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http://dealsea.com/ is one of my favorites.
This article shares tips from the 6th episode of Dealista, our podcast that'll help you get more for less.
Frugal is in and couponing has become trendy. Coupon users are no longer scrooges but sages, wisely spending by saving. It's now a prerequisite to join the ranks of deal hounds and bargain hunters who have vowed to save the world by saving dollars. (See also: The Best Places to Get Coupons Online.)
Coupons themselves have had their own extreme makeover, moving up the technology ladder to help their users retire the scissors and cute coupon organizers. The digital age has drawn a whole new generation of couponers, and they're determined to turn the measured art of couponing to their instant gratification ways.
Before I get to the staggering list of great deals and coupon sites dedicated to serving savvy shoppers like you, here are a few tips on using them efficiently. The number of sites and services might seem overwhelming at first, but the best ones allow for total customization. Only choose to receive coupons from stores you select or products you specify.
If you haven't joined in on the action, there's no better time. Save now -- no clipping required.
Are you a shoe fiend who can't bear the thought of missing out on a sale? Are you in the market for a laptop or a digital camera? Have your favorite sites notify you immediately when a deal matches your preferences. You can be as specific (Visioneer OneTouch 7400 Scanner) or general (shoes) as you'd like. Rather than having to constantly check these sites, you'll be notified immediately when something you are eyeing goes on sale.
If you are a Twitter addict, you might as well put it to some extra good use. Major retailers as well as local restaurants are sending promotions, coupons, and deals exclusively to their Twitter followers. Many coupon and deals sites are also offering Twitter alerts. Your favorite frugal bloggers are sharing deals on Twitter, too. If that's too many for you to follow, use handy Twitter-specific aggregators like CheapTweet and CouponTweet. If you haven't had the chance to get in on Twitter yet, here's a handy Twitter guide.
A recent article in the New York Times featured the rise of mobile coupons. No more forgetting to bring coupons with you. Get them sent directly to you, wherever you are. When you're checking out, simply show your cell phone to the cashier and voila, your savings are ringed up. Sign up with services like Cellfire, MobiQpons, and Yowza, and if you have an iPhone, Coupon Sherpa is an app that handles coupons for popular retailers.
Sites like Shortcuts allow you to link coupons to your store savings card. For example, if you have a Vons card, select the coupons you want and it'll be added to your Vons card. When you're checking out, swipe your card and your coupons will apply!
Not sure if a deal is great or just so-so? The best deals sites offer editor picks and allow users to vote and comment on deals. Use the power of social media to decide whether to jump on a sale or wait until a better one comes along.
Here they are. These sites will help you find the best bargains and coupons.
The latest deals and coupons aggregated from the top sites around the Web. Plus the Top 10 deals of the day hand picked by Wise Bread. Subscribe to receive the daily deals roundup delivered to your email inbox.
My personal favorite deals site, the writers at dealnews do the very hard work of scouring the web every day for only the best deals on the hottest items. Every deal has been verified and the retailers are reputable (they ban any store with a history of poor customer service). Unlike many other deals sites, their site is easy to navigate and use, which is a godsend for any deal hound trying to get in and out quickly so they can catch the deal they want.
Get up-to-the minute deals on your phone with free printable and text message coupons that you can redeem by just showing the cashier.
An essential destination for the busy parent and homemaker. The site has the best baby, kid and maternity bargains available, as well as the weekly circulars for grocery and drug stores. Another awesome feature is their Monthly Deal Forecast where they predict upcoming bargains, so you don't miss out by buying too early!
Deals are handpicked and updated several times a day, this popular site gets on all the "top lists" for good reason. They've also got a fantastic tips section that offers valuable bargain hunting advice.
One of the longest running bargain sites around and still going strong, Ben has a loyal following because of his carefully selected deals, which includes advance notice of upcoming deals and exclusive offers (not to mention fantastic giveaways) for his readers. There are also special tracker tools that tracks down hot and hard to find items, so you don't have to run all over town yourself.
One of the few non-tech oriented deals sites, this one covers an array of deals that tackles the shopping lists for everyone in the family. Brad's been interviewed by many news and talk shows, and is recognized as an expert bargain hunter. You can't go wrong following his picks.
A fun and innovative site that gives deals hounds another thing to be excited about. Not only do users vote deals up or down, but they get money and prizes for doing what they do best--finding the best deals and telling others about it.
Get groceries, shopping, restaurants, and entertainment offers sent direct to your cell phone. With Cellfire, you never have to print, clip, or forget your coupons again.
A top resource for Dell and HP coupons and an indispensable site for anyone considering a computer purchase. Of course there are coupons and deals for all sorts of products, too. The site is updated hourly, often posting more than a hundred deals and coupons a day.
They scan and gather the best deals, coupons and sales people are tweeting about. Users can rate deals and the number of retweets contribute to whether a deal makes it to their Cheapest Tweets list.
If you have a favorite store or don't like the idea of ordering from a place you've never heard of, stop by Coupon Album where the deals are listed by store. They've got coupons and deals for hundreds of the most popular stores.
A popular coupon site that updates their directory three times a day to keep their coupons fresh. Their straightforward navigation allows you to find coupons based on features like most used, printable, and free samples.
A clean and simple coupon site that offers discounts for over a thousand stores. You'll have no problems finding just the right discount for you.
At Coupon Craze you'll find internet shopping store coupons, online coupon codes, free shipping coupons and discount coupon code for store savings. Use their tools to find the best coupons and keep up to date on the latest codes.
A favorite site for the busy mom, Coupon Mom breaks up the offerings into easy to manage and digest sections. Find printable grocery deals by state, restaurant coupons, free offers and samples, and a daily roundup of the best coupons on the blog.
Updated several times a day, the site offers exclusive online coupon codes, link based coupons, product discount news and sale announcements. Follow their blog for the most up to date announcements, and their forums for all kinds of hot deals, like travel, online auctions, rebates, and sweepstakes.
A super user friendly site for the most current grocery coupons. You can enter your zip code for area specific deals, then select the coupons you want, and print them out. It's a great alternative to going through the Sunday paper and clipping your own.
This handy app provides hundreds of in-store coupons for many merchants right to your iPhone or iPod Touch.
They scour the world's most popular social networks for special discounts and get special, hard-to-find deals from their partners and friends.
A top site that offers a full staff of editors to ensure the quality of the deals, along with a large forums community that contributes shopping advice and reviews. Their Sunday Ads section allows you to look at discounts from over two hundred stores. Stop buying the Sunday paper just for the ads.
A terrific community site which features the best deals found by regular shoppers like you. No editors. No filters. If you like getting unbiased and timely bargain information provided by like-minded deal hunters like yourself, this is the site for you.
Aggregates deal discussions among the most popular and largest communities. You no longer have to visit several forums to find the best deal -- Dealighted does all that work for you. You won't find anything but the very best and most current deals featured.
Members vote for the best coupons and sales and never miss a deal again with their Comparison Shopping Toolbar. Get instant price comparisons and related coupons and deals without leaving the store site to scour the multitude of deals sites to confirm the bargain.
The clean and simple site makes searching for coupons a breeze. They have an amazing tool called the Amazon Discount Finder which searches for items currently at 10%-99% off. You'll also find great free sample coupons in the Coupon Blog.
Dealplumber's mission is to make it easy, hassle free and fast for anyone to find the best bargain, discount, deal, coupon and promo code. Deals and coupons are handpicked and shared by other users (monitored by dealplumber volunteers for quality) to save big on everything they shop online.
With a slogan like because paying retail is a crime, you can be sure that they take their deals seriously. A vibrant community votes for the hottest deals and their Quick Submit Tool makes submitting deals just one click away.
Get real deals for real moms. Tara handpicks the best deals for moms and their families.
A clean and simple deals site (quite a rare thing to come by) that packs a punch without the clutter. If you are looking for a site with great deals but that won't overwhelm you with hundreds of deals and links at once, Deals2buy is the place to go.
Presenting only handpicked bargains from the most reputable American retailers, the staff is committed to providing every resource to help shoppers save money. They understand the uncertain credibility of many unknown online retailers, so they try to search bargains from big online retailers or stores with nationwide presence, so shoppers can feel safe and secure with their purchases.
A site that uses the power of social media to determine the best deals to feature. Members submit and vote for the best deals. You can be sure that only deals with member consensus show up on the homepage. Along with coupons, store specials, and freebies, you'll also find the Sunday circulars from any store that has one -- an extremely useful feature to prepare for seasonal sales like Black Friday.
A deals site that doesn't just focus on tech bargains. Find discounts for clothes, toys, jewelry, and more. Their simple design makes the forums easy to navigate -- no small favor for the rookie deals hound.
A site that gives you money back for shopping. Most coupon and deals sites make money through commission. Ebates does too, but they like to pass some of that back to you, the actual shopper. What better bargain can you get than that?
One of the largest online coupon websites listing more than five thousand stores and tens of thousands of active coupons and deals. Members can earn cash back when making purchases with participating partner stores.
Buy a book of coupons for your area for less than 20 bucks, and get coupons for restaurants, movie theaters, and shopping. You can get exclusive discounts on stuff you buy every week like movie rentals, pet supplies, books, office supplies, lunch, clothes, and a lot more. I get an Entertainment Book every year and make my money back in the first two months.
A robust forums community of dedicated bargain hunters. In addition to hot deals and coupons, FatWallet offers a variety of tools for reviews, price comparisons, and instant alerts. Their greatest unique feature is their cash back rewards program for shopping with hundreds of partner stores. Get money back for cashing in on a huge deal? It doesn't get any better than that.
One of the few drawbacks of online shopping, and the bane of a bargain hunter's existence, is to have a great deal spoiled by a shipping charge. FreeShipping saves the day by providing free shipping codes for over 800 vendors on the Internet.
A very well rounded site offering deals for a variety of items (as opposed to mainly tech focused as is the case with many deals sites). Their annual coverage of Black Friday deals is truly spectacular and an essential destination for any bargain shopper.
An extensive site that provides a comprehensive listing of the grocery deals in your area. The filter settings in your profile allow you to specify things like food allergies, preferred stores, and dietary considerations, so you'll get a customized list of only the most relevant items for you and your family.
An online community bringing together consumers to share money saving tips and offers. The site provides a comprehensive directory of freebies, coupons, and other discounts and deals.
A leading consumer destination for online coupons, discounts, and promotional codes for merchandise, travel and services, committed to helping consumers enjoy a hassle-free shopping experience. Members rank coupons based on their reliability. Tools, widgets, and a Firefox extension are available for quick and easy access to your coupons. Their people-powered price comparison engine, Beat My Price (beatmyprice.com), allows you to enter the deal you've found to see whether it truly is the best available.
At Savings.com, members and coupon hunters find the best coupons on the net and then the Savings.com community decides which coupons are the best coupons. Their simple search engine and category list makes it quick and easy to find exactly what you're looking for. Savings.com aims to be the first and last place you look to find the best available coupons for whatever it is you're looking for.
Rather than scour through all the deals on the web, create your own wish list of items and wait for a bargain to appear. Select your size, brand, and other preferences, and you'll get notified if there's a relevant sale. It's like having your own personal shopper!
An easier way to lower your grocery bill. Just add coupon savings directly to your grocery store loyalty card.
A popular, if not the most popular, deals site around today. The homepage displays only the hottest deals, but the true action happens in their forums (forums.slickdeals.net), where the community reigns. You won't be wading through an ocean of not-so-slick deals because the community takes care of those for you. You can always get the inside scoop on the most current deals. In addition, their shopping tools, feeds and alerts ensure that you won't miss a single sale.
A fun, quirky site that features a wide range of deals across different categories. Deals are ranked by the community and you can follow the wild antics of the owner in the blog section.
An essential stop for any technology purchase, they not only provide deals, coupons, and the latest bargain news, they have a variety of helpful shopping tools. Their search engine include eBay sales, a useful feature. Read their Hot Tip articles for important shopping advice. Review their recommended products database for items you should consider buying. Get rebate and vendor information for no fuss execution.
Everyone is familiar with the thick Valpak envelope of coupons that arrive in the mail. Now you can get instant access to all coupons currently available for your area. This is hands down the best place to get coupons for local services like dry cleaning, auto repair, and restaurants.
Get mobile coupons and exclusive offers from over 10,000 merchants nationwide.
Save a coupon to your account and access via your mobile phone. Have coupon codes texted to you when you save a coupon.
Dealista is a collaboration between Wise Bread and Quick and Dirty Tips, the producer of popular podcasts such as Grammar Girl, Money Girl, Winning Investor, and Mighty Mommy.
If you enjoyed these tips you can find more in our show's archive.
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
if you're living in southern California try Zoupons app for local coupons and deals. they also offer online coupons on their website.
May not make the "50 Best" but I just learned about Groupon.com.
This site has deals in certain metropolitan areas (and growing?).
A deal is posted but is not available until enough people have signed up for the deal and paid. If the deal does not make, the money is refunded. If the deal makes everyone gets a huge discount. Deals you may be interested in may not be posted everyday but when one is it's fun to watch to see if you're going to get it. You can help the deal to make by getting your friends to sign up for it.
GroupOn is great. I also really like http://www.dealscans.com They have some great deals that aren't posted anywhere else! You never know what you'll find there.
DealScans.com is great for deals as well. Automatically scanned, so these are deals not found anywhere else!
I would love for you to check out my baby deal website which is updated daily to provide the best deals and bargains available to parents. We like saving you a bundle on your bundle of joy!
PocketDeal will keep you up-to-date with the latest discounts, coupons, and promotions from hundreds retail and online stores, helping you to buy the items you want at the lowest price. Plus, PocketDeal lets you instantly search and compare...
Hey even www.freecouponsshop.com is very good and its vey much userfriendly, it saves both your time and money
couponsavemore.com is better than your site, couponsavemore.com offers shopping rewards with friendly interface and no minimum payout
http://www.online-couponcode.blogspot.com/ is a very good blog for discount coupons for saving while shopping
I use http://dingpow.com, it's a pretty easy to use site, and has saved me tons of money so far!
Are you Confused while shopping coupon sites?
Then try Topincoupons.com which provides sample product images available for the coupon. You can also find the detailed instructions for using the coupon. So never confused shopping coupons.
Use coupons, coupon codes, promotional codes available at Topincoupons.com and save your money.
Shop http://www.topincoupons.com/ Now.
Great list, well done. I'm compiling a directory of coupon sites and I found a few new ones on here.
We'd love to invite all the Wisebread fans to print our fantastic collection of day spa coupons and vouchers from 10% off to 50% off day spa services. We have fantastic day spa coupons for all of you!
I think they're all great sites, but you forgot this one which I frequent: Bodybuilding.com Coupons
bey http://www.gifts4occasions-coupons.blogspot.com/ is good source for gifts and flowers coupons.
Another site you forgot to mention is http://www.couponsaver.org
There are over 2500 stores listed and over 15,000 coupons updated daily.
Check out http://www.onewayshopping.com. This is another great site that aggregates online shopping deals and coupons together.
I like http://www.shopgala.com. I've used coupons from ShopGala for all types of products (clothes, food, pet supplies, etc.) and they all worked. Plus, they seem to offer a better variety of coupons than most sites I've used in the past.
http://www.tweetsteal.com is another great site to get all the hottest deals on Twitter in one place.
This is a great article! Thanks. I would also like to let you all know of a mobile coupon app I found the other days. Lots of great deals. I like in Scottsdale and it's an awesome app. Qponomics is the name of the app. www.qponomics.com
Here is also an online coupons place - Ezcouponsearch.com where you can get all the latest deals from top rated merchants and on the products you want...I have already get the free subscription of Ezcouponsearch newsletter this keeps me updated about the latest deals.
One of my faves that I've been using more and more is http://www.58coupons.com. Just thought I'd share! :)
good article. i'd like to add 3 sites not on the list i like to shop at: dealalert.com, gotodaily.com & couponshare.com. all of these are easy to navigate and post current coupon codes.
I am familiar with all these websites and I can say they are very good websites to find the savings you want. Though the number of them can be overwhelming at times. Just pick one or two out of these and stick with them. It's likely you won't miss a deal because most of the time they all feature the same kind of coupons or deals from the same retail store.
I can remember in the earlier days before this couponing craze started, it was embarrassing to submit a coupon to a cashier because it just indicates that you are poor. But not anymore. It's becoming the norm. Nowadays, it feels like if you are not using a coupon it's much more embarrassing.
Let me add few to your list:
Tjoos.com very easy to use
Couponcodes4u.com growing very fast
offers.com, sale.com new sites with great domain
This web site has excellent deals and even local coupons. I think they focus not only on electronics deals, but also toy, kids, men women shoes etc. I liked how they are organized.
Of course, we're biased, but http://coupsmart.com is a great way for smart phone users to get coupons delivered to them for products they actually use. Check it out before you head to the checkout. :)
Check out http://www.sumballo.com - it looks like they are just getting started, but pretty cool concept.
I save at least 20% off my groceries every week by using The Grocery Game (http://www.thegrocerygame.com). It costs $5 for 3 months to get deals at one grocery store, and they have a free trial period. They coordinate the Sunday circular coupons with savings at local stores. So when my local store (Publix in W. Central Florida) has a great BOGO free deal, the Grocery Game will tell me to pull the September 3 Smart Source circular for a $1 coupon.
Check out http://www.falcondeals.com. They have a huge collection of coupon codes for computers and electronic items..
http://babycouponmom.com/ shares coupons and deals for stuff you buy every day. Diaper deals, freebies, baby coupons, grocery coupons, deals on toys and clothing etc .
Another deals & coupon sites is www.bargainez.com - it has some of the deals you can't find on others. Worth checking out.
CouponFetch.com is also a great coupon site. They list coupons daily for thousands of stores, and even have a "future" tab where they list future coupon deals days, weeks, or even months ahead of time! Great for planning some holiday shopping!
My favorite coupon site is http://www.couponandpromotionalcodes.com
They update their coupons every day.
http://www.couponandpromotionalcodes.com changed their name to http//www.coupodes.com coupon codes put together in their name, so coupon+codes are called Coupodes now. A little word play there.
I really like using Oopon.com to find coupons. It a fun site to use and it's helped me save a good chunk of money. Check them out if you get a chance at http://www.oopon.com
Retailmenot.com is one of my favorite coupon web sites. For printable coupons like grocery I use Coupons.com. I also like the site 9malls.com for hand picked coupons, also have a good coupon newsletter. Early this December Australian owned Retailmenot was actually sold.
thanks for sharing.
i also like website dealpl.us and slickdeal.net and way4deals.com websites for deals and coupons.
Another site to add is www.greennickel.com. It pulls deals from multiple deal sites and categorize them.
Great Post! Very very useful for online buyers. I would also like to recommend http://dealpacific.blogspot.com and dealzon.com to buyers. These 2 also offers latest deals and coupons. Happy Shopping!!!
Great list here. If there is anyone who are looking for locally owned businesses that offers great local promotions, coupons and discount, http://www.SmartLocalShoppers.com is the place to find local printable coupons.
Every deals on the site are submitted by the local business owners. It's a WIN-WIN local shopping site for everyone who wants to save money! Support local businesses while saving money makes everyone a winner!
Best of all, you can find their coupons distributes to some of the sites listed above.
This website is great, but I think it's missing two integral sites: BargainJack and BargainJill. Although they may seem a little sexist (LOL!), they are both user-friendly websites--with Jack catering towards men's needs like men's apparel and electronics and Jill catering towards women's needs like women's apparel and home and garden. Extremely user-friendly; even the most novice bargain shopper could find fabulous deals on these! Definitely should have made the cut.
Retailmenot is my favorite site but you missed my another best coupon site http://www.couponrefund.com which has coupons for more than 12000 stores.
Another good deals site is http://bestshoppingdealsinfo.com. I got a bargain from that site. It is very wonderful with lots of information.
I've been using BensBargains since Ben was running it out of his 1 bedroom apartment. Now I use http://www.promocodepal.com
Nice list! One of the most extensive I've found so far. Why not add www.coupondu.com which is a great site with daily updated coupons...
I like search for free shipping services from FreeShipping.com, and get wonderful cash-back from Ebates. Sometimes, I visits the rising-star CouponSnapshot.com for Target's deals. All in all, I always enjoy my shopping with the help of so many good websites. Under the tough economy climate, spend les and save more becomes a must, as well as a trend.
I like Funtasia's Internet Coupons. Make sure you sign up for their free Hot Deal Alert newsletter.
Guyz try visiting my favorite website for both Grocery coupons and normal coupons which is http://www.couponsqueens.com
I like AtoZwire.com for Amazon only deals. They seem to find stuff fast enough that I can repost it to Slickdeals before anyone else has seen it.
I'm a big fan of http://www.groupon.com for daily deals. I've been using http://useacode.com to help me find coupon codes for my online shopping purchases. Both sites are easy to use and have saved me quite a bit of money over the last few years.
I was wondering how many deal sites there are. I've never heard of half of these so its great to have this list. The one I use most frequently wasn't even on the list.
It looks like there are lot of websites and so very competitive market it is. I just know two or three of them. I often made my shopping through http://www.ezcouponsearch.com/ and this often works for me. I have got plenty of discount and coupons from here.
you can also count in knownfreebies.com for some good freebies and hot deals around the world.
I would say, you have the most comprehensive list of deal and coupon sites. But most of these sites are not updating coupons on regular basis and since now they are on the top of the Google search they just don't care.
One new one added to my list is - http://dealoupons.com
http://www.shinyshinydeals.com is my favorite. they feature latest deals on clothes and accessories.
Thats a great list but one of my favorites is coupontosave.com, its a site that has a lot of deals everyday, I think one day they posted like 40 deals which is crazy! They are very informative, check them out.
I don't know if anyone is still looking, but if you're in Vancouver, BC, http://www.couponsbc.ca/vancouver/ is another site worth checking out to grab some free coupons
I have also find a best coupon deal site which is Hookprice.com. My experience was great and i get my desired savings here. I'm sure you will also like it.
Checkout my favorite site: http://www.hookprice.com
Really useful and informative list for Shoppers
http://www.couponsforindia.com/ offers discount coupons promotion codes, deals and offers for Indian Shoppers
A website to try is Betterbargainz. They carry a little bit of everything and have pretty fast shipping.


text:
|The White House
President George W. Bush
|Print this document
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 28, 2002
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
James S. Brady Briefing Room
MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon. Let me give you a summary of the President's day, then I have a brief statement I'd like to make, and then I'd be happy to take your questions.
The President began this morning with his briefing from the CIA, followed by a briefing from the FBI. Then he convened a meeting of the National Security Council. The President has just concluded his remarks at the Friends of Connie Morella for Congress luncheon. And the President will depart for Camp David later this afternoon.
I do want to note that as the Congress leaves for its July 4th recess, the President believes that this week particularly was a week of accomplishment for the American people. The House of Representatives passed the trade promotion authority legislation, which enhances the likelihood of a conference agreement. That's something the President will work for, because he believes trade is important to creating jobs.
The House also passed an exciting new law, or new bill, providing for prescription drug coverage for America's seniors, something the President thinks is long overdue. He's very pleased that the House has taken this action. The House of Representatives has also put our nation's defense first, and they have passed the defense appropriations bill, as well as the military construction bill. The President is pleased to see action on this. He hopes the Senate will follow.
And the President also wants to note an important Supreme Court case this week dealing with providing more educational choices for our nation's schoolchildren. As the President said, the Supreme Court decision was a landmark ruling, a victory for parents and children throughout America. By upholding the constitutionality of Cleveland's school choice program, the Supreme Court has offered the hope of an excellent education to parents and children throughout our country. And the President said, this decision clears the way for other innovative school choice programs, so that no child in America will be left behind.
The President is pleased with this week of accomplishment in the Congress, looks forward to more successful work when Congress returns in August, as many items are now pending in conference committees.
With that, I'm happy to take your questions. Ron.
Q Ari, have you, or to your knowledge, the President, been involved in any meetings to talk about the possible political ramifications of the Worldcom and Enron cases?
MR. FLEISCHER: No. And, Ron, I was with the President when the President discussed the Worldcom case, when it was in the papers in Canada. And I can tell you, the President was just outraged. The President read about it, he talked to us about it, and that's why the President went out and spoke about it as strongly as he did.
Q But were you, or to your knowledge the President, involved in any meetings that talked about the political ramifications of the case?
MR. FLEISCHER: No. And I can tell you, the President's focus is on solving problems. That's why he has spoken out about this as long as he has, as repeatedly as he has, going back months.
Q So you haven't been involved in any meetings that talked about the political --
MR. FLEISCHER: No. Haven't.
Q But certainly, a continued lack of confidence in the economy, and possibly even another dip or at least continued slowdown would likely hurt him in the fall, wouldn't it?
MR. FLEISCHER: These are not the issues the President is focused on. I mean, some in Washington may want to focus on the politics of this. The President is focused on people's jobs, and the fact that corporations have a responsibility to be above board, to honor the call of ethics and high ethics. And just as the President calls on all in our society to honor their role in the responsibility era, the President calls on corporate America to do the same thing. That's his focus.
Q Ari, when you say you have not attended any of these meetings, you're not saying that you don't know of any such meetings, are you?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, Ron's question was have I attended or have any knowledge of them, and I don't.
Q So, so far as you know, nobody in the White House is discussing the politics of the fallout?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have no idea. I mean, its politics can get discussed. Politics -- I don't rule out politics get discussed. I can tell you, though, what the President is focused on is helping America to know that corporations are above board in their reporting of their numbers, so that investors and employees have confidence in a system, a free enterprise system that has worked well for our country.
Q How can they know that, when everything's falling apart? Really. They're falling like tenpins, one corporation after another. So why should they have confidence?
MR. FLEISCHER: And that's why the President feels so strongly about it, Helen. And that's why he speaks out.
Q Well, what's he going to do about it?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I'm glad you asked me that question. The President has already made several proposals which are working their way through the system, which would address this directly. And two of the most important provisions in there -- and the President's radio address this weekend will be about this -- are that if any corporate leaders have stock options and report profits, and have their own personal gains as a result of these inflated, phony numbers, the Securities and Exchange Commission has the authority to get the money back, because it should not belong to these people in the first place.
And so they have actively been going after these corporate leaders, not only to get the money back and make them lose these ill-gotten profits. But, as well, people who abuse the public trust should no longer be in the position to hold any public trust and they would be banned from serving on corporate boards or board of directors. And let me give you some numbers. In this fiscal year, the Security Exchange Commission has sought to bar 54 officers and directors. That is more than was sought during all of last year, and it's a 40-percent increase in the number of people who were acted against in the year 2000, in the full year.
So this fiscal year is not even over yet, and the number of people the Security and Exchange Commission is going after to bar is way up.
Q Barred from what?
Q Barred from serving --
MR. FLEISCHER: Barred from serving as officers and directors.
Q Ari, as you know, some Democrats say those measures don't go far enough, that it relies a little bit on self-policing. Case in point: those measures, would they have prevented Worldcom from potentially misaccounting for $3.8 billion? Just that, in and of itself, affected shareholders, not whether these officers have stock options connected to those profits. How would the President's proposals prevent a company from "cooking the books"?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, one of the things that Congress can do is pass the President's request -- there's money in the supplemental right now for $20 million for the Security and Exchange Commission to have another 100 enforcers of the law. And that's something the President has worked with Congress on. It's in the supplemental that's pending in the Congress, and that's action that can be taken so the Security and Exchange Commission has even more resources to go after these bad apples. And the President supports that funding; he hopes Congress will be able to pass it.
And let me walk you through several of the President's other proposals on corporate responsibility --
Q Can I just interrupt a minute?
MR. FLEISCHER: Go ahead, Helen.
Q When did the President first become aware of this tremendous abuses?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President made these proposals back in March, and this is something, as you know from being on the trail with the President, you hear him talk about it very often.
Let me walk you through some of the President's specific proposals dealing with how to clean up corporate America and make certain that their actions are above board and the shareholders, investors and the public have confidence in the information they're receiving.
Q Ari, these are from the 10-point plan?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's right, these are some proposals the President made earlier, way before Worldcom, because the President recognized the need for better enforcement to take action to make certain that corporate books are honest, open and accurate.
And here's the President's proposals. The President believes that investors should have quarterly access to information needed to judge financial performance, conditions and risks. That CEOs need to personally vouch for the veracity, timeliness and fairness of the company's public disclosures, including their financial statements. And on that point I want to note that the Security and Exchange Commission just yesterday ordered CEOS and CFOs of the thousand largest public companies to certify that the financial information they submitted last year was fair and accurate. So they're going to make them go back and show that it's accurate, which is a helpful step to promote consumer and investor confidence.
The President also believes, as I indicated earlier, that CEOs and officers should not be allowed to profit from erroneous financial statements; that if they receive any bonuses or any stock options, incentive-based forms of compensation that were based on phony, pumped up, fraudulent numbers, they need to give the money back. And the SEC has been taking action on this. That's called disgorging the profits.
And finally, as I indicated earlier, CEOs and officers who clearly abuse their power should lose their right to serve in any corporate leadership position.
Kelly, go ahead.
Q Does the President believe that if people are found to be "cooking the books," that they should go to jail?
MR. FLEISCHER: Absolutely. Absolutely. All determined by the Department of Justice in accordance with the laws. And what you're seeing in the case of Enron, in the case of Arthur Andersen, is vigorous enforcement of the laws.
Q The President said today that the Justice Department will hold people accountable. Was he confirming that the Justice Department is looking into the Worldcom case? And separately, can you confirm what's been in the papers today, that you're looking at even more initiatives for July on this?
MR. FLEISCHER: Ron, I will always allow the law enforcement agencies to describe their own law enforcement actions. I don't think the White House should get into the specifics of a law enforcement action. That's for the individual agency to detail.
The President will be giving a speech on July 12th in New York City about corporate governance again. The President spoke about it today at his luncheon, and as those of you who traveled with the President, you've heard him talk about it on a repeated basis. He will continue to say it, because he thinks it's important to hold corporate America responsible.
Having said that, what I want to emphasize is the President has tremendous faith in our free enterprise system. The President believes that America's free enterprise system is a system that has done very well for the American people; it's led to much comfort; it's led to a strong way of life for the American people; and that if there are any bad apples, those bad apples need to be targeted, the light shown, and they need to get after --
Q Let me follow up real quickly. You said July 12th -- are you sure it's not July 9th --
MR. FLEISCHER: July 9th? I'm sorry, July 9th. Thank you for the correction.
Q When the President made these proposals it appeared that Enron was an isolated case. Now we know that's not the case. So hasn't he changed his opinion at all about what needs to be done, including perhaps more sweeping changes at the SEC or anything --
MR. FLEISCHER: As to when the President made these proposals, he made them because he thought these were the right proposals for all corporate America to protect investors and shareholders and the public. So it was aimed more broadly.
Q What's the President's position on the Sarbanes legislation, which seems to be gaining ground in the Senate?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President shares the goal of the Sarbanes bill. He believes that we need more disclosure, we need better information, increased corporate responsibility and a crackdown on corporate wrongdoing. He's pleased that Senator Sarbanes' bill calls for stepped-up enforcement by the SEC. And we do have some concerns that the Sarbanes' bill doesn't give the President -- doesn't give the SEC administrative authority to ban officers and directors from serving on those positions if they're involved in wrongdoing. The President wants the SEC to be able to do that administratively, so that way it can be done quickly and fast, and done where the case is deserving.
On the accounting board, we think that Chairman Pitt has laid it out in a good approach that would be speedier and more effective in creating greater accountability.
We'll continue to work with the Congress on this. The measure that passed the House that the President proposed passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 334 to 90. So there clearly is bipartisan support for the President's approach.
John. Then I want to keep moving to the second row.
Q Ari, there are those who have said for some years now that if you rob a bank and are caught, you go to jail for a long time. If you're a corporate officer who's guilty of fraud or juggling the books in some way, you -- or misrepresenting the accounting, you go to jail for a short period of time, you get a fine and you go back and you're still a zillionaire. Does the President feel that way at all? Does he feel that the sentencing is out of kilter?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think there are some severe sentences that are available under the law, and this is why the Department of Justice makes individual decisions based on the facts before them on every individual case. And what the President has said is the law needs to be fully enforced and enforced vigorously. And that's how his approach is.
Q But does he feel there need to be tougher sentences, as well as more of these people going to jail?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President believes that the laws need to be enforced vigorously, and that involves putting people in jail.
Q Ari, besides giving the speech tomorrow and giving a speech in New York on July 9th, the President has the bully pulpit and he has convened many conferences already in the White House about different issues. There is a crisis of confidence out there. Will he convene a White House conference on this issue?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President will continue to talk to the American people and to corporate leaders. I can tell you, there was a meeting the President had earlier this month with corporate leaders to discuss getting them involved in Freedom Corps, having people who are involved in corporate America give their employees time to sign up for charitable work. And during that meeting -- it was an unrelated topic -- during that meeting the President called on these leading business leaders to exercise corporate responsibility, to make certain that their books were open and transparent and accurate, to make certain that their compensation packages were reasonable for the times. So this is a message that the President brings up in public, he brings up in private, and he'll continue to bring it up.
Q How about focusing on it at a White House conference?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think you'll hear a lot from the President directly when he goes to Wall Street and talks about it in less than two weeks' time.
Q One clarification. When you said the accounting board that the chairman laid out, that the President supports, you meant Chairman Pitt, not Chairman Sarbanes, correct?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct, Chairman Pitt.
Q And what's the state of play on the debt limit?
MR. FLEISCHER: The White House has not yet received the debt limit bill. It remains possible that it will be received today prior to the President's departure. We'll keep you posted. As soon as the President receives it, he intends to sign it.
Q Ari, what's the scoop behind General Downing's departure? And to what extent does this signal policy differences over the next phase of the war on terrorism?
MR. FLEISCHER: There's nothing to that, in terms of signal of the next phase of the war on terrorism. General Downing accomplished what he set out to do when he was brought back to government service, and he has decided that he wants to return to private life. And the President has been very gratified by the good job that he did here, and he once again has answered the call to service that the nation asked him to do.
Q -- was identified with a particular approach to the next phase involving Iraq. Are you saying that that had nothing to do at all --
MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct. His departure was not issue-based. His departure was based on the fact that he was able to accomplish what he set out to do with the creation of the office which he held. And he has been basically commuting from his home in Colorado. And so I think that he's made, again, career sacrifices for America. He's made an additional sacrifice, as a retired four-star general, to come back in and do what he has done to help create the office and get it started.
Q Ari, about a dozen Pakistani soldiers died fighting with al Qaedas on the border. And if the President is ready to send the U.S. forces inside Pakistan to find all those al Qaedas, including maybe, possibly, Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan? Because that was the request from Pakistan earlier, to help on the border, their soldiers.
And also, if the President has any comments on the Newsweek interview with General Musharraf the other day, that he said he never told Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Armitage that infiltration into India's border will be permanent?
Q One, Goyal, the President believes that President Musharraf has been doing an excellent job in fighting the war on terrorism. The Afghani-Pakistan border is a very difficult border to patrol, and he believes that Pakistan has committed itself and is doing a strong job of taking action against al Qaeda within Pakistan's borders, as well as on the border area. So the President is very pleased with the actions of President Musharraf and the Pakistani leadership.
Vis-a-vis India-Pakistan, the President remains pleased with the amount of diminution in the tensions that were present in the region just weeks ago. It remains an issue that the President is going to continue to monitor. It remains that the administration at all levels continues to work very hard, because it is volatile, it's important, but it is certainly far less tense now than it was just recently.
Q Can I follow one more? If the President has any comments or worried about the Russian and Chinese military to military deals, including submarines and other -- Russia is selling to China?
MR. FLEISCHER: Do you have a specific military -- you need to give me a specific military --
Q This week Russia is selling six more submarines.
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have anything specific on that.
Q Well, in general?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have anything specific.
Q Is he --
MR. FLEISCHER: I'd have to take a look at the exact circumstances.
Q Aside from the speech that the President is going to be giving on corporate responsibility, his overall message, and aside from the 10-point plan which he already has proposed, does the President feel there are additional measures that need to be taken? Are you all considering anything else that's more than just message?
MR. FLEISCHER: I would invite you again to the President's speech and I think you'll hear from the President directly about what he thinks needs to be done, including whether anything additional. But one important starting place for additional activity to be done that goes beyond what the President has already called for is Congress to pass the supplemental, which provides for 100 more enforcement agents for the Security and Exchange Commission. It's one more good reason for Congress to pass that bill and get it to the President. It's called an emergency bill for a reason, and the fiscal year is almost over. Congress needs to pass that bill.
Go ahead, Francine, follow up. And then Paula.
Q Can you just respond to the criticism that the White House kind of just let these 10 points lie low, quietly, until it was reminded again by Worldcom that this is a big problem that we need to pay attention to?
MR. FLEISCHER: If it lied low quietly, then why did the House pass it by such a huge overwhelming vote before Worldcom took place?
Q Along the line of Francine's question, when the President is in Wall Street, one of the areas the SEC has received criticism in is its conflict rules with respect to Wall Street analysts when they hype stocks that they publicly -- Is that possibly an area that the White House thinks the SEC should revisit?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not going to get into any guess work about what may or may not be in the President's speech. Suffice it to say that the areas that the President is going to focus on, as he already has, is transparency, accuracy, accountability, and high sense of ethics. And I think you'll continue to hear that message from the President, and I'm not going to get into any potential specifics.
Q You won't rule out conflict rules might be --
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm just not going to speculate about what may or may not be in.
Q Ari, the President, as you told us this morning, is going to be focusing on the compassionate conservative agenda in speeches on Monday and Tuesday.
MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct.
Q When it comes to welfare reform, and the faith-based and those other items that he'll be talking about, is the President's message resonating on the Hill? Particularly in the Senate, given where we stand on the congressional calendar right now?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think the President's message is certainly resonating in the House. The President's agenda on faith-based initiatives has already been passed by the House. And it remains to be seen what will happen in the Senate.
The Senate Finance Committee has passed some helpful steps involving faith-based programs. On welfare, on the other hand, the Senate has taken steps that move in the opposite direction of moving people from welfare to work. And so the President will, as always, continue to work with the Congress.
I think what -- looking broadly at August, Congress is about to leave for July 4th. And I think -- it remains to be seen about whether this will be a summer of productivity in the Congress when all is said and done, or a summer of inaction. There are many important issues that are currently pending in the Congress between the House and the Senate, that the American people are looking to the Congress and to people in Washington to work together to get resolved.
That includes a patients' bill of rights, something the President cares very deeply about, that he would like to get passed and enacted into law. Energy legislation, to make the country more energy independent; that, too, is caught right now between a House and Senate conference committee. Faith-based legislation. A ban on cloning. Trade promotion authority. Terrorism insurance. These are all important issues that are pending in the Congress.
There is a good possibility that this will be a summer of productivity in the Congress. Certainly this last week in the House of Representatives is an encouraging sign, heading into the final month of the summer. But it will remain to be seen. The President's going to do his part, though, to bring people together and to get it done.
I've been here a long time in Washington. I've seen, even in election years, very explosive, productive summers by the Congress. And the President will be curious to see which one it is this summer. He wants it to be a summer of productivity.
Q Ari, do you have any response to the letter from the Worldcom CEO stating that he was "surprised and outraged" at the accounting irregularities? Is there any White House response to that?
MR. FLEISCHER: The response is just what the President indicated today at his lunch. The President believes that corporate leaders have a responsibility to be aboveboard and transparent, and that if there are any violations that took place they will be fully prosecuted. So these issues involving Worldcom are going to be in the hands of the investigatory agencies, properly so, that's where they belong.
Q Are you confirming, Ari, that he did receive and see that letter, though?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President has not seen it. The letter just arrived, and the President has not seen it. He was away from the White House at the event, as you know.
Q Ari, in the past, July 4th has been a kind of target date for terrorists planning attacks. Does the White House have any information about an increase in threats surrounding this coming July 4th, or are there any plans to put the country on heightened alert, given the --
MR. FLEISCHER: Campbell, we remain a nation that is at war with terrorists who want to bring harm to America. And there's nothing immediate, a hard specific that I can point to, other than to say there is still a generalized sense of awareness and level of awareness in the country that there are terrorists who want to hit us. The President's message to America is, have a wonderful, happy holiday, enjoy July 4th season, enjoy the break and the vacation; but we are a nation at war and people need to remember that.
I think all you need to do is look here in Washington, D.C., an event that has historically been a wide-open event where people can come and go as they please on the Mall to gather and, now, for the first time since September 11th, there will be different procedures to guarantee people's -- to help guarantee people's safety on the Mall. It's a reflection of a nation that's dealing with a country that has every meaningful expectation and right to celebrate while being cautious.
Q So nothing specific, though, relating to this 4th of July?
MR. FLEISCHER: There's always a general level of awareness. Any time Americans gather in large numbers, there is a sense of awareness that terrorists who seek to do harm to our country look at events that have large numbers. That's the general level of awareness I think we've all recognized before at sporting events and other things of that nature.
Ed, Sarah, and then we'll come to you, Les, and we'll come back up. Ed.
Q Ari, given that Congresswoman Connie Morella votes perhaps more often than any other House Republican against the President's agenda, why did the President attend a fundraiser for her? Does it reflect some concern that she's in danger of losing her seat?
MR. FLEISCHER: One, I'm not sure about the premise of your question. It is very well possible there is some other Republicans who vote even more against the President. But I think it just shows that --
Q Who? (Laughter.)
MR. FLEISCHER: -- the Republican Party is a --
Q Name one.
MR. FLEISCHER: That's your question, Les. You're done. (Laughter.) Thank you, Les.
Ed. I think it's just further evidence that the Republican Party is a big tent and that the President is going to work hard to reelect people who broadly support the Republican agenda, the compassionate conservative agenda that the President has talked about, and who focus on education, particularly an important issue for all Republicans. And that's what you're seeing. The President will continue to work hard to support people who support him.
Q Thank you, Ari. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld says the war against terrorism is worldwide, and includes Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad. How is the President going to combat those organizations and stop them from conducting suicide attacks?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the war on terrorism, as the President has said, is a war on many fronts. And those fronts include the financial war, the diplomatic war, the political war, as well as the military war. And in the case of those entities, there have been steps taken to freeze their assets to prevent them from being able to fund terrorism. And certainly the President's message about the Middle East involves the Palestinian Authority and its support for terrorism, and that's tied in many cases to some of these groups.
Q Ari?
MR. FLEISCHER: You have to stick to one question, because you've already had one. Pick your two, and choose one, because you're only going to have one.
Q Really --
MR. FLEISCHER: No, no, no.
Q -- you go away for a whole week. And it was two traffic jams I went through. (Laughter.)
MR. FLEISCHER: You're about to go through a third. (Laughter.)
Q The New York Times reports meager harvests in Africa leave millions at the edge of starvation, "including Zimbabwe, to whom neighboring nations used to turn for help during food shortages. But now Zimbabwe can barely help itself, let alone its neighbors, because it, too, is facing famine." And my question: What is the President's belief about Robert Mugabe's agricultural reverse apartheid in seizing hundreds of farms because they're owned by white farmers? And why didn't the President even bring this up, this destructive racism, at the G-8 meeting?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as you know from the President's announcement in Monterrey, Mexico, and to the announcement that was made this week in Calgary, the President is focused, as well as the G-8 nations, on bringing help to Africa. And the President believes very strongly that the best way to help the people of Africa is by giving incentives for the governments that are open, that are transparent, that follow the rule of law. And those nations that do that will receive increased aid, so that aid can actually get down to the people and make a difference and help in their lives.
The case of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe has moved in the wrong direction, and particularly in terms of their election that they just held. And so this is a very deeply seated belief with the President, that people around the world deserve help from the United States. The President has announced a Millennium Challenge Account to provide that funding, but he wants to make sure that the funding is not a waste of money -- that not only loses money for the taxpayers but is harmful to people in these nations if the
money ends up in the hands of corrupt governments.
And I promised --
Q That was an excellent answer. What --
MR. FLEISCHER: And I promised Helen -- you've had your two. Helen has -- Helen has been patient.
Q No, no, no. I've been away for a week. Just one more.
MR. FLEISCHER: I haven't seen Helen since this morning. Helen. (Laughter.)
Q I'll yield to Helen, but could you come back, Ari?
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, do you accept his yield?
Q I want to know, would the President accept campaign contributions from any of the companies that seem to be culpable? I know they give to both parties, but the President himself? He's on fundraisers every week, and I wondered whether these corporations, would he accept their money if they were under a cloud?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think, as you know, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee announced yesterday they were giving back their money. And the Republican National Committee is making a similar decision.
Q Could you reprise the administration's decision on the international criminal court, the reasons why it's not interested in being a party?
MR. FLEISCHER: The administration believes very strongly, as you've seen in our actions with Slobodon Milosevic and with the war criminals in the former Yugoslavia that the importance of prosecuting people for human rights violations is they conducted a war against their own people and the tribunal has been set up successfully so to bring these former leaders -- would-be leaders to justice. And that has worked and worked well on the basis it's been established.
The administration does have a very deep-seated concern about the international criminal court as a separate entity, because that court will have jurisdiction over people who are not even members signed up to be under its jurisdiction. That would pose unacceptable risk to American peacekeepers throughout the world, and that's why the President does not support the international criminal court while, of course, the United States does support and will continue to support the creation of tribunals or judicial entities to bring war criminals to justice, as we've proved in the case of Serbia and Milosevic and others.
Q Ari, given the current firestorm over corporate fraud and corporate responsibility, has either the President or the Vice President gone back to make sure that the accounting practices at Halliburton didn't violate any rules and didn't try to bend the rules? As you know, the SEC is looking into Halliburton -- including the period in which the Vice President was employed at Halliburton. Have they gone back to double check to make sure nothing was wrong?
MR. FLEISCHER: Anything like that, I would refer you to Halliburton. Halliburton can address those questions about any of their records.
Q But has the White House tried to make sure -- has anybody from the White House said, we want to make sure that nothing happened? -
MR. FLEISCHER: Not to my knowledge. Not to my knowledge.
Thank you.
Q Do you have the week in advance, Ari?
MR. FLEISCHER: I did that this morning. Yes, the week ahead was done this morning. We'll get you a copy of it.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Microsoft has added a handful of image- and photography-related features in a new version of the Windows 10 SDK. It, along with the OS itself, will become generally available at the end of the month.
Even if the development of the SDK is on the home stretch, Microsoft thinks there is still time to add new APIs.
The Advanced Captured Photo and Advanced Photo APIs lets developers build apps that can take High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos on supported devices. For devices that lack hardware HDR capabilities, a platform-provided algorithm can be used to create HDR-like photos, Microsoft said in a blog post on Tuesday.
There are also new APIs for accessing color, depth, or infrared camera data and saying what camera should be used for face authentication with Microsoft's Hello feature when building UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps, which are meant to run on different device types. Windows Hello integrates support for biometric authentication using a face, iris, or fingerprints.
The SDK and the associated Windows 10 Mobile Emulator can be downloaded from Microsoft's Windows Dev Center. They're installed side by side with Visual Studio 2015 Release Candidate, so developers can continue building apps while still getting to try the new APIs.
The software Microsoft releases this month will have a major impact on the company's future ability to attract developers. That will in turn affect the success of Windows 10 laptops, tablets and smartphones. Visual Studio 2015 is scheduled to arrive on July 20, followed by Windows 10, the Windows 10 SDK, and the Visual Studio UWP app development tools on July 29.
During that nine-day gap, Visual Studio 2015 won't work with previews of the Windows 10 SDK and Universal Windows app tools, meaning developers won't be able to write UWP apps. Microsoft recommends affected developers continue using the Visual Studio release candidate they already have until the 29th, and only upgrade when all the pieces are in place.


text:
I've already told you that Marc Jacobs wants to control the ENTIRE fashion world. He is a behind-the-scene puppet master who manipulates EVERYONE around him! He gives ideas for many brands just in to order to be in control over EVERYTHING. He is egomaniac.
Let's talk about the italian based brand DSQUARED. Jacobs has a big influence on this brand among many other brands.
Jacobs gave many of my ideas, designs, pictures for Dsquared ( without my permission of course.) Let me show you a few from the many examples.
The new 2014 Cruise collection recently came out. They copied my photos, the ones I took in 2011 at Kong Paris.
It's not the first time Jacobs used my Kong Photos for Inspiration. He has already copied my photos for his own campaign in 2012. Jacobs get inspiration from one picture more times.
So, how can the creative director of Louis Vuitton bring MY ideas for Dsquared?
Well, easily. His long-time friend, stylist, editor, Katie Grand usually works for Dsquared. She brought my ideas there. For the Fall 2012 Dsquared campaign Mert & Marcus (they used to shoot most of the Louis Vuitton campaigns before 2008. In 2008 I told Jacobs that my fav. photographer was Steven Meisel, since then he shoots all the LV campaigns.) teamed up with Katie Grand to capture the charming DSquared2 campaign starring breakthrough star Daphne Groeneveld. Daphne is the same girl, who featured in the Dior campaign where she had to copy me. How interesting.
|Model: Daphne. Stylist: Katie Grand. Dsquared Fall 2012
The call-box pictures
In 2012 they copied my photos and my dress for the Cruise 2013 Dsquared campaign. Cara Delevingne starred in the campaign. Her carrier can be tracked back to Jacobs, if you want to know more details on how Jacobs supports Cara Delevingne click here.
|They copied my dress also
It's not the first time Jacobs copied my photos that were taken in Venice.
Jacobs has already copied one of my call-box pictures in 2010 with the Hungarian model he supports from the background. ( She was the one who walked next to Lagerfeld at the Chanel show just like I wrote it in my book, details here.)
|Katie Grand at the DSQUARED2 INTERVIEW PARTY IN NEW YORK IN 2013 FEBRUARY
Moschino copied my hot pink leather suit. Moschino's new creative director is Jeremy Scott. Jacobs got him that job last year.
|Peter Copping (fashion designer) with Marc Jacobs
More details :
Raf Simons copied my designs for Dior and now exists the fashion house.
Marc Jacobs power over Nina Ricci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Love Magazine, Ungaro, Katie Grand, Cara Delevingne, Kanye West and the stolen Hungarian song, details here.
18 years old Lily McMenamy had to walk topless on his latest fashion show in New York. She said Marc told her how to hold her breasts in one hand. Marc did not let her go home until 2.am. Read my article with details: If you want to walk the Marc Jacobs runway, all you have to do is to satisfy his perverse fantasy.
Marc Jacobs controls Miley Cyrus, Terry Richardson and Lady Gaga. Read more here.
Marc Jacobs the Godfather, in Sponge Bob Disguise, click here
Marc Jacobs is obsessed with women, it seems that he is not gay really. He supports the Hungarian models, click here
I wrote a book about the first 2 years of my relationship with Jacobs. You can read a quote :
"Hot sex scene with designer Marc Jacobs"
Sofia Coppola copied my photos for the Miss Dior Cherie Campaign, check the photos here
Kanye West recently stole a 40 years old Hungarian song. Marc Jacobs asked him to do so. Listen to the songs and read the details
How did Jacobs put hidden cameras inside my room and spied on me? Details.
Read the details on how Jacobs control Dior and copied my photos for the Dior campaigns, here.
Lady Gaga and Marc Jacobs. He made Lady Gaga to dress up in my style, details here
Read how Marc Jacobs copies my ideas for Miu Miu and Prada


text:
Miriam over a AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors wrote a little bit about our connection. No, we're not related, but some of our research is centered in the same geographic area. Although we don't share families, sharing locations is a warm, happy feeling on a cold snowy day. Thanks for the mention, Miriam!
Dec 19


text:
New Car/Review
Hyundai Elantra GLS
SEE ALSO: Hyundai Buyer's Guide
by Annabelle Frankl
If you're looking for a "driver's car" then you should stop reading now and look elsewhere. However, if you're looking for a cheap, solid, pretty nicely appointed sedan, which will get you from A to B, reliably, in relative style, and with little fuss, read on.
Powered by a 2 liter, DOHC MFI 16-valve 4-cylinder inline engine, the Elantra gets off to a good start. The engine is extremely quiet and rather punchy, producing 140 hp@ 6000 rpm, and 133 lb-ft of torque @ 4800 rpm. Acceleration is good, if somewhat hampered by a horrible manual gearbox. Truly, it's up there with a Skoda I once drove, and that's saying something. Shifting from 1st to 2nd feels like a movement one might make on a trombone, but less secure, with the gearstick wobbling around as much when in gear, as in neutral. Took a bit of getting used to and detracted from the gutsy little engine.
And then there's the handling. Or rather lack-there-of. Pretty pathetic, I have to say. Minimal grip, road holding and cornering ability. Thank god they don't make SUV's. The Independent MacPherson strut front, and Independent multi-link rear axle suspension itself wasn't bad, giving a pretty firm ride, but the chassis could well have been made of 10 different parts, all moving individually of each other given the stability of ride achieved. The power assisted dual diagonal braking system was effective, if lacking in the delivery of a real punch, but did the job with relative smoothness.
All of which 'lacklustreness' is rather a shame, because the boys at Elantra have obviously tried extremely hard to kit out the car with as many gadgets and knobs and colour-coded stuff as possible, things one might not expect to find in a $12.5K car. Consider speed sensitive power rack and pinion steering (light, quite precise); halogen headlamps; power body-colour heated mirrors; power windows w/ driver express down. The interior was spacious and comfortable, although the seats could have been a little firmer. One minus point: the dash is designed at just the right angle that in the lovely shade of khaki in which mine was appointed, full reflection of dash on windscreen was possible, giving a rather skewed visibility. General visibility is, however, good.
Plenty of room in back for baby seats/kids/grown ups, and a cavernous trunk allows for luggage too. Excellent storage throughout actually - doors, seat backs, center console. Safety features include driver and front passenger front and side impact airbags, collapsible steering column, 5-mph bumpers and front passenger presence detection.
This car is definitely made with practicality in mind. In fact, practicality is the word for this car. It does a ridiculous 25/33 mpg city/hwy. And with the extensive warranty coverage offered by Hyundai, the smooth running of your car is unlikely to ever be a concern. It may not be a driving machine, but it's a well-oiled one that is kind on the pocket, both to buy and to run.
Facts & Figures Price: $12499.00 Engine 2 liter DOHC MFI 16-valve 4-cylinder inline Transmission 5-speed manual w/ overdrive HP 140 @ 6000 Torque 133 @ 4800 Brakes Ventilated front disc/self-adjusting rear drum Suspension Independent MacPherson strut front Independent multi-link rear axle Steering Speed sensitive power rack & pinion Fuel Economy City/highway 25/33Features include: Dual front & side air bags, A/C, electric rear window defrost, 60/40 split seat, power door locks, power window, power mirrors, tinted glass.
For additional information about the Hyundai Elantra GLS visit: www.hyundaiusa.com


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1966 Ford Mustang Coupe - Devoted
It looks like a vintage 'Stang, but under the hood is EFI power.
Related Video
Car envy-we can all relate to it. Somewhere in your youth there was THAT person with THAT car, and it left an indelible impression on your brain. Maybe it was a relative, a friend of the family, or your sister's loser boyfriend. The worst off of us won't even remember the person at all-just the car. Something about it just pushed all the right buttons.
So David Lewis' story is a familiar one, but his adds a unique twist: He bought the actual car he fell in love with. In his words, "I was with my best friend from high school at his house when his neighbor showed up with this '66 Mustang coupe. It sounds crazy, but it was the first time I had seen an older Mustang in person." He was hooked. In fact, after seeing the car, he vowed to his father that he would own a Mustang before he graduated from college.
A few years passed and the friend's neighbor, of course, let the car languish in the elements before realizing he'd never fix it. David got the call and came to the Mustang's rescue.
That was a little over two years ago. What you're seeing in these pictures is the end result of dogged determination on David's part, because the car really needed help. Though it cleaned up OK and ran when he bought it, closer scrutiny turned up some serious flaws. The floorpans were rusty and had been victim to a half-assed repair by a previous owner; the engine overheated after more than 30 minutes of driving; the suspension was a mess, and there was a 31/44-inch-thick sheet of Bondo holding the quarter-panels together. Handformed sheetmetal is cool, but a person who fabricates body panels of polyester body filler is a hack-there's just no way around it.
As you've guessed by now, David ended up disassembling the entire car. At the time, he was a mechanical engineering student at Kettering University (formerly the GM Institute) in Flint, Michigan. So the car provided an ideal hands-on supplement to the theoretical lessons he was learning in the classroom. "I did learn a lot," he says, admitting that he was a real novice prior to the purchase of the Mustang. "I did all the mechanical work and disassembled the car, but I left the bodywork and paint to a pro."
Things get interesting when you pop the hood. David eschewed tradition in favor of a modern EFI powerplant from a '92 Mustang. The engine was for sale on eBay, but no one bid on it. David contacted the seller and made a deal. When he got to the seller's house, he ended up buying the trans, wiring harness, gas tank, driveshaft, and dashboard, too. In other words, he had virtually all the elements he'd need for the engine swap. Adding to his good fortune, the owner of the donor car had just rebuilt the engine with some serious speed parts before wrapping the car around a tree. His loss was David's gain. He spent the next two years rebuilding the Mustang-commuting to his home in Ohio on weekends. Though the swap was not without its frustrations, David says he'd do it again. He likes the fact that the car starts right up in any weather, and we liked his ultraclean install. We met David at the Buckeye All-Mustang Show at Summit Racing Equipment's headquarters in Tallmadge, Ohio, where his car really stood out from the crowd.
Tech NotesWho: David Lewis
What: '66 Ford Mustang coupe
Where: Wooster, Ohio, reportedly home to more Ph.D.s per capita than anywhere else in Ohio.
Engine: The block is a '92 5.0 topped with '69 351 Windsor heads. David doesn't know all the specs for the engine because he bought it already assembled from an eBay seller. He knew it had been recently rebuilt with high-compression pistons, roller rocker arms, and a really lumpy Crane camshaft. His college roommate convinced him to go with a fuel-injected engine. David had a '69 302 he was thinking of installing for a while.
Induction and fuel delivery: The hot-ticket intake for 5.0L guys is the GT40, and David's engine is no exception. He capped it off with a 75mm throttle body and 24-lb/hr fuel injectors.
Engine management: The donor car's wiring harness fit with little modification, so David used it rather than ordering an engine-swap harness. An X3Z computer from a '93 Cobra, stashed in the glovebox, keeps things running.
Exhaust: Headers were a no-brainer. David dropped in a pair of JBA shorties and connected them to a 211/42-inch exhaust system complemented by a pair of Jones Exhaust Systems Full Boar mufflers.
Ignition: Stock Duraspark. Nothing wrong with that.
Transmission: David modified the '66 crossmember to accept the donor car's Borg-Warner T5 trans. He works for LuK Automotive Systems as a quality engineer, so you can guess what brand clutch he's using. The driveshaft wouldn't fit, of course, so he ordered an aluminum one from Mustangs Plus.
Rearend: The rear axle is an 8-inch David also scored from eBay. It came out of a '66 fastback whose owner was upgrading to a 9-inch. He filled it with 3.55:1 gears on the factory limited-slip differential. The axles are stock.
Suspension: The car was originally a six-cylinder granny-mobile. Fortunately, David tossed all that stuff and rebuilt the front end to accept the manly V-8. He used GT Performance springs up front and exchanged the sagging leaf springs for OE replacement ones. He added traction bars to control spring wrap.
Chassis: David had to repair some areas of the floorpan that had been cobbled together by a previous owner. He installed homemade subframe connectors, then treated the chassis to a liberal coating of POR-15.
Brakes: Not satisfied with stopping distances that are best measured in yards, David swapped out the stock drum brakes in favor of four-wheel discs from Stainless Steel Brakes. He runs 14-inch rotors in front and 11-inch rotors on the rear.
Wheels/Tires: Those are 245/45ZR-17 Falken Ziex ZE-512 tires front and rear mounted on Bullitt-replica wheels from OE Performance Wheel.
Paint/Body: Jeff Kahl from Kahl's Kustoms in Mansfield, Ohio, welded on new quarters and massaged the creases and dings out of the remaining sheetmetal. He sprayed the body with Tungsten Grey, a color option on Mustangs starting with the '06 model-year. The LeMans and rocker stripes are done in Diamond White.
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Guess Who Is Coming For Dinner Returns With Season 4
The past seasons of Guess Who Is Coming For Dinner saw people being surprised by the relatives and loved ones most at times the people being surprised could not hold back their tears of joy and appreciation for the wonderful gesture by the relatives, loved one�s and the Guess who is coming for dinner crew. Season four of Guess Who Is Coming For Dinner bounces back with beautiful surprises and excellent recipes from seasoned chefs that can easily be replicated by all at home is back on GhOne television. Guess Who Is Coming For Dinner is not just a TV reality cook show but a show that allows one to share interesting stories, emotional true life accomplishment, the joy of sharing warm surprises with family, excellent recipes of both exotic and local dishes. The show which returns to the screens on Sundays at 5:30pm on GhOne, gained for itself a respectable following when it premiered a number of years ago. The programme manages to keep viewers entertained right from the start of the programme to finish. It is a Gh One initiative with sponsorship from Alvaro supported by Tasty Tom and Indomie, is in many ways different from all the other cook shows that are aired on TV. The first major difference is that the programme is shot on location at the homes of families. The presenter, chef and crew travel to homes of individuals who have been set up for a surprise meal by a loved one and the chef sets about preparing a mouth watering meal for that special person to be surprised. After the meal is prepared, the person who is has been surprised is invited to join the table with their family and friends and while they are eating, in walks a surprise guest who is supposed to be someone famous or someone the surprised person has been dying to meet. The guest joins in the meal among some small talk. Another thing that makes this show different in its class is the fact that, although it is a cook show, the focus is not only on the cooking process. An on-site Chef accompanies the Presenter and Crew to add that professional touch to the preparation of some of the most popular Ghanaian meals as well as continental dishes and at the same time the show focuses on relationships and their importance to the growth of society as a whole. Hosted by Naa Ashorkor, the show builds beautiful stories around families and brings these stories to life for viewers who cannot help but fall in love with it.
Story from peacefmonline.com News:
Published: 2013-02-26 17:34:32
© peacefmonline.com


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Our nation's water and wastewater infrastructure is at risk. Here are the challenges we face:
- 1.7 trillion: The number of gallons of drinking water we lose every year to faulty, aging, or leaky pipes. When you add in leakage from sewer and stormwater pipes, that number rises to 6 trillion gallons.
- 237,600: The number of water main breaks every year in the US. That's 700 a day, and almost one every two minutes.
- 47 years: The average age of our pipes. Pipes in urban centers are often older— Philadelphia's pipes average an age of 78 years; Washington D.C.'s average 77 years; New York's average 76 years.
- D: The grade U.S. drinking water and wastewater infrastructure receive from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
- $4.8 trillion: What we need to invest over the next twenty years to keep our water and wastewater systems in a state of good repair. Storm water systems will require an addition $298 billion over the next 20 years.


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Caroline Devries Work from Unknown Known and Templates. "My practice has evolved and is now principally focused on questioning the nature of the photograph, especially the photographic portrait, its physicality and its power of representation in the public as in the private sphere. I wish to explore the complexity and ability of the medium to deliver […]
Archives for posts tagged 'semi-meta'
Caroline Devries
Monday, 11 January 2010


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Inspiration: A Taste For Balance…
"Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings." ― Rumi
Flavor: (1)Distinctive taste; savor
(2) A distinctive yet intangible quality felt to be characteristic of a given thing: "What matters in literature . . . is surely the idiosyncratic, the individual, the flavor or color of a particular human suffering" (Harold Bloom) FreeDictionary.com
Inspiration: A Taste For Balance…
If I haven't checked in with you, it's not because I don't love you, I'm working on creating a balanced schedule that honors what we do; staying connected and in communication. In a dynamic blogging environment with lots of exciting, creatives to visit and chat with, time is a factor. The flavor of this blog at this time is to create balance with reflection. If, to answer Michelle's prompt, I had full access to my Akashic records, the book of my life, I would be wise to seek balance in reading my ordained chart; for the outcome of our destiny (kismet) often rests with us and our attitude. Once we accept our role, then we can sit and savor it… Balance
"You see, we cannot draw lines and compartments and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failures as stepping-stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair.' He paused, considering what he had just said. 'Yes', he repeated. 'In the end, it's all a question of balance." Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance
Even in the midst of happiness and doing all the things we love, there is pleasure and there is pain. We pick our pathway and march on knowing that if we stay grounded; joyfully grounded, the journey will yield many wonderful experiences. To be happy where we are is to be content with both our good and bad choices. To be happy with who we are is to embrace our gifts and gaffes. Both darkness and light are present in all of us… and it is the balance we seek between both worlds that keeps us inspired and motivated. How would we know happiness if we've never known its flip side? Happy people get sad, they just don't stay there… Balance. More Below!
To find the balance you want," Ketut spoke through his translator, "this is what you must become. You must keep your feet grounded so firmly on the earth that it's like you have four legs, instead of two. That way, you can stay in the world. But you must stop looking at the world through your head. You must look through your heart, instead. That way, you will know God." via Elizabeth Gilbert.
I believe that every time we operate from our heart, even if the outcome is not what we hoped for, we are left with an underlying feeling of peace and contentment. It's a delicate thing and needs to be nurtured. Recently, in the time I have spent purposefully reorganizing and rebuilding my online and offline space, including adding content again to my other blog, I have been at peace. To have balance, we must learn to seek equilibrium in the highs and lows and as Tony DeLiso suggests, Be observant: "Keep your best wishes, close to your heart and watch what happens. Stay Inspired, have a blessed day and thank you for stopping by! 🙂
*Please bear with me as I continue to catch up on your blogs. Thank you all for your patience! 🙂
Happy 2013! This post was inspired by a prompt from WP Daily Post: Daily Prompt: 32 Flavors. Vanilla, chocolate, or something else entirely? And Daily Prompt: This Is Your Life If you could read a book containing all that has happened and will ever happen in your life, would you? If you choose to read it, you must read it cover to cover.
Positive Motivation Tip: Balance is a bit of darkness and a bit of light marinated with love, happiness and hope …. Savor it. ♥HAPPY 2013!♥ 🙂
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos via Balance, Quartz-Epidote, via Wikipedia, Balance via ChrisM70 and Balance by Slightly less Random via Flickr or my personal collection
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
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11/01/2013 11:43 am
Excellent written… 🙂
11/01/2013 12:22 pm
You know, I've always been confused by the Positive Kismet blog! I don't know why I couldn't find it and then I thought it was just another name for this blog! How long have I been following you?! Shame on me! You are a hard working blogger, my friend! Wow. Balance is a great subject for such a busy writer! I will have to peruse the Positive Kismet when I get more time… xoxo
19/01/2013 3:22 am
Oh do check it out when you have a moment. I started it before I started this one. Then I was so busy last year that I ended up not posting there at all. This year, I'm going to add more posts there and work out a plan that makes sense for both blogs and my offline commitments. TY darling! 🙂
11/01/2013 1:52 pm
Great quote and insights! Thank you for the balance tip!
11/01/2013 2:38 pm
This post spoke right to the heart of me. Thanks Eliz.
11/01/2013 2:38 pm
You really hit on a subject that speaks volumes…balance. Now I have to check out Positive Kismet. Perfect quotes.
11/01/2013 2:45 pm
Sometimes it's hard to be balanced all the time and it's the highs and lows that (hopefully) keep us somewhere in 'middle ground'.
Rumi is brilliant and I love it when you use his quotes – it keeps me in balance for the rest of the day 😉
11/01/2013 5:41 pm
I've been working on balance myself. So many things to focus on and I want to give my attention in full, not piece-parts. This post mentioned so many things I haven't had the time to formulate a complete thought on.
19/01/2013 4:06 am
TY for your feedback… I write these posts because they help me too. Feel free to take your time and explore what you need… we all need to do that . 🙂
20/01/2013 8:46 pm
Yes apparently I need a lot of down time 🙂 Life has made it clear that I need to slow down and live more purposefully. So that is what I'm doing.
23/01/2013 10:50 am
Same thing happening here… I've been pulled back to deal with offline challenges and find quiet space… I still blog and now must do some catching up but I'm slowly shifting my schedule. After January, I will not blog on weekends just use it to support others and catch up… I need to ramp down a bit. TY! 🙂 Purposeful is the word for me too.
11/01/2013 5:50 pm
What a great post, Eliz. I know as a writer, an artist, and working gal, balance is what I've vowed to have more of this year. 🙂
11/01/2013 5:53 pm
Keep on reminding and motivating us, Eliz. Thanks again.
11/01/2013 7:33 pm
Fantastic post, Elizabeth. The correct balance is what we all strive for, but it isn't easy at all. 🙂
12/01/2013 9:23 am
I've been organizing like crazy lately trying to find balance. (and my external hard drive but I'm not talking about that now)
12/01/2013 1:23 pm
I tell yah! I browsed and browsed and browsed through your blog, After all your highly encouraging words, I couldn't find anything I can use for my 200th post. I finally did because of this post. I think in all equations of life, THE, as in THE, answer to everything is something that is hard to find, something that you have to juggle with, something that is a grey area and that is BALANCE. Thanks for posting about it.
12/01/2013 5:25 pm
Wonderful quotes and photographs! "Balance" is a concept that Rastafarians in Jamaica are very fond of…
12/01/2013 8:40 pm
I usually have a word that kind of floats to my attention at the beginning of a new year. My "word" for 2013 is balance…I can't seem to get that word out of my head, so it must be meant for me. I enjoyed the Elizabeth Gilbert quote, Eliz. You seem very balanced to me, my friend! 🙂
13/01/2013 10:38 pm
i don't know if I ever will truly achieve balance. However, that doesn't mean I wont keep trying.
14/01/2013 7:39 am
Ah balance – the ever elusive tantalizing goal. Nicely done!
15/01/2013 7:16 am
"I believe that every time we operate from our heart, even if the outcome is not what we hoped for, we are left with an underlying feeling of peace and contentment." Words to live by, Eliz. I am busy marinating my day in love, happiness, and hope.
18/01/2013 6:53 am
I love these quotes, Elizabeth 🙂
20/01/2013 9:00 am
Yes balance is the key . Often hard to find, but we all somehow manage to do so in the end, don't we? 🙂 Wonderful quotes Eliz, every one of them.
20/01/2013 7:28 pm
Interesting to read your post, Elizabeth. I've been trying to find that balance since late last year by blogging less so I can find time to read more. It's a work in progress, I'm a work in progress.
kaiser permalink09/04/2013 11:55 am
great pictures, well balanced
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After engaged couple Stephanie and Arryn did a sexy "boudoir" photo shoot with Bria Terry of Wolf & Rose Photography, Bria was so taken by how in love the pair is that she shared some of the images.
They immediately went viral with people across the globe pointing out the clear infatuation the two showed with each other, and also how nice it was to see a real woman in some sexy shots.
However there were some people who weren't too thrilled with the pics - Stephanie's bosses at Austin Bank, Texas National Association. Stephanie, who wore a swimsuit bottom and strapless top in the photos, explained to Buzzfeed, "They said I was topless and it was inappropriate and we're a family-oriented company."
So they fired Stephanie. She said, "There was no defending myself, they had made their decision. I gave over a year to a company that I worked really hard for and then to have them turn on me for doing something so positive, something that I was so proud of – to help myself as a woman – it was hurtful. People were pulling out their phones at work and showing the pictures and that was blamed on me."
She added, "It's just disheartening to me because I feel like home life and work life are two totally different things. I was a model employee, I was moving up fast. I had a promotion within seven months. This one thing, for me, was the reason I was booted."
Here's hoping Stephanie quickly finds a new position she loves as much as she loves her fiance.


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Story highlights
The women and girls escaped while militants left to launch an attack
Hundreds of girls abducted in April are still believed held hostage
Boko Haram has recently increased abductions of females
Boko Haram is trying to impose strict Sharia law across Nigeria
Sixty-three women and girls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month in Nigeria escaped from their captors and have returned to their burnt village, a security source and a local vigilante fighting the militant group said.
The hostages were seized from the Kummabza village in northern Borno state on June 18 after a four-day invasion of the village by Boko Haram insurgents. The militants killed 30 men and burned the entire village.
Their escape is good news, but the Islamist terrorist group is still believed to be holding about 200 schoolgirls abducted April 14 from their hostels in the town of Chibok – a case that drew international outrage and prompted a global campaign for their release.
Boko Haram has been active as a violent group since 2009 and has killed Nigerians, both Christian and Muslim, at rates frequently exceeding 100 people weekly.
The name "Boko Haram" translates to "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language. The militant group is trying to impose strict Sharia law across Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa.
The group especially opposes the education of women. Under its version of Sharia law, women should be at home raising children and looking after their husbands, not at school learning to read and write.
'Rare opportunity to escape'
The female hostages escaped Friday while their captors left their camp to launch an attack against the military and police in the nearby town of Damboa, said Bukar Kyari, a local vigilante fighting Boko Haram in Maiduguri.
Soldiers overwhelmed the insurgents, forcing them to mobilize all their men and leave the abducted women in the camp, Kyari said.
"The women seized that rare opportunity to escape when they realized they were alone in the camp," Kyari said. "But we still have five women, including a nursing mother, missing."
News of the escape was slow to emerge due to trouble with telecommunication towers in the area damaged by previous Boko Haram attacks.
Boko Haram has recently intensified abductions of women in northeastern Borno state, where its five-year insurgency is largely concentrated.
When a group of women and girls abducted in November was later rescued from Boko Haram, some were pregnant. Others had been forcibly converted to Islam and married off to their kidnappers.
The April kidnapping galvanized international opinion against Boko Haram and inspired the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
The terror group abducted an estimated 276 girls April 14 from a boarding school in Chibok in northeastern Nigeria. Dozens escaped, but more than 200 girls are still missing.
Since then the insurgents, seemingly galvanized by the attention, have stepped up the frequency and brazenness of the attacks on villages in the region. Other girls have been kidnapped, but in lesser numbers.
The Nigerian government has come under fire for not doing enough to find the girls. About a month ago the government tried to stop organized protests for the abducted girls, then backtracked and allowed the protests.
Deadly battles rage on
Meanwhile, the group continues battling Nigeria's military.
Its ambitions have apparently expanded to the destruction of the Nigerian government.
On Friday, at least six soldiers, five police officers and 53 Boko Haram fighters were killed after the militants launched an attack in the town of Bama, the Nigerian Defense Ministry said.
Local residents said half the town was burnt, including the police station.
Many of Boko Haram's attacks take place in the northern part of the country, despite the fact that Nigeria's northern half is mainly Muslim and the south is mainly Christian.
But the radical militant group does not consider all Muslims as supporters and allies. Boko Haram has allegedly killed Muslim clerics who have dared to criticize the group.
And there have been suggestions that it attacks certain mosques because members have spoken out against it and helped federal officials with their crackdown. Analysts say attacks are aimed at instilling fear in the local population to prevent cooperation with the government.
Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic young cleric, founded Boko Haram 12 years ago as part of his push for a pure Islamic state in Nigeria. He was killed in 2009, but his group lived on.
Boko Haram became more violent after his death as his supporters vowed to strike back. Human Rights Watch estimates that in the past five years, more than 3,000 people have been killed in the violence.
Nigeria: Arrested women recruited for Boko Haram
Aminu Abubakar reported from Kano; Holly Yan reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Faith Karimi contributed to this report.


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The Play That Goes Wrong
Buy Tickets Learn More Show Website
What would happen if Sherlock Holmes and Monty Python had an illegitimate Broadway baby? You'd get THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, Broadway & London's award-winning smash comedy! Called "A GUT-BUSTING HIT" (The New York Times) and "THE FUNNIEST PLAY BROADWAY HAS EVER SEEN" (HuffPost), this classic murder mystery is chock-full of mishaps and madcap mania delivering "A RIOTOUS EXPLOSION OF COMEDY" (Daily Beast). Welcome to opening night of The Murder at Haversham Manor where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. With an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can't play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines), it's "TONS OF FUN FOR ALL AGES" (HuffPost) and "COMIC GOLD" (Variety) – sure to bring down the house!
Performance Times & Dates
Feb. 11 at 7:30PM
Feb. 12 at 7:30PM
The Clemens Center