennan seeded "Truman Doctrine" that held the world hostage in a superpower Cold War for forty years which saw many poor nations decimated in Proxy warfare and as client-states, and the neo-con seeded "Bush Doctrine" that promises to hold the world hostage for another forty years through direct warfare and more client-states. That this "right" to secure their lifelines in the world is unquestioningly accepted as axiomatic by the general public, as a god given right of America to perpetuate her dominance upon the rest of the world. That the American public consequently perceives their own lives to be so much more valuable than any one else's, that this "superiority" justifies to their mind any act of barbarism upon others in order to protect their own. That they go along with any pretext that "helps protect American lives" or "helps secure their lifelines", cost to anyone else is usually not a consideration, or at best thought and stated to be: "we think the price is worth it"
So why should the American public want to put an end to all this luxury by trying to interfere with those who enable it, the people outside America bearing the brunt of America's largess exclaim? It is utmost naiveté to expect the American people to deny themselves this cultivated feeling of "superiority" over the rest of the planet – by treating their own lives as of equal value and sanctity as everyone else's, their own freedoms as equal to everyone else's, and their own desire for living the "good life" as of equal importance as others having the same aspirations (and rights). When is a well-fed public ever bothered about being just? Isn't it only the have-nots who clamor for it, and then variously labeled as "terrorists" and "evil-doers" for pursuing it?
Should the American public ask these "crazed" denizens in the outer humanity for any empirical evidence for their "strange" perception of the American people, the world would point to the collective gusto with which the American nation accepted the preemptive "Shock and Awe" invasion of Iraq under the pretext of protecting themselves preemptively from "weapons of mass destruction" possessed by crazed "evil doers". That what is otherwise known as unprovoked aggression, became euphemistically and easily accepted as "preemptive self-defense" by them. That the American public will agree to anything in the name of "saving American lives", including dropping nuclear bombs on civilians, as they didn't seem to rise up in protest either when the White House's "National Security Council Strategy" and "Nuclear Posture Review" was revealed. The world believes that the notion that Americans are somehow "superior" and command a "higher" prerogative is so ingrained in the American public's psyche that it frames all their public discourse and their morality. So the immorality of killing other ("lesser") innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq under the delusional notion of "preemptive self-defense", is only dismissed as a justifiable "collateral damage" by the American government, and accepted as such by the American nation without question. That there is little public outrage even when children in wedding parties are reported killed in American newspapers, and Bush rises in his ratings every time Rumsfeld comes on television and says that the war is going well.
It is almost guaranteed that if an ordinary American strolled through the streets of a developing nation, and chatted up at a food stall in the local language that he was fortunate enough to speak like a native, and didn't look, act, and sound like a tourist, but appeared as one of the natives just shooting the breeze, he would hear concerned people talking: If ever the bombed out victims of America's "war on terrorism" start fighting back, and are even a wee bit effective in generating American body bags that get seen on American television, that President Bush will suddenly plummet in the ratings. More and more people will start filling the streets of America to bring their sons and daughters home, as happened in the Vietnam War. Only because American deaths are more intolerable to the American public than the deaths of others. This is why the Americans really withdrew from Vietnam – not because they felt remorse at the unjust invasion and destruction of another people by an out of control administration in Washington, but mainly because the American public saw that it cost them too many of their own precious lives when the Vietcong bravely fought back in self defense. And the only reason the Americans eventually dethroned their President was because he was caught lying about some other inane matter in comparison – not for waging a horrific genocide with napalms and other cocktails of death!
The largely cynical people of the world further point as evidence for this view, the fact that the American retrenchment from Vietnam did not elicit profound national apologies and public cries for restitution and compensation to the Vietnamese Victims, nor for any calls for war crime charges to be brought against Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. Instead, asphyxiating economic sanctions were slapped on the impoverished Vietnamese for two decades after their land had been decimated by napalms in the quest for some "containment ideology" of imperial thinkers! That there is no solemn "Vietnam Remembrance or My Lai Massacre Day" commemorated in America; and the ones solemnly remembered, are their own "heroes", who "following orders" of the White House, only brought death and destruction to another courageous people who dared to fight back in self-defense on their own soil. Even now, when decades later the Americans speak of reconciliation, there is no talk of rebuilding Vietnam at the expense of American tax payers' monies in compensation, there is no Marshall Plan. And neither is there one for Laos, the most secretly and brutally bombed country on the planet to this day. There is no public remorse, or attempt to compensate the Laotians living in daily misery even today, the forgotten humanity. Their country is littered with unexploded American bombs. Their children are living in squalor, and playing around American rocket skeletons and with empty American bullet shells, just as American children play with their safe and fancy plastic play-yards. While tourists visiting other countries look for indigent handicrafts as travel mementos, tourists to Laos mainly find jewelry made from empty American bullet shells. The cynical people of the world further point out that the orchestrator of these heinous crimes on humanity, Dr. Henry Kissinger, still limps along in the corridors of Power in America, and was even appointed to initially head the 9-11 inquiry.
One also often hears the following clichés almost everywhere, from University Professor to ordinary taxi driver, in various flavors depending on the sophistication of the despondent and their willingness to open up to you: All these terrorism labels they apply on whosoever opposes them is a joke and the American public knows it. When Osama was fighting the oppression of the Soviets, he and his mujahideen were the "moral equivalent of our founding fathers" according to the previous American President Reagan. But now that Osama is fighting American oppression, this President of America calls him a "terrorist" and an "evil doer", while at the same time he calls Ariel Sharon, who systematically mows down Palestinian homes and families in a genocide that the Americans refuse to recognize because the Jews run America, a "man of peace", and feels pride in shaking hands with him. And people of America wear T-shirts showing Osama as the target, but don't do anything about Ariel Sharon because he is favored by their President. They even took the word of their President that Osama did 9-11, without demanding any evidence or conducting an investigation of the events that how comes America's air defenses magically happened to be inoperative that day, and immediately, in the next month, launched their holocaust of Afghanistan. This label of "terrorist" is just a label of convenience, and it can change overnight. Like throwing all that tea overboard and ambushing the enemy from behind bushes and trees disguised in the enemies own uniforms, and later being called fathers of the nation, or even blowing up King David Hotel killing scores of people, and later being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as the Prime Minister. Or like Nelson Mandela, forced to sit out 27 years in jail, and later only to be acknowledged as the most distinguished world Statesman, and elected first President of non-apartheid South Africa, which his sitting in jail and being labeled as "terrorist", was instrumental in creating.
The ordinary denizen of the world further laments that this has been the hypocrisy from time immemorial of all emperors and their faithful subjects, and there is no point in even fretting about it. If it is successful, it is a "revolution", otherwise it is "terrorism". The American public knows this "labeling technology" all too well, they aren't that stupid – they can put a man on the moon and unravel the mysteries of life, and now you are telling me they can't see the elongating noses in front of their faces? They will accept any hypocrisy when it serves them as they continue to "United We Stand" behind their murderous President. Wonder how they go to sleep at night after watching or hearing that their soldiers dropped Depleted Uranium tipped bombs on wedding parties and decimated innocent children? Aren't these children as precious as their own children? Their own children would get solemn burials and eulogies broadcast to the planet, but these innocent Muslim children are only dumped in mass graves if their bodies are even found, like burying dead cattle! You are telling me I should not be angry with the American people, that it's only their government doing these things? They are a democracy and they support their government. If they wanted to, they could have thrown Bush out in no time. On the other hand we have no choice, we live in dictatorships and kingdoms actively supported by the Americans, and if we even open our mouths to protest our own government's excesses in the service of their masters in Washington, our intelligence agencies will make us disappear – "You go to bed at night not knowing where you will get up in the morning." But the American people can do something. And yet why don't they? Instead, they salute "United We Stand", and Bush jumps in a popularity point each time it is announced that the "war is going well".
And finally, if I was to tell the people of the developing world about my book that makes an appeal to the mainstream American public to rein in their government and bring them to justice, my friends and well wishers in these countries will inform me with much incredulity to not waste my time and jeopardize my safety and good life in America (as they indeed did), that few people in America would be interested in knowing the obvious. As a friend of mine succinctly put it: "It's like a Mafia family's 'innocent' members, not directly involved in the racket but enjoying the wealth generated from it, turning a blind eye to what the elders in the house do for a living to make all their wealth – with a wink and a self-serving nod, looking the other way."
This is how many around the world largely view the American people. Not a very flattering view is it? Whether the American public will think this view true or not is besides the point, because the outside world will act and react based on what they perceive as the reality about America, not what the Americans like to think of themselves. A critical self examination in this light can go a long ways in understanding "why they hate us", and hence do something about it. And no, bombing them into "loving us" is not the solution, anymore than is bombing democracy onto them – if indeed democracy is what is being rained on defenseless civilians, and not a re-colonization with a more modern name: client-state. However, this is still not the complete picture. Let me add to it just a bit more.
How the majority in the world perceive America – the land of the free
There is also much ambivalence among people not directly in the path of American cluster bombs and Daisy Cutters, exploring of which can fill volumes. In a nutshell, the "have-nots" also want to become the "haves" like the Americans. Most dream of coming to America in search of the wonderful domestic "American Dream" that the entire planet has been shown on their televisions – the song "they come to America" captures this sentiment well. One might be surprised to learn that even the dispossessed, who might take up arms to fight American imperialism in the poverty stricken world because of the economic circumstances of their lives, joblessness, lack of education, coaxed on by various and sundry rabble rousers to take on the arch nemesis of all mankind responsible for their miserable situation in life, may also have applied for the American "visa lottery"! One way or another, people find ways to get out of the shackles of oppression – beat 'em or join 'em, which ever happens first! Something that the Neocon planners fail to appreciate as they embark on their ambitious plan for world conquest – that tyranny cannot endure forever. Perhaps America can settle all the dispossessed humanity on its vast shores! That's certainly one way to take the thunder out of a significant number of "evil doers". This however used to be true before the present climate of oppression and the headlong rush towards police state came into vogue in America. This country used to be a haven for immigrants before. And once here, as immigrants pursuing the "good life" and enjoying the new found freedoms, many tended to become like their formerly envied "conspicuously consumptive" foe, even in their very first generation.
America appears quite different from the "inside", than from the "outside". Her behavior towards her own domestic population (before the emergence of the police state atmosphere), is different from her exploitative and plunderous behavior towards the denizens outside her shores, especially those in the third world where America creates mixed emotions: anger at her exploitation of them, and desire for the freedoms and promise of the "good life" that it offers those able to reach its shores. This has generally also been true in history: most empires have always remained tyrannical outside their outer frontiers where "barbarians" were known to reside, while freedoms, culture, and the "good life" flourished in their inner sanctums of power. High walls and military guards at the periphery would protect the dominions and harvest the "barbarians" of their wealth and resources because these were the "lesser" people, probably not even human beings. It was taken for granted that it was okay to rape, pillage, and plunder them to support the good life within the empire. And it appears that at the dawn of the twenty-first century, with the march of civilizations towards liberation, progress, sophistication, and a global "shrinking village", the modern empires still do not seem to have evolved any sense of justice and fair play towards those at the perpetual outer periphery, the borders where empires, nations, and civilizations meet, necessitating even higher walls, more border patrols, and self-serving doctrines of "clash of civilizations".
Those residing within the American empire rarely get to glimpse this dual reality on the outer periphery, even if they travel a lot. Most Americans travel either on business or for tourism, and unless they are visiting friends and family, they tend to stay in fancy hotels; interact mostly with the business and other institutional ruling elite minority (comprising less than 2% of the population) whose views generally tend to favor their own privileged class, and who also tend to largely benefit from American policies; and at best stroll through native areas as tourists in search of trinklets, where both view each other with their own stereotypical lenses. Only the few that actually stay with the local mainstream people, who comprise the remaining 98% of the nation in almost every developing country, make friends with them, and earn their trust enough to have heart to heart exchanges over social affairs like marriages and death ceremonies, get to understand what is an everyday hell for the majority of the planet – and what is largely the real cause of it. I have met many an American in America, who have completely transformed their view of their country after having lived for some time in S. America, Asia or Africa.
Indeed, the contrast between the "inside" and "outside" views of America used to be far pronounced, and even looked like antipodes when I initially came to America a quarter century ago. But now with this new found love of xenophobia, the new penchant for a surveillance society to keep the Americans safe from "evil doers", and the imposition of the oppressive USA Patriot Act-1 (with Patriot Act-2 already circulated in Congress though not yet introduced as a Bill), the America of today appears distinctly unfriendly and inhospitable to immigrants. It is becoming a burgeoning police state not too dissimilar from other dictatorships and police states in the rest of the world – except just more high-tech and more sophisticated: give people as many choices for TV channels, underwear, and shopping malls, but none to speak their mind on any subject that conflicts with the state's view of it. No dissent allowed. United we stand.
If one were to ask the proverbial frog in water being slowly heated to a boil, whether it is in any danger, the frog would invariably respond that no it is quite comfortable lazily floating along – until it slowly becomes comatose and croaks in the boiling water, never even realizing that precious life was being squeezed out of it all this time. And if the water temperature is maintained just where the frog can continue to float, and eat when a prey falls into its mouth, but not have the energy to hop, it would soon forget how to hop at all. Its offspring would even lose the capability in a few short generations. Whereas a frog from another region falling into a boiling water would immediately jump to safety – and perhaps post a sign there, if it was a conscionable frog, saying: "beware – boiling water"!
Motivation for this book and the reason for this title "Prisoners of the Cave"
The value of my book derives from the fact that as a Muslim from a third world country living in America for more than a quarter century, who came here mainly seeking education and ended up entrapped in the pursuit of the abundant "good life", I bring a unique perspective. I understand both kind of mentalities rather well, and I also keenly perceive the oppressive changes occurring within America because the Muslims are the first to bear the brunt of them.
I don't believe that the majority of the American public, which the outside world perceives as self-serving for their self-indulgent pursuits of the "American Dream", are quite like that. I don't believe that they are out to get the world, nor do I believe that they "knowingly" turn a blind eye to the machinations of their government, unlike how most of the world's populations might perceive them.
I believe that the American public is genuinely deceived, incredibly indoctrinated, and purposely and systematically kept ignorant. And that their condition of "ignorance" is the outcome of their institutional ruling elite finding this to be the most efficient way to conduct the "imperial" business of the state, because otherwise, "democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization". These are the main assumptions in my book. I guess if you don't agree with them, then you are only left with the first alternative, that the American public is indeed incredibly self-serving, and consequently morally guilty of war crimes against humanity for their role in knowingly aiding and abetting their government in this fictitious "war on terrorism". Take your pick.
I believe that the invention of "war on terrorism" was largely for the benefit of the American public in order to gain their support – to provide a pretext to launch this overt attempt to remake the "New World Order" while America was still the unrivaled superpower. 9-11 gave them that launch pad. With both Russia and China too busy internally to interfere, with India China and the Pacific Rim nations rapidly developing and industrializing, with the countries of Europe finally uniting after fighting for centuries, and with the global ground reserves of oil rapidly diminishing, the American imperial planners foresaw having a margin of 30 to 50 years before the rest of the world caught on to America's industrial and military supremacy. Then it would be back to détente. If America could acquire monopolistic control over this black gold, and politically control critical regions of the planet, it would wield the upper hand and control the destinies of all potential rivals to America's supremacy on the planet.
This also forms the motivation for this book to address the American public. If I was to only express my dissent, I would have directly addressed it to the American President and his Cabinet, the Israeli Prime Minister and his Cabinet, the secular Zionist-Neocon planners and all their religious collaborators in one sentence: You are despicable war criminals and I publicly call for your indictments for war crimes against humanity in an open public trial conducted by the victims, as the one held for Eichmann in Jerusalem. It would however have been a rather pointless venting and dissipation of perfectly legitimate anger. By addressing it to their biggest fears instead, the American public, from whom they derive all their powers, and over whom they exercise all their demagoguery, it may prove to be a bit more efficacious.
Being familiar with their courageous history of struggles for social justice – the "People's history of the United States" – I am motivated to address my plea to the American public because I feel they would do something about this fictitious "war on terrorism" if only they knew. For instance, I find it rather difficult to imagine that if my good friend and neighbor, an ordinary mainstream white conservative American retired high school teacher, ever finds out about the Machiavellian deception game that he is being put through in his hours of daily American television watching, that he will continue with his life as if he did not know. Albeit he did caution me against going public many times: "if you enter a pig pen to wrestle, win lose, or draw, you come out smelling like one", he never quite believed much of what I informed him was really up with this "war on terrorism". He was often incredulous that their government would ever do such a thing! Always the one with quick proverbs, "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck" was his response on why Muslims were being profiled, harassed, and labeled as "terrorists" in America – because the hijackers were Muslims. Who identified them as such, and how were they identified (their bodies were never found, 5 of the 19 named dead hijackers were later discovered to be innocent people in the rest of the world quite alive), he never thought to ask. These two anecdotes pretty much sum up my own personal experience over a quarter century of how the majority of general public thinks in America, and because of which I feel why they are incredibly indoctrinated. And that cultivated belief in 'my country can do no wrong' and 'my country right or wrong', is the main battle front for this book.
Plato would argue that such a cultivated state of mass ignorance, can by sheer force of habit, become a new chain around the neck. He wrote in his Republic about such ignorance that is fed from birth, and that no illumination can penetrate. While I find Plato's "Simile of the Cave" in The Republic quite apropos in describing the plight of the mainstream American society today, I do not believe in his pessimism that this can be a permanent state. I rather choose to believe in what William Shakespeare portrayed as the frailty of human conscience in his famous play Macbeth. It is only a matter of getting to it. Even a conscience completely dead can sometimes be revived – as long as one is alive. Some might argue that these are perhaps the few exceptions, like Rachel Corrie – the indomitable American spirit that no murderous Israeli Bulldozer could subdue once realization set in. Even at the expense of the ultimate sacrifice of her life, in the prime of her youth, a mere 23 year old who asked in her final letter to her mother: "let me know if you have any ideas about what I should do with the rest of my life", she was compelled by an awakened conscience to take her moral and fatal stand for humanity.
I am indeed more optimistic about the power of conscience. I believe that there is a courageous "Rachel Corrie" lurking in every American, regardless of which side of the political divide they fall on, or how indoctrinated they might be about their benevolent munificent role in the world. With an awakened conscience, I do not believe that a significant proportion of American public will choose to remain (willfully) ignorant. I do not believe that they will remain silent bystanders of history. Their outrage during the Vietnam War demonstrated that to the world. It also demonstrated to the Pentagon and the White House, the power of ignorance in creating perfect Prisoners of the Cave. They realized the powerful role of American media in both empowering the people to act, and conversely, possibly enslaving them into inaction. The latter being the only way to win support from the American public for their future adventures in the world – this new "World War IV", in the making ever since the demise of the Soviet Union left only one superpower standing. This arrogance of absolute power history testifies, has been the prerogative of all the powerful since time immemorial. And Zbigniew Brzezinski argues in his "Grand Chessboard" that it is the first time in history that this has befallen a "populist democracy". That to have a democracy become an imperial power requires careful machinations, for the American populace is unwilling to become an "empire" or the policeman of the world, and that it's the public's "preference for 'sharing' power with others, rather than for its monopolistic exercise" which makes the American "democracy [is] inimical to imperial mobilization". But the democracy is indeed willing to fight if it feels threatened, and that is the only way to convince an otherwise peaceful public to wage a war of conquest. Only a "Pearl Harbor" can bring them rallying around the flag, saluting "United We Stand".
This entire profound "war on terrorism" against the "evil doers" is really only as complex as that! This is precisely why 911 was "allowed" to occur – putting it ever so charitably. The only bogeymen the American public must fear are their own leaders, and the power-brokers who control them.
The real cause for American insecurity and how they can become secure
The ultimate cause of their insecurity and well being is indeed the world wide web of criminal machinations of their successive emperors and the behind the scene policy planners as "American interests abroad" – from the "Truman doctrine" of containment to the "Bush doctrine" of preemption – rather than the oft repeated Machiavellian mantra of "evil doers" out to get us. If these "evil doers" are indeed real, as some might well be, then they are not going to disappear no matter how much you bomb them! Indeed, it is precisely the actions of "evil-doers" like these that also gave birth to the great nation of United States of America. I am certain that the British also viewed the tea being thrown overboard as economic terrorism by the American "evil-doers". But more than likely, the "evil doers" du jour that the Bush administration talks about, are either entirely fictitious and deliberately manufactured through covert-ops, or purposely created by genuinely provoking them into existence. Because the Neo-con planners talk of "World War IV" lasting a lifetime, how else would they find a steady supply of "evil-doers" to keep fighting for 30 to 50 years?
I believe that their escalated pursuit of "evil-doers" is specifically designed to culminate in a total police state domestically. Why? Because it is otherwise impossible to keep sending the sons and daughters of America overseas to keep on fighting the wars of conquest for a lifetime, and contain the dissent of her conscionable people opposed to it. So long as one is not in opposition to the state, "United One Stands", one is free to pursue one's "American Dream" as the "patriotic" American. Already there is all the freedom to agree, and far less to disagree. If this "war on terrorism" is taken to its logical conclusion, it will only end up being the epitaph on the tombstone of free America – Here lies freedom to be free.
The Zionists may perhaps want such a police state in their monumentally criminal agenda for Eretz Yisrael – perhaps they also see themselves as ruling the world on the shoulders of the world's largest police state. They already control the Bush White House, the Pentagon, the mighty military-industrial complex as their largest weapons manufacturing contractor, the United States Congress, and the ubiquitous American news media. Many of the Neocons influencing this Bush administration are openly Zionist in their aspirations, or are their ardent admirers and empathizers; diehard supporters of Israel to the extent that despite being American citizens, their policies and influence peddling in the Congressional corridors of power often favor Israeli national interests over American national interests. The evidence for this can easily be found in the record of American vetoes and abstentions of every single condemnation of Israel in the UN Security council by the world; the allocation of billions of US dollars in annual aid to Israel despite its homicidal oppression of the Palestinians, the most recent being the $9 billion in loan/cash guarantees; and the regular homage paid by Congressional leaders to AIPAC and to the Jewish votes for fear of electoral defeat if they go against Israel.
The Zionist influence in the American media through their diabolical alliance with the Evangelical Christian Right, creates a reporting of the Israeli occupation of Palestine so skewed that even new terminology frequently gets invented to sanitize what is a murderous and genocidal military occupation of a defenseless civilian population. The image presented is one of besieged Israelis combating the wanton and mindless terrorism of the uncivilized, less than human, stone throwing and suicide bombing misanthropes, who refuse to quietly disappear across the borders, and who are forcibly living on land granted to the Jews by the almighty Creator Himself who anointed them as the "Chosen People". Occupied territories have become "disputed territories", manifestly illegal settlements on stolen lands are "neighborhoods", and Israeli military's murderous bombing of civilian population centers, regularly targeting children and shooting them to death or maiming them for life, and daily bulldozing of ordinary people's homes, is benignly an "incursion" into the West Bank and Gaza strip.
The compelling evidence for this farcical and prejudicial reporting can be gleaned rather quickly from the statistics compiled by "ifamericansknew", an organization run by conscionable Jews who condemn the Zionist occupation of Palestine, from reading the letters of the American martyr Rachel Corrie, and from the insightful reporting of Robert Fisk, all available on the internet. These Zionists and their supporters are clearly a very small minority, although they are disproportionally powerful, disproportionally wealthy, and disproportionally cruel!
The Neocons may perhaps want such a police state in their monumentally criminal endeavors for empire – they are the ones who developed the essential elements in the Patriot Acts, which did not magically materialize within a month of 9-11. I have often heard talk of the existence of an ultra secret government within the American government, drawn from all branches of the (unelected) bureaucracy comprising 70 to a 100 individuals, who regularly practice taking over the reins of the government in simulation, and running the nation from underground bunkers – a legacy of the Cold War still being continued. These individuals remain constant across administrations. Donald Rumsfeld, the Defense Secretary presently running the Pentagon, a seasoned veteran of the Cold War, is rumored to perhaps be the head of this cabal. These demented kooks bring to mind the scenarios of "Dr. Strangelove", and the secretive unaccountable activities described in Body of Secrets by James Bamford about the inner workings of the NSA. Without another courageous Daniel Ellsberg leaking out a sequel to the Pentagon Papers, one can only speculate what these kooks are up to. Clearly these are only a handful of people, although quite powerful. And they perhaps constantly dream of a police state with someone like George Bush Jr. as the front face: "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator".
It is also possible that such a police state is what the extreme fanatic right-wing Christian Evangelical crusaders may want – they apparently seek to hasten the arrival of their lord with a forced Armageddon upon the rest of humanity. After all, the Attorney General of America, John Ashcroft, and President of America, George Bush Jr., both right-wing Evangelical Christians, did eagerly approve the Patriot Acts. It is certainly in their interests for people of America to remain silent bystanders while their ardent supporters bring salvation of Biblical proportions to the lesser peoples: "Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done". We are clearly seeing this profound 'Bushian Justice' being generously disseminated by the plane loads in Iraq and Palestine under the "Bush Doctrine"!
And it is also possible that this is what some of the racist supremacist and other nihilist Neanderthals in America may want – I don't know for sure as I have never met one, but I am told they exist. All of these people are surely also a minority in the American milieu, albeit perhaps a substantial one according to some people.
But is a police state something that the majority of American public wants?
What is your verdict? It cannot possibly be yes!
Therefore, through the humble pages of this book, I invite this segment of the American public, the ones who do not share any ulterior motives with the demagogues leading them, who I believe are only pursuing their "American Dream" with vigor as the "conscionable" back bone of America, to immediately and without further ado, commence the real war on terrorism – by looking for the terrorist and assorted war mongering monumental criminals in their own hallowed institutions of power first. It will bring them true peace and security world wide, and without any loss of freedoms and civil liberties in their own lives.
This is the premise behind my book. That once knowledge will come to the good people, the American public will not choose to remain (willfully) ignorant. It is only a matter of showing them the blood on thine hands that "all the perfumes of Arabia" will not wash off, and for them to accept it – beyond the expected initial denial (see Plato). Once that realization sets in, then all the chains in the world, invisible or not, will not hold them – as they fill the streets of America to take their country back. This is my expectation, my hope, and I fear the only hope for mankind in the short term. The American government must be reined in from visiting further 'justice' upon other defenseless nations. There just isn't another choice. Since there are no rivals internationally that can dare impose their will upon the American empire. It is only the conscionable American public who must impose its democratic will upon the American empire.
The only "earthly" power at the moment that can immediately checkmate the "godly" ambitions of the Washington Neocons and their Zionist and Evangelical Christian allies in their nefarious agendas to transform the world for their own corporate, hegemonic, and crusading interests, is the awakened peoples of America.
Their time to act is now, when it is still possible for them to legally protest, when they still retain their constitutional rights, when the Patriot Act 2 has not yet been passed, and when martial law has not yet been imposed. Only they can bring to bear the pressure to which the White House responds. It is only in their consideration that the monopolar superpower in the world today cannot see body bags. Otherwise the Neocon planners would have no problems with body bags – a necessary evil they would argue, just as they argue today that a lifetime of war has now become a necessary evil, their "World War IV". They certainly couldn't care less for other people's bodies – which don't even get to be put in bags – just thrown about in lorries like dead cattle, or completely decimated at the altar of the Daisy Cutters. These images though conveniently hidden from the American public, are seen world wide. Why keep the American public chained prisoners in the cave of ignorance? Precisely because of the fear of their potential awakening and fighting back to reclaim their People's Democracy. This is also the only way for the Americans to truly become safe from "evil-doers".
America's Profound Shame – The collective hypocrisy and responsibility of the American Nation
I wish to finally conclude with a few words on the collective and national hypocrisy of the American public that cannot be so charitably dismissed as indoctrinated and deceived individuals being "Innocent of Knowledge" and captive "Prisoners of the cave".
The Americans as a nation, seem to have bizarrely frozen in time all crimes against humanity committed by a state, to Nazi Germany. Even as the slaughter of innocent civilians goes on in Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iraq with impunity, it is only the crime of Holocaust against the Jews that remains persistent in the American public psyche with vows of never to let it happen again to anyone. Elaborate war crime tribunals are created in Nuremberg, Tokyo, and Jerusalem, and various human rights conventions, treaties, and international laws are drawn to safe guard humanity from the future barbarism of mentally deranged war mongering lunatics. "Following orders", "collective civilian punishment", and "indifference" are made repugnant, immoral, and even criminal as excuses for war crimes. And the distinguished survivor of the Holocaust, director of the Holocaust museum in Washington DC, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel issues this curse in his memoirs All Rivers Run to the Sea: "and I still curse the killers, their accomplices, the indifferent spectators who knew and kept silent."
As the American nation continues to reflect on the Holocaust victims with memorials and Hollywood films over decades, it silently watches the public spectacles of the Bush government compelling the world to exempt them from America's own yardstick for civilized existence by seeking immunity from prosecution in the world court for war crimes. And the nation dutifully salutes the flag "United We Stand" at the systematic launching of "Shock and Awe" of civilian populations and their civilian infrastructures with millions of tons of Depleted Uranium bombs and frightening munitions. And this after a decade of strangulating economic sanctions which have already resulted in the death and starvation of a million civilians. These new victims however remain ignored and unmourned in the American conscience as the Holocaust is commemorated with even more fervor, and pledges for "never again" staunchly renewed.
What is going on here?
Why are the Jewish Holocaust victims at the hands of the Nazi war machine of the past century deemed more worthy of consideration, even if only in constant remembrance of a lesson learned as it should, but the contemporary innocent civilian Muslim victims at the hands of the American war machine not even sympathized with or mourned, when something can actually be done to halt their barbaric terrorization, displacement, internment, and wanton slaughter as an application of that very lesson learned?
The fact of the existence of these innocent civilian victims cannot be denied, and nor is it denied. General Colin Powell even openly proclaimed his "Shock and Awe" terror campaign on densely populated cities. Instead, these victims are daily subjected to the same kind of vile and dehumanizing propaganda that was leveled at the Jews culminating in the Holocaust. Their victimization is justified either as inevitable collateral damage for a higher cause, or as altogether deserved for the higher objective of "saving American lives"! Any act no matter how barbaric, is permissible to save American lives.
Does the import of Elie Wiesel's curse only apply to some victimizers and not others? Obviously, he meant to write those words only for his Nazi persecutors – yet their stark significance is left for some hypothetical future victims and not applied to the bombing and destruction of civilian Muslims occurring today. Why? Is it because they share the religion of Islam with the supposed "Muslim" perpetrators of 9-11?
Taking everything at face value about 9-11: accepting on faith the White House's unsubstantiated and unproven assertions of it being the work of "Muslim" terrorists; even accepting President Bush's unsubstantiated and actually disproved assertions of Sadaam Hussein possessing WMDs being an imminent threat to America; and even that he was directly responsible for 9-11; accepting all these assertions as gospel truth handed by god himself to the American people, how can the American public condone, let alone actively support the "Shock and Awe" retaliation on innocent civilian populations in Afghanistan and Iraq with all of America's superpower might?
Have the American people become a nation of cowards that they pick on the defenseless and the weak with long range bombers and depleted Uranium munitions which keep on killing for decades and even centuries after the hostilities are over? For four decades the Americans could not pick a direct fight with their arch nemesis the Soviet Union – because the latter also had teeth and could bite back. But now, is it time to brow beat all the other much weaker nations into submission? The new barbarians in three piece suits? If there is any other conclusion that any rational person can come to, what is it?
There were no large armies amassed to attack America unlike Pearl Harbor in 1941. There were no vast military and industrial infrastructures to be destroyed as in Dresden and Tokyo. Only at best, some tens or hundreds of individual bare footed criminals 20 thousand miles away hiding in caves and surrounded by hungry, barefooted, and war-ravaged civilian tribal communities, or in equally distant and quite defenseless, years of sanction starved deserts amidst some of the most dense civilian population centers in the region. And even under the assumption that these were the criminal masterminds behind 911, a collective inhuman punishment was and is being visited upon millions of civilians. All of this is a fact that is openly known to the public.
Even worse, how can the American public not absolutely go berserk and immediately march on the White House at the White House's open proclamation of unilateral preemptive nuclear strikes at non-nuclear nations? Here again there is no aspect of deception, only open belligerence and Nuclear War mongering posture upon the majority of innocent people who happen to live in the same area as the few "evil doers".
While in as much as this book has concentrated on demonstrating how Zbigniew Brzezinski's diabolical thesis in the "Grand Chessboard" is actually being put into practice post 9-11, and how the American population is being bamboozled into an imperial mobilization through lies and deceit, it has not dwelled upon this moral lapse and plain guilt of the American population and the American Congress, from which neither may claim the often abused "I didn't know" exemption. Both knowingly and deliberately agreed to decimating civilian populations with awesomely frightening weapons of mass destruction of their own nation's making.
The sole exception being the lone dissenting and courageous voice of Congress Woman Barbara Lee from Oakland California, and the few hundred thousand people of conscience futilely protesting the call to war in the main streets of America.
The claim to "innocence of knowledge" due to being "prisoners of the cave" may only be made with respect to the deception game of their government and their media in keeping the American public in the dark. Not with respect to what the American public already quite plainly knows. And even that claim to innocence henceforth, has been eviscerated in this book.
The American nation collectively cannot be absolved of accountability, nor escape restitution and compensation to the innocent victims of this "war on terrorism". The unheard cries of the innocent victims demand it.
I do not advocate collective punishment of any people for the crimes of their leaders – whether elected, selected, inherited, or imposed (that pretty much covers the entire planet). But collective punishment is precisely what is likely to transpire at the hands of the innocent victims of America's global wars who will see no other recourse than to bring the same war home to those watching it on HD television in the comfort of their American living rooms. As this poignant verse notes:
"I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do Evil in return." (W.H. AUDEN, "September 1, 1939")
There may not remain much difference between Iraqi, Afghani, and Palestinian civilian victims, and American civilian victims – the graveyard is the ultimate equalizer. To protect you – or so they will claim, your leaders will convert this country into a lucrative corporate controlled police state; already many of the prison systems in this nation are run by them. The day isn't very far away when no one will be able to move from their home without showing ID cards at military-police checkpoints on every off ramp and gas station in America.
The oil that all industrialized nations so covet, is really still under other people's soil. All the "evil-doers" have to do is to detonate some nuclear bombs in their own oil fields and there is no process known to man that can remove radioactivity from gasoline. A "Samson" defense isn't the prerogative of Israel alone. Especially when this self-defense can also completely destroy their arch enemies. With the oil fields "peaking", as some fear mongers boldly allege even while Mobil and Chevron et. al. reap in record breaking profits each year, the long lines and 1929 can be brought back just as easily as the coming military draft – be it of economic servitude, skills of the professional, or the precious lives of the youth. Allies today can easily become arch nemesis tomorrow over a shrinking pie. We shall all be collectively punished when the dominoes fall, bystanders and silent spectators and all. The law of unintended consequences is still among the least understood laws of nature!
Self-interest alone dictates immediate atonement and restitution – before it is too late.
This book is in two parts. Part-1 discloses my dialog with the United States Security agencies in the essay "They dared to knock on my door".
Part-2, titled "The Innocent of Knowledge" from Shakespeare's famous play (Macbeth 3:2:45), employs some key insightful themes from Zbigniew Brzezinski's book "The Grand Chessboard", to deconstruct, dismantle, and entirely dethrone the fiction of "war on terrorism" which is entirely blueprinted in this 1996-97 "American Mein Kampf" written by the quintessential "ubermensch" mastermind who is directly responsible for "Some stirred-up Moslems" when "giving to the USSR its Vietnam war" with Muslim blood. This blood still runs just as red!


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Arizona Immigration Decision Underlines Need for Fundamental Reform
The legal battle over SB 1070 is far from over, so neither side should cheer or despair. The upshot of the Ninth Circuit's splintered and highly technical opinion is merely that the district court did not abuse its discretion in enjoining four provisions. The court could not and did not rule on the legislation's ultimate constitutionality and, of course, SB 1070's remaining provisions — the ten that weren't challenged and the two on which Judge Bolton rejected the government's argument — remain in effect.
But the legal machinations are only half the story. While I personally think that all or almost all of the Arizona law is constitutional, at least as written (abuses in application are always possible), it's bad policy because it harms the state's economy and misallocates law enforcement resources. But I also understand the frustration of many state governments, whose citizens are demanding relief from a broken immigration system that Congress has repeatedly failed to fix. Whether it's stronger enforcement (Arizona) or liberalizing work permits (Utah), states should not be forced into the position of having to enact their own piecemeal immigration solutions while living within a system where the regulation of immigration is a federal responsibility. Congress has dropped the ball in not passing comprehensive immigration reform, despite facing a system that doesn't work for anyone: not big business or small business, not rich Americans or poor ones, not skilled would‐be immigrants or unskilled.
The federalism our Constitution establishes sometimes demands that the federal government act on certain issues. This is such a time and immigration is such an issue.


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Richard Kelley started out his career as a fully accredited F1 photographer in 1972 at the United States Grand Prix. He quickly adopted his characteristic 'fly on the wall' style of photography – getting as close as he could to the moments, without influencing the emotion or drama of the moment. He witnessed and recorded hidden moments that became pivotal incidents in Grand Prix history.
Richard's images have sat unpublished for more than 30 years and we're proud to release these stunning limited edition prints for sale.
This photo captures Emerson Fittipaldi - as described by Richard:
"In 1969, Emerson Fittipaldi left Brazil for England as a F3 rookie. By July, 1970, he qualified an ageing Lotus 49C next to Graham Hill for the British Grand Prix. He won his first victory three months later at the US Grand Prix. It was his fourth start. Just 23 Grand Prix starts later, he was the 1972 Formula 1 World Champion. At that time, he was the youngest champion in F1 history. He would win his second championship with McLaren in 1974."
The black & white photo is professionally printed and framed with a black frame and white mount and features a hand-written limited edition number.
The framed print measures 55cm x 75cm and is protected with museum-grade perspex 'artscreen' instead of glass - you won't be able to tell the difference when it's hanging on your wall.
Limited edition of 50 prints.