text:
I will pass.
there needs to be a end point to all the variants. and for me, this doesn't have enough "differences" to be considered anything worth getting.
Printable View
I will pass.
there needs to be a end point to all the variants. and for me, this doesn't have enough "differences" to be considered anything worth getting.
after you make it ´classics´, isn´t a filmation he-man just going to be a change of colours? this sounds so much like the 200x head debate, i think the same answer is going to apply to filmation.
i don't want straight up repaints in the sub - i want my variants to be stuff like TP he-man, best save it for the 'refresh' of figures later on down the line. if you want a mini line of straight up repaints outside of the sub (like the create-a-character approach) then i wouldn't mind.
im in 100% i want to see a filmation he-man by the 4 horseman
i like my custom but i wonder how they could improve the head to make him more accurate
and of course please teela head......................!!!!!!!!!!! they have to make a filmation teela and all the pop girls must be a filmation ones!!!!!! after those ones only hordak and skeletor should be in a filmation style also!!
Yep, I'm not one for a double-standard. Those of us like me who wanted MYP heads for Buzz-Off, Clawful, and Roboto kept hearing "This is MOTU Classics not 200X!" can now repeat that very same thing about a Filmation interpretation.
This is MOTU Classics, not Filmation Classics!!! :hmlol:
Joking aside, I've already said that I'd like a REALISTIC Filmation He-Man headsculpt, but to be fair, we'd need an MYP version as well. No double-standards.
I have no problem with this! LOTS of people want both versions, so I don't see why not!
But the ONLY reason I think we have a better chance of getting a Filmation head is that it still seems like someone at Mattel is still afraid of 200X, but we're now getting the 200X Keldor swords, so it would seem that anything is possible!
If a support thread gets little to no support does it still make it official? :tjwink:
Assuming we'll see a He-Man and a Skeletor variant once a year, once Flying Fist He-Man, Laser Power He-Man, NA He-Man, Snake Armor He-Man, Ice Aromr He-Man and "Battleground He-Man" get done, Mattel will need a Filmation He-Man for a refresh.
But that won't be for a very long time. I don't think we'll see "Battleground He-Man" for a long while. Even if we do see both of them, they might be optional figures like She-Ra 2.0 was.
For me, not quite.
Those colors, but Buzz-Off colored skin. Filmation He-Man is way darker than original He-Man. Original He-Man has the same colored skin as Teela! That's not a tan, that's normal skin color.
I'd say keep the details on the belt, bracelets and boots in, except for the harness.
My recipe for this variant: Classicized Filmation head ala Adora or She-Ra, Simplistic blue harness, blue removable scabbard on back, long Filmation power sword, repainted regular MOTUC Power Sword and alternate MOTUC He-Man head in Filmation colors. 4 new pieces. BAM.
That same long Filmation Power Sword can be re-used for an upcoming She-Ra variant.
Well, Filmation rights have just been acquired, and already we've been shown the Filmation interpretations of the Sorceress, Shadow Weaver, Queen Marlena, and Cringer. Before that we already had Buzz-Off and Roboto who are also Filmation interpretations. The way I see it, Mattel is off to a VERY fast start to their Filmation characters.
Yet, MYP fans have been waiting for almost 3 years and they STILL don't have MYP interpretations of main characters like He-Man, Buzz-Off, Roboto, King Randor, or the Sorceress. Hopefully, that changes soon and we get at least one Filmation and one MYP A-list variant each year.
Matty doesn't seem to get the essence of the question.
What's even more odd is that they're naysaying the very exact thing ("sofa bed") they're doing with their 6" scale Young Justice figures, having a stylized head on the somewhat stylistically mismatched bodies.
Really though, because the word "Filmation" automatically conjures images of a very low detail, highly animated style, maybe people should be asking for a "William George He-Man" instead.
Wouldn't that be pretty much what is requested here? A new head with the more neatly chopped page boy, a new harness with the bigger + symbol, and then a more detailed 4H interpretation of a Filmation-esque Power Sword thrown in, and you've got a pretty awesome He-Variant.
I do agree with Matty though that a truly full-on Filmation stylized look would be best suited to a separate line, more along the lines of simple JLU-style figures, and they'd make for great boxed sets!
I wouldn't want one. Not because of low detail - I know 4H would fix that...but because a slightly bigger symbol, different harness and a more 'neatly' chopped page boy just don't seem enough of a variant for me.
Don't forget the Scabbard for the sword and the Male version of Adora's sword (minus the jewel)
I totally agree! We NEED a filmation He-man. I DON'T GET Toyguru's point about "sofa beds". He said that basically, they can't do filmation series in the line because they would look 'different' and 'at odd' with the other figures...
... But wait, look at Shadow weaver, Adora, Orko and Cringer... They look EXACTLY like their filmation counterpart! There's nothing "Classic-ized" about them. So why would a Filmation accurate He-man or Teela would be different?
So some of you guys know I like doing silly mock-ups. :hmgrin:
So here's a silly mock-up to illustrate just ONE way of doing a non-literal translation of the Filmation look into MOTUC:
Kind of a Filmation/William George hybrid look . . . who would be down for something like that?
The George Hamilton-esque tan of Filmation He-Man was nothing more than one of Filmation's many "cost-effective" methods of differentiating He-Man from Prince Adam while pretty much using the exact same animation model for both. As I said earlier, Filmation He-Man is nothing more than the Vintage He-Man figure model simplified for cost effective animating purposes. If Mattel does not want to make an MYP He-Man because the differences in appearance are too minimal in their opinion, then why should they spend any resources whatsoever on creating a variant that in reality is nothing more than a detail-less version of a figure which was already updated for this line?
You know, If Filmation could, they would have made the character designs more realistic to the toys and included more details so they would have looked more like the toys.
The only reason why they had less detail was because animation back in the day was very expensive. Filmation had to make a lot of cut-backs in detail and styles. This is why He-man didn't have his squares in his chest harness.
Actually, Mattel does want to make a 200X He-Man.
Answers to WTFWTK 2.51
4. Sabertooth:
In Pixel Dan's video review of reissue King Grayskull we have seen that a classic'ized version of 200X He-Man can be created by combining pieces of the reissue King Grayskull figure, the Man-at-Arms figure and the He-Man figure. Does this mean that a classic'ized version of 200X He-Man will not get a unique release in the MOTUC line?
In all honestly this was not intentional and was a nice bonus. We would still love to tackle a "classicized" version of 200X He-Man one day and, yes, he would look very similar to the kit bash fans have created using King Grayskull's body and He-Man head. Likely the changes would include recolored belts and bracelets as well as a new chest piece that did not have the cape holders on the shoulder. Nothing too drastically different. He would certainly have the same head and body.
The post you quoted basically says that if there were a "200X He-Man" in classics, it would be nothing more than a parts reuse with only slight retooling to the harness and utilizing the exact same He-Man head we've used on at least 8 figures already. By that precedent, Filmation He-man will most likely be nothing more than a repaint with slightly different tones of the existing colors and maybe a different hairpiece or sword. Maybe.
I don't think anyone in any camp was expecting the use of a new/different buck. That said, He-Man already has the following variations and/or repaints:
- He-Man
- He-Man (DC Comics Variant from DC vs MOTUC 2 Pack)
- Battle Armor He-Man
- Faker
- Wun-Dar
- Prince Adam
- Battle Armor Faker
- Thunder Punch He-Man (Revealed, coming soon)
That's already 8 different versions of the same figure with changes to the deco and different accessories. I highly doubt Mattel and/or the 4 Horsemen will anytime soon create another variant that for all intents and purposes will be based on the simplified version of a figure that they already updated. At least if/when they get to Oo-Lar, Oo-Lar is supposed a different character. Filmation He-Man on the other hand is basically Classics He-Man, just small differneces based on interpretation/art style. If Mattel/4H decide they do want to tackle a Filmation He-Man, it most likely won't be for a long time.


text:
Samsung Galaxy S Advance i9070
The Samsung Galaxy S Advance i9070 has been beautifully crafted to incorporate some of the recent innovations to optimise the overall user experience. This Samsung Galaxy runs Android v2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system on 768 MB of RAM for fast response to your commands. Latency in operation is further reduced by thedual core Cortex A9 processor that has maximum clock speed of 1 GHz. The 4 inch super AMOLED screen fitted on this bar-shaped touch operated phone is highly responsive to your commands. User-friendly nature of this device gets a resounding boost from TouchWiz 4.0 user interface that complements the Gingerbread. Graphics and images, on this screen, gain more vibrancy from WVGA resolution of this screen. This resolution has pixel density of 480 x 800 pixels.
The 5 megapixel camera fitted on the back side of this Samsung mobile phone helps you to click impressive visuals of your surroundings. The primary camera of this device is accompanied by an LED flash to let you click clear visuals even in dim light. This phone camera supports HD video recording with 1280 x 720 pixels of resolution and that too, at 30 fps. This phone camera, with touch focus and image editor, has attempted to redefine photography through handset.
The front panel of this phone carries another camera of 1.3 megapixels to help you indulge in voice chat or to click a self-portrait. You have the option of tagging your photos with geographic location through geo-tagging for better recall, at a later point of time. The trendy looks of this mobile phone will surely get you in the limelight for a unique style statement. When you are on a call, the proximity sensor helps the screen to lock itself to avoid any accidental touch. The display of this device switches between landscape and portrait mode with the help of pre-loaded gyro sensor.
Other sensors loaded on this phone include accelerometer, compass, light sensor and geomagnetic sensor. The Samsung Galaxy S Advance is a sleek device that has dimensions of 63 x 123.2 x 9.69 mm and hits the scale at 120 g to be lightweight. The jumbo battery of 1500 mAh, hidden beneath the case of this mobile phone, promises to fuel a talk time of up to 15 hours and 7 hours on 2G and 3G, respectively. Samsung has taken care of your storage related requirements by embedding this phone with a sufficiently large memory space. However, to keep all your favourite multimedia files at your disposal, you can expand the memory up to 32 GB with a microSD card.
The GPRS and Edge enabled Samsung Galaxy I9070 gives you the freedom to connect to the world of Internet through 2G network. If you want to browse the world of Internet at faster speed, then the 3G supportof this phone is just meant for you. This Wifi enabled Android based phone allows you to utilise the nearest Wifi hotspot to surf through the web pages. Samsung has attempted to deliver a phone that is more than a device to you. If you are lost in the streets of an unknown city, then ask you phone about the direction as it features A-GPS with Google Maps. Geographical distance will fail to keep you away from your loved ones as you will stay in touch with them through ChatON, Google Talk and Messaging apps that are pre-loaded on this device. You can use the Bluetooth and USB connectivityof the Samsung Galaxy S Advance I9070 to conveniently share files and documents with your friends. Further, the Digital Living Network Alliance or DLNA compliance of this device will help you connect with a range of other DLNA compliant devices.
Tags: adobe, Android, android 4.0, Android 4.1, Android evolution, Android software, Android version history, Apple, carriers, Cell phones, dolphin, Entertainment, firefox, flash, gadgets, Geek culture, Giovanni Calabrese, google, Google I/O, how to, Ice Cream Sandwich, ios, iphone 5, jelly bean, Jellybean, lg, mobile, Mobile Productivity, motorola, Motorola Electrify M, news, Nexus 4, operating system, optimus lte II, optimus vu, optimus vu ii, optimusg, Phones, s4, samsung, samsung galaxy, smartphone, smartphones, software updates, sony, sprint, Sprint Force, Themendous, touch, toys, us cellular, xperia, zte
Filed Under Google, Mobile Phone . Follow to this entry through the RSS 2.0feed.If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Howdy folks and Happy Monday!!! I am working on a rather detailed post for tomorrow and trying to actually do some work for my employer so I have not had anything ready for today.
I admit I was very lazy on Sunday, just enjoying Father's Day, and thought of writing never even crossed my mind. Alas, I have let my faithful readers down. Tune in tomorrow for some fireworks because this post is going to piss somebody off. Thanks to everyone for visiting and have a great day.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Kidney Damage (Continued)
But if you dive under the surface, the kidneys reveal themselves as incredibly complex networks of pumping, piping, tubing, and filters. And as much as I love to yack about the wonders of anatomy, I'll keep it simple today. Each kidney has a staggering one million delicate filters called nephrons. Two hundred quarts of blood pass through your two million nephrons every day, and they remove two quarts of waste products and extra water, converting them to urine. But these staggering workhorses are some of the most fragile structures in your body. High levels of sugar wreak havoc on them in a big way. And unlike many other structures in your body, if Black Bart Glucose runs the nephrons out of town, they don't come back. Ever. Kidneys can't regenerate.
Oh. And there's one other thing. Nephrons are not only delicate, they're sensitive, too. They don't work well under pressure. If fact, high blood pressure is almost as damaging to your kidneys as high blood sugar is. So much so, that if you had perfect blood sugar all the time, but have untreated high blood pressure, you could still end up in Tombstone. Not the tourist-circus one. The creepy one we started off with. There you go, high sugar and high pressure — the leading causes of kidney failure.
So this is where I have to talk to you about getting your posse together. (You really didn't think I'd be able to sustain the Hollywood Western theme this long, did you?) And your posse should include your doctor, your pharmacist, your blood glucose meter, and a blood pressure cuff. Yep. You only need a posse of four to take on the Hole in the Kidney Gang. For guns look to the Colt 45 ACE inhibitor. OK. Sorry. I let my creative side run away with me. Colt doesn't make an ACE inhibitor and they don't come in 45 milligram pills. An ACE is a type of blood pressure pill that comes in 2.5-, 5-, 10-, 20-, 30-, and 40-milligrams. They generally have names that end in "pril," like enalapril, lisinopril, and ramipril.
ACEs have two aces up their sleeves. First, they lower blood pressure, so that's good for the kidneys right there. Second, they seem to have some sort of magical properties of their own that help protect the kidneys from sugar damage. You got it, the ACE inhibitor is riding shotgun to get your kidneys through hostile territory. Most dFolks have high blood pressure, and most high blood pressure takes more than one pill to rein in. That being the case, one should be an ACE.
The protective attributes of ACE inhibitors are so well regarded that, in fact, the medical standards of care for diabetes state that everyone with diabetes should take one #151 even if their blood pressure is perfect. Of course, if your pressure is perfect, you'd take a very small dose. And if even that dose makes you dizzy, your doc will have you take it at bedtime. It's that important. Keeping our Western theme alive, you could picture your ACE inhibitor as your leather chaps, keeping your legs from getting full of cactus thorns on the cattle drive.
But despite the rosy picture I've tried to paint here, the truth is that Tombstone isn't a podunk Western town. It's a major city with hundreds of thousands of residents. And every year 50,000 people with uncontrolled diabetes move into town and start dialysis. Uncontrolled diabetes is the number one cause of kidney failure, and high blood pressure is a close second. Of course, as we talked about, many people with uncontrolled diabetes also have uncontrolled blood pressure.
I guess the Wild, Wild West isn't getting tame anytime soon.
Wil Dubois is the author of four multi-award-winning books about diabetes. He is a PWD type 1, and is the diabetes coordinator for a rural non-profit clinic. Visit his blog, LifeAfterDX.
Read more of Wil Dubois' columns.
NOTE: The information is not intended to be a replacement or substitute for consultation with a qualified medical professional or for professional medical advice related to diabetes or another medical condition. Please contact your physician or medical professional with any questions and concerns about your medical condition.


text:
Included accessories maintain optimal rubber and plastic seals in the steering gear
Avoids loss of oil, oil loss from dripping stops steering gears and regenerates hardened seals
Holes and channels of the steering gear are cleaned and freshened so the performance of the oil
The noise generation is reduced, extending the life and reduces the cost of repairs
Suitable for steering gear, which are filled with ATF II, III or ATF central hydraulic oils. Content admixing the surge tank of the steering system. 35 ml are sufficient for 1 liter oil volume
Content: 35 ml
Packaging: Tube
Technical Data Sheet see media.
Capacité du fichier


text:
Toxicity/Benefit Ratio Optimization of Chemotherapy in Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Patients by Determination of Individual Genotypic Determinants
This study has been completed.
Institut de Recherche Clinique sur les Cancers et le Sang
Information provided by:
Institut de Recherche Clinique sur les Cancers et le Sang
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: August 26, 2005
Last updated: July 19, 2010
Last verified: July 2010
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
This study intends to optimize a fluorouracil/irinotecan chemotherapy regimen by the identification of individual thymidylate synthase (TS) and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1 (UGT1A1) polymorphisms before the first administration.
The results of this identification determine the chemotherapy type: high-dose irinotecan or not.
Condition | Intervention | Phase |
Metastatic Colorectal Cancer |
Drug: irinotecan Drug: 5 fluorouracil |
Phase 4 |
Study Type: | Interventional |
Study Design: | Allocation: Non-Randomized Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment Masking: Open Label Primary Purpose: Treatment |
Official Title: | Protocole Evaluant Chez Des Patients Porteurs de Cancers Colorectaux Metastatiques l'Interet Des Determinants Genotypiques Pour l'Optimisation de l'Efficacite et de la Tolerance de la Chimiotherapie Par Irinotecan et 5-fluorouracile |
Resource links provided by NLM:
Further study details as provided by Institut de Recherche Clinique sur les Cancers et le Sang:
Primary Outcome Measures:
- tumor response rate [ Time Frame: during the treatment ]
Secondary Outcome Measures:
- toxicity [ Time Frame: during the treatment ]
- pharmacokinetics [ Time Frame: during the first administration ]
Enrollment: | 71 |
Study Start Date: | June 2005 |
Study Completion Date: | December 2008 |
Primary Completion Date: | November 2008 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure) |
Intervention Details:
Drug: irinotecan
180 mg/m² or 260 mg/m² in 90 minutes every 15 days
Drug: 5 fluorouracil
400 mg/m² in bolus in day 1 and 2400 mg/m² in 46 hours perfusion
Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years to 85 Years (Adult, Senior) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Has provided written informed consent prior to study-specific screening procedures, with the understanding that the patient has the right to withdraw from the study at any time without prejudice
- Ages between 18 and 85 years
- Histologically confirmed colorectal cancer
- No treatment for metastatic disease
- No irinotecan previously administered
- World Health Organization (WHO) performance status < 3
Laboratory values :
- neutrophils > 1.5 x 10^9/L;
- platelet count > 100 x 10^9/L;
- serum creatinine < 130µmol/L;
- serum bilirubin < 2 x upper limit of normal (ULN);
- ASAT and ALAT < 2.5 x ULN;
- alkaline phosphatase < 5 x ULN.
- At least one measurable lesion by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria
Exclusion Criteria:
- History of another malignancy except cured basal cell carcinoma of the skin or carcinoma in situ of the uterine cervix, breast or bladder.
- Other concomitant anticancer therapy.
- Pregnant or lactating women.
- Women of childbearing potential unless using a reliable and appropriate contraceptive method.
- Symptomatic cerebral or leptospiral metastasis.
- Intestinal obstruction.
- Uncontrolled seizures (diabetes, severe infection).
- Clinically significant cardiac disease.
- Central nervous system disorders or severe psychiatric disability.
- Participation in any investigational study within 4 weeks.
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00138060
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00138060
France | |
Department of Oncology, CHU | |
Grenoble, France, 38043 | |
Department of Oncology, IPC | |
Grenoble, France, 38100 | |
Department of Gastroenterology, CHLS | |
Pierre Benite, France, 69310 | |
Department of Oncology - CHLS | |
Pierre Benite, France, 69310 | |
Department of Oncology, ICL | |
Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, France, 42271 | |
Institut Claudius Regaud | |
Toulouse, France |
Sponsors and Collaborators
Institut de Recherche Clinique sur les Cancers et le Sang
Principal Investigator: | Gilles Freyer, MD | Department of Oncology, CHLS, 69310 Pierre Benite, France |
More Information
Keywords provided by Institut de Recherche Clinique sur les Cancers et le Sang:
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on March 23, 2017
Responsible Party: | Gilles Freyer, IRCCSang |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00138060 History of Changes |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
Study First Received: | August 26, 2005 |
Last Updated: | July 19, 2010 |
Keywords provided by Institut de Recherche Clinique sur les Cancers et le Sang:
genotypic profile metastatic colorectal cancer |
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Colorectal Neoplasms Intestinal Neoplasms Gastrointestinal Neoplasms Digestive System Neoplasms Neoplasms by Site Neoplasms Digestive System Diseases Gastrointestinal Diseases Colonic Diseases Intestinal Diseases Rectal Diseases Fluorouracil |
Irinotecan Antimetabolites Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic Antineoplastic Agents Immunosuppressive Agents Immunologic Factors Physiological Effects of Drugs Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic Topoisomerase I Inhibitors Topoisomerase Inhibitors Enzyme Inhibitors |
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on March 23, 2017


text:
Hardin County United wants the state to clarify certain elements of the 2006 legislation enabling the creation of a unified local government before the voters of Hardin County consider the idea h
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the The News Enterprise, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
If you are new to the award winning The News Enterprise and wish to get a subscription or simply gain access to our online content then please enter your ZIP code below and continue to setup your account.
ZIP Code: | |


text:
As a follow-up to the CD Edition of my favorite 2008 reissues, here are my Vinyl LP choices:
1. The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies
Limited Edition, 180 Gram Vinyl.
Ray Davies is certainly not like everybody else here, nor is he a dedicated follower of fashion: "I'm a 20th Century Man but I don't want to be here," he angrily seethes. At the same time, in the nostalgically exquisite "Oklahoma USA," he fairly yearns for the company of Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae and a cinematic escape away where "All life we work / But work is a bore / If life's for livin' / then what's livin' for?" Embracing music hall and vaudeville, with songs ranging from country-folk to boozy blues, and subjects covering, say, demon alcohol and "sad memories you can't recall," or ocean-side holidays where "the sea's an open sewer," 1971's Muswell Hillbillies is one of the Kinks' more consistently first-rate albums, in both lyrical wit, bite, and poignancy – and in musical terms, as rooted in its infectiousness and ferociousness with which it conveys the ambiguity and ambivalence toward life in general, and living on London's Muswell Hill, specifically.
2. The New York Dolls – The New York Dolls
Limited UK 180 Gram, Vinyl Pressing.
When friends were listening to '70s luster and sludge like Journey and ELP — whose tunes I could not get attuned to — I discovered this debut '73 New York Dolls LP in, of all places, my local branch of the Orange County, California Public Library. I whisked it away, and soon got carried away by the reckless glam and proto-punk spirit. My friends thought I suffered a 'personality crisis' – and, fortunately, I had.
3. The Beach Boys – Endless Summer
Two LPs, Limited Edition.
Twenty-one tracks of '60s pop perfection from the first Wilson Administration. "And we'll have fun, fun, fun 'til her daddy takes the t-table away…"
4. The Band – The Band
Four-Color Gatefold Jacket, 180 Gram Vinyl.
A drunkard's dream if I ever did hear one. Rustic Americana done right by a bunch of mostly Canadian guys.
5. House of Freaks – Monkey on a Chain Gang
Though it doesn't pack the powerhouse punch of their 1989 sophomore stunner Tantilla, this stripped-down but striking 1988 debut presents the range of the guitar-and-drums duo (Bryan Harvey and Johnny Hott) from melodic pop to more dire declarations, such as found in the Wolfeian avowal that "You Can Never Go Home":
- Standing on a dusty road
Praying for a sign
Lightning only struck me once
And then it struck me blind…
You can never go home.
Tragically, Harvey's life came to an untimely end on January 1, 2006, when he was found by Hott in the basement of his burning house murdered — beaten, slashed and bound with electrical cord and tape — along with his wife and two young daughters.
6. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Limited Edition.
I dunno – much ever been said about this 1966 album?
7. The Who – Who's Next
UK Pressing.
Back in my record store days, when kids would come in looking for "Teenage Wasteland" and I would refer them to "Baba O' Riley" on Who's Next, most, though perplexed, bought the story and bought the '71 classic. But some, with defiant "won't get fooled again" attitudes, stalked off, maybe not so much seeking out a new revolution as looking for a large concrete piling to piss on.
8. The Ramones – Rocket to Russia
180 Gram, Color Vinyl.
1-2-3-4! "Teenage Lobotomy," "Sheena is a Punk Rocker," "Rockaway Beach"… The blasts of '77 punk-pop and rock — every hook, line, and singer — go persistently on in this third and cohesively exuberant Ramones album. Oh yeah, oh yeah.
9. The Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols
180 Gram Virgin Vinyl.
180-gram virgin vinyl? My my, hey hey. No, this isn't the story of Johnny Rotten, acting coy and demurely spitting.
10. Ian Hunter – Short Back and Sides
Death may have been your Santa Claus again this year, but when the former Mott the Hoople Kriss Kringle swaggered anew in '81 tonsorial solo splendor accompanied by the hard-edged and sharp Short Back and Sides, it bears repeating more than 25 years later.
Honorable Mentions:
Captain Beefheart – Safe as Milk
Rickie Lee Jones – Rickie Lee Jones
John Lennon – Imagine
Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral
Pretenders – Get Close
Queen – Sheer Heart Attack
Leon Redbone – No Regrets
R.E.M. – Document
Squeeze – Babylon and On
Stray Cats – Built for Speed
WATCH THIS SPACE… for my Vinyl Tap series, when I get a chance to dust off some old records and write about them, right here on Blogcritics.
Powered by Sidelines


text:
Lembit Opik, John Snow, and Tony Hayward announce they will be performing a three hander at Edinburgh this year. More soon.
Quick links: NewsBiscuit Home • Chat Room • Writers' Room • Top Ten
Edinburgh line up
(1 post) (1 voice)
Posted 6 years ago #
You must log in to post.


text:
Gesundheit + Ernährung
Tasty? Yes. Crunchy? Absolutely. But did you know that almonds also pack a serious nutritional punch?
Heart Health*
- High in monounsaturated ("good") fat
- No cholesterol or sodium
- A top food source of the antioxidant vitamin E
- 6 grams of protein per ounce serving
- 12 vitamins and minerals
- 13 grams of "good" monounsaturated fats per ounce
- Rich in magnesium
Weight Management
- 6 grams of power-packed protein per ounce serving
- 4 grams of satisfying fiber per ounce serving
- Good fit with popular weight-loss plans
- Just 160 calories per ounce
Powerful Nutrition
- Tree nut highest in six essential nutrients
- Prebiotic potential
- Plus protein and fiber
Gluten Free
- Naturally gluten free
- Lots of forms to choose from
- No-stress substitutions
- Low glycemic index
- May improve certain risk factors.
- Curbs cravings


text:
Tags: beadwork » CRAFTED » Crafts » DRUM » Materials Pine » Native American Crafts » powwow
Dimensions: 23 inches diameter drum, (2) 30 inches x 14 inches stands. Materials: Pine & aspen wood, and elk skin. Weight: Under 8 lbs easy to carry.
This wonderful handcrafted drum is suspended by rope ties connected to the aspen stand. The stand disassembles into two pieces for easy transporting. This great craft has all natural assembly; there are no metal fasteners.
You will love this drum because it can be used to perform music with or be used as beautiful coffee table (glass not included) as furniture.
This product is officially handcrafted by Dineh.
12 comments
More : « Contrary – Red Bone choker with feather »
Total Number of Photos: 30639 - Total Number of Comments: 319


text:
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is growing increasingly confident that Carlos Tevez will stay at the club.
Mancini is hoping the arrival in Manchester of Tevez's family, plus the exciting signings of Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri, will persuade the Argentinian his immediate future remains with City. The £50million-rated 27-year-old has made no secret of his desire to leave the Etihad Stadium, but City have received no firm interest since the collapse of a proposed move to Brazilian side Corinthians last month.
One of Tevez's main reasons for wanting to leave was to be closer to his family in Argentina, but Mancini hopes that problem has now been solved. The Italian said: "His family is here now. Now that his family is here I think that he can stay."
He added: "I think this is a good moment for this club. Carlos is one of the best players that we have."
Mancini has a fearsome array of attacking talent at his disposal and the latest additions of £38million Aguero and £24million Nasri are expected to make them strong title contenders.
Mancini believes that could also be a decisive factor in keeping Tevez.
"I think so," he said. "He is not fit, he has only worked for two weeks.
"But I think with the good players that arrive in this team - after we won the FA Cup last year - they can try to think next year we can win the title. I think Carlos can play also next year."
Mancini's biggest problem could then become how to accommodate all his attacking players, with the likes of David Silva, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko also to consider.
The Italian joked: "I think we can play with Nasri, Silva, Aguero, Balotelli, Tevez and Dzeko all in the same game!"
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2009, All Rights Reserved.
Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: http://gms.to/writeforgms


text:
Morning Coffee: Goldman Sachs analyst saved miserable $4.5k a year. Top hedge fund doubling London staff
If you get a job at Goldman Sachs you'll be able to save huge amounts of money. Right? Err.
What to ask in interviews with European banks, by Deutsche Bank
Want to impress in an interview with a European investment bank? Here's what to ask about their strategy,
The best and worst ways to sign off a work email
What's the strongest way to end a work email? And which sign-offs annoy colleagues and clients?
Jefferies bolsters energy banking team by hiring MD from BNP Paribas
Jefferies has added another managing director to its the power, utilities and renewables group in the bank's New York headquarters.
How artificial intelligence will eat your finance job – and how to survive
After 50 years of dallying, artificial intelligence looks finally set to disrupt financial services and the impact could be devastating.
Mid-ranking Goldman banker resurfaces at BNP Paribas
After five months off, a Goldman ED has reappeared at a French bank in London.
What's really going on with pay at Deutsche Bank
There's a lot more to it than the decimation of the bonus pool.
Senior M&A bankers have been leaving Deutsche Bank and Barclays
Deutsche Bank and Barclays have both been cutting back pay for their senior employees. Some MDs are moving on.
Morning Coffee: When 20-something bankers decide it's not worth it. Rich Millennials kick off their own VC firm
How important are bonuses to junior bankers anyway? Rich young millennials use their parents wealth to get richer.
"This is why I left J.P. Morgan's tech team"
Sometimes finance and extracurricular interests are incompatible.


text:
Description: Marilee is sunbathing in the nude and dreams of getting fucked by two guys. Next, in come two guys to do the deed with her. Tags: Group Porn, Threeway, Threesome, Bald Pussy, Anal Porn, Double Penetration, Facial, Cumshot, Blowjob, Pussy Eating, Ass Fucking, Outdoors, Brunette, Natural Tits, Ball Licking Site: Raw Tube Category: Group Sex Views Since The Last Update: 78015 Discuss: CommentsSpecial: Free Membership
Share Video: press ctrl+c to copy and ctrl+v to paste Embed Video: Link To Video:
Rating: 3.4/5 (167 votes cast)


text:
This is a list of selected projects by the MESO Web Scapes branch.
Score editor as part of the broad context for research into choreographic practice.
MESO Web Scapes goes IAA 2013 with a bouquet of apps about the new BMW i models
Reifenhäuser Group are specialists in plastics extrusion, with six business units in Germany and around the world. Their website needs to express this mixture of commonalities and specialities.
One of the BMW iLounge Apps debuting at IAA 2013 revolving around charging EVs.
The BMW i Connected Drive App: it's all about connectivity!
Showcasing the BMW i3 – the benchmark car for all electric vehicles.
The BMW i8 app – all you ever wanted to know about the new hybrid sports car.
A bird's eye view on the mobility concepts of now and the future.
This BMW iLounge App explains the importance of sustainability in car production.
Website for a German producer of connectivity and infotainment products for the car industry
The new German design magazine GRID gets a website in a very straight look, but with a little twist.
Minimal design for minimal music — presented in maximum size for maximum impact
Relaunch of the Website for the Hessen Film and Media Academy — Network of 13 Hessian Universities
Digital Media Guide for the permanent exhibition "Lebensfluten – Tatensturm" in the Goethe National Museum in Weimar, Germany.
An app about Bayerische Motorenwerke's main competence: engines.
For the new BMW i. brand we were asked to develop a special iPad application presenting the material characteristics.
HTML5 based iPad App featuring the sustainability aspects of BMW i.
Shaping carbon fiber and aluminum around a concept for future mobility.
Tilting the iPad to navigate through a storyline is the key feature of this application.
Completely revamped, restyled and reHTML5ed: transform-mag is the renowned brand new magazine for picture stories documenting creative doings. Revisit now!
MESO Web Scapes was asked to create an iPad compatible adaption of the all new BMW xDrive robotic Exhibit, showcasing the system behind BMWs all wheel drive.
MESO Web Scapes created a unique 3D-navigation cloud for the BMW ConnectedDrive app.
New website for the well known House-DJ Tocadisco. Watch out! Thirteen degrees steep hill upwards.
Parents find lots of information about baby food on this fresh new website that Crossland and MESO Web Scapes developed for German baby food producer Milupa
NODE10 Festival schedule, info and booking system for a slightly complex workshop and lecture topology.
Memory Loops is a virtual memorial for the victims of National Socialism. Michaela Melián's audio work of art comprises 300 German and 175 English audio tracks which can be found on a map drawn up by the artist.
Custom designed travels, the most beautiful places on earth: it's all within your grasp with c&m Travel Design. Can a website design do justice to the beauty of our planet? We don't think so, but that didn't stop us from trying.
A software simulation and promotional website for a new product that helps tourists to explore foreign cities during their stay in a hotel or on a ship cruise.
The online portfolio of Frankfurt based architects Malte Just and Till Burgeff features huge images of the architecture that are easily movable and can be enlarged to reveal stunning detail.
A microsite about the Siemens windenergy-park off the coast of Denmark, based on interviews and a huge image collection arranged in a collage.
"To bring one's sheep into a dry place" — a famous German proverb is used for a Landingpage and Microsite for the international investment company "Union Investment".
Project presentation platform and corporate website for Heidelberg based brand value agency 2sbm.
beef-magazine is "dedicated to tough ideas and exceptional communication". The associated website – once only a short preview for the magazine's next issue – got renewed and made interactive by MESO. The new site's clear layout shows all the elements you'd expect from such a website.
Join in, get informed, get inspired and take part in the ongoing dialogue. See you at the beef-community!
Implementation of the media control system and the development of a generative data room as well as three different real-time data visualizations, media just as videos, ambient light and sound.
After 778 completed projects in 106 months, hauser lacour, one of the most successful German corporate design agencies is "…looking forward to everything that may come" – and they have good reason to do so.
On their website the agency now shows us its handsome new face: designed by the owner and carefully produced by MESO.
"Not On Our Watch", the international advocacy and aid organization founded by George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and others, tries to focus global attention and resources towards putting an end to mass atrocities around the world.
STILETTO NYC did the design, MESO put it into code.
A small exhibition of interactive installations that provide informations about energy service provider Vattenfall Group in its German branch offices in Berlin and Hamburg.
The european biennale for contemporary art is finally back in 2008. Since the early nineties, the exhibition takes place every two years in changing locations and with different teams of curators. An exhibition as a dialogic process. Event and location mutually influence each other. This time, it's Northern Italy's Alpine scenery with it's valleys and rivers: a perfect guideline for the interface-design.
Just navigating through the high-resolution photographs makes you think you'd hear birds singing, crickets chirping and the gurgling of a clear water creek. But actually, this is a high tech flash based website that uses cutting edge technology to load huge images and to give the user nearly limitless navigation possibilities.
Ben van Berkel and the Theatre of Immanence – ON THINGS OF THINGS ON projection
The website of Austria's most famous architecture magazine finally was created in a cooperation between ade hauser lacour and MESO Web Scapes. Trying to get a magazine kind of style across we ended up with a clean and simple layout that keeps close t to the printed magazine (that was incidentally redesigned at the same time by the same people).
Journal 2 for the Space of Communication (SoC) presents the public with a window to selected Internet resources that pertain to the project theme, the Space of Communication, in relation to the arts and architecture.
The brand new meso.net website features a vast project database and a new structural concept of organizing a website utilizing democratic lifeforms called "entities" and relations created by mere words. Web Scapes at its best.
Website for a German producer of connectivity and infotainment products for the car industry
Supplementing a book with the same name this website features a database of more than 750 profiles of german and international design agencies presenting their work with an image gallery and an informational part, all together in a searchable and well designed context that attracts future clients and design interested people alike.
A bunch of games for the famous entertainment park company. "Ready for a little friendly competition? Come out to the park and show us what you've got. Step right up for long-range basketball, skee-ball, water gun races-real games of skill. Team up with your group or go head-to-head. You might just win a prize for someone special.
Programming and content management for a colorful and bright website for Frankfurts most creative mostly girls agency. Grow pow wow now!
A website, 32 little TFT monitors and a barcode reader were connected to form a system where users can upload their favorite photos, and next time they enter the installation the system shows their collection on the monitors.
Online media for a longterm campaign "Bring mich ins Trockene" for international investment company Union Investment featuring hat-wearing, car-drinving and live-saver equipped sheep and lots of small format ideas.
The website of Germany's oldest magazin about industrial and graphic design has always been created by MESO Web Scapes staff right from the beginning of the magazine's online activity in 1997. The current version is an adoption of the print design and was created together with the Frankfurt based company ade hauser lacour
It was a great pleasure to design this website, bringing the delightful light installations of atelier deluxe to the internet.
website with raffle to promote the upcoming business matching portal on productpilot.de
The "Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt" (museum of the state of hesse), lcoated in Darmstadt, is the central museum of the state and tries to keep up a universal knowledge approach.
An open wiki database system that contains every sign of the unicode character set. User can contribute to this huge database and share their knowledge about signs, groups of signs and foreign languages that use these signs.
Programming the high contrast corporate website of the Frankfurt based agency ade hauser lacour using aspekt:ratio as the content management system.
MMI – Der Wissensverlag is a leading communication enterprise in the health sector. Together with our project partner DG Medien we created a powerful content management system for online print production and administration of several websites based on our "aspekt:ratio" system.
kinder pinguí is a chilled chocolate bar by international food company Ferrero. For this product we created a groundbraking website hosting a multiuser world of penguins, complete with chat, edutainment and games for children and parents. Later we added offline games, CD-Roms and character creation/animation as full new media service for the product.
Conception and creation of a visually reduced but detailed web and collaboration system that suits the needs of both the people who work and study there and the ones that don't (yet).
"Sharing Dreams, Sharing Value – Be Part of it" – Web Application for Bayer MaterialScience at K2013


text:
This is another recipe from The Recipe Club that I was curious to try. Although my kids weren't crazy about them, I thought they were really good and offered a fun new flavor. I used the leftover filling in quesadillas for lunch the next day and everyone loved those!
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef (I used 1 lb)
1 can black refried beans (I used no-fat green chile and lime)
1 can red enchilada sauce, divided (I used a 10 oz of medium)
1/3 cup brown sugar-- or to taste (I used a little less than this)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
10-12 flour tortillas (I used 15 corn tortillas)
Brown ground beef in a large pan. Drain off fat & add refried beans, 1/2 of the enchilada sauce, brown sugar & onion powder. Mix well & bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
Fill one tortilla with about 1/4 of a cup of filling & 2 Tbsp. cheese. Roll up & place in a 9x13 pan. Repeat process until pan is full. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over prepared enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream, chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, diced onions, shredded lettuce, avocado or guacamole.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Active Tags
Click tags to the right to narrow your search. Unclick tags to remove.
He Finally Meets His Mistress
— A boy finally meets the woman of his dreams.Changing Rooms
— He watches his boss's wife seduce him from afar.Curly Red Hair Ch. 3
— The unexpected revelation.The Valentine's Day Mix
— Lonely artist meets his Valentine.I Want To See The People Fucking Ch. 1
— Chinese wife surprises husband with request.Please, separate your tags with comma: anal orgasm, oral sex.
Read the Literotica Story Tag FAQ for more information on these tags.


text: A Lego Keyboard That Won't Make Your Fingers AcheRosa Golijan5/14/10 10:00pmFiled to: LegoLego macbook keyboard decaldecalDecalsKeyboardKeyboardsMacBookAppleApple Macbook70EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalink It'd be pretty painful to type on a Lego keyboard— just imagine all those nubs digging into your fingertips. The solution? $15 worth of decals. Your keyboard will look like Lego heaven and your fingers will remain happy. [Etsy]


text:
Fabiano Moutain Master 772
I bought a pair of the legendary Fabiano "772" heavy…
Price Paid: $200
I bought a pair of the legendary Fabiano "772" heavy duty hiking boots in 1985 for $200 at the Kittery Trading post in Maine. These are HANDS DOWN the best hiking boots I've ever had. I still have them, 26 years later — in excellent condition.
These boots are indestructible. I have taken great measures to care for these "hiking hall of fame boots." They took quite a while to break in, but once they did, they custom fit like they were made for me.
I were a size 12 to 12.5, but I bought 13's because the 12's felt a bit tight. I have not hiked much in the last 15 years, I moved to Florida from New Hampshire. I will NEVER get rid of these boots. They are too legendary and too well made. I may buy a pair of Limmers some day.
Fabiano Moutain Master 772
The Fabiano Moutain Master 772 is not available from the stores we monitor.
If you're looking for a new backpacking boot, check out the best reviewed current models.


text:
The case for arming Syrian rebels
"I'd prefer Assad to win." Not his actual words, but that is the only conclusion to be derived from the suggestion of Boris Johnson, the London mayor, that arming the Syrian opposition would lead to British weapons in the hands of "al-Qaida-affiliated thugs". With 93,000 of Syria's citizens dead, a kill rate in the country higher than in post-invasion Iraq, and one of the world's most murderous and tyrannical regimes poised to win a historic victory thanks to western inaction, Johnson can only fret about hypothetical dangers.
In fact, it is the west's failure militarily to support the Syrian National Coalition and its principal military counterpart, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), that is strengthening the hand of al-Qaida in Syria.
Continue reading at The Guardian, where this article was published on 18 June.
Alan Mendoza's putsch in the Henry Jackson Society
The sequel to this article is: Alan Mendoza's Henry Jackson Society and William Shawcross's Charity Commission
See also:
Charity Commission looking into the Henry Jackson Society
Private Eye on the Japanese embassy's payments to the Henry Jackson Society
David Cameron, the Henry Jackson Society and the Libya intervention
Alan Mendoza's twitteraudit score is 93% fake
Holocaust denial and campus censorship
Marko Attila Hoare Henry Jackson Society Complete Archive
Rightwing thinktank pulls funds for Commons group after disclosure row
Lady de Rothschild sues Henry Jackson Society over funds from 'caring capitalism' conference
'Inclusive capitalism' conference ends in high court battle between organisers
The Henry Jackson Society and Douglas Murray
Brendan Simms, Europe and the Henry Jackson Society
Labour's shameful links with the anti-immigration right
The degeneration of British neoconservatism
Document: The Henry Jackson Society – Post London Launch Meeting – Minutes – 29 November 2005
Earlier this year, I resigned from the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) and requested that my name be removed from its website. The HJS is a UK think-tank frequently described as 'neoconservative'. It includes among its Trustees Michael Gove, the current Secretary of State for Education, and it is alleged to have influenced the foreign policy of David Cameron and William Hague. It currently serves as a secretariat, at the House of Commons, to the All-Party Parliamentary Groups for Transatlantic and International Security and for Homeland Security. I had held a senior post within this organisation for seven years, first as Greater Europe Co-Director, then as European Neighbourhood Section Director. However, I reluctantly had to face the fact that the HJS has degenerated to the point where it is a mere caricature of its former self. No longer is it a centrist, bipartisan think-tank seeking to promote democratic geopolitics through providing sober, objective and informed analysis to policy-makers. Instead, it has become an abrasively right-wing forum with an anti-Muslim tinge, churning out polemical and superficial pieces by aspiring journalists and pundits that pander to a narrow readership of extreme Europhobic British Tories, hardline US Republicans and Israeli Likudniks. The story of the HJS's degeneration provides an insight into the obscure backstage world of Conservative politics.
There are three factors that define this degeneration. The first is that almost all the people who founded and established the HJS have either left or been edged out of the organisation. According to its Wikipedia entry as it currently stands, 'The society was founded in March 2005 by academics and students at Cambridge (mostly affiliated with the Centre for International Studies), including Brendan Simms, Dr. Alan Mendoza, Marko Attila Hoare (who has since severed his links with the society), Gideon Mailer, James Rogers and Matthew Jamison.' The list should include also John Bew, Martyn Frampton and Gabriel Glickman. None of these people are now left, except Mendoza as Executive Director, and Simms as nominal president (or possibly president of the Cambridge branch; the website is ambiguous on this point, probably deliberately). Simms is the only intellectually serious figure still attached to the organisation, but no longer has much – if any – influence over it.
The second factor is that there is absolutely no internal democracy in the HJS, nor any transparency or rules of procedure. Absolutely none whatsoever. Less than in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Probably less than in the Syrian Arab Republic. As someone with an early background in far-left politics, I grew up with groups like the Socialist Workers Party, in which total power is held by one or two leaders, but the totalitarianism is disguised by window-dressing consisting of branch meetings, annual conferences, meetings of the Politburo and the like. Well, the HJS is like that, but without the window-dressing: there isn't even the pretence of democracy or consultation. Instead, the organisation operates on the basis of cronyism and intrigue. Sole power is held by one individual – Executive Director Alan Mendoza. He was not elected to the post and is not subject even to formal or technical restraints, nor to performance review and renewal of contract.
The third factor is that, although the HJS was intended to be a centrist, bi-partisan organisation, its leadership has now moved far to the right, and abandoned any pretence of being bi-partisan or pro-European (its Associate Director, Douglas Murray, is on record as having stated that 'the EU is a monstrosity – no good can come of it… The best thing could just simply be for it to be razed to the ground and don't start again [sic]'). Most of the people who left or have been purged are of a broadly centre-left outlook and background: Rogers and Jamison are Labour Party supporters; I came from an early background in Trotskyist politics; Mailer and Bew also came from left-wing backgrounds.
Things were not always this way. When the HJS was founded on the initiative of Brendan Simms back in 2005, it was an organisation intended to transcend the left-right divide, uniting Labour and Conservative supporters on a platform of supporting a progressive, forward foreign policy, involving the promotion of democracy and human rights globally. It was set up as a reaction against the conservative-realist right and the anti-imperialist left, whose hostility to the idea of progressive intervention abroad led them to line up behind dictators such as Slobodan Milosevic and Robert Mugabe. The HJS was supposed to be both pro-American and pro-European. It was Simms's insight that, in order to be an important player on the world stage, Britain had to be centrally involved in European affairs. As he explained in his book Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire, 1714-1783 (Penguin, 2008), Britain's defeat in the American War of Independence and loss of its American colonies was the direct result of its withdrawal from European affairs.
The HJS's members were young academics, most of them graduate students of Simms's, and it was run in a collegiate and democratic manner. There were regular meetings at which policy and organisational activities were discussed. Simms was the de facto leader, by virtue of being the founder and the oldest and most senior individual, but everyone was free to participate and express themselves, it being recognised that there were significant political differences amongst us, and that this was a good thing, since the HJS was supposed to be a broad church.
In those comradely early days of the HJS, it was difficult to appreciate just how important it should have been to establish clear rules of procedure, rights of membership and good governance. Unfortunately, this was not done, and the organisation grew exponentially while remaining dangerously informal and opaque in its internal organisation. When, after all the hard work and efforts of the founding members, the HJS was able to acquire a London office, it was at once the mark of its success and the start of its internal degeneration. It was now no longer so easy to assemble the still mostly Cambridge-based team for regular meetings. The move to London occurred shortly after Brendan Simms, the HJS's President and founder, opted to retreat from day-t0-day management of the organisation, while James Rogers, the Director of Operations, scaled back his activities. Mendoza, the Executive Director, took over the central role in managing the organisation. By default, power fell into his lap.
Alan Mendoza is an ambitious young professional politician of the Conservative Party and a former Tory local councillor in the London Borough of Brent. According to his HJS page, he is 'Founder and President of the Disraelian Union, a London-based progressive Conservative think-tank and discussion forum, and has worked to develop relationships and ideas between political networks in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe. He is also Chief Advisor to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic & International Security and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Homeland Security'. However, unlike Rogers and Simms, Mendoza is not someone with a grand vision or a developed geopolitical philosophy to put forward. He has not produced much in the way of analysis, and did not contribute to The British Moment; the HJS's manifesto, published in 2006 and still one of the very few genuine publications that this think-tank has produced. The HJS website, at the time of writing, contains only two articles by Mendoza – one from March 2011 and one from May 2012. Instead, Mendoza's field was administration: he had helped run such bodies as the Disraelian Dining Society and the Cambridge University Conservative Association. Once he took over the running of the HJS from Rogers and Simms, Mendoza had his hands on all the levers of power within the organisation, of which the most important was control of the website. Mendoza set about converting the HJS into his personal fiefdom, packing its staff with his own apparatchiks recruited via his personal network.
The practice of regular staff meetings was now ended, and staff members were no longer consulted or even informed about major policy or organisational decisions. In practice, Mendoza just did whatever he wanted to, adding or removing staff to and from the website and inventing or erasing their virtual job-titles as and when he felt like it. For example, a certain Duncan Crossey was one of two founders and co-presidents of a Conservative organisation called the Disraelian Union. The other founder and co-president was Mendoza. It was thus perhaps not entirely for meritocratic reasons that Crossey was appointed for a while to the grandiose but meaningless title of 'Political Director of the Henry Jackson Society'. I'm not aware of him having done much political directing while he held this virtual title, but it's something he can put on his CV.
The other Old Bolsheviks lasted only until they had outlived their usefulness, and until Mendoza was in a position to get rid of them. In my own case, Mendoza once informed me that having established experts such as myself in the HJS allowed it to 'punch above its weight' as a think-tank. He needed my name and reputation as a Balkan expert to lend credibility to the HJS, while it was still in the process of establishing itself.
On 31 July 2007, James Rogers had a letter published in The Times, arguing in favour of Britain's signature of the EU constitution treaty. He signed the letter 'Director of Operations of the Henry Jackson Society'. This letter provoked the ire of one the HJS's right-wing Eurosceptic supporters, who sent a complaint to the Society about the pro-European line it was endorsing, along with an ultimatum that Rogers's letter be repudiated. The gentleman in question was oblivious to the fact that the HJS's statement of principles explicitly supported European defence integration. Nevertheless, Mendoza published a 'correction' prominently on the HJS website, stating that Rogers had incorrectly and wrongly attributed his personal views to the HJS as a whole. Mendoza did this entirely on his own initiative, without consulting Simms (who was out of the country at the time) or Rogers himself. It was a very public repudiation by the HJS of Rogers – the man whose hard work over a long period had done more than anyone's to launch the Society – and prompted his resignation as Director of Operations and withdrawal from virtually all HJS activity.
In reality, Rogers had not violated the HJS's rules and procedures, which did not exist in any written or codified form. He had, in fact, previously published several letters in British newspapers on his own initiative, signed with his HJS affiliation, without being so much as criticised privately by his HJS colleagues, let alone publicly repudiated. The 'correction' was simply an expression of Mendoza's personal policy and control of the website, and his desire to appease a relatively minor Conservative Party figure. In the years to come, Mendoza would do much more on his own personal initiative than simply publish a letter in a newspaper, but would issue policy statements, merge the organisation with other organisations, and change senior staff members' job titles or purge them altogether – all without consulting his colleagues.
The HJS was organised on the basis of 'Sections' for different parts of the world, with 'Section Directors' responsible for analysis in their own area. Soon after the HJS's creation, Simms and Rogers devised a scheme, whereby Section Directors would, every month, write one report in their field and republish one other article from an external website or author. Eventually, we would receive in return a nominal payment of £50 per month. Section Directors could post their articles directly onto the website. While it lasted, this system ensured that the HJS's analysis did not represent the views of just one or two leaders at the top, but rather those of a range of regional experts. It guaranteed the organisation's pluralism, but only until the Section Directors had served their purpose, Mendoza's personal fiefdom had been established and he could jettison them.
One example of how this jettisoning was done was the case of Matthew Jamison, Section Director for Britain. Jamison had been centrally involved with the HJS from its foundation, and organised the very first meeting of the embryonic society at Peterhouse, Cambridge in autumn 2004. He was a principal organiser of many events and roundtable discussions and seminars, including the HJS's Westminster launch in November 2005 and the book launch of The British Moment in July 2006. However, he was never paid for any of the work he did, nor did he receive expenses for the times he hosted guests of the Society for PR purposes (though the guests' meals were paid for). He did not receive payment for the analytical pieces he wrote for the HJS either. In effect, he subsidised the HJS over a period of years. But this effort was not rewarded or appreciated – on the contrary. One day, Jamison woke up to find that on the HJS website, he was no longer listed as 'Section Director for Britain', and that someone else's name appeared in his place. This occurred without any prior warning or consultation; it was simply the personal decision of the Executive Director. Eventually, Jamison's name would be removed from the website altogether – again without any prior warning or consultation. This sort of treatment has been the norm.
The people who replaced the HJS founders at the head of the organisation were staff members of another think-tank: the Israel-advocacy organisation 'Just Journalism', of which Mendoza was a member of the Advisory Board and which shared the HJS's London office. At the time of Just Journalism's launch in March 2008, the Spectator columnist Melanie Phillips wrote of it that 'A very welcome and desperately-needed initiative has just been launched to monitor distortions, bias and prejudice in British media coverage of the Middle East.'
(Following the international recognition of Kosovo's independence in February 2008, Phillips wrote in the Spectator: 'It was at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 that some 70,000 died to keep the Islamic Ottoman Empire from advancing further into Europe. What is the point of fighting the jihad in Iraq when we are cheerfully opening the door to it in that very same place?' Despite, or perhaps because of such a worldview, Phillips's books were until recently advertised on the HJS website).
Just Journalism was forced to close in September 2011, only three and a half years after its launch, due to lack of funds, but not before this financially destitute outfit had taken over its financially thriving room-mate. Just Journalism's Executive Director, Michael Weiss, joined the HJS staff in March 2010. His title has been redefined at least a couple of times and at one point he was 'Acting Director of Research', then as 'Director of Communications and Public Relations'.
Image: Michael Weiss
Some months before Just Journalism closed, Weiss had ceased to be its Executive Director, serving for a while as its spokesman. He says he was taken by surprise by the news that the organisation was to be closed. However, by that time he was safely ensconced in the HJS. I was aware that he had joined the team but otherwise knew nothing about him, though I had accepted his 'friend' request on Facebook (temporarily, as it turned out). I became rather more aware of him last autumn, when he tried unsuccessfully to prevent me publishing my regular monthly report on the HJS website, on the grounds that, as 'Acting Director of Research', it was up to him to decide what was published there. I had by then been contributing articles to the HJS website for six years, and that was the first time I had ever heard of that rule, or of that title. ('Acting' was the operative word, for Weiss didn't appear to direct much in the way of research while he held that virtual title. This virtual title was short-lived, and Weiss was then listed for a while as 'Director of Communications and Public Relations', while the HJS apparently managed to function without any 'Director of Research', 'acting' or otherwise. Now Weiss is again listed as 'Director of Research', though it is possible that his title will change again in a couple of months).
Since the report that I had written and that Weiss tried to veto was scarcely out of keeping with the HJS 'line', and since I had never had any previous dealings with Weiss, I do not attribute his behaviour to political or personal differences with me. Indeed, the report was subsequently republished by The Commentator, the website of senior HJS staff-member Robin Shepherd. Weiss was either attempting to throw his weight around in the section of Mendoza's fiefdom assigned to him, or was enacting Mendoza's policy of squeezing out what remained of the other HJS founding members.
On the occasion in question, Mendoza overruled Weiss, and agreed to publish my report on the HJS blog. Given that the HJS had contracted me to write a monthly report, he may have been legally obliged to do this. But at our last meeting, Mendoza did confirm to me that it would henceforth be up to 'them' to approve who published what on the website. Under Weiss's direction, the website has been not entirely ungenerous in providing space for the promotion of his own work: at the time this article was first drafted, no fewer than five of the ten 'commentary' articles and three of the ten 'blog' articles on the HJS website were by Weiss. And Weiss is not, be it remembered, an academic expert on Syria and the Middle East in the manner of someone like Daniel Pipes, but merely an activist with strong views who follows events there closely.
Recently, Weiss has reinvented himself also as an expert on Russia – about which he has no more academic expertise than he does about the Middle East – using as his launch-pad the HJS website. The latter now hosts a Potemkin-village 'Russia Studies Centre', which describes itself grandiloquently as a 'research and advocacy centre', but is really just a website where Weiss blogs about Russia. Such amateurism is now the norm: of the staff members listed for the London office, Mendoza alone appears to be educated to PhD level, while the average age for those working there is below 30. The website has even started to include anonymous blogger types among its authors, at one point including a certain 'Brett', whose surname wasn't listed.
In addition to Weiss, two other members of Just Journalism's Advisory Board joined the HJS's senior staff: Robin Shepherd as 'Director of International Affairs' and Douglas Murray as 'Associate Director'. Thus, four of the six top posts in the HJS are now held by former managers of Just Journalism. They have ensured that the HJS's political goals have departed radically to those with which it was founded.
Murray was and is also the director of another outfit, the 'Centre for Social Cohesion'. Or rather, he is the Centre for Social Cohesion: the 'About Us' section of its website says only that 'Douglas Murray is the Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion. Murray is a bestselling author and political commentator who regularly appears in the British and foreign press and media. A columnist for Standpoint magazine, he writes for a variety of other publications, including the Sunday Times, Spectator and Wall Street Journal. He is an Associate Director at the Henry Jackson Society. As of the 1 April 2011 CSC personnel has joined the Henry Jackson Society. CSC will continue to operate as a non-partisan independent organisation specialising in studying radicalisation and extremism within Britain.' That is how the organisation defines itself.
In April 2011, the Centre for Social Cohesion merged with the HJS. This merger was engineered by Mendoza without consulting or even informing in advance other HJS staff members; I and others learned about it only from the announcement on the public mailing list. The merger was incongruous, since whereas the HJS was intended to be a bi-partisan organisation promoting democratic geopolitics, Murray's interest lay in opposing Islam and immigration (thus, a few days after the announcement of the merger, Murray published an article in The Express entitled 'Britain has let in far too many foreigners').
The following are examples of Murray's anti-Muslim statements:
'Conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board: Europe must look like a less attractive proposition. We in Europe owe – after all – no special dues to Islam. We owe them no religious holidays, special rights or privileges. From long before we were first attacked it should have been made plain that people who come into Europe are here under our rules and not theirs. There is not an inch of ground to give on this one. Where a mosque has become a centre of hate it should be closed and pulled down. If that means that some Muslims don't have a mosque to go to, then they'll just have to realise that they aren't owed one. Grievances become ever-more pronounced the more they are flattered and the more they are paid attention to. So don't flatter them.'
'It is late in the day, but Europe still has time to turn around the demographic time-bomb which will soon see a number of our largest cities fall to Muslim majorities. It has to. All immigration into Europe from Muslim countries must stop. In the case of a further genocide such as that in the Balkans, sanctuary would be given on a strictly temporary basis. This should also be enacted retrospectively. Those who are currently in Europe having fled tyrannies should be persuaded back to the countries which they fled from once the tyrannies that were the cause of their flight have been removed.'
'We do have a problem; we have a problem when the failures of Islam throughout the world; the failures of all Islamic societies come here into Britain. Their intolerance of freedom of conscience; their intolerance of apostates; their intolerance of freedom of expression and freedom of speech; their intolerance of minorities, other religious minorities, sexual minorities; their intolerance of gays; their dislike and distrust of half of the population – women; and many, many other things. And they call, what is more, for a parallel legal system within Britain and European societies. This is monstrous; no other group behaves like this – asks for parallel laws. This is a fundamental problem, and it's one we're going to have to deal with. It's a problem between a society – Western Europe – that believes that laws are based on reason, and Islam that believes that they are based on revelation. Between these two ideas, I'm not sure there is very much compromise for Europe. It is not Europe that has let down its Muslims, but the Muslims of Europe that have let down Europe. … It is not Europe that has failed its Muslims; it is Islam that has failed Europe.'
Murray is also on record as saying of Robert Spencer (the director of Stop the Islamization of America, proprietor of the viciously anti-Muslim website Jihad Watch and a loud denier of the Srebrenica genocide): 'I happen to know Robert Spencer; I respect him; he's a very brilliant scholar and writer'.
Image: Douglas Murray with Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch
I was shocked that someone with such extreme views about Muslims and Islam should be appointed Associate Director of the HJS. I published an article on my blog explaining how it had been foisted on the HJS without consultation with senior staff members, and condemning his views on Muslims and Islam (after informing Mendoza and Simms well in advance that I would do so). After this article was published, Mendoza phoned me to try to pressurise me to remove it, claiming that Murray would otherwise sue me for libel. By way of warning, he pointed out that Murray had previously threatened legal action against Sunny Hundal, editor of Liberal Conspiracy, forcing him to remove a reference to him on Hundal's website. On another occasion, he had apparently pressurised the Huffington Post into removing references to him as well. In the words of The Commentator, the website of senior HJS staff-member Robin Shepherd: 'Murray warned the Huffpo that its time in Britain would be short if it persisted in libeling people in this manner. At which point, the Huffington Post agreed to remove references to Murray from the story.'
I refused to delete or substantially alter the content of my article, but I agreed to make some minor changes. I had quoted some not entirely unambiguously negative comments that Murray had made about the English Defence League (EDL), and at Mendoza's express request, I agreed to insert into the text a somewhat more negative statement that Murray had previously made about the EDL. The modified article therefore balanced the less-than-negative statements that Murray had made about the EDL with a more negative one, so did greater justice to his vacillating opinion on this organisation. Mendoza also asked me to delete my description of Murray's views on Islam as 'bigoted and intolerant'; I agreed to delete 'bigoted' but refused to delete 'intolerant'. Thus, my article about him concluded with 'I consider his views on Islam and Muslims to be intolerant, ignorant, two-dimensional and, frankly, horrifying.'
Video: Douglas Murray, Associate Director of the HJS, comments on the EDL in November 2011
Murray's behaviour, in this instance and in the others mentioned above, was somewhat hypocritical, given that he has appeared as a speaker at entire conferences dedicated to attacking Muslims for employing libel 'lawfare' to silence criticism of Islam. On at least one such occasion, he did so alongside Mendoza. Or as he put it: 'If there were one thing I would wish Muslims in Europe could learn today, as fast as possible, it would be this: you have no right, in this society, not to be offended. You have no right to say that because you don't like something, you would use violence or you would like something to be stopped or censored…'.
In retrospect, I should have resigned from the HJS at this point, but I was encouraged to stay by the fact that all three of the founding members with whom I discussed my article (apart from Mendoza) sympathised or agreed with it. I wrongly believed that this constituted some guarantee that the HJS would remain true to its founding principles and retain a pluralistic character. I didn't realise the extent to which the Just Journalism clique had expropriated all power within the organisation, and that the other founding members were all now wholly irrelevant within it.
By appointing as his 'Associate Director' a pundit known primarily for his polemics against Muslims and Islam, Mendoza signalled a change, not only in the HJS's political orientation, but also in its tone. Since then, instead of sober analytical pieces providing analysis and suggesting strategy, the HJS website has been filled with republished op-eds of a more polemical nature, seemingly calculated not so much to influence policy-makers as to pander to the HJS's increasingly right-wing readership. Thus, the HJS has published or republished several articles attacking the marginal, maverick far-left UK politician George Galloway (Douglas Murray, 'Behind Galloway's Grin'; George Grant, 'Galloway back in parliament: Not free from imperialist yoke yet' and 'George Galloway is no friend of the Arab world'; as well as a video of 'Houriya Ahmed on George Galloway's election').
Conversely, the HJS's coverage of more serious international political issues has been less copious. For example, it has made virtually no attempt to provide any strategic analysis, or suggest policy, regarding the Eurozone crisis (James Rogers would have been ideally qualified to do this, had he remained in the organisation). The HJS has effectively given up on analysis of most parts of the world. Its founding member Gideon Mailer was an Africa expert and had written the chapter on Africa in The British Moment, but he too has long ceased to have any voice in the organisation, so the HJS has given up on covering sub-Saharan Africa, except in relation to the Islamist threat. Its geographical focus is now mostly limited to the Middle East and Russia, with some coverage of British and US domestic affairs. The 'France' category of the HJS contains, at the time of writing, seven articles: four on the Islamist perpetrator of the Toulouse killings; one in support of the jailing of a French Muslim woman for violating the burkha ban; and one attacking President Sarkozy for his hostility to Binyamin Netanyahu. And the seventh doesn't say much about France either.
Coverage of the Middle East has, indeed, largely squeezed out the rest of the world, and has become less about policy and more about commentary. But even here, the increasingly blog-like character of the website has taken its toll so far as quality and consistency are concerned. As recently as August, Weiss rejected the possibility of Western military intervention in Syria on the grounds that 'in contrast to Libya's expansive geography, Syria is a densely-packed country where the proximity of military installations to civilian population centers is too close to allow for an aerial bombardment campaign without incurring heavy civilian casualties.' This article has been removed from the HJS website, but is available elsewhere. Four months later, he argued the opposite: that civilian losses could be 'minimized given the technological and strategic superiority of Western powers.' Either the second conclusion is questionable or the first was made too hastily.
In exchange for abandoning its geopolitical, policy-making focus and its coverage of most global regions, the HJS has inherited Murray's obsession with British Islamism and Islam generally. But it has shown no equivalent concern with white or Christian extremism; there are no articles on its website concerning groups like the British National Party or EDL. It has published at least four articles on the Toulouse killings by a lone Islamist, but none on the massacres carried out by Anders Behring Breivik in Norway in July. Actually, as European Neighbourhood Section Director, I did publish an article on Breivik and the European anti-Islamic far-right, in which I concluded that 'The Islamophobic, anti-immigration far-right is the no. 1 internal threat in Western Europe to European society and Western values today.' This article was immediately removed from the website and resulted in me having my right to post articles directly to the HJS website revoked.
Mendoza's last reorganisation of the website, earlier this year, resulted in all the remaining founding members of the HJS being removed from the online staff-list, including myself, Mailer, Bew and Jamison – all without prior consultation or notification. When one of my colleagues, so purged, contacted Mendoza to ask about this, he was told that the HJS was 'reducing its online presence', and that he (Mendoza) had written to inform staff members of this, but had forgotten to include the colleague in question's name on the mailing list. This was false, as none of us had been informed.
My own name nevertheless remained on the HJS's list of authors, along with my biography and photo; when I wrote to ask about this, I was told I had been assigned a 'new position'. If this was true, I have absolutely no idea what that 'new position' was, and whatever it was, it was certainly not one I had been invited to take up, let alone agreed to do so.
The leadership of the reconstructed HJS does not appear actually to believe in the liberal or democratic transformation of the Middle East – at least if Murray's views on the subject are anything to go by. Yet its support for war against Middle Eastern regimes, in particular Iran, is very vocal. The HJS has thrown out the progressive and democratic baby but kept the pro-war bathwater.
Update: The right-wing anti-Muslim and anti-immigration views espoused by Murray have not become more moderate since he joined the HJS, and far from being tamed by his membership of this think-tank, it appears that the latter's staff, above all Mendoza himself, are now espousing similar views.
In March 2013, Murray wrote: 'To study the results of the latest census is to stare at one unalterable conclusion: mass immigration has altered our country completely. It has become a radically different place, and London has become a foreign country. In 23 of London's 33 boroughs "white Britons" are now in a minority…
We long ago reached the point where the only thing white Britons can do is to remain silent about the change in their country. Ignored for a generation, they are expected to get on, silently but happily, with abolishing themselves, accepting the knocks and respecting the loss of their country. "Get over it. It's nothing new. You're terrible. You're nothing."
For what it is worth, it seems to me that the vindictiveness with which the concerns of white British people, and the white working and middle class in particular, have been met by politicians and pundits alike is a phenomenon in need of serious and swift attention.'
At the conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in March, Mendoza gave the following explanation for what he claimed was the EU's hostility to Israel (as reported by the Washington Jewish Week's Suzanne Pollak):
'Immigration is also a reason for rising anti-Israel feelings [in Europe]. In 1998, 3.2 percent of Spain was foreign-born. In 2007, that percent had jumped to 13.4 percent, Mendoza said. In cities such as London, Paris and Copenhagen, 10 percent of residents are Muslim. "The European Muslim population has doubled in the past 30 years and is predicted to double again by 2040," he said.
For all the benefits that immigration has brought, it has been difficult for European countries to absorb immigrants into their society given their failure to integrate newcomers. Regardless of their political views, Muslims in Europe will likely speak out against Israel whenever any Middle Eastern news breaks, just as they will against India in the Kashmir dispute. Their voices are heard well above the average Europeans, who tend not to speak out Mendoza said, adding that the Muslim immigrants do this with full knowledge that they would not be allowed to speak out like that in many Middle Eastern countries.
Yet another reason Israel is demonized is that it is a nationalist state, but Europe turned against that concept following World War II. "They are supernational, and Israel is just national," he said.'
(Thanks to JC)
No regrets over Libya
The evident domination of Islamist elements in post-Gaddafi Libya, symbolised by the announcement of National Transitional Council chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil that Sharia would form the basis for legislation in the new Libya and that the law against polygamy was to be relaxed, raises the question of whether the West was wrong to intervene against Gaddafi. And the answer is that no, we were not.
When the uprising broke out in February against Gaddafi's dictatorship, it was clear that the latter had to go, just as it is clear today that Assad's dictatorship in Syria has to go. The only question over Libya then, as over Syria now, was how long-drawn-out, bloody and destructive the transition to a new order would be. Those of us who backed intervention in Libya did not do so in the belief that, if the revolution there were to succeed, Libya would turn overnight into Denmark or Holland. We did so in the belief that the alternative, of allowing Gaddafi a free hand against the rebels, was by far the greater evil. At the time of writing, over 3,500 Syrians have been killed by Assad's security forces, and we have no way of knowing how many more are going to die, and how much destruction the country will suffer, before the Baathist regime is overthrown and Syria can reach the point where Libya is today. The more protracted, bloody and destructive the Syrian transition is, the more difficult it will be to build a healthy new order in Syria afterward. The ultimate danger is not a Libya or a Syria in which some form of political Islam is strong or in power, but an Afghan or Somali scenario in which the state is destroyed by civil war and collapses, creating a void that organisations such as al-Qaeda can fill. Only slightly less unpalatable is a Yemeni scenario, in which a discredited dictator holds onto power but loses full control of his county, allowing al Qaeda to gain a foothold. Yemen is the principal centre for operations of 'Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula', despite Ali Abdullah Saleh's pro-Western orientation.
As Bolshevik and Stalinist tyranny were the child of Tsarist tyranny, so the Islamist elements that have risen to the fore in Libya since Gaddafi's fall are the children of Gaddafi's system, which prevented any healthy, pluralistic system from developing and acted as an incubator for radical Islamism. Anyone who thought that Gaddafi's regime acted as a Hobbesian Leviathan keeping Islamist elements in check was wrong: Gaddafi's Libya sent more fighters per capita to join the Islamist insurgency in Iraq than any other country, including Saudi Arabia. Despite being in power for forty-two years and wielding absolute control over his country, Gaddafi never got round actually to abolishing polygamy; he merely restricted it. The foreign media has rightly highlighted the disgraceful treatment of David Gerbi, the Libyan Jew who joined the rebellion against Gaddafi, but was then driven out of the country after trying to re-open a synagogue; yet it was Gaddafi who banned the return of Jews to Libya, confiscated all Jewish property in the country and drove out the few Jews who remained, thereby establishing a Libya that was Judenrein. In 1972, in order to pursue his megalomaniacal regional adventures, Gaddafi established the 'Islamic Legion' as an international paramilitary force with an ideology blending Islamism and Arab-supremacist, anti-black racism; it fathered the Janjaweed, with which the Islamist regime in Sudan carried out the Darfur genocide. Given this legacy, it would have been a miracle if a post-Gaddafi Libyan regime were not tainted with Islamism.
We in the West had a humanitarian duty in February and March of this year to protect the Libyan people from massacre at Gaddafi's hands, and once we had embarked on that intervention, we could only ensure its ultimate success by bringing down the murderous regime. As John McCain said in April after visiting a hospital in Benghazi and seeing the dead and dying victims of the war, 'It argues for us to help them and to get this thing over with and Gaddafi out.' But now that we have helped the Libyan people to do what they could not do by themselves, saving their citizens from massacre and freeing them from a dictatorship, it is up to them to do what they have to do for themselves: build a healthy, functioning, pluralistic new order.
Western military intervention has helped maximise the chances of such an order emerging, but it cannot guarantee that it will. We cannot force Libyans or other Arabs to vote for secular parties, much as we would like them to do so. The struggle for a democratic Arab world will be slow and painful; it will be marked by setbacks and defeats, and Arab countries will not always make the choices that we might want. That, after all, is in the nature of democracy. Realistically, democracy in the Arab world will have to accommodate political Islam in some form, but there is a whole range of phenomena that that term embraces, from Turkey's Justice and Development Party through the Muslim Brotherhood to al-Qaeda, and we should not see Armaggedon coming just because of the NTC chairman's deplorable comments regarding Sharia law and polygamy – we are a long way from an al-Qaeda caliphate in Libya or Tunisia. Expressions of moderation by Mustafa Abdul-Jalil and by Libyan Islamists such as Abdel Hakim Belhadj and Ali al-Sallabi should be taken with a pinch of salt, but even insincere expressions of moderation indicate that Islamists are aware they do not have a blank slate, and that their agenda for the country is far from uncontested.
The battle for the new order in Libya is only just beginning. We cannot predict or determine the outcome, but we should not regret that we helped to give the Libyan people the chance to fight it.
This article was published on the website of the Henry Jackson Society.
Israel and the West should embrace Palestine's independence
Palestine is set to seek formal recognition of its independence at the UN this month. A just and lasting end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must involve full sovereignty, independence and security for both nation-states, Israel and Palestine. Both the Israeli and the Palestinian nations have the right to self-determination and national existence within fair borders, which means an Israel within its recognised, pre-1967 borders and a Palestine comprising the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem – any departure from this should only be on the basis of wholly equitable land swaps. After Israeli independence, Palestinian independence will comprise the second pillar of the future settlement. That is why all of us who support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should support Palestine's bid for independence. It would strike a blow against the rejectionists on both sides: the Palestinian extremists who still dream of wiping Israel off the map and driving the Jews into the sea, and the Israeli extremists who seek a Greater Israel through the racist, colonialist settlement-building programme in the West Bank.
Some argue that Palestine's independence should only come with a final, negotiated settlement, and that trying to establish it now would constitute a unilateral move. Yet Israel's independence has, quite rightly, been established and internationally recognised 'unilaterally', in the absence of a comprehensive peace settlement, and there is no reason why Palestine should be treated differently. Borders and the status of refugees can be the subject of negotiations, but a nation's right to sovereignty and independence is an absolute and cannot be. Others argue that a unilateral Palestinian bid for independence would mark a blow against the negotiated peace process. On the contrary, as things stand, the interminable, moribund peace process is going nowhere, and could only benefit from the establishment of a proper Palestinian partner. For you can channel Palestinian activity and aspirations through the medium of legitimate national statehood, or push them into the arms of Hamas and other extremists; that is the choice faced by the international community. Middle Eastern peace has, in fact, benefited from past 'unilateral' steps, such as the 1978 Camp David Accords and the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty, both of which were taken in the absence of a general settlement. Every time any country 'unilaterally' recognises either Israel or Palestine, we are a step closer to normalisation.
The notion that we in the West should oppose Palestinian independence out of solidarity with Israel should also be rejected. Our friendship and solidarity should rightfully go to the state and people of Israel, not to the current Israeli government, whose continued settlement-building activity reveals it to be an obstacle to peace unworthy of any solidarity, and which has further disgraced itself by its support for the Mubarak dictatorship earlier this year. In fact, recognition of Palestinian independence is in the national interest of Israel, since Israel can have no ultimate peace and security without freedom and justice for the Palestinians. Israeli and Palestinian national interests are complementary, not contradictory.
Readers are urged to sign the international petition in favour of Palestinian independence.
- September 2016 (3)
- July 2016 (2)
- June 2016 (2)
- March 2016 (1)
- February 2016 (1)
- November 2015 (1)
- August 2015 (1)
- July 2015 (3)
- April 2015 (1)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (1)
- September 2014 (3)
- Abkhazia
- Abortion
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Anti-Semitism
- Arabs
- Armenians
- Australia
- Balkans
- Basque Country
- Bosnia
- Britain
- Bulgaria
- Catalonia
- Caucasus
- Central Europe
- Chechnya
- Conservatism
- Crimea
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Darfur
- Denmark
- East Timor
- Education
- Egypt
- Environment
- European Union
- Falklands
- Faroe Islands
- Fascism
- Finland
- Former Soviet Union
- Former Yugoslavia
- France
- gender
- Genocide
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Greenland
- Heathrow
- Holocaust denial
- Iceland
- Immigration
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Islam
- Israel
- Italy
- Jews
- Kosovo
- Kurds
- Liberalism
- Libertarianism
- Libya
- London
- Macedonia
- Marko Attila Hoare
- Middle East
- Misogyny
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Neoconservatism
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Political correctness
- Portugal
- Racism
- Red-Brown Alliance
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Sami
- Scandinavia
- Scotland
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Ossetia
- Spain
- Sudan
- Svalbard
- Sweden
- Syria
- The Left
- Transnistria
- Transphobia
- Transport
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- Uncategorized
- World War II
- Zimbabwe
Entries RSS
Comments RSS


text:
Vegetarian Thanksgiving: A Feast of Fall Sides
by Emily Lee in Healthy Recipes, November 20, 2015How do you make sure the vegetarian at your Thanksgiving feast goes home feeling pleasantly sated just like everyone else? Well, for starters, you'll need to pick really fantastic sides — ones that are so good they'll make the turkey seem secondary. Most of us will agree that the sides are the best part, anyway. But with an abundance of pie in everyone's future, it's probably wise to offer the meatless eaters a few options beyond starchy mashed potatoes and carb-loaded stuffing. While roasted or sauteed vegetables are great to fill up on when you're trying to "save room," you'll also want something that feels special, or celebratory, for the holiday. Here are a few vegetarian side dishes that, when served together, make up a perfectly satisfying Thanksgiving menu.
Vegan Wild Rice-Stuffed Butternut Squash (pictured at top)
Serve this impressive fall dish as the main course for vegetarian and vegan guests, and everyone else at the table can enjoy it as a hearty side. The wild rice, walnuts and dried cherry stuffing has incredible texture, and the small amount of curry powder gives the squash a nice warmth and depth.


text:
David Worley, 47, of Gainesville, died Friday, October 10, 2008, at his residence.
He was the son of Dwight Worley of Lula.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, October 16, at 3:30 p.m., in the chapel of Memorial Park Funeral Home with the Rev. Mark Smith officiating. The family will receive friends Wednesday, October 15, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the funeral home.
Memorial Park Funeral Home, Gainesville, is in charge of arrangements.


text:
Firmware Programming for Pic32MX series Microcontroller
This project was awarded to diegosalazar for £100 GBP.
Get free quotes for a project like thisProject Budget
£20 - £120 GBPTotal Bids
6Project Description
i have a schematics for PIC32MX460F512L in which a camera is attached at one port and a wifi device is attached on the other port. the camera will take grey scale photos and send it to the external memory location which is also attached to a port in the schematics. after taking photos for a minute, the microcontroller will output the data through the wifi device. i need a Proteus simulation and a C Program code that will work on the Proteus simulation so that confirming that the code is right and working.i need the job done in not more that 3 days.
Looking to make some money?
- Set your budget and the timeframe
- Outline your proposal
- Get paid for your work
Hire Freelancers who also bid on this project
Looking for work?
Work on projects like this and make money from home!
Sign Up Now- Forbes
- The New York Times
- Time
- Wall Street Journal
- Times Online