text:
It's So Awkward Being Rich These Days
Unconspicuous consumption is the hot new thing. That $300 million megayacht? Tacky, what with the layoffs. Private jet? Forget about it, after Detroit's debacle. Even the celebrity goodie-bag business is endangered.
Dick Fuld, the Lehman Brothers CEO who oversaw the Wall Street bank's crash into bankruptcy, has been spotted flying commercial twice in the past month, even though he's still worth an estimated $100 million. (He took JetBlue, the preferred airline of parsimonious rich people.)
Billionaire Ron Perelman, who was wise enough not to get caught up in the Madoff Ponzi scheme, is nevertheless selling the $67 million yacht whose jacuzzi once bathed the loins of actress Gina Gershon.
Former Self editor and sex-book author Alexandra Penney, who did lose a fortune to Madoff, has taken to blogging about her encounters with Popeye's Chicken.
And actors attending afterparties at next week's Golden Globes will find less swag in their giveaway bags. The goodie-bag scheme, in which marketers shower Hollywood types, with free stuff in the hopes that they'll later be photographed using it in celebrity weeklies, is meeting resistance from marketers who are slashing budgets and celebrities who worry that the sight of millionaires getting freebies will rub fans the wrong way.
All in all, it's hard to be wealthy these days. No, scratch that — it's hard to look wealthy. The obvious solution: a growth industry of downwardly mobile image consultants, who can advise these unfortunates on how best to feign poverty. (Penney, the author bankrupted by Bernie Madoff, has been doing a terrible job faking it on her own.) It's the least the rich can do for the economy.


text:
Free workshop kicks-off new partnership in advanced technology
PCATT teams up with Synergy Corporate TechnologiesHonolulu Community College
Posted: Sep 3, 2010
HONOLULU – The Pacific Center for Advanced Technology Training (PCATT) and Synergy Corporate Technologies has recently joined forces to offer SharePoint technical education and informational workshops. The first offering in the new partnership, in association with Microsoft Corporation, is a free workshop focused on business intelligence and SharePoint collaboration. The four hour session will consist of two presentations focusing on leveraging the Microsoft Platform for Performance Management – Using What You Already Own and Maximizing your SharePoint Investment.
What: Business Intelligence & Collaboration Workshop
When: September 8 & 9, 2010
8:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Where: Honolulu Community College
874 Dillingham Blvd.
(808) 845-9464
Hosted at the state-of-art PCATT training facility located at Honolulu Community College, this unique training partnership is an innovative example of leveraging community resources and business expertise to maximize the dissemination of industry knowledge. Hawai'i businesses will benefit from this workshop by learning about software solutions that will help to improve work efficiency through greater collaboration that will positively impact an organization's bottom line and ultimately simulating the local economy.
"Since 2000, PCATT's mission has been about developing and providing training in advanced technology applications that enhances economic and workforce development in the state of Hawai'i and the Pacific. The partnership between PCATT and Synergy will allows us to diversify our program offerings meeting the needs of our end users," explains PCATT Director Scott Murakami.
The workshop will be facilitated by Synergy Corporate Technologies, a global organization offering a range of technology services including specialized skills focusing on SharePoint, workflow engineering, and business intelligence. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, they are the premier company in Hawai'i that offers expertise in developing SharePoint solutions for local businesses.
"Synergy couldn't be more excited about joining forces with PCATT to offer the best quality training possible, helping to arm Hawaii's professionals with the technical skills needed to succeed in today's fast-paced world," shares Synergy's Chris C. Bayot, senior solutions consultant and Hawai'i regional manager.
For a schedule of classes being offered at PCATT by Synergy visit: http://www.synergyonline.com/tng/public/Pages/Schedule.aspx?location=Honolulu%2C%20HI
For more information, visit: http://www.pcatt.org

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Gauges: 12-16-25-33-43-53
Cleartone Acoustic Strings feature the finest phosphor bronze available for the warmest and brightest resonance on acoustic guitars. A unique treatment called EMP coats the entire string with an ultrathin protective film. It's the thinnest coating ever applied to guitar strings (less than one micron!) and will withstand more abuse from hard strumming than coatings 1000 times thicker! EMP ensures longer string life by protecting strings from corrosion due to skin acidity, salt, and moisture without compromising feel and sound.
Super-high tension winding over a hex-core is used to maintain tuning consistency throughout performance duration.


text:
We would be happy to zip right up I-355
to talk website design & development in Hoffman Estates.
We're near you, with locations in Chicago and Naperville. Here's a quick peek at what we have to offer.
If you'd like to learn more, give us a call at (877) 860-3903, or fill out our contact form. We'll get back to you right away.
All of our web projects start with custom web design, to represent your brand in the best light and communicate your message most effectively. Starting from scratch also gives us the most flexibility when it comes to developing your site and adding features.
Building for mobile was once an option; now it's a priority. Mobile devices account for more than half of all website traffic, and their share continues to grow. We use responsive frameworks like Twitter Bootstrap to ensure that your site adapts well to screens of all sizes.
You shouldn't have to wait for a developer to make content updates to your own site, and you shouldn't have to learn HTML. Our websites use WordPress and other open-source content management platforms to ensure that you can make updates quickly and easily.
Whether you're just getting started with online sales, or whether you need a robust, large-scale ecommerce platform, we can develop a solution just right for you. From simple Buy buttons, to WooCommerce stores, to custom-built PHP-powered solutions, we know ecommerce web development.
Although off-the-shelf themes and website builders can save web development time and money, they're not a fit for every business. When you need custom features and functionality, a unique online identity, and a leaner code base to serve bigger audiences, we can work with you to build a custom solution, from the ground up.


text:
Global food prices rose in January for the first time in six months and may show another rise for February, as concern about bad weather in main growing regions boosted grain and vegetable oil values, the United Nations' food agency said on Thursday.
January's increase was not expected to heap as much inflationary pressure on economies as a year ago, when prices were climbing towards record highs, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said ahead of the European Central Bank's decision on interest rates.
Global food prices, which have been falling since July 2011, rose nearly 2 percent in January from the previous month, with the FAO food price index averaging 214 points.
"It is a pause in a downward trend rather than reversal, with a lot of unpredictability," the FAO's senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"There is scope for an increase in prices in February given what we've seen in the first week," Abbassian said, adding that high energy prices, exchange rate and strong equity markets could push food prices higher this month.
Weather in main producing countries remained a key factor for prices adding greater uncertainty, Abbassian said.
U.S. corn and soybean prices have gained recently on expectations of smaller crops in the drought-hit South America.
"Inflationary pressure from food prices is not as significant as a year ago," Abbassian said.
World food prices measured by the FAO hit a record in February 2011, helping fuel inflation and stoke the unrest of the Arab Spring. Prices have dropped in the second half of 2011.
FAO's food price index, which measures monthly price changes for a food basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, remained 7 percent below the January 2011 figure and well below the 238 point record hit in February 2011.
The ECB is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold in February but may signal it is ready to cut rates in March to help support the euro zone economy.
Strong supplies with better than earlier expected 2011 crops and carry-over stocks could add downward pressure to food prices, Abbassian said.
The FAO raised its estimate of world cereal output to a record 2.327 billion tonnes, up by 4.6 million tonnes from its previous forecast and 3.6 percent higher than 2010 output.
It also raised its view on world cereal stocks by the end of seasons in 2012 by 5 million tonnes to 516 million tonnes.
In January, coarse grains, such as maize, registered the steepest gain in the FAO's index, with prices rising 6 percent, mostly driven by a tight global supply and demand balance and concerns over crop prospects in South America, the FAO said.
Wheat prices also gained with the wheat index rising 1.5 percent driven by maize prices, depleting export supplies in Russia and unfavourable weather in several important growing regions, the agency said.
Global food prices were set to fall further this year as a weaker world economy dampens consumer demand while food supplies increase, but a possible rise in oil prices could reverse the trend, the World Bank said last month


text:
Biography The Early Years The Mountain Man Life with the Crow Farewell to the Rockies In the Everglades On the Santa Fe Trail The California Revolt The Mexican-American War The "Terrible Tragedy" The Forty-Niner The Last Years
He dictated his autobiography to Thomas D. Bonner, an itinerant Justice of the Peace in the gold fields of California, in 1854-55. After Bonner "polished up" Beckwourth's rough narrative, The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth, Mountaineer, Scout, and Pioneer, and Chief of the Crow Nation of Indians was published by Harper and Brothers in 1856. The book apparently achieved a certain amount of popular success, for it was followed by an English edition in the same year, a second printing two years later, and a French translation in 1860.
Beckwourth's role in American history was often dismissed by historians of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many were quite blatant in their prejudices, refusing to give any credence to a "mongrel of mixed blood." And many of his acquaintances considered the book something of a joke.
But Beckwourth was a man of his times, and for the early fur trappers of the Rockies, the ability to "spin a good yarn" was a skill valued almost as highly as marksmanship or woodsmanship. And while Beckwourth certainly had a tendency to exaggerate numbers or to occasionally make himself the hero of events that happened to other people, later historians have discovered that much of what Beckwourth related in his autobiography actually occurred.
Truth is often something much bigger than merely the accuracy of details. And to discover the truth of what life was like for the fur trappers of the 1820's, the Crow Indians of the 1830's, the pioneers of the Southwest in the 1840's, or the gold miners of California in the 1850's, you can find no better source than the life of Jim Beckwourth.
The Gaudy Liar
An often-told story has it that when the book appeared, a group of miners who were well-acquainted with Beckwourth commissioned one of its members to pick up a copy while on a trip to San Francisco. But the man, being careless, got a copy of the Bible instead. In the evening, he was requested to read aloud from the long-awaited book, and opening it at random, he hit upon and read the story of Samson and the foxes.
"That'll do!" one of the men cried. "I'd know that story for one of Jim's lies anywhere!"
Website design and production by Mark Bradley Design, email@example.com.
Site hosted by Sutter-Yuba Internet Exchange.


text:
Bloomsday 2022 is upon us. How will you be celebrating June 16? Will it be as wild and busy as St. Patrick's Day?
St. Patrick's Day is to the spring equinox what Leopold Bloom's Day is to the summer solstice. When James Joyce wrote his epic "Ulysses," he was doing so on behalf of the people of Dublin, whom he wanted to exalt. He wanted the people of Dublin to be immortalized, and that they assume a significance as the Seventh City, the center of the universe, the fount whence all things can come.
No one in modern literature had ever before infused a place with so much mythological and literary resonance as Joyce has done with the streets of Dublin. In that way, Dublin has become the universal city, where ancient-minded dinseanchas (lore of places) is refreshed in modern literature, where it is the model for how that is done.
Read more
As those who would be led along the way to spring will parade the streets of magic cities across the planet on Saint Patrick's Day, followers of Leopold Bloom perambulate about imaginary Dublin landscapes, in cities across the planet, in anticipation of the great bloom, the summer solstice that comes a few days later.
Joyce put a baby blue cover on the first edition of "Ulysses," with white lettering, to match the colors of the Greek flag. The imagery of new republics, free of monarchs, includes romantic symbols of suns bursting into full glory as in the summer.
Patrick Pearse (Joyce's Irish teacher for two years) immortalized the association of republican freedom and summer in the line, "Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh."
These are symbols Joyce has enlivened in a down-to-earth method of myth-making. In the details of urban life, amidst the concrete, on a walk through the city, maybe with a book under-arm for inspiration, the epic awaits, and everyday everyman life can resonate for eternity with just the right attitude and mode of associative consciousness.
This all comes naturally to Joyce, and he thought to the Irish, his people. He wanted to preserve this and not let it die. He was a participant in the Celtic Renaissance in that way.
His great Fenian masterpiece – "Finnegans Wake" – advances old Celtic thinking, what Lacan called knots, like a new language for the unconscious. "Ulysses" is more wakeful consciousness, awake and aware of itself in the wonderful personage of Leopold Bloom.
Joyce has given the Irish another Saint Patrick – himself – posing in the bowler cap, and assuming the name Leopold Bloom, as Leopold Bloom, himself, assumes the name of Henry Flower.
The layers are as multitudinous and balanced as the unfolding lips of a bloom that opens in the golden ratio.
Saint Patrick and Leopold Bloom are ushers who open the door between two seasons. We herald spring and the summer with this strangely specific eve-holidays that come just before the universal solstice and equinox.
Looking for Irish book recommendations or to meet with others who share your love for Irish literature? Join IrishCentral's Book Club on Facebook and enjoy our book-loving community.
* Originally published in 2010, updated in June 2022.


text:
Twins Anna and Elena Balbusso are internationally recognized award winning illustrators team with a unique signature ANNA +ELENA=BALBUSSO. Their work has been published by major publishers and companies throughout the world on various media types such as book jackets, magazines, newspapers, in house corporate, ads, children's books and classic novels. They have also illustrated over thirty books and have had their artwork exhibited in numerous exhibitions and galleries in Italy and abroad including New York, Boston, London and Los Angeles.
They have received many awards, including THE JOSEPH MORGAN HENNINGER AWARD – BEST OF SHOW 2015 - SILA Illustration West 53, THE ANDERSEN PRIZE BEST ILLUSTRATORS OF 2015, 34th EDITION, the most coveted award given to children's publishing in Italy. In 2013 they have been named the Winners of the V&A Illustration Awards - best book - by The Victorian and Albert Museum of London for our illustrations "Eugene Onegin" by A. Pushkin, The Folio Society 2012. They have been awarded three consecutive GOLD MEDALS (2011-2012-2013) in the book category of the Society of Illustrators NYC, three SILVER MEDALS of the 3x3 International Annual Illustration Pro Show, nine AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE of the Communication Arts Magazine, two AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE of the Applied Arts Magazine, one AWARD OF EXCELLENCE of the Bologna Children's Book Fair.
The Balbussos' work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators of New York, Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, The AOI of London, American Illustration, 3x3 The Magazine Of Contemporary Illustration, Spectrum The Best Fantastic Art, Creative Quarterly, Lürzers Archive 200 Best Illustrators worldwide, Print European Regional Design, BIB Biennial of Illustration Bratislava, The CJ Picture Book Festival Seoul Korea.
In 2014 their artwork was the focus of an extensive profile on the culture blog "ILLUSTRADOS" hosted by the major Spanish newspaper El Paìs. They were interviewed by Peggy Roalf for the AI-AP DART Design Arts Daily Q & A blog.
They have been featured in the issue 21 (2013) of the 3x3 Magazine. It devoted 16 pages to their work, with a particular focus on their illustrated books. In 2012 their artwork "Pregnant" (The Handmaid's Tale by M. Atwood book, Folio Society 2012) was featured in the The Guardian (British newspaper) and they were interviewed by Steven Heller for The Atlantic American magazine. The article titled "Two Twins, One Design Career" was published on the official site. In 2010 their work was featured in the Communication Arts Design Annual 51 with with an eight-page article written by Bonnie Smetts. They have been members of the Society of Illustrators of New York since 2009 and of the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles.
Some publishers: The New Yorker magazine, The New York Times, The NYT Book Review, Le Figaro Group, Le Monde, Tor Books, Black Cat Publishing, The Folio Society, Farrar Straus and Giroux, Scholastic, Random House, Simon and Schuster, Penguin Group, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Holiday House Inc, Macmillan, Watkins Publishing, Editions Gallimard, Éditions Milan, Édition Sarbacane, Éditions Belin, Éditions Odile Jacob, Pearson Group, Mondadori Ragazzi, Dea Agostini Group, Giunti Progetti Educativi, Einaudi Ragazzi, Edizioni El, Yeowon Media.


text:
oracle apps Training Support
Enquiry : +91 9672234513
Enquiry : +91 9672234514
Oracle Apps training Mumbai Reviews
Follow @iclasstraining
Oracle Apps Training in our Branches
- oracle apps in Delhi
- oracle apps in Gurgaon
- oracle apps in Noida
- oracle apps in Kolkata
- oracle apps in Chennai
- oracle apps in Ahmedabad
- oracle apps in Pune
- oracle apps in Bangalore
- oracle apps in Hyderabad
- oracle apps in Coimbatore
Oracle Apps Training in Mumbai & Best Oracle application Training Institute in Mumbai4.4 out of 5 based on 3858 student ratings.
iClass Mumbai provides real-time and placement focused oracle apps training in mumbai . Our oracle application course includes basic to advanced level and our oracle apps course is designed to get the placement in good MNC companies in mumbai as quickly as once you complete the Oracle apps certification training course. Our oracle apps trainers are oracle application certified experts and experienced working professionals with hands on real time multiple Oracle Apps projects knowledge. We have designed our oracle apps course content and syllabus based on students requirement to achieve everyone's career goal. In our oracle apps training program, you will learn Oracle Apps DBA, Oracle R12 Technical, Oracle HRMS, Oracle Apps Technical, oracle apps real time project and oracle application placement training.
iClass Mumbai offers oracle apps training with choice of multiple training locations across mumbai. Our oracle application training centers are equipped with lab facilities and excellent infrastructure. We also provide oracle application certification training path for our students in mumbai. Through our associated oracle apps training centers, we have trained more than 3988


text:
Apple Doesn't Need a Television
We shouldn't blame Walter Isaacson. 13 months ago his official biography of Steve Jobs revealed the recently-deceased Apple CEO had his mind set on revolutionising television. "He very much wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones," Isaacson wrote. More too Jobs reportedly told him: "I finally cracked it."
The tech press went nuts and a product was expected before the end of the year. Quickly expectations were redefined and an Apple television would instead launch before the end of 2012. In September reports leaked that it may skip 2012 altogether. And now we hear Microsoft wants to get in on the act and Xbox TV will take on Apple's TV in 2013.
Stop. Stop. Stop! It's time for some perspective because both Apple and Microsoft would be mad to make televisions.
For a start let's look at the financial aspect. According to The Economist "none of the companies that make large liquid crystal display panels earn money from it" and between 2004 and 2010 the industry lost a combined $13bn. This sector not only includes televisions, but screens for monitors, laptops and explosive growth areas like mobile phones and tablets. Prices for LCD panels have fallen by 80 per cent since 2004. Costs for their manufacturing have fallen 50 per cent.
Volume doesn't help. Panasonic's television division has been unprofitable for the last four years, Sony for the last eight years. In fact just three weeks after Isaacson's revelations about Jobs' supposed master plan emerged former Sony CEO Howard Stringer (below) was publicly admitting "every TV set we all make loses money". In Sony's case The Economist clocks that at $45 per set. Even the mighty Samsung, the world's biggest producer, found its division has so consistently turned in losses the division was spun off as "Samsung Display" in April. Long term the solution for Microsoft and Apple could be OLED, but for now it remains prohibitively expensive.
Of course the counter point is no Apple or Microsoft TV would just be a TV. Instead both companies will find profitability through integration of 'smart' functionality. Except they won't.
What we have seen this year alone in receiving two generations of iPad eight months apart (the iPad 4 having twice the performance of the iPad 3) is that truly smart devices are constantly evolving and their lifecycles are getting ever shorter. Time flies in the 'smart' world. The original iPad has already been cut adrift both in terms of performance and software support and it was only released in mid 2010. It's almost a relic.
Would you think the same way about the television you bought 2 1/2 years ago? If not do you want to be locked into an upgrade cycle that pressures you to replace yet another electronic item every few years… and one that is more expensive than the rest? It all makes about as much sense as those integrated TV/DVD players. And even if Apple and Microsoft ignored all these factors they would find the television market is already saturated with annual growth having dropped into the single digits.
So enough criticisms, what about solutions? Arguably they are staring us in the face. With the launch of the Wii U Nintendo has bet the future of the company on the success of second screens. This equates to a controller with an integrated display which lets you control the main action on the TV while it simultaneously displays complimentary information. It's brilliant, except it will fail. Why? The concept is superb, it is simply Apple, Microsoft and indeed Google are far better positioned to capitalise on it.
In Apple, Microsoft and Google land the second screen is a tablet or smartphone. Their flagship devices are already catching up to the speed of current generation consoles and they are far more regularly upgraded, all the while packing in premium TV channels and gaming in the shape of apps. Sure the dedicated games console and set top box may have another generation in them, but after that it is time to knock out the middle man and let TV and handheld devices communicate directly. The TV will be focused purely on being a brilliant TV with the phone or tablet being the brains behind your media and how you interact with it.
To this end Apple already has AirPlay while Miracast looks to be the weapon of choice for the rest. With this approach every time you upgrade your phone or tablet you upgrade the ability of every TV in the house and you don't need dedicated TV remote controllers. It's a much nicer thought.
All of which takes us back to the quotes Isaacson attributes to Jobs. The full segment from the biography reads: ""I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,' he told me. 'It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.' No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. 'It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.'"
Jobs never said he wanted to build a revolutionary television, he said he wanted to revolutionise TV… and you don't need to sell a television to do that.


text:
Our social networks
Visitor login
Current weather condition of 23:00 CET (30.9.2023.)
Data downloaded from DHMZ
To book private accommodation, please contact travel agencies or the hosts directly.
To facilitate the use of our web pages, we are using "cookies". A cookie is a text file stored on your computer by the website you are visiting. Cookies usually store your data for the website, such as your preferred language or address. You can adjust your cookie settings in your browser and you can also choose to block them.
By continuing to use our web pages, you agree to our use of cookies.
For more about cookies and terms of use and privacy policy click here.Slažem se


text:
Back in our preschool years of parenting, my family spent a great deal of time with Walter Wick's books. To be truthful, we spent a great deal of time with a great many books–almost universally those that created anthropomorphized-machine worlds filled with earnest steam engines, recalcitrant backhoes, or steam shovels of derring-do. Mr. Wick's I Spy School Days picture-find book was a particular favorite, though. My older son would climb into my lap, dragging the oversized book behind him, sherpa-style, and open always to one glorious track-and-block-filled photo-homage to potential energy: an intricate, Rube-Goldberg-styled "balloon popper." With w-flavored 'l's' and a slight lisp, he'd start at the top of the page working a chubby finger through a sinuous path of levers, ramps, and pulleys, describing each action, each result, until whole minutes later he would shriek delightedly: "AND THEN, POP!"
Immediately serious, he'd twist around to look me in the eye, and say, "Okay, you do it, mom!" Entire afternoons could be spent in this manner. And were.
That little sherpa towers over me now and articulates with theatric, basso-profundo clarity. There are times when I miss the inseparable-intimacy of those preschool days…but then I am able drink a second cup of coffee uninterrupted or take a shower long enough that I run out of hot water…and I recall that that idyllic sweetness came at a price. Ultimately, I am thankful for the immersive richness of that time and thankful, too, to have moved on…
College is actually fast-approaching for sherpa-lad–which is probably why I jumped at the opportunity to visit Walter Wick's studio in Hartford, Connecticut, earlier this month, along with a half-dozen other bloggers, at the behest of Scholastic Publishers. Though my sons seem more than willing, I sense that I am the one not quite prepared to put away our childish things–as long as there are blocks and trains and Lego and picture books lying underfoot, they are still here with me where I can keep them safe–everyone tranquil, nobody aging or changing…
The day of my visit, the first thing that I learn about Walter Wick is that his work studio was once a firehouse. I can't help wishing (not for the last time) that I'd figured out a way to bring my boys with me as I tour the space–a decade ago when our family was house-hunting, the two items on the boys' mutual "must-have" list were an artist's studio and a bedroom fire pole. They're still waiting on both…
The main workspace on the second floor of the firehouse is open and sunny, with near-floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides of the room. As the visiting bloggers traverse the periphery, snapping photos of the sets for the next book in the Can You See What I See? series (a fairy tale romance between a time-traveling robot and a princess with moxie), Walter explains that from idea to inception, each book takes about a year to complete–so that production for one title overlaps with promotion for the book most-recently completed.
During lunch and throughout the rest of our day, Walter patiently answers questions from our group as he leads us around the building. Yes, he tends to work with archetypes children find accessible: trains and pirates, robots and princesses. The books are specifically designed to work on a number of levels, however, from simple reader to picture-find adventure that reinforces vocabulary and listening skills to (in the case of Toyland Express) sweet story of old toys that find a second life among new children–all depending on the needs of the reader.
When I come home that night, I show the boys my copy of Can You See What I see? Toyland Express.
"Look!" I gush, "The author signed it! And that little yellow bead boy is hidden somewhere on every page. His name is Seymour. And the publisher even sent me home with 'Toyland Express' train cookies for the family…"
"Wow!" my older son laughs, leafing through Toyland Express. "This almost makes me wish I was ten years younger again. When I was going through my train-obsession thing I would have loved this book!"
When he gets to the final spread in the book, a scene full of block towers, tinker toy bridges, and rambling train-filled track reminiscent of our old friend, the "balloon popper" page, his eyes widen. Tapping the book with tapered fingers, he tells me, rapid-fire: "You know, Mom: this guy really understands what gets little kids excited!"
"I may have to quote you on that," I agree.
Want to win a free copy of Can You See What I See? Toyland Express? Dig out your blocks, Lego, trains, and trucks and create your own "toyland" world (click around on Walter Wick's site for inspiration). Take a picture and upload it to GeekMom's flickr group anytime before Monday, December 5. One lucky winner will be chosen by a guest judging panel of teens and tweens to receive a copy of the book!
Note: This blogger received a signed copy of Can You See What I See? Toyland Express free for review.


text:
¿Necesitas ayuda? Llámanos al 967 225 863
de PICASSO,PABLO
de PICASSO,PABLO
The masterful drawings of Pablo Picasso are used to teach animal recognition in this artful, read-aloud board book. Birds & Other Animals takes children through Picasso's series of single-line animal drawings, beginning and ending with various kinds of birds. The cleverly whimsical charm of Picasso's sketches keeps readers engaged, while the accompanying text enriches the experience with conversational commentary. Readers will not only broaden their visual definitions of which animals are which, but also grow familiar with fine art in this relevant and relatable third title in the 'First Concepts with Fine Artists' series. Includes a read-aloud 'about the artist'


text:
When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
It has been 10 months now since Intel unleashed its Nehalem architecture and we showed you the Core i7 920, 940 and 965 Extreme Edition. Not much has changed in the high-end sector during this timeframe, as Core i7 processors are still brutally fast and equally expensive.
The most affordable option debuted as the Core i7 920 at $280 and that is exactly how much it costs today. The Core i7 940 has been replaced by the 950, offering a small performance bump and the same ~$570 charge, while the flagship Core i7 965 Extreme Edition was superseded by the even more potent 975 Extreme Edition in the $1,000 price point.
Although the processor front has remained much the same, there is now a serious range of X58 motherboards on offer with more than fifty products available from half a dozen manufacturers. If you know where to look, it is possible to purchase one of these for as little as $170, with the more luxurious models costing upwards of $400.
Another big change has come with the decrease of DDR3 memory pricing. When we tested the Core i7 processors last November, a triple-channel 6GB kit would set you back at least $250, today you have to spend no more than $100. This means you can get yourself a Core i7 920 with motherboard and memory for under $600 today. And while this may sound like a killer deal to some, not everyone needs the processing power of Intel's enthusiast-grade platform or is willing to pony up the money for it.
The Core i5 750 is the first release in a series of processors based on a mainstream version of the Core i7 platform. It is a quad-core part based on the "Lynnfield" architecture, fabricated using a 45nm process and will use a new LGA1156 platform. This new chip is set to cost just $199, it will operate at a healthy 2.66GHz and feature a whopping 8MB L3 cache, but no Hyper-Threading support will be present.
When we first heard about the upcoming release of a mainstream version of the Core i7 we were excited about the idea except for Intel's decision of using multiple platforms. That said, the new LGA1156 socket will support a number of new Intel processors, including the Core i3 and Core i5 series. There will also be a range of Core i7 processors designed for the aforementioned socket.
In order to cut the cost of this processor and the LGA1156 platform, Intel has removed one of the memory controllers and replaced the high bandwidth QPI link with the slower DMI chip-to-chip interconnect.
In the next few pages we will go into more detail about Intel's reworked desktop CPU line-up, the new P55 chipset (LGA1156), and our usual load of benchmarks comparing this new processor against current Core 2 Quad offerings, the Core i7 920 and the AMD Athlon II X4 965.


text:
Medical Services Plan premiums, electricity bills and vehicle insurance rates are up in 2016, reviving criticism of the B.C. government's constant boast about keeping taxes low.
MSP premiums rise from $144 to $150 as of Jan. 1, for a family of three earning more than $30,000 a year. For a single person in the same income group, the rate goes from $72 to $75, with lower rates for lower incomes down to $22,000 a year, where premiums drop to zero.
B.C. is now the only province in Canada with a health care fee, and it has risen about 40 per cent since 2010. Premier Christy Clark has defended the fee as a signal to citizens about the enormous cost of providing health care.
BC Hydro rates have been politically dictated since Clark and Energy Minister Bill Bennett intervened to cap rate increases in 2013. Hydro rates jumped nine per cent in 2014, followed by annual increases of six, four, 3.5 and three per cent in the 10-year rate plan. Starting with the proposed four per cent increase in 2016, the independent B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) is reviewing if rate increases can be lower than what is capped in the rate plan.
Insurance Corporation of B.C. basic vehicle insurance went up by 5.5 per cent on Nov. 1, an increase still subject to review by the BCUC. That works out to an increase of $3.70 per month added for the average driver.
ICBC had proposed the maximum 6.7 per cent increase to cover increasing costs of personal injury claims and fraud, but the province gave it permission for a one-time transfer of $450 million from its optional insurance business to subsidize the basic rate.
In a year-end interview, NDP leader John Horgan stopped short of promising to eliminate MSP premiums, but he called it a "regressive tax" that would be part of a broad review of B.C. taxation fairness if he wins the 2017 election.
The Canadian Taxpayers' Federation says people who benefit from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promised middle-class tax cut will see most of those savings eaten up by provincial and municipal tax increases.
Trudeau vowed to reduce the federal income tax bracket between $45,282 and $90,563 from 22 per cent to 20.5 per cent, and increase the rate for income over $200,000 from 29 to 33 per cent. The change would provide up to $2,000 in tax relief for middle-income earners, with dual-income households benefiting most, CTF federal director Aaron Wudrick says.
Municipal taxes are expected to increase across the province in 2016, with local councils preparing to set budgets for the new fiscal year that starts April 1. Port Alberni has proposed a seven per cent increase, and the CTF says it hasn't found any B.C. municipalities yet that propose to freeze or lower property tax rates.
With the rapid rise in property prices continuing in parts of the Lower Mainland, the B.C. Assessment Authority sent out 37,000 letters in December, warning single-family homeowners to brace for a big jump in their assessed value.


text: General English Articles, Commentaries & Reports Thomas L. Friedman: The problem is Islamism January 24, 2015 281 FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsApp Say It Like It Is Thomas L. Friedman: The problem is Islamism The New York Times/Thomas L. Friedman site January 23, 2015 I've never been a fan of global conferences to solve problems, but when I read that the Obama administration is organizing a Summit on Countering Violent Extremism for Feb. 18, in response to the Paris killings, I had a visceral reaction: Is there a box on my tax returns that I can check so my tax dollars won't go to pay for this? When you don't call things by their real name, you always get in trouble. And this administration, so fearful of being accused of Islamophobia, is refusing to make any link to radical Islam from the recent explosions of violence against civilians (most of them Muslims) by Boko Haram in Nigeria, by the Taliban in Pakistan, by Al Qaeda in Paris and by jihadists in Yemen and Iraq. We've entered the theater of the absurd Last week the conservative columnist Rich Lowry wrote an essay in Politico Magazine that contained quotes from White House spokesman Josh Earnest that I could not believe. I was sure they were made up. But I checked the transcript: 100 percent correct. I can't say it better than Lowry did: The administration has lapsed into unselfconscious ridiculousness. Asked why the administration won't say [after the Paris attacks] we are at war with radical Islam, Earnest on Tuesday explained the administration's first concern 'is accuracy. We want to describe exactly what happened. These are individuals who carried out an act of terrorism, and they later tried to justify that act of terrorism by invoking the religion of Islam and their own deviant view of it.' This makes it sound as if the Charlie Hebdo terrorists set out to commit a random act of violent extremism and only subsequently, when they realized that they needed some justification, did they reach for Islam. The day before, Earnest had conceded that there are lists of recent 'examples of individuals who have cited Islam as they've carried out acts of violence.' Cited Islam? According to the Earnest theory … purposeless violent extremists rummage through the scriptures of great faiths, looking for some verses to cite to support their mayhem and often happen to settle on the holy texts of Islam." President Obama knows better. I am all for restraint on the issue, and would never hold every Muslim accountable for the acts of a few. But it is not good for us or the Muslim world to pretend that this spreading jihadist violence isn't coming out of their faith community. It is coming mostly, but not exclusively, from angry young men and preachers on the fringe of the Sunni Arab and Pakistani communities in the Middle East and Europe. If Western interventions help foster violent Islamic reactions, we should reduce them. To the extent that Muslim immigrants in European countries feel marginalized, they and their hosts should worker harder on absorption. But both efforts will only take you so far. Something else is also at work, and it needs to be discussed. It is the struggle within Arab and Pakistani Sunni Islam over whether and how to embrace modernity, pluralism and women's rights. That struggle drives, and is driven by, the dysfunctionality of so many Arab states and Pakistan. It has left these societies with too many young men who have never held a job or a girl's hand, who then seek to overcome their humiliation at being left behind, and to find identity, by "purifying" their worlds of other Muslims who are not sufficiently pious and of Westerners whom they perceive to be putting Muslims down. But you don't see this in the two giant Muslim communities in Indonesia or India. Only Sunni Arabs and Pakistanis can get inside their narrative and remediate it. But reformers can only do that if they have a free, secure political space. If we're not going to help create space for that internal dialogue, let's just be quiet. Don't say stupid stuff. And don't hold airy fairy conferences that dodge the real issues, which many mainstream Muslims know and are actually starved to discuss, especially women. The Arab journalist Diana Moukalled, writing in the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat last week, asked: "Don't all these events now going on around us and committed in our name require us to break the fear barrier and begin to question our region and our societies, especially the ideas being trafficked there that have led us to this awful stage where we are tearing at one another's throats — to mention nothing of what as a result also happens beyond our region?" And a remarkable piece in The Washington Post Sunday by Asra Q. Nomani, an American Muslim born in India, called out the "honor corps" — a loose, well-funded coalition of governments and private individuals "that tries to silence debate on extremist ideology in order to protect the image of Islam." It "throws the label of 'Islamophobe' on pundits, journalists and others who dare to talk about extremist ideology in the religion. … The official and unofficial channels work in tandem, harassing, threatening and battling introspective Muslims and non-Muslims everywhere. … The bullying often works to silence critics of Islamic extremism. … They cause governments, writers and experts to walk on eggshells." I know one in particular.


text:
Honolulu Beerworks: Opening a Brewery, Part Five
The new taps at the soon-to-open Honolulu Beerworks
Geoff Seideman had an ambitious goal: to turn a rundown warehouse into a craft beer destination in five months. In retrospect, the target opening date (last November) was too aggressive, but even so, building a brewery and restaurant from scratch in under a year is an impressive feat.
The final touches are being completed, including staff training, decorative touches and final city permit sign-offs. Seideman and his team, which includes a veteran local brew master, have been busy brewing since January to ensure that there will be plenty of beer available when Honolulu Beerworks opens its doors.
Plans are to open with the following nine beers on draft:
- Shelter Bay IPA 7.7% abv
- South Shore Stout 7.2% abv
- Kakaako Kolsch 5.5% abv
- Farmhouse Ale (Saison) 4.7% abv
- Pacific Pale Ale 6.2% abv
- Pia Mahiai (Honey Citrus Saison) 6.0% abv
- Rye Pale Ale 6.3% abv
- Session IPA 5.3%
- Bitter (ESB) 6.2% abv
Seideman plans on having about six core styles that will always be available, while the rest will rotate. "Being small allows us to respond to customer demand and feedback," he says. "We're excited to brew new styles and to experiment. We want people to come back to try new things and experience new beers."
There are also plans to age different beers in used spirits barrels, like the recently-brewed 10.5% barleywine. Half of the batch will age in bourbon barrels for up to six months, while the other half will age in stainless steel kegs. South Shore Stout will also make its way into barrels to age and be released later in the year.
Seideman notes that it's been difficult to source certain popular hops and has had to adapt many recipes to use what is available. Many of the most popular hops are bought up in advance and he hopes to have access to them next year. If he can get his hands on fresh or wet hops he plans on making a few fresh/wet hop IPAs in the fall as well.
When it opens, Honolulu Beerworks will offer a lunch and dinner menu with some items prepared with beer, such as a bratwurts cooked in beer, served with a housemade beer mustard and a sandwich with beer-braised pork and beef meatballs. Other items include an Italian hoagie with salami, capicola, black forest ham and provolone, a smokin' ahi dip, and zucchini cakes served with a sweet potato gratin.
So when can we finally expect to pull up a stool at the bar and order a fresh pint? Very soon, according to Seideman. Follow Honolulu Beerworks on Facebook for the official announcement, and check back here for news on opening day.
Read the other entries in the series:
Part 1: Geoff Seideman of Honolulu Beerworks
Part 2: Financing, plans and construction
Part 3: Clearing the junk
Part 4: The first brew
Timothy Golden is a homebrewer and beer lover. Find more of his writing on Hawaii's beer scene at beerinhawaii.com


text:
Anthony Gucciardi
Obviously there is no room for GMOs in truly healthy food products, which is why it is truly vital that you understand the nature of GMOs and how they are oftentimes hidden in commercial food products. It may very well shock you to know just how prevalent GMOs are within the food supply. It's truly amazing that modified products continue to go unlabeled despite being linked to organ damage — among a barrage of other conditions — in a prominent review of 19 studies.
In fact, nearly 93-95% of US soybeans are genetically modified in order to resist powerful weed-killers that were found to be killing the actual soybeans as well as the weeds. Following current trends, genetically modified food products will makeup the majority of the future food supply if a change is not made. For now, that change has been shot down by the FDA — the very organization tasked to defend public health. Just recently, the agency deleted around 1 million signatures from the GMO labeling campaign 'Just Label It.'
This move means that consumers will continue to stay in the dark about whether or not what they're eating is compromised of genetically modified ingredients. And it's not just corn and soybeans, other commonly modified food staples include:
- Corn
- Cotton
- Soy
- Sweet corn
- Hawaiian Papaya
- Rice
- Potatoes
Statistics show how GMO crops and ingredients have skyrocketed in even the past few years. Here are statistics as of 2009-2010:
Genetically modified soybeans currently make up for 93-95% of the US soybean supply.
Genetically modified corn currently makes up for 86% of the US corn supply.
Genetically modified cotton currently makes up for 93% of the US cotton supply.
Genetically modified canola currently makes up for 93% of the soybean supply.
Genetically modified Hawaiin papaya currently makes up for 93% of the Hawaiian papaya supply.
When viewing these statistics, it is easy to see how many consumers are being tricked into consuming genetically modified foods. Amazingly, in a poll conducted by ABC, more than 93% of Americans feel that products containing GMOs should be labeled – meanwhile, these individuals are actually unknowingly consuming GMOs on a daily basis. What it comes down to is that as long as the threat is not visible, many consumers will simply purchase commercial products without thinking about the consequences. This is exactly why Monsanto and others have been squelching attempts to label products that contain GMOs.
FDA admits in court case that vaccines still contain mercury


text:
My dear friends, Jews in Israel and the Diaspora.
I am sorry to tell you that the terror attacks from which we suffer today and from which we suffered yesterday, a week ago, a month, a year and a decade and century ago, are all part of the same war, the same struggle, the same Jihad waged against us by our neighbors for over a century. Sometimes it is a full scale war with tanks, noise, flames, planes and ships and sometimes it is a war on a slow burner known as "terror" with explosions, stabbings and shots. Each of these is Jihad in Arabic, each is aimed at Jews just for being Jewish.
I regret to remind you of the fact that this war began way before the establishment of the Jewish state declared in 1948. The riots and massacres of 1920, 1921, 1929, 1936-39 et al, were not due to a Jewish state or what our enemies call the "occupation" of 1948, and certainly not because of the 1967 "occupation". The bloody and cruel massacre of the Jews of Hevron in 1929 was carried out against Jews who were not part of the Zionist movement, quite the contrary. The Palestine Liberation Movement (Fatah) was founded, may I remind you, in 1959 and The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, years before the 1967 "occupation" that was a result of Israel winning the Six Day War.
I hate to point out to you that the shouts we heard, mainly in the 1948 War of Independence, were "Itbach al Yahud" – "Butcher the Jews" – and not the "Israelis" or the "Zionists," because their problem is with the Jews who refuse to be dependent on the mercy of Islam, refuse to live as dhimmi, protected ones, the way Islam mandates for Jews and Christians. In the Arab world, children still sing (in Arabic): "Palestine is our country and the Jews are our dogs." The dog, in Islamic tradition, is an unclean animal. Sharia law stipulates that if a Muslim is praying and a dog, pig, woman, Jew or Christian walks in front of him, his prayers are worthless and he must begin the entire ritual once again.
It is not pleasant to tell you this, but Israel's enemies' most popular chant is (in Arabic) – "Kyber, Khyber O Jews, Mohammed's army will yet return." Khyber is an oasis in the Arabian Peninsula that was populated by Jews until Mohammed slaughtered them in 626 C.E. The chant commemorates that event and threatens a repeat performance. The Jews, according to the Koran (Sura 5, verse 82) are the most hostile enemies of the Moslems. Verse 60 states that Allah's curse and fury upon them turned them into monkeys and pigs. Since when do monkeys and pigs have the right to a state? Since when are they entitled to sovereignty?
Despite what you think, peace with Egypt was achieved only after Sadat realized that despite Arab efforts to destroy Israel in the 1948 War of Independence, the 1956 Sinai Campaign, the 1967 Six Day War, 1970 War of Attrition, and even the 1973 Yom Kippur War that took Israel by surprise, the Jewish state managed to push back all the Arab armies and bring the war to their territory. That is why Sadat understood that Israel is not conquerable and that there is no choice other than making peace, even if this peace is temporary and based on the precedent of the 628 C.E. Hudabiya Peace in which Mohammed gave a 10 year hiatus to the infidels of Mecca, but broke it at the end of two years when they fell asleep on the watch.
Yassir Arafat did not sign the Oslo Accords because he believed in peace, but because, calling it the "Hudabiya peace," he saw the agreements as a Trojan horse that would hoodwink the Jews. The only objective of the Oslo Accords was to create a Palestinian entity with an army and weapons that would be used to destroy Israel when the time was ripe. He repeated this constantly, but our decision makers explained that he is only saying it for domestic consumption, and when suicide bombers set themselves off in our streets, the victims were called "victims of peace." Since when does peace require victims? And when will the rifles we allowed them to obtain be turned on us?
It saddens me to tell you that all of Israel's efforts to please the Hamas Gazans failed, and Hamas went on from being a terrorist organization to becoming a terrorist state. Deathly rockets, attack tunnels, suicide bombers - all are considered legitimate in the eyes of Gaza's Jihadist government, so to hell with the lives of the men, women and children living there, and to hell with their welfare, health and assets. The Gazans are pawns in the hands of Hamas, the Jihad and the Salafists, all of whom appointed themselves the liaison between the residents of Gaza and Paradise, having already given them a taste of hell on earth.
You were wrong again – basing your policy on pipe dreams, delusions and hopes instead of on facts and figures
It pains me to tell all the soul-weary peace seekers in Israel and the world, that the concrete and iron that you forced us to give the Jihadists in Gaza in order to rebuild their destroyed homes, were used to build tunnels of death both to Gazans and Israelis. Instead of building hospitals, schools and infrastructure, the Jihadists built an infrastructure of death, suffering and disaster.
You were wrong again – basing your policy on pipe dreams, delusions and hopes instead of on facts and figures. Analysts, including me, are not entirely blameless: they said in wondrous harmony that when Hamas has to bear the responsibility for food, electricity and welfare in Gaza, its leaders will become more moderate, realistic and pragmatic.
We were wrong: Hamas, despite leaving the opposition in order to rule, has not ceased its Jihad against Israel and has not removed Israel from the top of its list of priorities, nor has it changed in the slightest its wholly negative view of the "Zionist entity."
I hate to ruin the "two states for two peoples" party, but I must, because what is happening in Gaza today is exactly what will happen to the second Palestinian state you are trying to establish in Judea and Samaria. Hamas will be the winner of elections for the legislature, as they were in Gaza in January 2006, and will win the presidential elections as well. If they don't they will take over all of Judea and Samaria in a violent putsch, just as they did in Gaza in 2007. And when that happens, what will you say? "Ooops…we didn't know…we couldn't imagine…?" So now you know and do not have to extrapolate. This should be your working hypothesis. If Gaza's Hamas is digging tunnels of death in the sand today, it will be digging through rocks to build them from Judea and Samaria – and let's see you find them and blow them up when that happens.
And to anyone with a short memory, let me refresh it: In July 2014, Hamas managed to shut Ben Gurion Airport for a day by launching rockets from Gaza. If and when they gain control of Judea and Samaria, they will be able to shut Ben Gurion down with a slingshot, and will be able to overlook all the runways from the Beit Arye heights. Anyone who does not believe me should get into his car and drive to the top of the hills to the east of Ben Gurion Airport, located in "conquered, occupied territory" (conquered from whom, precisely?).
Due to Israel's wind conditions, most of the planes that land in Ben Gurion approach from the east, cruising right over those very same hills. Will Hamastan allow planes headed for Israel to circle and approach landing from above its territory? Just what price will Israel have to pay after an RPG or machine gun shoots down one El Al plane, G-d forbid? Will we offer them Jerusalem so as to calm them down?
And if we are already talking about Jerusalem, what will you do when the State of Hamas presents you with an ultimatum: Jerusalem or war? The Temple Mount or we shut down Ben Gurion Airport? And when the world supports their demand for Jerusalem, letting Israel pay the price of calming down radical Islam, what will you say? And when the snipers go back to shooting at passersby on Jerusalem streets from the walls of the Old City as their Jordanian brothers did until 1967, where will you hide? Behind concrete walls? A security fence? Or will you simply move Israel's capital city to Tel Aviv?
I am sorry to disappoint you but the worst thing that ever happened to Israel's hopes for peace was the rise of the peace movements, those calling for Israel to establish a terror state in Judea and Samaria and give up East Jerusalem for it. In the Middle East, he who expresses a desire for peace, talks about his yearning for peace and offers his land and country as bribery in exchange for a paper which has the word "peace" on it, is looked upon as someone who lost a war and is begging for his life.
The peace movements turned Israel's image into that of a weak and soft defeatist country, the exact opposite of the kind of country that achieves peace in the Middle East. In the violent and radical region where Israel is trying to survive, anyone considered weak gets kicked, you know exactly where, and is sent to hell in the best case, or butchered and beheaded as a matter of course.
In the Middle East, peace means that your enemies leave you alone because you are too strong, threatening and dangerous to start up with. In the Middle East only the unvanquished obtain peace.
Anyone who does not accept these facts, who is not ready for "blood, sweat and tears," he who impatiently demands "Peace Now" does not belong in the Middle East. Here, we have room only for the brave, the strong, the steadfast and those who believe in the justice of their cause. Anyone who lacks those traits can find a suitable home somewhere else, where life is peaceful, quiet, prosperous and blooming. May we suggest Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Boston or San Bernardino….
Kosher and happy Passover wishes to all the Children of Israel!
Written for Arutz Sheva, translated from Hebrew by Rochel Sylvetsky, Arutz Sheva Op-ed and Judaism editor.


text:
George Clooney and Stacy Keibler haven't been seen together in two weeks or so. This, apparently, is all the evidence the UK Sun needed to publish a story that they were done. The paper even went so far as to predict an imminent statement confirming the split.
A statement was indeed released by Clooney's publicist but it wasn't exactly what the Sun was predicting:
"A story published by a London tabloid, The Sun, concerning George Clooney and Stacy Keibler is not true. Total fabrication designed to sell newspapers."
Is he going to clarify his relationship every time the British gossips get it wrong? This might be a dangerous precedent. Or was it at her insistence? I want you to tell everyone that we didn't break up, George. I want you to do it right away. Thing is, and I know you don't want to hear this, that's not really her style. Keibler got to where she is because she pragmatically didn't and doesn't crowd him (so far. SO FAR). Women only get into trouble with George Clooney when they ask for More of what he's not interested in giving. Clooney is generous with everything else but that. And I wonder, in not asking for the wrong kind of More, if she ends up with a lot more of the right kind of it in the end.
Keibler is currently in New York for Fashion Week. Here she is arriving at Marchesa wearing a hideous one shoulder red dress by, you know, Marchesa. With an exact matching clutch, so embarrassing.
Also attached - Keibler at Stand Up To Cancer last week and God that f-cking hair is making me crazy.


text:
There's been a lot of talk about the recent legislation that affects the interchange rate, and how that will affect the fees and rewards that we currently get from banks. So, I thought it would be fun to take a look at how banks and credit unions make their money. What exactly is it that gives them the revenue to pay the bills. It's one word. One that many of you who are investors will recognize. Margin.
Specifically, rate margin. A quick definition for those that aren't up on their financial jargon. Margin is the difference between two things. The space (difference) between the print on the newspaper and the edge of the page? Margin (or gutter depending on your profession). So, when I talk about rate margin, I mean the difference in rates. Clear as mud? Ok, some more detail then.
In order to lend money out to consumers, a financial institution must first have money. They get that money by taking in deposits and by borrowing money from other institutions. In most cases, they have to pay some sort of interest to either the depositor or the other institution. They then take that capital, and lend it out to consumers at a higher rate. The difference is their margin. Let's look at an easy example. A bank has a simple savings account that is paying 0.25%. They have 1,000,000 in deposits at that rate. They then lend that money out to consumers at an average rate of 5.25%. They have a margin of 5%. They'll pay $2500 in interest to the depositors and receive $52,500 in interest from the borrowers for a revenue of 50,000.
Obviously, that's a small example. Many banks and credit unions operate at a much higher level. Wells Fargo, for instance, had $93,240,000,000 in gross revenue in 2010. Not all of that is from lending interest, but a majority of it likely is.
In truth, the revenue from interchange rates is rather small as a percentage of overall revenue. And changing it directly isn't going to bankrupt any of the institutions. However, there is some truth in the claims that it will likely mean the end of the rewards and cash back cards as well as some of the other perks like free checking. Many of the institutions use that interchange revenue to pay for the rewards and cash back and to cover some of the costs of other perks. Reducing the interchange amount means that the institution will have to drain money from other revenue streams to continue the programs, or shut those programs down.
This is where banks and credit unions will become differentiated over the next years. Banks operate as for profit entities. They have shareholders and owners who they must perform for and who expect them to make and increase profits each year. They'll be much more hesitant to drain from other sources to pay for those programs. Credit Unions, on the other hand, are a not-for-profit entity. They aren't designed to make a profit. While some may cut back on those programs, many will simply continue them. Because they don't have shareholders and owners that are demanding profit, they can cater to the owners of the Credit Unions, their members.
What it also may mean, is that we will have to be extra vigilant in watching our accounts for missing rewards, and for extra fees. If pressure to keep the programs is significant enough, some of the institutions might reduce savings rates further, or increase loan rates to try and increase their margin and help pay for the continuing programs.
I started this blog to share what I know and what I was learning about personal finance. Along the way I've met and found many blogging friends. Please feel free to connect with me on the Beating Broke accounts: Twitter and Facebook.
You can also connect with me personally at Novelnaut, Thatedeguy, Shane Ede, and my personal Twitter.


text:
|Thread Tools
|Display Modes
18 yr old Cat with IBD
I have a cat that recently turned 18 that has dealt with irritable bowels for around 3 years. She goes on a treatment of antibiotics every few months, and while there are accidents, she tends to do okay.
Lately, however, she seems to have lost even more weight. And her stool has been liquid for several days now. Her diet mainly consists of Fancy Feast Classic with mixed-in pumpkin. She also eats baked chicken, and sometimes chicken and rice mixed together. She was put back on antibiotics a few weeks ago, but her condition hasn't improved. In the past few days, her eyes have had a brown discharge. She also doesn't seem to have as much energy, although today she was a bit perkier.
Are there any other suggestions? The vet has also tried giving her a steroid, but that only seems to make her diarrhea worse.
18 means kitty is in her golden years. Old cat bodies like old human bodies are destined to fail eventually. So long as kitty sees the vet regularly, you are doing a great job
as for clearing up the diarrhea - canned pumpkin has helped lots of people. Here's an article - Good luck
Please tactfully EDUCATE or IGNORE posters you don't agree with.
Please PM me & Include URLs and post #'s for any issues and it's my pleasure to help.
I'm firm - but fair. Mind the Rules and enjoy your stay.
Newcomers FAQ - How do I post on this BB?
Pet facebook group
Check out the Pet podcast
Follow me on Twitter
I think you need to tell your Vet that the treatments and food are not working. See if your Vet can offer you any other options. Good thoughts for Kitty.
What flavours of Fancy Feast? Many contain fish products, which can be a problem for cats. Is your kitty willing to try any other canned foods that have better quality ingredients?
I would also recommend mixing a pinch (like less than 1/4 tsp) of slippery elm bark powder into each meal. It helps sooth an inflamed intestinal tract. Considering all the antibiotics she's been on, a high potency, dairy-free probiotic containing multiple organism strains would also be a really good idea. This can also be mixed into her food (but start small and work up to about 2-4 billion CFUs per meal - so for instance, 1/4 to 1/2 capsule of an 8-10 billion CFU potency brand). If you need help choosing a probiotic, let me know. If she's in any way a finicky eater though, make sure to introduce these things in minute quantities first so you don't put her off her food. Probiotics are usually easily tolerated by cats, but at her age you don't want to risk a drop in calories. You can also try mixing the SEB and probiotics into a tasty treat like plain meat baby food.
Good luck!
"To close your eyes will not ease another's pain." ~ Chinese Proverb
We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies. ~ Gretchen Wyler
Thanks for the responses.
Her preference is for chicken flavored food. Right now, she's off Fancy Feast and eating baby food.
Pumpkin has helped a lot in the past, but doesn't seem to be doing much now.
Is there a specific brand of Slippery Elm Bark you recommend?
Also, I don't know anything about cat probiotics, so any recommendations, and info on where to find them, would be a lot of help.
I know this is your cat but my dog, 6 years old, is recovering from IBD. Traditional western medicine (large doses of Flagyl, then Prednisone among the things tried) did not help one bit and in desperation we turned to a Holistic Vet who has helped others we know of, and with our usual Vet's blessing. His recovery diet is cooked ground turkey and cooked sweet potato with varying assortments of "11 secret herbs and spices" mixed in.
I mention this only for your consideration.
My own 17 year old cat has been eating cooked hamburger (strongly advised against for my dog though, at this time, too fatty). She also dabbled in the dog's turkey till all of a sudden the darn grocery stores started putting rosemary extract in it and now none of the cats will touch it. They must put a lot in, I can smell it myself.
More good thoughts.
hi- rgw- ilive in nyc,ny and I havea eldercat 14/15 who was dx on 9/17 with hyperthrodism. a 100.00 blood rpt and 25.00 exam fee from a med van who sees dogs/cats for poor peoples, so u can imagine how expensive it is to live in the BIG APPLE. my boy is on megamazole -a human pill for his thyroid. old cats get this, when u go to pet meds which I recommend-they do deliver to Canada. stop giving pumpkin, I gave it to my dog ONLY when he was constipated. most owners know its good for that problem maybe that is why your cat is having diahrea? I gave coco a spoonful in his wet food at night and the next day he went great. as we agge we and animals break down, they get a lot of what we get even cancer. I have breast cancer and I caught it in time. I want tto say my dog coco had a mct gd2 and he was done in 2009 and it gave him 5 more yrs he died this past jan/2014. I have to give my boy his pill now 1/2 mg 5mg daily 2x a day. its a lot to handle. I was a animal rescuer for 5 yrs I rescued many strays-dogs and cats and id all the hard work of getting them fixed and shots raising the monies on my lunch hour to give to the vet. as much as I cry and miss him a lot I can not put myself thru anymore emotional baggage of his losing a animal. its too devasting besides the monall I have now is esau left and no more cleaning litter boxes and run to the vets. check hisood luck. rt1. gethea diet. u can reach me as sweetheart1-lydia.
|Thread Tools
|Display Modes
Linear Mode


text:
Appreciate Your Employees. It's Good For Business.
Sep 19 2012
Infographics are the rave right now. Spell check hasn't realized that infographic is a new word. We create infographics for our clients where I work. We also, in our spare time, create infographics for ourselves. I happened upon this cool infographic on HR Morning (via a link from Texas CEO magazine) and had to share. It's so obvious to me that thanking your employees is good for business, but for some reason 65% of workers don't receive ANY praise or appreciation. They must work where Dilbert works. Appreciating your kids, your friends, or your partners in life is so important. A few kind and thankful words can go a long way in fostering loyalty, solving misunderstandings, building bridges, and most importantly bringing out the smiles & laughter. 🙂Aruni | Filed under: entrepreneurship, FYI, Just For Fun | Tags: HR Morning, infographic, Texas CEO magazine, thanking employees | 3 Comments »


text:
(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama's campaign has sharply criticized The New Yorker magazine over the publication's latest cover illustration, which appears to portray the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and his wife as terrorist enemies of the United States.
The New Yorker cover published Sunday shows Barack and Michelle Obama with a flag burning in the fireplace.
The cover, published Sunday, shows Obama in the Oval Office dressed in traditional Muslim attire. His wife, Michelle, wears an Afro hairstyle and has a machine gun slung over her back. An American flag can be seen burning in the fireplace, and a picture of Osama bin Laden hangs on the wall.
"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. "But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."
David Remnick, the longtime editor of the highly-regarded publication, told CNN's "The Situation Room" that he believes the ironic intent of the illustration will be clear to most Americans.
"The idea is to attack lies and misconceptions and distortions about the Obamas and their background and their politics. We've heard all of this nonsense about how they're supposedly insufficiently patriotic or soft on terrorism," the The New Yorker editor said.
"That somehow the fist bump is something that it's not. And we try to put all of these images in one cover, and to satirize and shine a really harsh light on something that could be incredibly damaging." Watch talk show hosts discuss the cover »
On Sunday evening Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton called it "tasteless and offensive." Sen. John McCain said Monday it is "totally inappropriate."
Obama refused to comment on the illustration Sunday.
Obama supporter and Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks Sr. on Monday called for a boycott of the magazine. Parks is a Democratic superdelegate from California.
"I think it's outrageous that we'd have a cover that would depict racism, sexism, anti-religion, also anti-patriotism, and then on top of it to try to draw a conclusion that Mr. Obama has some sympathy toward terrorism," Parks told CNN.
But Remnick, who has approved several provocative covers in the past -- including a recent illustration of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appearing to solicit gay sex in a bathroom -- says he isn't concerned Americans will misunderstand the illustration.
"I think you underestimate the intelligence of the American people, to be quite honest. Yes, there will be some people who will misunderstand it, not get it at first," he said. "But here we are on television, discussing something that's been a kind of subterranean theme in American politics, which is disgusting -- these lies about Barack Obama, about Michelle Obama.
"And so in fact we're not even satirizing the Obamas, we're satirizing these rumors, the lies that have fed into the politics of fear."
Remnick also defended his publication's use of satire in general, likening it to the work of popular television hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. "If there's no possibility for satire, if you always have to look for the joke that every -- absolutely everyone will get, you won't have Jon Stewart, you won't have Stephen Colbert," he said.
"Stephen Colbert goes on and mocks right-wing commentary by pretending to be a right-wing commentary. In a way this is Colbert in print."
And not everyone finds the illustration over the top.
"Do you really believe that if you see this ... cover, you're going to say to yourself, 'Oh, this is Barack and Michelle'?" conservative radio talk-show host Shelley Wynter asked. "This is satire. Anybody that looks at a drawing of a cartoon and wants to say, 'This is what my presidential candidate is going to be like' is already ridiculous and shouldn't be voting."
The cover is linked to a feature article about Obama's formative political years in Chicago.
Liberal radio talk-show host Laura Flanders told CNN's "American Morning" on Monday. "I think the Obama campaign made a misstep here. They should have come out strongly endorsing this cover." iReport.com: Satire or slander? Share your thoughts
She said, "This isn't a jab at them, terrorist or any other kind. This is a jab at the media. ... It should be cause for our conversation to focus on the kind of fear mongering that the media and people on the right have engaged in."
Conservative talk-show host Joe Pagliarulo agreed.
"I think this could be a very positive thing for the Obama campaign," Pagliarulo said. "I think they've got to embrace this and say 'Look, there are rumors out there.' I talk to people every day, like Laura does. People really do believe ... that he's a Muslim. They believe he was sworn in on the Quran. They believe that his wife is unpatriotic and so is he."
Conservative talk-show host and CNN contributor Bill Bennett said he understands why the Obama campaign is upset with the cover. "The New Yorker blew this," he said. "It has a distinguished history and great writing. I read The New Yorker occasionally. But it was tasteless and stupid. The intellectuals missed it ... and it backfired on them. If I were the Obama campaign, I would be furious at these people."
But Democratic strategist and CNN contributor James Carville defended the magazine's cover choice as satire in its "ultimate form."
"I don't know what the big deal is," he said.
A Newsweek poll released Friday showed that 12 percent of those polled believed Obama was sworn in as a U.S. senator on a Quran, and 26 percent believed that he was raised as a Muslim.
Neither is true.
All About The New Yorker Magazine • Barack Obama


text:
I am the co-owner and managing partner for SoireeHome.
Soiree was conceived of over a few different nights at a wine bar that I designed for my, now, business partners but prior long time family friends. I was an architect at that time, with a focus on architectural branding. After some discussions at the wine bar and looking at all the wine paraphernalia one acquires when they have a wine bar in their house, we thought it may be fun to get into the business!
So, at first I was just thinking I would make a portfolio piece to showcase packaging design, branding and light product design. After sniffing around and kicking the tires, we decided to give Soiree a test run. That was 2006-2008. We launched officially at the Boston Wine Expo in Feb 2008. With a lot of hard work, we found ourselves as a known accessory to the wine industry and we eventually became rooted in the Housewares Industry.
No you cannot aerate anything. Sparkling wines shouldn't be aerated, unless you like a bubbly mess on the ceiling and floor!
Whites and reds can both be aerated, but one must play detective and see what characteristics have unfolded when the wine is aerated and when it is not. This way you can determine what is best for your palate.
Port opens up wonderfully when aerated. Cognac, Pisco, and any other spirit from grapes will benefit from the Soiree. While aeration does nothing for the chemistry of spirits, when aerated spirits will taste smoother on the palate and the back of the throat. So while the spirit may taste smoother, the aeration effect is not to be compared with how wine is effected. Soiree has been used by professionals on bourbon, tequila, vodka etc, but it is not an avenue we have elected to market.
Yes and no. It's really more a question of how wine geeky are you.
Ok, my blanket statement is: the lighter the color and body of the wine, the less air it can handle and less it will benefit with aeration. For example; younger hearty reds (Zin, Syrah, etc) can be aerated without hesitation. Lighter Pinot Noir or Gamay may only benefit with a bit of air, before their body / structure starts to fade.
Whites wines can be aerated, but again if they do not have a good structure or acidic backbone, they should be watched carefully that they are not over-aerated. White wines will see heightened aromatics when Soiree'd, and the Soiree is a great way to get the oak in white wine to blow-off or integrate.
Aged wines usually will fall apart if they get treated roughly, but I have tried Soiree on 14 year-old wine from a magnum, and it actually helped recompose the wine. Soiree took a damp brine-y nose and brought in some light cranberry and leather notes. It really depends on the wine is holding up in the aging process. In general, if an older wine tastes good, I would let it be. But any wine I find to have an over pronounced character or flavor profile, Soiree usually helps the wine present and balance out.
Young and robust red wines benefit the most. Think New World, warm climate, and a recent vintage and you have a wine that will sing when aerated, especially your everyday wines. Everyday wines are not "perfect wines" and aeration will again assist in ironing out flaws and enhancing the body of the wine.
Soiree is the only in-bottle wine aerator made from glass. When you look at the various wine aerators available, they are typically acrylic. And if you look at every instance where people serve wine in any proper manner, they always serve from glass. Even in the winery, wine is in wood, stainless steel, and then glass. Plastic is never a part of the equation. Plastic will retain flavors, stain, and even dampen the mid-palate.
Most wine aerators have followed the venturi physics used in carburetors, which draws oxygen into wine by injection. This process is counter-intuitive to the wine aging process. Wine should not be punctured by air, this stream of air un-integrates the bottle-aging and melding process. A thinner wine can be decimated when exposed to this aggressive of an injection. Soiree is gentle on wine.
I'd say its more an opinion than a myth, and I agree with it, again, assuming the wine is one that will benefit with aeration. But I have had many people say, it turns a $12 bottle into a $20 bottle. By heightening aromatics and expanding the mid-palate and helping integrate any flaws, it would make sense that aerating helps a wine present as a more expensive bottle.
SoireeHome is our new parent brand, which is founded on the principles of creating tools that heighten culinary experience. We want to simplify and enhance how the growing gourmet audience can approach and appreciate fine beverage and food. For now SoireeHome is beverage focused, but I foresee us exploring the design of hospitality and dining tools.
Soiree is our mainstay and I have to recognize the success and growth it has brought me and the company, it has changed my life and I am in awe of that. But I am also very proud that we as a brand SoireeHome are just coming up on our 1 year anniversary and the response has been very good. We are honestly still feeling out our brand and our identity and that excitement is what keeps us going forward!
For you buddy, anytime! Cheers!
This entry was posted in Interview and tagged aerating wine, Aerator, Andrew Lazorchak, best wine aerator, best wine decanter, Soiree, Soiree Home, Soiree wine aerator, wine aerator. Bookmark the permalink. ← Not Sure How to Choose the Right Turkey for Thanksgiving? This guide can help! California Beaujolais? →


text:
Look Below For Some Excellent Information About Solar Energy
Saving our planet is important and so is saving on utility bills. Your electricity bill will only increase in years to come, so it is smart to begin understanding how solar energy works and how it can be a benefit to you. This article will help you more about solar energy's many benefits. There are 2 main types of photo-voltaic panels: poly-crystalline and mono-crystalline panels. Poly-crystalline panels are not as efficient than mono-crystalline panels. Make sure to get the most affordable and efficient product to power your choices before making a final decision. You can save a lot of money with solar panels if you are interested in long-term investments. Solar panels are expensive and may tale a while before they pay for themselves. You should invest in solar energy. Do the math prior to investing in solar panel system. Depending on where you are, solar panels might be too expensive when overhead and output potential are taken into consideration. Check the inverter frequently if


text: Few nurses are born leaders. However, via education and experience, leaders are made. This is the forum to discuss management: techniques, managing teams, and taking charge. Included in management are leadership strategies. These can include formal modalities like Six Sigma or informal means such as motivating staff. This forum is for all managers, from charge nurses, to unit managers, to division chiefs and everyone in any medical setting managerial position.Specialties Management


text:
This medication is used to treat diarrhea. It helps to decrease the number and frequency of bowel movements. It works by slowing the movement of the intestines. Diphenoxylate is similar to opioid pain relievers, but it acts mainly to slow the gut. Atropine belongs to a class of drugs known as anticholinergics, which help to dry up body fluids and also slow gut movement.
This medication should not be used to treat diarrhea caused by certain types of infection (such as C. difficile-associated diarrhea following antibiotic therapy). Talk to your doctor for more details.
This medication is not recommended for use in children younger than 6 years due to an increased risk of serious side effects (such as breathing problems).
Lowest Prices
Get the lowest prices on generic medications.
Private and secure
Your privacy is always protected and your information is secure.
Prescriptions made easy
We work with your doctor or local pharmacist to take care of transfers, refill requests, and more.
Support Hours:
Monday - Friday 8am - 9pm ET
Saturdays 9am - 5pm ET


text:
Join us for a monthly Cocoa Daisy planner challenge! Do as much or as little as you like; we'd love you to join us on the Cocoa Daisy Planner Fans group on Facebook to share.
You can download and print pages (sized for each of our inserts) with daily prompts to help you get the most out of your planner. Use the hashtag #cocoadaisyplannerchallenge when you share!
This is a download; no physical product will be delivered.
To download your ZIP file, add it to your shopping cart and complete your "purchase". This is a free item, so you will not need to provide payment information. Digital file only; no physical product is shipped.


text:
Atropine Is the Simplest Treatment for Nerve Gas Attacks, And Syria Is Running Low
For doctors on the ground, the question is less who used chemical weapons, and more how they are going to treat the victims
Inspectors from the United Nations are attempting to determine whether the Syrian government is responsible for the use of chemical weapons in attacks there—a line that, if crossed, could warrant intervention by outside nations. For doctors on the ground, though, the question is less who used the weapons and more how they are going to treat the victims. This morning the New York Times published a harrowing account of what hospitals are like right now:
Thousands of sick and dying Syrians had flooded the hospitals in the Damascus suburbs before dawn, hours after the first rockets landed, their bodies convulsing and mouths foaming. Their vision was blurry and many could not breathe.
Overwhelmed doctors worked frantically, jabbing their patients with injections of their only antidote, atropine, hoping to beat back the assault on the nervous system waged by suspected chemical agents. In just a few hours, as the patients poured in, the atropine ran out.
Atropine, the drug these doctors are using, is an extremely common drug. The World Health Organization has it on their "Essential Drugs List," a list of drugs that constitute the baseline of medical care. It is also the most common drug used to combat nerve agents—the chemicals that block the communication between nerves and organs. The symptoms described by the Times—convulsions, foaming mouths, blurry vision, difficulty breathing—are all associated with the use of these nerve agents.
Understanding how atropine works depends on understanding how nerve agents work. Essentially, when the body is working normally, a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine moves between nerves to carry signals. Once the acetylcholine does its job, an enzyme shows up to break it down. Nerve agents destroy that enzyme. Acetylcholine builds up and continues to make the nerves connect over and over and over again.
Atropine, on the other hand, blocks the acetylcholine receptor. So even if there's a huge buildup of acetylcholine between the nerves, the connection never happens. This, of course, can also be dangerous, because if your nerves can't talk to one another your body can't function. But in situations where the acetylcholine is unchecked, atropine can help stop seizures and convulsions. It must be dosed carefully, and administered quickly, but in nerve gas attacks it is really the only treatment doctors in Syria have.
Humans have known about the power of atropine for a long time. The active ingredient comes from plants in the Solanaceae family like nightshade, Jimson weed and mandrake. Egyptian women used atropine to dilate their pupils, to look more attractive, and the Greeks used it before surgery to numb pain. It wasn't until 1901 that pure atropine was synthesized in the lab by combining tropine with tropic acid.
Today, it's used for all sorts of things beyond chemical warfare. Doctors use it before anesthesia, it's used during heart surgery, to dilate eyes during eye surgery, and to treat scorpion stings and other venomous bites.
Despite its many uses and its key role in fighting nerve agents, the atropine supply is relatively low. The doctors in Syria are running out of it, and in July the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists added atropine to the list of current drug shortages. They cite a few reasons for the drop in supply:
- American Regent had temporarily suspended manufacture of most drug products in April, 2011.
- American Regent resumed manufacturing in Shirley, New York in early-May, 2011.
- Hospira states the shortage is due to manufacturing delays.
- West-Ward acquired Baxter's atropine injection products in May, 2011. NDC codes began changing for these products in early, 2012. West-Ward is not manufacturing the 0.4 mg/mL or 1 mg/mL 1 mL vials.
- Amphastar has atropine on shortage due to increased demand.
This isn't the first time people have had to consider a dip in supply of atropine. In 2004, researchers at the NYC Poison Control Center looked at just how long after its shelf life doctors could use atropine in emergency situations. "A massive nerve agent attack may rapidly deplete in-date supplies of atropine," they write.
Which seems to be exactly what's happening in Syria. Doctors Without Borders estimates that in the past few months they've sent 1,600 vials of atropine. Ghazwan Bwidany, a doctor treating patients in Syria told the BBC that along with being understaffed, they were running out of medicine. "We are lacking medical supplies now, especially atropine," he said.
More from Smithsonian.com:
If Syria Uses Chemical Weapons, Here's How They'll Work
How Can the U.S. Government Know If Syrian Combatants Were Affected by Sarin Gas?


text:
About Merv griffins crosswords
Race against the clock to solve clues as you build the puzzle for the final round in this fast-paced take on crossword fun! Be prepared to think on your feet as you play 3 unique rounds with every game. Use Score Combos to boost your score and increase your ranking as you play. But watch out for spoilers! A sharp mind will prevent them from stealing your prizes in this brand new take on a time-honored, Word game classic. Use the clues to solve your way into a high score!


text:
Walt and Mearsheimer Are Ready for their Close-Up
So far this year, the Anti-Defamation League has felt compelled to issue press releases in response to a belligerent talking teddy bear, a mildly funny Saturday Night Live sketch, and a fictional character portrayed by Kevin Spacey.
You might think the trigger-happy ADL was responding in these cases to anti-Semitic slights (its bread and butter, if you will). But that's not what's going on. It's the depiction of the ADL itself, along with other American Jewish organizations, that is causing the offense.
It's been nearly seven years since political scientists Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer published their controversial paper, "The Israel Lobby," which alleged, in short, that the United States' strong support for Israel could not be explained "on either strategic or moral grounds," and that therefore something else must be at work. That nefarious something else was the "Israel Lobby," a broad network of "individuals and groups that seeks to influence American foreign policy" in ways that don't really serve American interests.
There's no need to rehash all the recriminations and arguments and counterarguments that flew around in the months and years that followed. In my mind, the editorial judgment of this paper seems to have been correct, that Walt and Mearsheimer had captured an important truth about the outsized power of the small-L lobby, but their argument was hopelessly marred by terrible scholarship and, most damningly, overgeneralization and exaggeration to the point of caricature. They turned the efforts of an aggressive and organized group of advocates into a cabal. American Jewish leaders expressed outrage about Walt and Mearsheimer (and some even alleged that they were engaging in anti-Semitism) but as long as the conversation stayed in the exalted realm of academia and on the pages of journals with circulations in the low five figures, there didn't seem to be much to worry about.
But something has changed. Two years ago, Glenn Greenwald at Salon described the "mainstreaming of Walt and Mearsheimer." His evidence was that New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman had explained the U.S.'s blocking of the Palestinians' statehood bid at the United Nations as "the powerful pro-Israel lobby" having forced "the administration to defend Israel at the U.N., even when it knows Israel is pursuing policies not in its own interest or America's."
Two years have passed, and that mainstreaming has continued apace and now, I'm afraid, we are seeing the pop-culturizing of Walt and Mearsheimer.
My examples are all from February, but just in that one month, we had, at the Oscars, that talking teddy bear named Ted (a creation of Seth MacFarlane, the host), who chatted on stage with the actor Mark Wahlberg, about the necessity of pretending to be Jewish if he wanted to survive in Tinseltown. Ted showed him how it was done: "I was born Theodore Shapiro and would like to donate money to Israel and work in Hollywood forever. I am Jewish." "You're an idiot," Wahlberg answered. "We'll see who the idiot is when they give me my private plane at the next secret synagogue meeting," the stuffed bear shot back.
Just some good old Protocols of the Elders of Zion humor, you say? Well, now consider a sketch from SNL (which never aired but appeared online) that mocked the Senate confirmation hearings of Chuck Hagel. As everyone knows, the nomination of Hagel as defense secretary was held up by Republican senators, backed by a vociferous and aggressive right-wing attack squad, which accused him, among other things, of insufficient respect for Israel. The sketch mocked the fealty of the senators to the Jewish State, with each trying to outdo the other with increasing absurdity. It ends with Senator John McCain asking Hagel a hypothetical question: "You get an urgent call from the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is truly one of the greatest men of this or any age. And he says to you, 'It is vital to Israel's security that you go on national television that night and perform oral sex on a donkey.' Would you do that for Israel?" When Hagel eventually says no, McCain declares that he can't vote to confirm him.
I'm not making this up — it's on You Tube. And Abe Foxman of the ADL was upset enough to write an open letter to Lorne Michaels, the legendary SNL producer, telling him that the sketch would fit right in with "anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites."
It was a busy month for Foxman because just a few days earlier he had to fire off another press release in response to the Netflix series "House of Cards." In one episode, the House minority whip, played by Spacey, manages to torpedo the White House's nominee for secretary of state by siccing the ADL on him for remarks he'd made about Israel. (Sound familiar?) Once a thinly veiled Foxman character starts calling the nominee an anti-Semite, the White House withdraws his nomination. The real Foxman was peeved at the depiction, which, he wrote, "distorts who we are."
What should strike us all about these casual pop culture references is that in order to resonate with the vast millions watching they have to be based on a shared assumption: that is, the disproportionate power of American Jews over the country's political life. The joke, the cultural wink, wouldn't hit its mark without this shared assumption. Does this mean that American culture is simply picking up on something true, that American Jews really do possess now this supreme influence? I don't think so. Witness the results of the actual Hagel nomination fight to see the limits of this supposedly expansive power.
So where is this notion coming from and why is it now so well accepted that it's a laugh line? It's hard to say definitively, but if I had to guess at one factor it would be the shift among American Jewish groups over the past few years into an only-Israel-matters agenda, projecting the idea that the Jewish community has no other priorities or interests (say, civil rights or immigration reform or health care). Add to that the unabashed quality of "pro-Israel" groups on the right, like the Emergency Committee for Israel, who have used this perception like a cudgel. In past years, they have broken all the unspoken rules, like taking out full-page ads in The New York Times accusing the president of being a traitor to Israel and running television commercials demanding an American military strike on Iran. Is it naive to wonder whether their blanketing the media with these messages might have given Americans the impression that Walt and Mearsheimer were maybe on to something?
Gal Beckerman is the Forward's opinion editor and writes a monthly column about the media. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter @galbeckerman


text:
Harbor Freight Tools - Classic Life
Harbor Freight Since 1968
Related Video
As far back as I can remember I've always loved working on mechanical things and having the right tools to do it with. At a little over 4 years old, one of the presents I really wanted for Christmas in 1956 was a Handy Andy toolset. The toy toolset soon gave way to owning the real thing as soon I got my first bicycle, a 24-inch Rollfast that was made in England. The first thing I did to the Rollfast was to pull the fenders off, and throw on a set of ape-hangers with a stretched gooseneck that put the handgrips way above my head. My dad told me at the time it probably was a mistake, but he didn't stop me, he always seemed to let me find things out for myself. When it came to tools the old man was real picky to the point we always washed everything in mineral spirits (paint thinner) before we could put them back in the toolbox. He taught me to buy the best tools I could afford, and to always take care of them. In 1969 when I decided to pull my '47 Chevy panel down to the bare frame there were a lot of new tools that I needed to go out and buy. With my budget the Snap-on name wasn't even in the hat, I took a trip to Sears in El Monte, California, and bought as many Craftsman handtools as I could afford. To my disappointment I discovered to be able to purchase a new Craftsman bench grinder or drill press even Sears' prices were out of my league. Shortly afterwards I spotted an advertisement for a new Harbor Freight store that had just opened in my neighborhood with ridiculously low prices offered for some of the equipment I needed. Some of the Harbor Freight tools I bought in '69 never lived to see 1970, and then some I still have today. At the time I bought Harbor Freight tools my hopes were they would last long enough to earn enough money to save up and buy a better known brand. In my wildest dreams I never thought I would still be using some of them in the 21st century.
MotorTrend Recommended Stories
Trending Pages
Screamin Yellow: This Teenage-Terror Big-Block Camaro Burns Tires and Retinas!
How To Build Your First Engine: Assembling a Small-Block Chevy
2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 First Test: Brutal, Beastly, Badass
2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness First Test: Bite-Sized Trail Beast?
2024 BMW i5 First Drive: Does the Electric 5 Series Have Soul?