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New York, February 22, 2011--Iván Hernández Carrillo, a Cuban journalist imprisoned since March 2003, was released on parole Saturday and permitted to remain in the country, bringing to 19 the number of reporters and editors freed after an agreement between the President Raúl Castro and the Catholic Church. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Cuban authorities today to lift all conditions on Hernández Carrillo's release and to free the two journalists that remain imprisoned on the island.
In a brief announcement issued on its website, the Catholic Church said Saturday that seven political prisoners, including Hernández Carrillo, would soon be released from prison. According to news reports, Hernández Carrillo was freed later that day on "extrajudicial license," a form of parole, and rejoined his family in western Matanzas province.
Following his release, Hernández Carrillo told Agence France-Presse: "I am free. I will keep writing, as I did from prison and as I will now from the street. I will write of the events that affect ordinary Cubans."
Hernández Carrillo, 39, was freed after nearly eight years in jail as part of a July 7, 2010, agreement brokered by the Catholic Church for Cuban authorities to release the remaining 52 detainees rounded up in what is known as the Black Spring of 2003 "within three to four months," the church said in a statement issued that day. He is the second journalist of the Black Spring detainees to be permitted to remain in Cuba after rejecting exile to Spain as a condition for his release. Award-winning independent journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez returned to his home in Havana on February 12, following his release on parole. Another 17 reporters released were flown immediately to Spain. (One has relocated to Chile and two have relocated to the U.S.)
"Iván Hernández Carrillo and Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez have been released in a way that leaves the door open to further harassment and arrest," Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior coordinator for the Americas program said. "Cuban authorities should remove any parole stipulation and release all journalists unconditionally."
Hernández Carrillo, a reporter for the independent news agency Patria, was sentenced in April 2003 to 25 years in prison under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy. The journalist was subjected to harassment and assault while in prison, according to his mother, Asunción Carrillo, who said prison authorities had encouraged inmates to attack him.
After July talks between the government and the Catholic Church, Hernández Carrillo was transferred from a prison in Santa Clara province, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) from his family's home in Matanzas province, to La Henequenera Prison in his home province, his mother told CPJ. He suffered from hypertension and gastritis.
With Hernández Carrillo's release, two journalists remain imprisoned in Cuba. Journalist Pedro Argüelles Morán is among a few detainees from the 2003 crackdown who expressed their desire to stay in Cuba upon release, according to the reporters' families. The other journalist still behind bars, Albert Santiago Du Bouchet Hernández, was imprisoned in April 2009.
On February 9, CPJ sent a letter to Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero calling for the Spanish government to push Cuban authorities to fulfill their promise to free all journalists held since the 2003 crackdown. Argüelles Morán and Du Bouchet Hernández reportedly went on hunger strike two weeks ago to call attention to their continued incarceration and that of other political prisoners.


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- Page 1 BlackBerry Bold 9000 Review
- Page 2 BlackBerry Bold Review
- Page 3 BlackBerry Bold Review
- Page 4 BlackBerry Bold Review
Key Specifications
- 2.6 inches, 480 x 320 pixel screen
- 624 MHz processor
- 2 megapixel camera
I remember a conversation I had with the guys from RIM back in 2006 at the launch of the BlackBerry 7130g. I said that the company's insistence on creating devices targeted only at the corporate market was self defeating. I told them that there are many consumers out there who would want to receive their email straight to their pocket, but wouldn't want a device that's so light on features. RIM insisted that it would not make a BlackBerry with a camera or Bluetooth file sharing, since big, paranoid, corporate clients wouldn't want those features. Oh, how things have changed.
It's probably fair to say that the real turning point when it comes to consumer friendly BlackBerry handsets was the introduction of the BlackBerry Pearl, which came around six months after the above conversation. Of course I'm not going to take credit for RIM's movement into the consumer space, since the company clearly had the Pearl on its roadmap before I spoke to them, but what surprised me was how development seemed to stall for so long after the launch of the Pearl. However, it's clear that the bods at RIM have been beavering away in their labs, because the company recently launched its most powerful and consumer friendly BlackBerry yet, the Bold.
Although the Bold has been available for a while off contract, most BlackBerry users are more likely to upgrade through their network operator. As such, I'm looking at the Vodafone version of the Bold, which is available on a plethora of price plans. For the sake of this review though, I'll be working with the £39.99 (inc. VAT) contract, which gets you unlimited email, data and calls to landlines, as well as 700 minutes and 250 texts – a pretty comprehensive package then. On this package the handset itself is free.
There's no denying that the Bold looks the part – I'd go as far as saying that this is the best looking BlackBerry ever, although the forthcoming Storm could steal its thunder (pun intended). The glossy black fascia is offset perfectly by the chrome surround, although I'm not completely convinced about the faux leather back. The front fascia is split into two halves in traditional BlackBerry style, with the screen at the top and a hardware QWERTY keyboard at the bottom.
Let's start with the screen, since this is one of the major highlights of the Bold, and is actually one of the best screens I've ever seen on any handset. The Bold has a high resolution display with 480 x 320 pixels, which is, coincidentally the same resolution as the Apple iPhone, but since the Bold's screen is physically smaller, it's also sharper, thanks to a finer pixel pitch. At 2.5in the screen isn't really small, but in this fully touchscreen iPhone age, any device that sacrifices screen size for a keyboard will appear slightly underwhelming. But in the case of the Bold, you shouldn't make rash judgements, because the screen really is superb.
Unlike other sites, we thoroughly test every product we review. We use industry standard tests in order to compare features properly. We'll always tell you what we find. We never, ever accept money to review a product. Tell us what you think - send your emails to the Editor.

subset: commoncrawl


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Any input on sources for an air/water intercoolers? So far Ive found Frozenboost for complete (fully welded/assembled) units, and Garrett has exchanger cores that require full fabrication of both air and water sides. The EBAY ads I've seen have the exact same description as the frozenboost, so I would think its the same company or someone reselling them.
Frozenboost has really good prices, but not sure about the quality. Does anyone have one they can comment on?
The Garrett cores I assume to be great quality, but are much more money and will require lots of time and welding to get to a usable point.


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Friday, October 28, 2016
17 comments:
These are gorgeous!! I need to make two stocking for Christmas this year. Should get started soon. I have so many projects on the go! Lol! Oh well!ReplyDelete
Will you be filling one of those stockings with quilt shop gift certificates for me? LOL! You are going to be ready for the holiday season.ReplyDelete
Paulette preciosos trabajos, me encanta muñeco de nieveReplyDelete
buen fin desemana
It's nice to know I'm not the only one with the attention span of a squirrel! Whew!! I love your snowman - he's really cute!!ReplyDelete
Both of these are beautiful!ReplyDelete
Happy stitching.
Wow, love your "squirrel" project and you're such a fast stitcher P, I'm sooooo slow!ReplyDelete
Those are so cute and pretty, looks like a great book. I am the same way, got distracted this week and another new project, a weird one this time, lol. IN the dryer now since I wanted it aged more than usual;)ReplyDelete
Great job on the stockings, how many more are you going to make??ReplyDelete
Lovely Paulette! No point waisting time when you have a new book full of amazing patterns!ReplyDelete
When I browsed the book those stockings really caught my eye! Looking really good. At least you are distracted by beautiful things. : )ReplyDelete
Whew!! Here I was feeling good that I had already ordered Bonnie Sullivan's book after reading about it on your site! You are amazing (as are so many others who can create and finish projects faster than I can blink!) Thanks for sharing these stockings -- your work is motivating!ReplyDelete
the cardinals are gorgeous! I'll be saying squirrel a lot now too...3 hooking projects going on...so farReplyDelete
And a very fine distraction these are!!! Beautiful! I had seen these in the book and wasn't too excited about them... but, seeing yours has made me want to stitch some up! :-) Have a beautiful weekend!ReplyDelete
Such beautiful stockings! Each year I think I have to make new ones for my family, but then Christmas comes and goes and I forget!ReplyDelete
I too love your stockings....you got them done quick.ReplyDelete
Even if you say your attention span is short, you sew at warp speed. So it all balances out.ReplyDelete
Lovely stitching Paulette, missed your Friday post I was busy with my stitching group on Friday and then tracing my snowman block from Stacy and prepping the wool pieces. Just loved stitching that guy yesterday and putting him up on the design wall.ReplyDelete


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Dimensions: 39.4*4.9*5.9
Package: 1
Assembly Required: No
Origin: Indonesia
Do you own this equipment? If so, we would love to know how would you rate your experience with this product!
What is it?
Note: Your review will be published shortly after it is processed through our anti-spam application. Thank you for your understanding.


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...and even though I say it myself, we rocked at this jam-packed, sold-out club in Brighton -- we being the legendary rythm section of Russell Hunter and Duncan Sanderson, the fine Tim Rundall on guitars, plus Judge Trev from the extended Hawkwind family, Jackie Windmill on extra percussion, Greg the electonics wiz and Steve on tenor. I understand that video and audio recordings will follow.
The secret word is Triumph


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LC James Associates was founded in 1969 by visionary and entrepreneur Luther C. James. As an insurance underwriter for Pilot Life Insurance Company he created a strong relationship with many of his clients. Repeatedly asked for advice on where to go for help or how to file their personal income tax returns, Mr. James saw a need that he could fill for his existing and future clients; people he called his friends. After doing his due diligence and completing the prerequisite training and certification to become an income tax preparer, he began offering this valued service to the folks who had requested it. This "extra service" didn't take long to grow into a full time business of its' own. And, the LC James Tax office was opened. Eventually, additional client services were offered when the need for bookkeeping and accounting services developed. Also, what began as simple income tax preparation evolved into income tax & accounting consulting. The firm name was changed to LC James & Associates to better represent the growing staff. After, successfully leading his company for thirty years, in 2009 LC James took semi-retirement and proudly turned over the leadership reins to his daughter Jennifer. Still involved on a part-time basis, he serves as a Senior Tax Consultant.
Jennifer James Marshburn, the founder's daughter, started with the firm in 1975. Consistently learning and growing in the ever-changing industry, she became the Office Manager in 1980. With hundreds of clients and an increasing staff the firm continued to improve its' suite of services and evolve into a multi-faceted operation. In 2000, Jennifer became certified and licensed as a NC REALTOR®. Much like her father decades before, she saw her clients' need for an additional service. Understanding both the tax laws and the NC Real Estate Commission's rules and regulations for the purchase and sale of real estate made LC James Associates more valuable to the people that they serve.
LC James Associates became a third generation family when Jennifer James Marshburn's daughter became an active part of the staff. Serving in several capacities, grand-daughter Lynn White works with the Electronic Filing of taxes as well as being a licensed REALTOR® within the real estate division known as Connect Realty.
Making it a complete full service family business, Jennifer's husband, David Marshburn, is the Regional VP for Connect Realty overseeing sales and operations in both NC and SC. The Regional Office is housed in the LC James building at 1433 Broad St. Together these three generations offer a wide array of needed services under one roof, keeping alive the spirit of guaranteed quality service for a reasonable cost in the land of Free Enterprise.
L C James & Associates
1433 Broad Street
Durham, NC 27705
(919) 286-3308


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It's been a minute since I have gone through the newborn stage. As Scout turns four months tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to share our favorite products in three month periods. So many new and fun brands have surfaced that I've loved getting to try out and use. Things that I wish I would have had with Paisley three years ago. But-nothing can truly prepare you for motherhood. You take it a day at a time and learn as you go. I've gathered the most invaluable information and recommendations from other mama friends from their blogs and instagrams that have made "baby-ing" a lot easier and more enjoyable. I hope these baby posts over the next several months help a mom or two.
1. write essay poverty //
Hands down probably my most used baby product (other than the essentials) I've spent money on. This has been a game changer in the mothering world. Hello free hands-this wrap makes me feel like superwoman because I can multitask like crazy. Most of you know, Scout comes to hunter college essay with me everyday. For those who say you can't own and run a great business with a new baby are full of it. Get a wrap. It will change your world. We wrap every day and it really helps me accomplish what I need to get done. It's awesome for soothing her when she is fussy and she usually goes right to sleep. I posted on baby wearing here when we first started and I still enjoy it just as much. I love that the material is stretchy and lightweight. I've seen other wraps but I didn't like how some had a weird material, and were thick and hot.
2. farm buddies //
We sell these in the store and they are so precious. She loves to hang on to something when she is in the carseat-these are all organic and I love the cute little designs that we have for both boys and girls. Every baby needs a lovie. :)
3. milkbarn swaddle blankets //
Cotton muslin blankets are my favorite. I love how soft they are and its like the more washes they get, the softer they become. Scout loves using them as her lovey, swaddeling, carseat cover, swing blankie, and just for her to lay on around the house. I love that milkbarn uses an organic material.
4. the honest company diapers //
We recently made the switch a month ago to honest diapers and absolutely love them! With all of the bad reviews we have been hearing about other companies involving burning, bladder cancer, and such, I decided it was time to go to an all natural diaper.
5. lifefactory bottles //
I absolutely am a huge fan of these bottles. Something about glass just makes me feel like it's cleaner, as well as being BPA free and dishwasher safe. We have concrete floors and I have dropped them many times. The silicone sleeve helps protect the bottle from shattering.
6. the honest company shampoo and body wash //
We have been making the shift over to all things natural in our home and this is another favorite product of mine. I love that it's natural and BOTH of my girls can use it. The sweet orange vanilla scent smells amazing.
7. 4moms rockaRoo swing //
One of my most favorite and used products to date. Scout loves this swing and takes 60% of her daytime naps in it. It has five speeds and is 70% smaller than traditional swings. It's easy to cart and I take it to Farm Girl with us during the day. I HIGHLY recommend this swing. It isn't as fancy as some of the other 4moms products (they also have a mamaRoo that I would love to have) but it such an awesome baby necessity.
What are some of your favorites? I'd love recommendations of baby things I may not know about. :)


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Are you a roofing contractor struggling to fill your job pipeline?
Let's face it, most roofing contractors pray for stormy weather to bring them new jobs.
It's a vicious cycle of storm chasing, waiting for the phone to ring, dealing with prospects that are window shoppers, and simply aren't qualified.
Relying on the mercy of the weather is simply not a sustainable way to grow a business.
I often get asked: Mauricio, what makes you different? Why should I work with you?
My question to you is "Why should I partner with you? Are you truly committed to taking your business to the next level or are you accepting the status quo?
Do you really want change? Do you want to hire more salespeople? Do you want to open multiple locations?
If you already have multiple locations, what are you doing to reach your 5-year growth goal? Are you relying on that "good enough" marketing or have you hired a specialist to take your brand to that next level?
At Roofing Marketing Pros, we've developed a super effective, unique, and proprietary system that will consistently provide with new commercial or residential clients looking for roof replacements services.
I am laser focused on delivering PROVEN marketing systems that provide you 5-10 X ROI.
Unlike most generalists, we specialize in a specific type of marketing that puts you in front of prospects looking to get their roofs replaced.
If you're ready for a specialist to approach to your business with the same level of commitment and expertise as you approach your clients then let's set up a time to talk.
Stop chasing storms and start hitting your goals.


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Unite Union Call Centre Organiser Shanna Reeder took a call recently from a Unite Union member upset that she had been giving a bad performance review leading to her missing out on her annual bonus.
The bad performance review was based solely on her taking some unpaid sick leave to care for a terminally ill family member. The union member who wishes not to be identified at this stage, actually had asked for her roster to be modified so she could work part-time temporarily until her situation changed.
Her employer suggested she take some time off (unpaid) and while at first the member was concerned about not earning income for that time, she did eventually accept the offer. At no time was the member warned that taking this time off to be with her family would impact on her performance, and thus her annual bonus.


text:
40, Man, Single
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Degree dating site member
Looking for:
28 - 42 years
Within 100 kms
Long-term dating
My self-introduction
My name is ikye ,originally from South Africa but currently now in Vietnam, . I'm a very kind young man and I wish to make friends with nice and gentle people .. I love reading books(Self Awareness, psychology, Philosophy) writing emails and letters, nature, lover of dogs, photography, watching old and new pictures, listening to calm music, Art and creativity, cards and dealing with colors and pictures, and many more.. My favorite Singers are Celine Dion, Elton John and Brian Adams, I also love calm music and world music. I'm a kind young man with a generous heart .. I'm also single and looking for my soul mate. I'm honest and a true friend, rather a deep thinker and a serious person. I believe love and friendships are very important in life. I will be happy to hear from nice people who are ready for a long everlasting relationship. I believe that everything starts from friendship and understanding one another well. I'm rather simple, warm, and creative young man.I hope to hear from nice people who …are generous,graduate with their Bachelor of Degree in any course
What I am doing with my life
working as a Logistic Supervisor
Things I like about myself
am a very gentle person and i love to be truthful
My favourite outdoor activities are
i love seeing myself bussy
My favourite indoor activities are
These topics are interesting for me
talking about life
I might look for you if
i might look for you if only i see the seriousness from you


text:
I had the opportunity a few days ago to listen to the wonderful Mei Pak conferences at Creative Live and her seminars gave me plenty of ideas for Kirameku.
It is with a head full that I crafted my latest promotion; the Friday Flash Sale. I figured that a rebate is always welcomed, especially during the Holidays with all the gifts and extra foods that are on our shopping list. So, every Fridays until the 27th of November, there will be a Flash Sale on my Facebook page.
The concept is fairly simple.
I'm currently adding new items at Kirameku's Etsy shop, like special gift sets and necklaces for the Holidays. I'll be releasing my best pieces on those special events and will put them at a special price so you can pre-order them.
|Here is the Flash sale of last Friday. Get this wonderful set here!
During those limited editions sales on Facebook page, you simply have to comment ''sold'' to get the deal of that day. I will send you a private message requesting your email address for the Paypal invoice and voila!
The sales will run from 7ham till midnight, EST.
Wish to get exclusive sneak peeks? Simply join my mailing list here!
Wish to get exclusive sneak peeks? Simply join my mailing list here!
The infos will be sent on Thursday night.
So, are you ready? My next Flash Sale is on for Friday 30th!
See you all there :)
See you all there :)


text:
It is a victory for Kuldeep Bishnoi in Hisar. But indirectly, the Bharatiya Janata Party has made roots into the fort of Bhajan Lal sympathisers.
With Team Anna's anti-Congress campaign impacting the Hisar Lok Sabha by-election, Haryana Janhit Congress chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, 42, on Monday won by a margin of 6,323 votes. His father Bhajan Lal, a former Congress chief minister, had rebelled and won the seat in 2009 by 6,983 votes.
Congress got a beating in the regular daily media briefing, as the party could not answer a volley of questions from journalists about the poll debacle. However, Congress spokesperson Renuka Choudhary managed to sail through tough questions.
"It is now Team Anna's turn to certify that Bishnoi is not corrupt. It would have been better if Team Anna's leading light Arvind Kejriwal, who also hails from Hisar, contested the election and showed a vote in favour of its anti-corruption campaign," Choudhary affirmed at the All India Congress Committee press briefing.
A tactical electoral alliance with the BJP in September and a sympathy wave from his father's death in June paid Bishnoi the dividends.
The BJP transferred its 45,000 plus votes in favour of Bishnoi to beat his nearest rival, Indian National Lok Dal's Ajay Singh Chautala, 50, son of another former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala.
Choudhary, however, asserted that the by-elections are won because of different local factors and can not be judged as indicator of results in the general elections.
She also asserted that it was not a vote against Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, affirming that, "Hooda still has batteries running in him."
The Congress had won nine of 10 Lok Sabha seats from Haryana in 2009, losing only Hisar to rebel Bhajan Lal and got re-elected in the Haryana assembly elections for the second term.
No wonder Congress strategist and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Hisar loss was a sad experience. "We shall have to analyse why we lost the by-polls and what are the reasons," he said.
Hazare sought the defeat for the Congress through a video appeal, while his team of Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, a former top cop, and journalist-activist Manish Sosodia campaigned against the party.
Bishnoi's corrupt image, however, made Kejriwal assert that the Team Anna had nothing to do with his victory.
In over nine lakh votes polled in a big constituency of 13.32 lakhs, Bishnoi polled 355,941 votes as against Chautala's 349,618, while Congress candidate Jai Prakash, 58, a two-time MP from Hisar and a former Union minister, finished a poor third with 149,785 votes in the 40-cornered contest.
Jai Prakash had also finished third in 2009 with 204,539 votes.
Bishnoi was forthright in asserting after the results were out that Team Anna had no impact on his performance and the Congress latched on this remark to counter the claim that the result was 'a referendum on the Jan Lokpal Bill' it brought to beat the corruption.
Bishnoi affirmed that Hisar is a traditional seat of his family. "The victory is basically because of my father and family's track record. We have done a lot for Hisar," he said.
The BJP was quite elated to claim all three results -- the Hisar Lok Sabha by-election and the assembly by-elections of Darbhanga in Bihar and Khadakvasla in Maharashtra as a "defining vote against corruption and the Congress misgovernance."
Its spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said alarm bells should ring for the Congress to stop corruption or face a similar rout in the next Lok Sabha elections.
"It is no ordinary by-election in Hisar. The Congress lost it despite it being in power both at the Centre and in Haryana. It is a slap on Hooda's face as it was the people's ruling on his misrule," he said.
Lok Sabha leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj was instrumental in striking an electoral alliance with Bishnoi-led HJC, beating the Congress attempts to force its merger that failed because of Hooda's resistance.
She declared Bishnoi's victory as the first sign of a great future for the BJP-HJC alliance that contemplates the BJP get majority seats in the Lok Sabha elections from the state and HJC take majority seats in the assembly elections.
Bishnoi added, "The win today is a foundation stone for the formation of HJC-BJP government in the state in the future."
Out of the nine assembly segments in the constituency, Bishnoi led in five -- Adampur, Hansi, Barwala, Hisar and Nalwa. Chautala led in remaining four -- Uchana Kalan, Uklana, Narnaund and Bawani Khera.
Bishnoi was maintaining a lead of around 30,000 votes till the last few rounds of counting, when his victory margin started slumping and he could win by a narrow lead of 6,323 votes in the byelection held last Thursday.


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The Staff Aide (sometimes called the Senior Administrative Aide) was the head of the Supreme Chancellor's staff and the Chancellor's deputy in the Office of the Supreme Chancellor. The Staff Aide's duties included addressing the public on behalf of the Chancellor, helping organize the Chancellor's schedules, meeting with other figures on behalf of the Chancellor, taking notes on the Chancellor's meetings and ideas, helping the Chancellor form policy, and the like.
The position was apparently held indefinitely, with one person having the capability to hold the office under successive Chancellors, but it was apparently customary for each Staff Aide to resign after a new Chancellor was elected, so the Chancellor could nominate a Staff Aide of his or her own.
The position of Staff Aide was prestigious enough that the Staff Aide could sit on the upper level of the central Senate pod with the Chancellor and Vice Chair during sessions of the Senate.
Sei Taria was the Staff Aide for the administration of Finis Valorum, retiring shortly after Valorum was replaced by Palpatine. Sly Moore held the position until at least the early days of the Galactic Empire. The continued existence of the position is unknown; it would seem that at some point it was replaced by that of the Grand Vizier.
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- Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
- Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary
- Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith novelization


text:
Apart from the fact that I love Country Home Ideas magazine, and I love that the word about Queen B candles is being spread, I am also sharing this because I thought the photograph of the La Rochere bee glasses and our pure beeswax tealights was really beautiful. The big boss – Editor in Chief – also included it on her Simple Home Ideas Christmas wishlist. Happy days!
Queen B beeswax candles are made with 100% pure Australian beeswax a pure cotton wick and copious amounts of hand made love. We stock beautiful and stylish candle holders, personalised candles, votive candles and pillar candles that nourish the human spirit and our environment.


text:
PTCL to offer 3G EVO 3.1Mbps USB in just Rs. 500/ month. This offer is applies to its new customers who are interested to purchase a new evo connection. this is promotional offer valid from 24th-Dec-2013 to 3rd-Jan-2014.
Here are its further details
The Offer
"Buy a new EVO device between 24th Dec,2013-3rd Jan,2014 & enjoy 58% discounts on monthly charges for the whole year"
Offer Details
Under this proposition any subscriber making a new purchase for EVO USB(Prepaid & postpaid) between 24th Dec -3rd of Jan shall enjoy 58% discounts on monthly charges for 12months. Below are the package details for the promotion:
|EVO Device charges
|Monthly Recurring charges
|Volume limit
|Billing options
|Prepaid & Postpaid
Key Highlights:
- Limited time offer for all potential EVO subscribers giving them the opportunity to enjoy massive savings of 58% discounted monthly charges for a whole year.
- Pakistan's fastest growing coverage network covering 90% of the country's population.
- Mobile broadband internet that keeps you connected wherever you go
- Seamless EVDO roaming in 250+ cities with auto switch over to lower speeds in the non-EVDO coverage areas.
Business Rules:
- Promotion is applicable for purchases made between 24th Dec to 3rd Jan 2014.
- Promotion is valid for new sales on EVO 3.1Mbps USB only.
- Promotion is valid for postpaid and prepaid subscribers.
- Offer is not applicable for package conversions
- Offer can be availed from any PTCL OSS or any other authorized PTCL retailer.
Service Availability:
Walk-in at any PTCL One Stop Shop or authorized retailerhttps://www.engrz.com/2013/12/24/ptcl-evo-3g-new-year-offer/https://www.engrz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/evo-3g.jpghttps://www.engrz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/evo-3g-150x150.jpgTips and Tricks


text:
It's that time of year again...for the Twelve Days of Christmas comp over at Scrapz. :) (Go HERE to read all about it and to see the very generous prizes that Heike has on offer!)
I've set the first challenge...to create some gift tags! Here are my samples using some Crate Paper 'Snow Day'...
You'll find all the details of the challenge and how to enter HERE.
We've also had two super talented ladies recently join our Design Team...Belinda Venables and Georgia Keays! I just love both of these beautiful girls...and their gorgeous work! (So happy to have you both on board!) :)


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The bike has folding capabilities, along with some features, that makes it minimal, and basic in the segment. The bike has a solid aluminum frame and weighs just 21.5 lbs. the color available in the market is grey, black and white. The bike has single speed gear so it of r the ones, who only want a foldable bike, no fancy features. 20' inch wheels are good for bike riding, but the full size is preferable if you're tall. This simple bike is good with the price and doesn't let you down one bit.
Detailed Review
Out of the box, this bike needs nothing and is sheer perfection. The simple and minimal design makes it beautiful. When you pick it up, you realize that it is very light. It is lighter than most of the single speed bikes available in the market. The brand is famous for minimally designed bicycles, and anybody could tell why.
When you ride this bicycle, you will find that it is as smooth as it gets. The single speed folding bike with gear has no complications and maintenance cost. So you can ride this thing for coming years without any difficulty. The frame is solid, and when used it on the concrete road, it was responsive, and ride well. Coming to parts, their build quality is commendable, that's a sure thing, and it is not like those cheap foldable bikes, this thing may be simple, but have got quality.
While riding, when brakes are applied, it stops after a while, very strong inertia was felt, that's how brakes work, but it took some time to stop. The coaster brakes surely need some improvement. Long hours don't hurt this bike, because the saddle is comfy and fancy.
The only competitor of this brand is Dahon, but this bike beats single speed bikes of Dahon. There are not enough parts really to malfunction, as I mentioned above, which cuts the extra cost over the bike after a period of time.
You could just pick it up, and ride to the outskirts, town, and city roads, anywhere. The bike has got minimum requirements, but maximum performance in the segment.
This bike is recommended to kids, boys, adults who could recall their childhood memories, roamers, town riders. Basically, the ones who don't have much need from a bike, who can be satisfied with simple and strong bicycle. As far as durability is concerned, it is one of the strongest bike in single speed segment.
- Lightweight, only weighs 21.5 pounds
- Minimal design
- Low maintenance
- Good performance
- Brakes need improvement
- Single speed ( not really a con, but depends upon choice)


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2020 Online Application 2020 Application By Mail or Fax
The ABTL Offers Over 40 Years of Unequaled Experience in Presenting Educational Programs for the Business Litigator.
- Discounts on dinner programs (the discounts alone pay for your dues).
- Four issues of the Orange County ABTL Report
- Eligibility to attend annual seminar and other events
- Membership in the only lawyer organization where practitioners and judicial officers meet to address isuess important to business trial lawyers


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2 egg yolks
sprinkling of salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 pkg. vanilla sugar
1-1/2 cups turó
grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
5 Tbsp farina
2 egg whites
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs
powdered sugar
sour cream
• In a medium bowl combine 2 egg yolks, salt, sugar and vanilla sugar.
• Cream the yolk mixture until light and fluffy.
• Add the turó, lemon juice and lemon zest and stir to combine.
• Mix in the farina and set the mixture aside.
• Beat 2 egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• Gradually fold the beaten egg whites into the turó mixture.
• With damp hands form balls and set them aside.
• Put a large pot of salted water on the stove and bring it to boil.
• Meanwhile melt 3 Tbsp butter in a non-stick pan.
• Add the breadcrumbs and gently fry until golden.
• Keep stirring and do not let the breadcrumbs burn.
• Remove pan from the heat and set it aside.
• One by one slide the turó dumplings into the boiling water.
• Reduce heat to medium and cook dumplings until they come to the surface.
• Remove floating dumplings with a slotted spoon and place them on a platter.
• Let them drip for a few seconds before sliding them into the golden fried breadcrumbs.
• Gently shake the pan to coat the dumplings.
• Serve the curd dumplings sprinkled with powdered sugar.
• Add sour cream on the side. Makes 12 to 15 dumplings.


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Health and Wellness
Executive Summary
Despite tremendous advances in understanding and treating disease, medical scientists are only now beginning to grasp how much there is still to know. What's needed more than anything is original, out-of- the-box and interdisciplinary thinking to vanquish global killers like cancer, Alzheimer's and heart disease.
TAU's Record:
- Houses the largest medical research and training complex in Israel, serving 2 million people
- Collaborates with a network of 1,400 physicians in 17 affiliated hospitals
- Global leader in translational medicine (lab-to-bedside approach)
- Basic science and clinical collaboration
- 22 drugs in the approval pipeline
- Produced 330 cancer-related patents
- World expert on understanding and treatment of trauma, with 100 researchers
- International programs in the field include:
- Crisis and Trauma Program (Social Work)
- Emergency and Disaster Management Program (School of Public Health)
- Attracts dozens of world-class researchers yearly to its Summer School on public health in the developing world
Latest Exciting Research:
Trauma: Prof. Yair Bar-Haim, Psychology, is working with the IDF and the US Army to test the effectiveness of a computer program he developed to prevent and treat PTSD among combat soldiers.
ALS: A technique using the patient's own stem cells, pioneered by Prof. Dani Offen, Medicine, successfully treated ALS patients in Phase II clinical trials; now he wants to adapt the technique for curing Parkinson's.
Cancer: Dr. Carmit Levy, Medicine, has discovered how to block melanoma, the most aggressive and lethal type of skin cancer, from sending out "scout cells" that pave the way for the cancer's spread throughout the body.
Diagnosis: Prof. Yuval Ebenstein, Chemistry & Nano, is developing a DNA-reading chip that will enable very early diagnosis of any diseased tissue in the body—at the single molecule level—using a simple blood test.
Sample Fields:
To support or receive more information about one of these projects, please contact your local TAU Friends Association or TAU's Development and Public Affairs Division at +972-3-640-8249 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Home » Musicians » Discography » Dream Band
Start your music shopping from All About Jazz and you'll support us in the process. Learn how.
Byron Wallen
According to the Sound
Aaron Diehl
Lakou Mizik
Orkestra Eustoria
Makar Kashitsyn
Ingi Bjarni
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton...
Tobin Mueller
Pere Bujosa
Sal La Rocca
Bob Patin


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Thanksgiving travel in Southern California expected to rise
Expect the roads to be more crowded than usual during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
That's because an estimated 3.3 million Southern Californians plan to travel for the holiday, a 4.1% increase over last year, according to a forecast released Friday by the Auto Club of Southern California.
And despite higher fuel costs over last Thanksgiving, 86%, or 2.8 million of those travelers, will travel by car, also a 4.1% increase over last year. Another 386,000 will fly, a 1.9% increase, according to the Auto Club forecast.
The projected increase will mark the first holiday of the year with a growth in travelers. Travel experts attribute the rise to pent-up demand.
"Those who have put off vacations all year, or maybe for a couple of years, are realizing they need to get away and they are finding ways to do it even on a tight budget," said Filomena Andre, the Auto Club's vice president for travel.
Ten years later, TSA screening still frustrates air travelers
Southern Californians to spend less on holiday travel, poll says
-- Hugo Martin
Photo: A typical traffic jam in Southern California. Roadways could be especially crowded over Thanksgiving weekend as holiday travel is expected to rise. Credit: Los Angeles Times


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Community of the Day:
Covent Garden at Twin Eagles is part of Grand Arbors at Twin Eagles; second phase of the well-known development by Bonita Bay Group in North Naples.
Covent Garden is a neighborhood of coach homes around the 8th and 9th hole of the Aerie golf course designed by Gary Player.
Coach homes and luxury coach homes are available from the high $300s.
Some properties are available for immediate delivery.
Click here to have complete information, pricing and floor plans of Covent Garden homes for sale at Twin Eagles.


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Security policies should work from home too!
Make sure your remote workers follow your security policy.
No matter what the size of your IT department, chances are that you've been called upon to support one or more members of the growing phalanx of telecommuters. These "work at home" individuals range from full-time home office warriors to the overworked executive who tries to knock out a few e-mails between his shower and morning coffee. Let's face it -- telecommuters are a reality and they're here to stay. Have you taken them into account when planning your security policy?
If you quickly answered "yes," take a moment and think again. If you answered affirmatively while thinking to yourself, "We have a $100K VPN and all of our telecommuters have client software installed on their systems," you're probably overconfident. A VPN is not enough. It's certainly the most expensive component of a telecommuting security arrangement, but you need to mind the basics as well. Remember that VPN clients have some degree of access to the corporate network. You certainly wouldn't want Bill CEO to connect to the VPN using Little Johnnie's computer which, by the way, was recently infected with a virus during Little Johnnie's P2P music swapping.
It is essential that you take steps to ensure that telecommuting computers are up to snuff from a security point of view. Let's take a look at a few options you have up your sleeve, ranging from the most drastic (and most expensive) to the absolute minimum effort:
- Provide work-at-home users with company-owned computers that enforce corporate security policies and have appropriate software installed. This is the simplest solution from an administrative point of view, but it could also be costly. Consider a variation on this theme -- is it possible to provide telecommuters with a laptop that they can use both at home and in the office?
- Provide telecommuters with security software and require that they use it on systems used to access corporate computing resources. This is definitely not as ideal as using corporate computers, but it's much less expensive. Don't forget to provide a virus definition file update subscription as well!
- Ask telecommuters to sign an acknowledgement that they understand the importance of securing their home computer before granting them access to the VPN. If you simply don't have any money in the budget for the first two solutions, at the very least ensure that users understand their responsibilities regarding security of home computing systems.
Don't waste any more time! Get out there and implement a strong telecommuting security policy!
About the author
Mike Chapple, CISSP, currently serves as Chief Information Officer of the Brand Institute, a Miami-based marketing consultancy. He previously worked as an information security researcher for the U.S. National Security Agency. His publishing credits include the TICSA Training Guide from Que Publishing, the CISSP Study Guide from Sybex and the upcoming SANS GSEC Prep Guide from John Wiley. He's also the About.com Guide to Databases.


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Co-Owner of ChalkBox Training Joseph McGowan says he's hungry to grow the most amazing gym with the best coaches Salem has ever offered. "Having business coaches, close friends and family for guidance and support has helped me stay focused on what I'm accomplishing with my team of ninjas! I'm excited to professionalize the fitness industry in my town of Salem."
His favorite part of coaching, other than "when people ring that damn PR bell," is seeing his clients leave the baggage of their day at the door, give their workout full effort, and when they break a personal record, they can still have a good day.


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Captain Ronald Fry's new book Hammerhead Six tells the story of a team of Green Berets who conducted a successful 2003 mission in Afghanistan's notorious Pech Valley. Led by Captain Fry, Hammerhead Six applied the principles of unconventional warfare to "win hearts and minds" and fight against the terrorist insurgency. Here, where the line between civilians and armed zealots was indistinct, they illustrated the Afghan proverb: "I destroy my enemy by making him my friend." Fry recounts how they were seen as welcome guests rather than invaders. Soon after their deployment ended, the Pech Valley reverted to turmoil. Their success was never replicated.
In this excerpt from the book, Capt. Fry tells the story of how he dealt with Omar, an Afghan with a large cache of Soviet-era weapons stashed on his property.
13 The Prisoner In a polity, each citizen is to possess his own arms, which are not supplied or owned by the state.
—Aristotle's view, according to legal scholar Stephen P. Halbrook
They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
—Isaiah 2:4
When the Soviets were run out of Afghanistan in 1989, they left behind a shattered national reputation, nearly fifteen thousand of their own dead, and untold amounts of mortars, RPGs, rifles, and other ordnance that had been captured by the victorious mujahideen. Most of these weapons eventually found their way into the hands of warlords or local headmen, who in bad times used them to settle disputes and in quieter periods kept them out of sight. By the time the United States entered Afghanistan over a decade later, there probably wasn't a village or farm anywhere in the country without a cache of these arms locked in a room or buried somewhere on the property. Because they could easily be sold, traded, or given to insurgents—sometimes under duress, sometimes not— they constituted a threat to our troops. Part of our job was to contact the owners of arms in the territory we controlled and confiscate or buy back as many as possible.
Locating the owners meant relying on informants, and as we had already discovered, their on-the-ground intelligence didn't always have a high degree of accuracy. For every Afghan who was honestly trying to help us disarm the Taliban, another one wanted to curry our favor by ratting out a neighbor, and a third wanted to enlist us as a surrogate in a feud. We had learned that lesson the hard way in Shamir Kowt. The takeaway from that experience was, as Scott put it, "You can't assess intel unless you know who's bringing it to you— and why he wants you to know it." We got better at finding that out as we went along.
In January 2004, when we had been at the "A" Camp for six weeks, we received information that a community leader named Omar had a cache of arms at his compound in Walo Tangi, a village about three miles up the Waygal Valley. Reliable or not, it wasn't news we could afford to ignore. On the morning of January 16, we loaded up two truckloads of Afghan soldiers, along with the ODA and our interpreter Mashal, and took a dirt road north. The drive to Walo Tangi took ten minutes.
We had passed this village on routine patrols, but had never turned into it before, so we got our share of puzzled stares when we pulled into the central square, parked our trucks, located Omar's compound, and surrounded it.
On a raid such as this, to minimize the risk to yourself and to bystanders, things must happen quickly and by the book. The first order of business is to seal off the objective—in this case, the compound—so I sent Jimi and Ben to cover the back entrance, had Randy and Junior guard the front, and led the rest of us inside to begin the clearing process. Most Pashtun compounds are composed of an outer wall, a large inner courtyard, and a series of rooms built around the courtyard. Clearing a compound means scouring each room to ensure that no one is waiting in ambush. You've got to do this before you start the weapons search, because it won't do you any good recovering an arms cache if you've just taken a round in the head from some guy in a closet.
To clear the area, I first had the women and children taken to a safe corner of the compound. Then we started systematically trying all the doors. Some of them opened easily, and some we had to kick in. Omar was well-heeled by village standards, but it wasn't a massive compound, so the clearing process took less than five minutes.
We didn't meet any trouble, although we did have a brief moment of concern when one of the doors didn't budge. I gave it one, then another, good kick but nothing happened. I was starting to imagine a turbaned terrorist barricading himself in on the other side when, on the third try, I heard a deep, lowing sound. The door swung in three or four inches, and I peered in to see the large moist eye of a cow looking back at me. Laughs all around. I've had worse surprises.
We had cleared the compound without encountering resistance, and without having to resort to the "blowing off the doors" technique that Hollywood often portrays as standard practice. In fact, in the time that we spent in Afghanistan, unless we were convinced that there were combatants on the other side, even kicking in doors was an unusual procedure. Normal procedure was to try the handle or to knock and ask to be let in. By the time our stint in-country wound down, our cache recovery expeditions tended to be wary but peaceful affairs that began with "Good morning, sir" and ended with tea.
With the compound cleared, the next task was to find the weapons, which meant getting their owner to show us where they were hidden. I had Omar brought to me and we began the little dance of hide-and-seek that, we had already discovered, was a universally popular game in this part of the world. With Mashal interpreting, I offered my opening gambit. "We know that you have weapons hidden on your property. We need to know what weapons you have and where they are."
Very commanding, I thought. But I was also thinking, somewhere in the back of my mind, what I might say to a federal ATF agent who came to my house and asked me to show him my guns. I would probably lie through my teeth. That was exactly what Omar did. With a look of indignation, he spoke rapidly to Mashal. Mashal turned to me.
"He says that he is a friend to the Americans. He does not have any weapons. He is not hiding any weapons. He would like to offer you tea."
I bet he would. "Tell him," I said, "that he must not lie to me. We know that he has weapons from the Russians. He needs to show us where they are. We would like him to cooperate with us."
As Mashal translated, I could see Omar's indignation rising. He shook his head vehemently, with a look of feigned outrage. He put one hand on his chest and stared straight at me. I watched his eyes and listened to Mashal's voice.
"He swears he does not have any weapons here. If someone told you that, that person is lying. He is a weak old man and if someone told you that he has weapons, he is trying to trick you."
Omar was a daring liar, I'd give him that, and the "weak old man" bit was a nice touch. He was tall, burly, and well fed even by American standards, let alone Afghan ones. And he didn't look more than fifty.
"We are going to search your property, sir," I said. "And we will find the weapons. If you help us we will pay you for the weapons, but if you don't help us and we find them, no payment. And we will have to take you back to our camp. And then you will go to Bagram."
I thought that the threat of Bagram—the main U.S. detention site in Afghanistan—might loosen him up. Afghans who were sent there often remained in processing for months, and those believed to be dangerous could be sent on to Guantanamo. No Afghan wanted to go to Bagram. But Omar was insistent. He had no weapons.
As part of a security force we had a young Marine with a metal detector. I called him over and showed Omar the device. It was the same type of rig that beachcombers use to locate sunbathers' lost change. But painted olive drab and sporting a beeping red light, it looked impressively official. In the Marine's hands it looked like a Star Wars secret weapon.
"This device," I said, "can find metal. Anything made of metal, no matter where it's hidden. Even if it's buried. This man will go around your property and he will find anything on it that is made of metal. If he finds any rifles or rockets or ammunition—if he finds any weapons that you haven't told us about—I must take the weapons and send you to Bagram. Do you understand?"
What Bagram had not done on its own, the combination of Bagram and American technology had accomplished. As he realized that the game was up, he started to let down his guard and he pointed, somewhat sheepishly, to the door of a room.
"There are a couple of rockets in there that my cousin asked me to hold for him. They are not mine, they are my cousin's."
We opened the door into a child's room. In one corner stood a crib. Under the crib was a rug, and under the rug the earthen floor had been disturbed. Omar motioned to the spot and we began digging. We quickly uncovered not "a couple" of rockets but about thirty of them, plus several dozen machine gun rounds.
"Let's check the rest of the area," I said to the Marine. With Omar in tow, we went outside and started plying the metal detector around his property. Much of this was covered by a poppy field, laying fallow in the January gray. When the Marine swept the field, the detector let out so many frantic beeps that for a moment you might have thought you were in a video game arcade. With some local people recruited to help with the digging, we unearthed an assortment of rockets, RPGs, RPG boosters, and machine gun rounds—a major cache, buried beneath the poppy rows.
Omar's expression went from nervous to resigned to penitent, as he realized we had caught him in false denials. But then, as the Marine approached a corner of the field and the detector began registering another find, Omar became animated. He started talking excitedly, indignant again.
"What's he saying?" I asked Mashal.
"He says that's not his. That one there, not his. Somebody else buried those rockets on his land."
Hilarious. Either Omar was a true liar's liar—someone with a deep need to deny the obvious—or he had been the victim of a cosmic irony. Either way, seeing him proclaim his innocence while he was standing in that poppy field turned ammo dump offered an even funnier moment than the terrorist cow.
The streets of Walo Tangi were too narrow to admit our trucks, so once the metal detector stopped beeping, I had the team form a fireman's brigade to transport the weapons to the square where we had parked. It was a mixed crowd, composed of our guys, the tough-looking Afghan soldiers, and about ten local kids pitching in on what must have seemed to them like a grown-up game. This went OK for a few minutes until one six-year-old took a mortar shell from Dave, who was to his left, turned right to pass it o n—and saw it slip, business end down, out of his hands.
There was no fuse to the shell, but it was old Russian ordnance that had been buried for years. I wouldn't have bet my life on it being stable. The time it took to get from the kid's hand to the ground might have been the longest half second of my life, and the harmless clunk it made was an angelic sound. I don't recall giving an order, but as if on cue Dave and every other SF guy there thanked the kids, gave them some candy, and closed up the gaps in the line with Afghan adults.
The cache recovery had been successful. Now, what to do with Omar?
In 2003 and 2004, deciding which suspects to detain was left to commanders on the ground. The protocol wasn't clearly spelled out, so in determining Omar's fate I had to go with my gut. We had intelligence that he was a person of interest; we had found a significant store of ordnance on his property; and he had lied to us. I figured that we couldn't just let him go. He would have to be brought back to our camp for questioning; he would be detained there as a Person Under Control (PUC); and perhaps from there he would have to be shipped on to Bagram.
So Omar the indignant armorer became our first prisoner.
Ben thought that we should put a gunny sack over his head right there in Walo Tangi, to humiliate him in front of his friends. Bagging a prisoner like this wasn't a universal procedure, but it wasn't unknown. When I hesitated to give the order to bag Omar, Ben hotly disagreed.
"Damn, Ron, the dude lies to us straight out. He's got enough rockets for the whole village. I say let everybody see what happens, what the consequences are, when you screw with us like that."
"Secure him," I said, "and no kid gloves. But no bag."
"No bag! What the hell. We're gonna look like assholes, letting this guy walk away with his head up. You afraid of embarrassing him? He should be embarrassed. He should feel outright humiliated, and his people should know that."
I understood Ben's frustration. As someone who had suffered a loss of hearing thanks to an IED attack, he had a special reason to be angry about hidden armaments. And he wasn't wrong about the virtues of bagging. There was often a good reason to bag a prisoner, especially when you were close to home, to prevent him from observing your defensive layout, and in fact it was common practice to at least blindfold potential hostiles when you were bringing them into a military facility. But I saw no good reason to do that to Omar on his home turf. Doing so would play into Taliban propaganda, which painted Special Forces as an American Gestapo, intent on insulting Islam and imprisoning the faithful. Considering the long- term effects, we probably had more to lose than gain by humiliating a respected leader in his own village.
So we treated Omar with respect and made sure that his neighbors saw us do so. We put him in the back of a truck, along with his weapons, and moved off on the road back to camp. This didn't endear me to Ben, but it's not a commander's job to be liked by his men at every step of the way. Ben and I respected each other, and I knew that once this incident had passed, we would be fine.
The truck rumbled along for ten minutes, with Omar sitting quietly and looking a little dazed. When the men could see the wire perimeter of Camp Blessing rising in the distance, I ordered the gunny sack to be put over the prisoner's head.
"You want to do the honors?" I asked Ben. It was no surprise to hear him answer, "Hell, yeah."
Back in camp, we brought Omar to a tent that had served as a makeshift detention facility during Mountain Resolve and handcuffed him to a cot. Within a couple of days—when it became clear that he wasn't a physical threat—the handcuffs came off, and he was secured by Marine guards standing outside the tent. We interrogated him usually two or three times a day, with the sessions conducted by me and our intel sergeant Scott, with Mashal interpreting. We were looking for anything that would help us better understand the complicated web of allegiances in the Pech Valley.
Civilians often assume that interrogation is a euphemism for "torture"; that the only way soldiers in the field extract information from detainees is through the use of physical or psychological abuse. I don't deny that such techniques are used; but in Kunar in 2003 and 2004, this was not our practice. We treated our prisoners with respect, and I am convinced that this humane approach to information gathering got us more reliable information than we might have gathered from the use of more aggressive measures.
I'm not saying that harsher measures wouldn't work or would never be justified. Any commander, in considering enhanced interrogation, has to measure the ethical costs against the potential practical benefits. In our case, the practical benefits of not using such methods outweighed other considerations. Aggressive interrogation wasn't in our toolbox for a simple reason. Our goal wasn't just to get good intel as quickly as possible (often the goal of CIA and some Special Ops interrogators); it was to build working relationships with locals. Given our mission, we had to consider the long-term effects of everything we did, both in terms of U.S. interests and in terms of the everyday realities of the people we lived among.
In fact to the best of my recollection the only time we "tortured" Omar, it came about unintentionally, and with no lasting harm.
Omar had been with us for a couple of days, submitting to our daily visits but otherwise being left alone in the tent when we weren't questioning him. When we weren't there, his Marine guards would pass the time by playing rap music; they would turn it off during our interrogations. It wasn't superloud, but to ears not accustomed to it, it must have been grating. Scott and I had no idea just how grating until we were in the middle of an interrogation one day and, tired of Omar's evasiveness, we got up to leave.
"Please don't go," he said through the interpreter.
"Why not?"
"Because when you're here is the only time they stop playing that horrible music."
Here was an unplanned opening, and we took advantage of it. "All right," we told him. "If you give us the information we want, we'll stick around."
Omar became quickly cooperative. What we learned from the episode is that you don't need thumbscrews and waterboards to extract information. Just a minor adjustment of a detainees' comfort level can sometimes work wonders.
US Army Captain Ronald Fry, a third-generation veteran, served in the 82nd Airborne Division and as a Special Forces team leader in Afghanistan. Check out his bio here.
Buy "Hammerhead Six" from Amazon or Hachette Book Group.
Adapted and excerpted from "HAMMERHEAD SIX: How Green Berets Waged an Unconventional War Agains the Taliban to Win in Afghanistan's Deadly Pech Valley," reprinted with permission from Hachette Books, a division of Hachette Book Group. Copyright 2017 by Ronald Fry.