text: Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums :: View topic - Iraq, One Year Later. Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Iraq, One Year Later. Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Current News View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message DianaJoined: 16 Jan 2003Posts: 494Location: Guam, USA Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2004 3:03 am Post subject: Iraq, One Year Later. Below is an interesting article I found. It is a year later in Iraq. A Constitution have already been signed, and according to the latest polls, a majority of the Iraqis are optimistic about the future of their country. -------------------------------------------- IRAQ, ONE YEAR LATER Fri Mar 19, 3:32 AM ET As Americans prepared to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq (news - web sites) war, hopes were rising yesterday that Pakistani forces had caught a "high-value" al Qaeda asset. Though the situation - and the identity of the "asset" - was unclear, signs suggested that it was Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who'd been nabbed. If true, it would mark a turning point in the War on Terror. And would come - like so many events in this war - on an auspicious day: One year ago today, American and allied forces began to free Iraq from Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s tyranny. Undertaken little more than a year after the destruction of the Taliban/al Qaeda regime in Afghanistan (news - web sites), Operation Iraqi Freedom was a daring manifestation of the Bush administration's revolution in American foreign policy: the pre-emptive neutralization of threats presented by rogue states and terrorists. In conventional military terms, the gamble paid off - immediately, efficiently, magnificently. The cruel Ba'athist regime - which had slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people, initiated two brutal wars against its neighbors and long threatened regional peace and stability - was destroyed in just weeks. Where the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites) saw about 100 allied combat deaths, Coalition losses in the 2003 war turned out to be a third of that. This amazing statistic - and the fact that it took so little time to overrun Iraq - made the war an almost unprecedented feat of conventional arms. Yes, some projections by the allied war planners turned out to be off the mark: * The Shias of southern Iraq, remembering allied forces' cruel failure to support their 1991 rebellion, didn't rise up in support of the 2003 invasion (though they welcomed it nevertheless). * The Iraqi army did not use chemical or biological weapons to slow down the allied assault as expected. However, the predictions of the anti-war crowd were astonishingly wrong: * Iraqi cities did not turn into Stalingrads or Groznys. There was no huge refugee crisis, no mass starvation - indeed no humanitarian or environmental catastrophe of any kind. * It didn't require weeks of bloody house-to-house fighting to take Baghdad. * Despite systematic violations of the laws of war by Iraqi forces (like wearing civilian clothes, driving in civilian vehicles and siting military outposts in civilian areas), civilian deaths were remarkably low relative to other major military conflicts - and the critics' predictions. * The "Arab street" did not burst into flame, causing the overthrow of allied regimes in the region. * Israel was not drawn into the war. * The globe's billion-plus Muslims did not unite against America and its allies. * Despite division, there was no irreparable breach with France, Germany, Canada or other Western allies that refused to support Saddam's ouster. Some press coverage sought to depict attacks by Saddam Fedayeen and Ba'athist militias during - and, especially, since - the war as popular resistance to the Coalition. Yet the salient fact of the war was the disintegration of Saddam's armies and the remarkable lack of civilian hostility to the allied troops. Apart from the speed of victory, of course, the two biggest surprises were the Coalition's failure to find weapons of mass destruction and - to some degree, offsetting that - the discovery of more mass graves than anyone ever imagined. Weapons of mass destruction may yet turn up; as the Kay report noted, Saddam clearly had WMD programs, if not the weapons themselves. But it now seems that the Bush administration and American intelligence were indeed misled about Saddam's stockpiles. Then again, so were former President Clinton (news - web sites), Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), the governments of France and Germany - and U.N. chief inspecter Hans Blix. And maybe even Saddam himself. Anyway, the invasion was unambiguously legal: Iraq was in violation of the letter and the spirit of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions - and of the Gulf War ceasefire of 1991. Those resolutions demanded that Iraq declare and surrender WMD stocks and programs. America didn't need to prove anything; it was up to Saddam to comply with Security Council Resolution 687. Passed in 1991, it placed the burden on the Iraqi regime to "unconditionally accept the destruction, removal or rendering harmless, under international supervision," of its WMD stocks and programs. And this it did not do. Ever. But the presumed existence of WMDs was neither the sole nor the strongest argument for regime change. Saddam had given sanctuary to murderous terrorists, threatened neighboring states and demonstrated both the willingness and ability to commit mass murder on a genocidal scale. His overthrow was a boon to the Iraqi people - and to the entire Middle East. There are no guarantees, of course, but it seems clear that the allied project in Iraq is indeed working - despite the inherent difficulties of building a stable representative democracy in a land that has long known tyranny. And which has become a primary target for ruthless Islamist terrorists. Despite missteps by the Coalition Provisional Authority, continued guerrilla attacks by Ba'athists in the Sunni Triangle and terrorist outrages that have cost hundreds of innocent lives, things are getting better in Iraq. According to the latest polls, the Iraqi people know this. And they appreciate it. Meanwhile, toppling Saddam has had - and continues to have - a beneficial effect in the region. An obvious example is the sudden capitulation of Libya's Moammar Khadafy, who abandoned a WMD program that was much more extensive than foreign intelligence services had believed. The salutary effects of Saddam's removal can also be seen in the increased ferment in Iran, in calls for human rights and Kurdish self-determination in Syria - and in the new cooperativeness of Pakistan's Gen. Pervez Musharraf in matters of nuclear proliferation and the extirpation of al Qaeda. Yes, Osama remains at large. And yes, Iraq is a nation in transition. But President Bush (news - web sites) laid it all on the line in speaking to the nation a year ago tonight: "A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict. And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will require our sustained commitment." Now the overriding question is: Does America have the staying power to see it to a proper conclusion? The answer will come in November. For the moment, both the region and the world are, on balance, safer. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=106&e=2&u=/nypost/20040319/cm_nypost/iraqoneyearlater Back to top ExcaliburJoined: 19 Jan 2004Posts: 68 Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2004 12:59 am Post subject: to be well informed is a question of reading news among differents media Is the world a safer place? A year after the start of the US-led invasion of Iraq, the BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner looks at the repercussions of that war on the international security situation. One of the criticisms of the was in Iraq is that it has made the world a more dangerous place. Is this correct? In the short term, yes. The US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of a sovereign Arab country has provided a rallying point for those who see the West as neo-colonialists bent on oppressing Muslims and controlling Arab oil reserves. While this is by no means a universal viewpoint in the Arab world, such suspicions have helped al-Qaeda's recruiting and extended their support base. On the other hand, the war has removed any possibility that Iraq could have become a nuclear nation in the future with Saddam Hussein and his brutal sons having their fingers on the button. Can we be sure we are seeing al-Qaeda's hand behind the attacks in Iraq? No, we can't, although it looks increasingly likely that there is some cooperation between Islamist militants who fought in Afghanistan and local Iraqis violently opposed to the US military and its Iraqi allies. There have also been a number of statements purporting to come from al-Qaeda which claim responsibility for major attacks in Iraq, and which threaten more. What does this mean for the Middle East as a whole? Arab regimes, especially those in the Gulf, generally dislike instability. This is why they were so concerned at the potential consequences of a US invasion of Iraq. Now, one year on, they face several problems. These include small sections of their youth wanting to volunteer to fight the Americans in Iraq, and those young men, in turn, making links with local Islamists sympathetic to al-Qaeda; enormous pressure from Washington to reform and democratise; and a revival of old Sunni-Shia rivalries given the latter's newfound powers in Iraq. One year on, what can we say about the success or otherwise of the "war on terror"? It's a misleading term, because due to the ideological nature of the al-Qaeda movement this is not a war that can ever be definitively won or lost. The West's early successes in depriving al-Qaeda of its physical bases in Afghanistan in 2001, then freezing suspect bank accounts, have given way to a growing realisation that the global threat of terrorism could be with us for decades. Counter-terrorism intelligence co-operation between and within nations has improved enormously. But the bombings in Istanbul and Madrid prove that Islamic militants, whether linked to al-Qaeda or not, still have the capability to inflict massive death tolls. Is there another way, or other ways, to prosecute this "war"? The Pentagon, which is the main driving force behind the US-led "war on terror", has naturally tended to focus on military successes, including the killing or capture of key al-Qaeda figures. But nearly every analyst agrees that not enough is being done to tackle al-Qaeda's popularity, which stems from a widespread Muslim disenchantment with both the US and its government allies in the region. The lost opportunity of not planning properly for a swift victory over Saddam Hussein has had disastrous consequences for the West. Iraq is still a dangerous mess and Arabs blame the West. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/3550189.stm_________________I could dance with you till the cows come home...On second thought, I'd rather dance with the cows when you came home Back to top DianaJoined: 16 Jan 2003Posts: 494Location: Guam, USA Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2004 2:52 am Post subject: Results of the US-led war in Iraq. Since the US-led war in Iraq, things are starting to change especially in the Middle East where most of the terrorists are from. The results show: 1. Saudi Arabia who wasn't very serious in cracking down on terrorism is now serious about it especially after two bombings in the country. 2. People in Iran have been protesting and demanding reforms from their government after the US-led war in Iraq. 3. Two dictorial regimes - the Taliban and Saddam - are now out! Saddam has been captured and his two sons are dead. The less dictators in the world, the BETTER - and this is a proven fact. 5. Iran and Libya have suddenly decided to cooperate with the UN weapons inspection after seeing what happened to Iraq. As Saddam defied the UN for 12 years, no country took the UN seriously. Now, after seeing what happened to Saddam, lo and behold, Iran and Libya have suddenly changed their song and dance. 6. Syria is now seeking for a peace treaty with Israel and the US after the US has threatened sanctions. Syria is also opening up its country to UN weapons inspection. In fact, the Syrian dictator said in a news report that he will do whatever America says. 7. About 75% of Al-Queda leaders are either killed or captured. That's good news. Bin Laden and his gang are now on the run and in hiding! Or do you prefer that Bin Laden and Al-Queda remain under the protective custody of the Taliban? I prefer that they remain on the run, hunted down, and exterminated like the rabid dogs they truly are. 8. Democratic reforms are taking place in Afhganistan and Iraq. A constitution have already been developed in Afghanistan and Iraq. 9. According to the latest polls taken on March 2004, a majority of the Iraqis stated that life is better now than under Saddam. The polls showed that 71% of the Iraqis are optmistic of their country's future. The Iraqis have read the letter published by Zarqawi, who is an Al-Queda leader. His letter translated in English is found in the weblink below: http://www.cpa-iraq.org/transcripts/20040212_zarqawi_full.html This is what the Iraqis have read, and as they can see, Zarqawi hates BOTH Sunni and Shi'ite muslims. The Iraqis understand that unity is what will defeat the enemy because the enemy cares only about themselves. Al-Queda failed to bring about a civil war between the Sunnis and Shi'ite muslims. Also, according to recent polls, 85% of the Iraqis support the continued missions of the Coaltion in Iraq. http://messopotamian.blogspot.com/ Iraqis are now getting into the Internet and expressing how they feel. The weblink I posted above is one of the Iraqi blogsites. 10. There is also a change taking place in the Middle East. People in the Middle East are now having serious discussions about the US-led war in Iraq. According to Osama al-Ghazali Harb, a top figure at Egypt's semiofficial Al Ahram center for strategic studies, the most important think tank in Egypt, who published an article in the country's leading political quarterly, Al Siyassa Al Dawliya, in which he chastised those Arab commentators who argue that the way in which the U.S. captured Saddam was meant to humiliate Arabs. Al-Ghazali Harb stated in his article: "What we, as Arabs, should truly feel humiliated about are the prevailing political and social conditions in the Arab world especially in Iraq which allowed someone such as Saddam Hussein to . . . assume the presidency. We should feel humiliated that Saddam was able . . . to single-handedly initiate a number of catastrophic policies that transformed Iraq, relatively rich in natural, human and financial resources, into the poorest, most debt-ridden country in the Arab world, not to mention the hundreds of thousands killed and displaced. We should feel humiliated that some of our intellectuals, supposedly the representatives of our nations' consciences and the defenders of their liberty and dignity, not only dealt with Saddam, but also supported him. . . . The Arabs should have been the ones to bring down Saddam, in defense of their own dignity and their own true interests." There are many more articles like this now appearing all over the Middle East including Saudi Arabia who did not take terrorism seriously until AFTER the US-led war in Iraq. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/19/opinion/19FRIE.html 11. There has not been any major terrorist attack since September 11th on US soil so far. The US have sent a strong message to Al-Queda that they will remain resolved and determined to defeat them. Therefore, Al-Queda has turned to attacking America's weaker allies and Iraqi citizens. Fortunately, the Iraqis also turned out to be strong. They did not give in to Al-Queda's goals. Having a free and democratic Iraq is what the terrorists fear the most! They are against democracy! Why do you think they have now turned from attacking US soldiers to innocent Iraqi people who are trying to rebuild their country into a democratic one? Why do you think they are trying to undermine "reconstruction?" Back to top ExcaliburJoined: 19 Jan 2004Posts: 68 Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2004 2:26 pm Post subject: Re: Results of the US-led war in Iraq. Diana wrote: 11. There has not been any major terrorist attack since September 11th on US soil so far. The US have sent a strong message to Al-Queda that they will remain resolved and determined to defeat them. Therefore, Al-Queda has turned to attacking America's weaker allies and Iraqi citizens. Fortunately, the Iraqis also turned out to be strong. They did not give in to Al-Queda's goals. ?" I am european citizen and I will give you my opinion about all points that you has posted here . First of all, I wanted US has a succefull militar campaig in Iraq. I was against the war and the false reasons which it gave us to justify it. Right now Europe has to be there supporting the post war. It is very important for the world. 1.- I have understood Saudi Arabia has been the number one supporting many terrorism group. Moreover It is not a model of democratic. 2.- I believe you 3.Taliban regimen has been removed from Afghanistan, What is the future of this country are you talking about ?? Afgahnistan will be forgetting soon. 5, 6.-the Sadan Hussein regimen was not a threat for the World as US has tried to show us. there are other allied as Pakistan which has been selling nuclear thecnologies to many dangerous countries included Iran, Korea,etc.. But, it takes care because is banned to talk about allieds of the USA. Its president is a dictator like Sadan Hussein but he is a good guy and is more pretty. 7,8, 9,10 I should say I believe you. to sum up, I am not owner of the trust. Like me there are many people who think that war was a mistaken. But we have to be together against terrorism._________________I could dance with you till the cows come home...On second thought, I'd rather dance with the cows when you came home Back to top DianaJoined: 16 Jan 2003Posts: 494Location: Guam, USA Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2004 2:17 am Post subject: Re: Results of the US-led war in Iraq. Excalibur wrote: 1.- I have understood Saudi Arabia has been the number one supporting many terrorism group. Moreover It is not a model of democratic. Hello Excalibur, I agree with you about Saudi Arabia. Osama Bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia and most of the terrorists involved in the 9-11 attacks were from that country. I also agree that Saudi Arabia is not a model of democracy. However, the Americans did not have a regime change in Saudi Arabia because they are allies and could always work with the royal family. Already the Saudi government is cooperating with the United States in the war against terrorism. Iraq, on the other hand, would never cooperate with the United States in cracking down on terrorism. Saddam couldn't even cooperate with the UN for 12 years. Excalibur wrote: 3.Taliban regimen has been removed from Afghanistan, What is the future of this country are you talking about ?? Afgahnistan will be forgetting soon. As long as Osama Bin Laden (if he's really alive) and his second in command are still in Afghanistan, the United States will continue to look for him. Kabul is doing well now. Young girls in Kabul are currently getting an education and women are even allowed to work. There has been much progress in Kabul. Unfortunately, certain areas in Afghanistan, which are still under the control of warlords are still behind. Women's rights are being abused in these areas, and oppression is still taking place. This is why the US and NATO are still there. There is still much work to be done in Afghanistan compared to Iraq. In the first place, there are more illiterate people in Afghanistan; therefore, these people need to be educated so they can obtain the skills needed to build their country. The pipeline that is being built to the Caspian Sea where natural gas and oil can be mined will bring much wealth to Afghanitan and the surrounding region. Pakistan's economy will also benefit from it. That is the future that holds for Afhganistan and the surrounding region if both the US, Afghanistan, and the international community help each other out in getting rid of Bin Laden whom the US still thinks is hiding in the country. Excalibur wrote: 5, 6.-the Sadan Hussein regimen was not a threat for the World as US has tried to show us. there are other allied as Pakistan which has been selling nuclear thecnologies to many dangerous countries included Iran, Korea,etc.. But, it takes care because is banned to talk about allieds of the USA. Its president is a dictator like Sadan Hussein but he is a good guy and is more pretty. Saddam Hussein was a threat. He was more of a threat than Iran or North Korea. Of the three, it is Iraq (under Saddam) who has invaded two countries - Iran in the 1980s and Kuwait in 1990. It was also Iraq who started an unprovoked attack on Israel in 1991 during the First Gulf War. Of the three countries, it was Iraq who used chemical weapons on his own people. Using chemicals on an enemy is understandable although unethical, but using it against your own people is pure madness! Saddam was a threat because he provided headquarters, operating bases, training camps, and other support to terrorist groups fighting the governments of neighboring Turkey, Iran, and Israel. He has provided safe haven to such terrorists as Abu Abbas who masterminded the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking, Khala Khadr al-Salahat who designed the bomb that destroyed Pan Am flight 103, Abu Nidal and Abu Musad al-Zarqawi an al-Queda leader, and Ramzi Yousef who was the ringleader of the 1993 world Trade Center bombing plot. Saddam is a threat due to his involvement and support for terrorism. And we all know that asking Saddam to cooperate with the entire world to crack down on terrorism in his country isn't going to work. He couldn't even cooperate with the United Nations. Saddam posed as a threat when he hired terrorists to assasinate George HW Bush in 1994 when Bush visited Kuwait. Fortunately, the assasination attempt failed. Saddam was a threat because he refused to comply with UN resolutions that clearly told him to disarm his WMD. Before the US-led war, the international community and the United Nations were all aware of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. We were all aware of it because we had all the evidence showing that the US, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia provided him with those WMD. There was more evidence showing that Saddam had these WMD than North Korea. North Korea always boasted that they had WMD but so far they haven't even gassed anyone with chemicals. It was up to Saddam to show proof that he no longer had those WMD that was given to him by those countries. The burden of proof was on Saddam - not on the Americans or the UN. And for 12 years, Saddam failed to show this proof. By ousting Saddam, the Americans have removed a source of refuge, training and funding and arming of many different terrorists. Also, by taking out Saddam, the Americans can now leave Saudi Arabia - which is actually the SOURCE of Bin Laden's hatred of America. The real reason Bin Laden hated America is stated in his earlier letters and fatwa against the US. He stated that he wanted the Americans out of his homeland of Saudi Arabia because in his eyes, he believes that only muslims are worthy to step on these sacred lands. According to Bin Laden's letter written on August 23, 1996, "greatest disaster that the muslims have suffered since the death of the Prophet is the occupation of the land of the two sacred mosques, the land of the Ka'ba and the Qibla, by the Christian armies of the Americans and their allies." In Bin Laden's eyes, Christians stepping on Saudi Arabia is the greatest disaster. If the Americans were to follow the United Nations in 2003, they would still be a target of attack by Bin Laden and al-Queda. The Americans were in Saudi Arabia with the permission of the Saudi government, and they were there containing Saddam just like the UN and the international community wanted. By being in Saudi Arabia for the past 12 years, the Americans have bored the brunt of Bin Laden's hate. For the past 12 years, the Americans have paid a very high price just by being in Saudi Arabia containing Saddam. They paid the price through the Khobar Towers bombing and then in September 11, 2001. Yet, despite that, the UN and international community still wanted the US to continue containing Saddam knowing full well that they are more of a target than ever after September 11th and knowing full well that Bin Laden had wanted the Americans out of his homeland. Containing Saddam already came with a high price for the Americans. I agree with you. We should all stick together in defeating al-Queda and all terrorist groups. It is important that the Middle East and all countries be united in standing against Bin Laden, al-Queda, and all terrorist groups which also includes the ETA in Spain and the IRA in Northern Ireland. Back to top ExcaliburJoined: 19 Jan 2004Posts: 68 Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2004 6:34 am Post subject: Re: Results of the US-led war in Iraq. Diana wrote: - Iran in the 1980s and Kuwait in 1990. It was also Iraq who started an unprovoked attack on Israel in 1991 during the First Gulf War. Of the three countries, it was Iraq who used chemical weapons on his own people. Using chemicals on an enemy is understandable although unethical, but using it against your own people is pure madness! Saddam was a threat because he provided headquarters, operating bases, training camps, and other support to terrorist groups fighting the governments of neighboring Turkey, Iran, and Israel. . And for 12 years, Saddam failed to show this proof. Hello Diana, I like a lot reading your posts. I have to admit that you are very well informed about subject. Moreover, you are a good speaker. Otherwise, you can bring many arguments here in order to corroborate the ideas. That is good. In general, I agree whit Democratic countries should be together against Terrorism and many ideas as well. But . Afghanistan As far as I know in Afghanistan there are a Headquarter commander with Germany and Holland and Special forces from USA, which are looking for Osama Bin Laden in the North. NATO forces have not taken over the Mission so far. I think that will be Next summer. Both countries out of NATO have sent their Forces and HQ. In the past, I think in eighties decades USA had provided Weapons of Taliban Group when they were fighting against Russian. USA had others interests in that moments. Europa always is going to support USA againts terrorims. But Europa has its own way to fight against terrorism. When the Headquarter of Osama was established in it was USA begun to be worried about the country. Kabul is getting well now but when USA finds its goal, let say Osama this country will be forgetting. We will see it. USA has a lot of to do in Iraq to be involved in Afghanistan as well. USA Army is having serius problem in order to replace their forces. By being in Saudi Arabia for the past 12 years, the Americans have bored the brunt of Bin Laden's hate. For the past 12 years, the Americans have paid a very high price just by being in Saudi Arabia containing Saddam. They paid the price through the Khobar Towers bombing and then in September 11, 2001 That was a worse crime against humanity. I would remember you that Sadan ilegally invaded Kuwait, However, USA led the war but with UN resolution and the support of the democratic countries. Could you tell me why not USA got rid of Sadan?. Why USA has been waited 12 y to throught out SH? Anybody has able to demotrate SH had link with AlQuaida..so far? Regarding the WMD and the role which SH played with it, there is an interesting article signed by George Melloan in Wall Street Journal in February 3th 2004. I agree with me WSJ is a reliable newspaper. This article said Sadan thought he was playing a quite cleve game whith the funds from UN oild for food program support from France and Russian. He belived their voutes could save him from a US attack Sadam turned olf for peace into a money- making and influence scheme .. the program can be renamed oil for palace. The article said he also propaged the he had a stockpils of WMD for they wanted to be dangerous or about to become so. He was a truly threat._________________I could dance with you till the cows come home...On second thought, I'd rather dance with the cows when you came home Back to top DianaJoined: 16 Jan 2003Posts: 494Location: Guam, USA Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2004 3:25 am Post subject: Not taking out Saddam in 1991 was a great mistake of the United States and the coalition forces. When Saddam invaded Kuwait, the UN demanded that he withdraw from Kuwait. Since he refused, the US and its coalition went to war and succeeded in getting Saddam to withdraw. When the Iraqi people rose against Saddam at the encouragement of the US, they were hoping that the Iraqi people would be able to take out Saddam without any outside help. As we now know, that proved to be a mistake because the Iraqi people were unsuccessful. It was also a mistake for the UN, the international community, as well as the US and its coalition forces to stood by and do nothing while Saddam brutally slaughtered his own people in 1991 and buried them in mass graves. If the US had intervened in 1991, the Americans would not be in Saudi Arabia for 12 years containing Iraq, and more Iraqi lives would have been saved. The only thing I can not say is whether Iraq would have been a democracy in 1991 with Saddam out. There is a possibility that Iraq would resort to an undemocratic state probably similar to Iran in 1991. Today, however, polls show that most Iraqis favor a democracy. Another mistake committed is allowing Saddam to continually defy the United Nations. Because of his defiance, other countries did not take the United Nations seriously. Saddam was given too many chances, and it made the UN look weak to the rest of the world as Saddam constantly succeeded in defying the UN for 12 years. Back to top ExcaliburJoined: 19 Jan 2004Posts: 68 Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 3:11 am Post subject: Diana wrote: Not taking out Saddam in 1991 was a great mistake of the United States and the coalition forces........... You are right. When US army led a big coalition forces along with the supporting of International Community that was the key of the successful war and permit to release Kuwait from Sadan Husseins Army. Moreover, that was the great opportunity to take out him. On the one hand, the aim of USA was released Kuwait; the victory was too easy, the superior technology was obvious. As you can see yourself he was a terrible liar. He wanted to look like more danger than he was. So USA had an easy victory and Coalition Forces were ready to control the country. On the other hand, Kurds and Shia population took the opportunity to rise up in rebellion. SH took the control of Country and crushed the rebellion. It was advised to not take out SH because at least he could control the integrity of the country. Furthermore, there was a high risk turning Iraq into a new Iran. Of course, my last paragraphs is my opinion. I am sure what truly happened??_________________I could dance with you till the cows come home...On second thought, I'd rather dance with the cows when you came home Back to top ExcaliburJoined: 19 Jan 2004Posts: 68 Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2004 3:13 am Post subject: Diana wrote: . Another mistake committed is allowing Saddam to continually defy the United Nations. Because of his defiance, other countries did not take the United Nations seriously. Saddam was given too many chances, and it made the UN look weak to the rest of the world as Saddam constantly succeeded in defying the UN for 12 years. I strongly agree with you . However, United Nation is usefully, at least there is forum where all countries can be heard of. Countries as USA, France, Russian, UK, among the others never permit taking any resolution against their interests. I think, Russian is in the top ranking and following USA to ban resolutions. Furthermore, if the powerful countries dont provide their army It would be impossible to carry out whatever resolutions_________________I could dance with you till the cows come home...On second thought, I'd rather dance with the cows when you came home Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Current News All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Student Forums----------------ComputersCurrent NewsCultureEnglish SchoolsFamilyFilm and CinemaFoodHealth and FitnessHelp CenterHobbiesHolidaysLearning EnglishLiteratureMaking FriendsMusicOpinionsPetsScienceSportsThe Strange and MysteriousTOEFL and Other English ExamsTravel You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Dave's ESL Cafe is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. 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Tuesday, February 22, 2011
TWD: Toasted Almond Scones
Mike of Living Out West chose Toasted Almond Scones for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.
Wow, I really can't say enough about these scones. They were easy to make, they were soooo light and fluffy and they rose nicely. The taste was delicious(although I did add another couple tablespoons of sugar) and the toasted almonds added a nice crunch.
I will definitely make these again. Next time I'd love to try some dried cherries.
Thanks so much to Mike for a great pick and Dorie for a great recipe. If you'd like to see the recipe you can visit Mike's blog (link above) or Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".
11 comments:
- Judy said...
Your scones look just like mine! We loved them and will definitely make them again.
- February 22, 2011 at 1:51 AM
- mike509 said...
Funny, I added more sugar to the flour as well - forgetting about the sugar in the nuts. But they weren't too sweet at all. So glad you enjoyed them and glad you baked along with me this week - they look wondeful!
- February 22, 2011 at 3:13 AM
- cindy said...
I also added a little more sugar and almond extract. They were delish. Dried fruit would be great.
- February 22, 2011 at 10:33 AM
- Flourchild said...
They are perfect and yours are SO perfect! Im glad you loved them as much as I did! They are so good and the dough was so easy to work with! Another TWD winner..Yeah Dorie!!
- February 22, 2011 at 2:50 PM
- Juliana said...
Wow, your scones look so pretty and so yummie...I never made scone, maybe it is time to try :-)
- February 22, 2011 at 8:15 PM
Your scones look so great! I liked these a lot too, and adding dried fruit sounds like a good idea.
- February 22, 2011 at 8:25 PM
- Beth said...
These scones look great. I'm a big fan of almond flavoring and I think they'd be delicious!
- February 23, 2011 at 10:38 AM
- Jeannette said...
i was on the fence about adding more sugar, i'll try that next time! beautiful scones
- February 23, 2011 at 3:53 PM
- Katrina said...
I'm happy to see that my scones look like a lot of others since I made a bunch of healthier adaptations. These were good, I agree!
- February 23, 2011 at 11:21 PM
- Jules Someone said...
Those look delicious! I love the idea of dried cherry, too.
- February 23, 2011 at 11:51 PM
- ann said...
I love scones. I'd love to try this recipe!
- February 26, 2011 at 2:49 PM


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Cindy Krell - Custodian
Cindy Krell is one of our custodial staff at FBLex. She and Cliff, her husband of 30 years, are the proud parents of 2 grown sons. They have been active members of the church for 13 years. Her main responsibility is maintaining a clean and safe environment in the main Worship Center. Her hobbies include singing, cleaning, and a fascination for BUTTERFLIES. She is loved by many friends and is a familiar face on campus.


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Honda is issuing a recall on 2002-2006 CR-V models for a faulty driver's side power window switch. The switch malfunction could cause a fire, even when the vehicle is not running. A total of 268,655 units built over a four year period are affected by the recall.Chrysler is recalling 44,300 2009-2010 Ram 1500 and Dakota trucks for an improperly installed…Read More


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Everything really has been relatively easy, compared to my first race this year, the Hawaii Ultra Running Team (H.U.R.T.) 100 Mile the middle weekend in January. Since I was out there running (in more ways than one) a real long time, this report is sort of long, so if you are short on time, skip to the bottom and watch Billy Yang's video of me finishing (good stuff) and get on with your day. If you want to take a few extra minutes to get grossed out, also read the beginning of loop 2. If you've ever come close to making or not making a race cutoff, make sure you read loop 5.
I hadn't seen Mike Sweeney for a while and didn't even recognized him at first. He ran a sub-17 hour Rio del Lago the first year I did it in 2005, my first 100 mile race.
The drop bags were not going to be collected until race morning, so I still had some time that night to hastily prepare mine. For the start/finish Nature Center "bag" I ended up having three bag filled with stuff including a black duffel for clothes to wear after I was done.
Back at the resort, my family and I went to a noodle shop in the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where we were staying. I didn't order anything, but told my wife I'd eat what the kids didn't finish, which amounted to the non-noodle stuff in the ramen bowl they shared. There was also an uneaten teriyaki chicken bowl, but I had no appetite for it.
- Thursday: 20 ounces of Nuun; half a banana; 3-4 spoonfuls of Fage Greek yogurt; a leftover potsticker.
- Friday: the remaining 3-4 spoonfuls of Fage yogurt; this small supposed omelet that Hawaiian Airlines gave during the flight-- I really didn't want to eat it, but I felt I had to eat something; 2 orange juices; what I ate at the ramen place
- Saturday 3:30 a.m. (wasn't planning on waking up that early, but I had been getting up 2-3 times a night due to the runs): a Zone Perfect chocolate peanut butter bar, 210 calories
I hadn't thought to ask if sports drink was going to be provided at the start, and I didn't stash any gels or lyte caps in my shorts. Ken Michel gave me a few shortly after we started (thanks!) So it was just two handhelds filled with water and 4 lyte caps for the first stretch. Would not have been a big deal, except I was running such a large calorie deficit.
Race morning-- luckily my kids and niece were still on Pacific Time two hours ahead, so we didn't have trouble to wake them up. Maybe it was my niece that originally suggested that I run the race with a diaper, the big joke of the morning. My own boys were already enjoying calling me "Uncle Mark" instead of "Daddy." This started occasionally morphing into "Uncle Diarrhea Head."
The race was started with the blowing of a conch shell. Can't remember who this is.
Loop 1
For those unfamiliar with this course, the 100 mile race consists of five repeats of a 20 mile course, shaped as (I am not sure who first noticed this, whoever did can claim credit) the female reproductive system, including external genitalia, vagina, uterus and two fallopian tubes. The start and finish (Nature Center) is where reproduction and birth starts and finishes, the vulva. There is a crossing over halfway from the start-finish to the summit where the cervix would be. The two remote aid stations are the ovaries. For a map see page two of this link.
The pain of my race though, was not gynecological, but purely gastrointestinal.
Near the summit between the 1st (Paradise Park) and 2nd (Jackass Ginger) aid stations, I started feeling extremely low on energy, as if I was about to hit the wall. Nothing that I haven't encountered before in an ultra, BUT NEVER AT MILE 10 (!) I had anticipated finishing this race would be difficult. But I had to start eating or I would never even finish my first loop.
Local Hawaiian Hannah Roberts gave me half of some energy bar, allowing me to make it to the 2nd aid station without crashing. In return I gave her extra mojo energy that helped her become the first Hawaiian to win the women's race.
Running into and out of Nuuanu (Jackass Ginger) aid station (mile 12.5 of each 20 mile loop) the first time, I was a bit whiny, the food intake leading to my first pit stops and stomach distress.
(It wasn't the energy bar in particular, but any food.) As people passed me ascending the hill out of Jackass Ginger, I felt the need to explain my medically caused slowness. One woman told me she had just recovered from a bronchitis she had for several weeks. As she easily and briskly passed me. "Bronchitis Schmitus" I quipped, wishing I had had a bronchitis, heck even a pneumonia, as long as I could shit normally. I admit to a lapse of grumpiness, but I would be punished enough for it...
Loop 2
At the Nature Center I dumped my bottles and put on my Ultimate Direction Wasp pack, to join several other runners in the race using the same. I normally only use this for long training runs where I have to long distances without access to potable water, never in a race. But I now figured I needed the Wasp's pockets to hold food (the weight of just two gels was making my shorts sag-- I didn't want to cinch them too tight, since it is always a pain to untie the drawstring, and I had to drop my shorts often and on very short notice.) And with more food I needed more liquids-- my bottles ran out early on the last leg of the first loop, and it was growing warmer.
With my Wasp, my nutrition improved. We passed many more hikers out on the trail, especially near Paradise aid station to and from the waterfall. Since nothing particularly noteworthy happened on this lap, and I gotta get this out sooner or later, this would be a good place to discuss my diarrhea.
My Diarrhea
Thin liquid, the consistency of miso soup (which they had at two aid stations, yum!) Since it was so thin, my butt didn't get very inflamed, and I felt the need to stick lube around my ass only twice during the race. (I'm sure you were wondering.)
As I learned during loop 1, the output varied directly with the amount I ate.
It also varied proportionately with how fast I was running, maybe due to all the shaking, so the frequency per both time and distance was greater on the descents than the ascents.
I'm guessing I had at least 40, maybe over 50 episodes over the 100 miles, with at least an hour spent moving to a suitable spot, doing the deed, cleaning up my mess, or having to start real slow due to mild cramping from the act.
Parts of the trail were hazardous, particularly the single track on the ridges. Early I once tried to crap on the side of the trail, but almost fell back off the edge, which appeared deceptively less treacherous because of the greenery on the side. Close call. It would be so embarrassing to have them find your dead body with your pants down.
This also made burying paper problematic--often there was no place to bury it. Often I'd have to chuck it over the side, or use a stick to knock it off a leaf. I probably should be disqualified for violating some rule, but honestly, there were often no other options. More frequently, I'd use leaves to wipe, since it wasn't actually that messy.
I'm wonder if I could get banned from this race for admitting all this.
Loop 3
I had left a headlamp in each of the three aid stations and a new handheld at the Nature Center. I made a huge tactical mistake of thinking that since I was taking my only handheld now, I should leave the headlamp until it got really dark later. This was stupid and costly in at least 3 ways.
First, it grew dark quickly, due to the dense vegetation, so I turned on my handheld within 20 minutes of my ascent.
Second, since the hand light is meant to focus a beam down, I kept it mostly down and missed a sharp turn up to the right off of Makiki Valley Trail and went right under blue ribbons marking the wrong way. I reached the paved road and started running up it, but something didn't feel right, and I then remembered there was supposed to be a guard rail you had to get around on the left before you headed right. I pulled out my map and figured out what I did, so headed back down. It didn't seem like a major loss at the time (my estimate looking at my Garmin map was about 0.6-0.7 mile and 13 minutes), but I guess it was.
Third, on the descent when you are moving faster, the absence of my headlamp really slowed me significantly. The reason I bought the thing was per the advices of Brian Wyatt at last year's Headlands Hundred, when I was complaining about the glare of my headlamp in the fog. (Thanks again, Brian!) Once I put on my headlamp at Paradise, the combo worked great and I could use often use the lower or lowest setting of both lights.
Nonetheless, the dark still slows everyone down, and maybe it slowed me down more so. Aside from the diarrhea and nausea, I now also felt, fatigue, malaise, and sleepiness. All-nighter runs probable aren't too healthy for you. Possible stupidly I avoided taking too much caffeine because I was scared of the diuretic and slight pro-motility effect it had on me. I didn't want to add to my dehydration and gastrointestinal woes.
The only good thing about my nocturnal deceleration was that my bowels ran less frequently, perhaps from being able to digest and absorb fluids better. The moon was almost full, tropical birds and insects made the jungle a magic place. I hadn't turned on my iPod all day and wasn't inclined to do so then. I only pulled it out at Nuuanu, mile 52.5-ish, mostly to help myself stay awake.
Volunteer Cindy Goh set up her little station at the muddy 3-way intersection at the summit on Pauoa Flats. The first year she gave aid, but the RDs told here she could't to protect the integrity of the race. I hit her up for a wipe and a lyte tab once, and it was an encouragement to see her out there three times a loop.
At Nuuanu, I asked a volunteer to fill my bladder with water and pour in this half packet of whey-based protein powder from my drop bag. But I also left with half a ham sandwich and half a PB and J. After finishing those, I was pretty thirsty, but the protein powder was clabbering up my mouth and making me belch. I'm guessing it was probably way past its expiration date too.
Loop 4
Having learned from mistakes the previous loop, I was looking to run loop 4 more cleanly (well, I guess I never got clean down there) and welcome the sunrise, which invariably makes you feel more alert and accelerates you pace.
At Paradise I heard the mention of cutoff the first time. Not having anticipated being this far back, cutoff times were never on my radar in the weeks and days leading to the race.
I had to leave the Nature Center to start loop 5 at 11 a.m. Whoa! How was I going to do that? I had just spent over 8 1/2 hours to finish loop 3 and now I had to rally to finish slightly less than 2/3 of this loop in 4:45? Well, I was feeling more awake and fairly more comfortable. Let's do it! I thought, and started my way back up.
I ran all the level and gently upslopes for the first time since maybe the first loop. I also started having to crap again, frequently, but luckily the process never took so much out of me that I felt weak or dizzy for more than a few minutes. Was it Circadian related, due to my resisting adrenaline, or had my body learned to adapt, the way it had learned to survive these 100 mile runs?
I came into Nuuanu about 8 a.m. I told the volunteers I was in a hurry and wanted to be out in 5 minutes. I unloaded my lights, donned a cap, got my food. After all the long drawn out aid station stops through the stops, this felt like a car racing pit stop.
Apparently station captain and race director Jeff (above) thought I was nuts and incoherent so included my 5-minute deadline in his roasting at the post-race banquet. My kids and niece though this gadget he gave me was pretty cool.
At some point during this loop a female runner from Hawaii tipped me off about the constipating effect of guava juice. Is this true? Unfortunately, I could never get any.
My left lower back started feeling tight, so I worked on my posture, and held back a bit. It was too early to go full throttle anyway.
I continued my furious running and crapping, passing even more people. During this time I figured out that the lack of sleep had seriously deteriorated my math skills. For some reason I thought that an 11 a.m. Cutoff at the Nature Center gave me 6 hours to do the last 20 mile lap, which seemed insanely fast so I had told myself at Paradise that I should get there at 10:30. Partly due to this erroneous mild panic, I only took 2:05 to finish that stretch. When I arrived at the Nature Center I already figured out my glaring error of 2 hours, and now realized I had slightly less than 8 hours to finish my last loop. Since I had run the last two legs to get here at a sub-6 hour loop pace, I figured I was better than okay. Cake! I had finishing this race in the bag.
Loop 5
It wasn't my intention to be so slow and inefficient at the nature Center before my fifth and final loop, but that's what happened. I would later attribute this partly to the fact that many of the people hanging out at the aid station were not volunteers or runners still in the race, but dropped runners (by this time there were many) and their family, friends are crew. Perhaps from my lack of sleep or my expectation from being so proactively serviced the last three times through, I handed a volunteer my Wasp pack and told her I was going to go to my drop bag. On the way there, I went on a goosehunt for antacids, finally locating them at the medical tent.
A well intentioned volunteer had at some point placed my green race bag containing my extra charging Garmin Forerunner 305 into my black duffle bag, which resulted in my not being able to find my green bag. I suspect s/he did this because the small sticker with my name and number on it (this was the race goodie bag) had come off it I wasted a few minutes and those of a volunteer, looking around the whole sprawling aid station, until she thoughtfully suggested I look in the black bag. The other unfortunate effect of the bag being stashed was that my Garmin Forerunner became dislodged from it's docking cradle connected to my portable charger, before the GPS was fully charged. No huge loss, especially as the satellite reception was always so poor that I lacked a true recording of my exciting last 60-90 minutes of my race even if my batteries had not run out so early. Anyways, so I minorly freaked out, presumed they'd lost it, and ended up asking a volunteer to help me find my bag. I got roasted for this one at the banquet Monday night, receiving a GPS locator so I can located my GPS.
The first thing I realized leaving the aid station was that I left a pulled pork sandwich by my drop bag. I was really looking forward to eating it, but it was too late to go back for it. The regret and craving increased with each step, turning into pure torture.
On the initial root-filled ascent I explained my pulled pork woes to a runner I was passing. Her pace offered me alternative greasy food, and I thankfully took a couple tater tots and a couple similarly sized pizza wrap things. The pizza things were slightly spicy, so started having heartburn again, but I decided the reflux was worth getting the chocolate Gu taste out of my mouth. Normally, I don't mind that flavor, but when you are craving and should have been eating pulled pork, it's unbearable.
After hammering the last two laps, I found my energy level and pace had decreased a bit. No problem-- I had 7 1/2 hours to complete this last lap, all in in daylight. Last lap = bringing it home!
At the top of the ridge I felt the urge to shit, with a little more than average stomach cramping. It took a little longer than normal (the stuff came out as quickly as always, but it felt like I could push more out). I then stood up-- and immediately felt it-- a severe tightening all over all my legs, that radiated through my lower back (including the hot spot on the lower left). I tried to start running again, but the stiffness and pain increased-- no matter how I tried, I could not run.
Could. Not. Run.
Uh oh.
Avoiding panic, I told myself to keep moving. Much of the next mile was the relatively flat, but very technical section. I never could run it fast even before this cramping crisis, but here I was walking it.
Or make that "I was trying to walk it." Even what most people would call a casual walking pace became impossible, especially on any downward steps. I soon figured I needed a stick to help support me. Problem was, my legs were now too tight to crouch, and my lower back that had been bothering me was too tight to bend over.
Using my arms to support me, I reached down for bamboo sticks, to find twice they were actually still rooted to the ground. I also broke about three flimsier sticks, almost tumbling over when they snapped, and coming very near to ending the race from acute sever spasming of a particular leg or back muscle. I felt lucky each time amidst my misfortune. Eventually I managed to pick up two that worked. Though I was not sure they would help me enough to make the next cutoff.
I didn't suspect hyponatremia. I was taking enough salt and fluids. Still, every third runner who passed me, asked if I wanted lytes, which I declined, since I had a stash. I swallowed one anyways, then felt the slight salty taste in my mouth when I've had enough salt.
I was suspecting potassium was the problem (I did learn in medical school that diarrhea can deplete you potassium), and took a couple of gels from my Wasp pockets, but soon my water ran out. Meanwhile, the pain and stiffness in my legs was only worsening. I looked at my watch. My 35 minute buffer on the cutoff was dwindling. If something didn't change soon, I would miss the 1:30 p.m. cutoff and my race would end early. In the back of my mind, I was hoping that simply with time, if I didn't push it too much, my legs would recover and I could run again. But it wasn't happening.
I got desperate, realizing my survival in this race was critically endangered. I begged and mooched. First some water from a hiker. Then this guy gave me several ibuprofen (more than the maximum recommended single dose, but luckily as a physician I knew what I was doing):
The pacer of a female runner heading back the other way to Jackass Ginger let me drink off the rest of her bottle of fairly concentrated fruity drink. That was so nice and generous of you, mystery pacer, thanks!
Another runner Wily Woo and his pacer Jeff Rockenbrandt then caught up with me, and if I remember correctly, gave me more water and acetaminophen.
Eventually I was running again, and able to catch up with and keep up with Wily and Jeff. Thanks everyone who saved me on that long descent! We three got in at 1:18 pm, 12 minutes before the cutoff for leaving the station.
More convinced about my potassium theory, I chugged two cups of fruit nectar at the aid station, took more analgesics (no liver damage can possibly result from 1300 mg of acetaminophen in 30 minutes), but got out of there by 1:21 or 1:22.
I took nothing for granted, knowing this was going to be close, and that a 7 hour loop pace, in my condition, was no easy feat. I started to feel sleepy again, and took caffeine from sodas and gels without much effect. I came into the last aid station even closer to the cutoff than the last (arrival 3:20 for 3:30 cutoff). I passed one woman who had cramped up worse than me, who obviously wasn't going to make it. I felt bad for her, though I figured at least her bowels were better off than mine.
Although I wasn't floridly hallucinating, the shapes of the shaded forest often resemble people or objects. I was seeing other runners and photographers with their SLR cameras aimed at me constantly. Even though I was aware they weren't real, I kept seeing them. It was quite trippy. Meanwhile, I was aware that in my drowsy, exhausted and mildly cramped state, I was a set-up for a trip or fall. For this reason, I concentrated on not running beyond myself.
I had been offered my light before I left Nuuanu, but didn't take it. I later realized that if I weren't going to make 6 pm cutoff for the race, I would need a light just to make it back safely. So, making the finish cutoff was tied with avoiding stumbling on the HURT trails in the dark.
Luckily, no major mishaps during the last stretch.
It started raining about 30 minutes from the end.
I saw Wily and Jeff up ahead, very close from the end. I was gaining on them, and considered making a move on them, but relinquished this for two reasons. First, they had stopped on the trail to help me, so I thought it would be in bad taste to get hypercompetitive. Second, I was feeling pretty tight and thought that even a mild increase in my pace even this close to the finish could trigger more severe spasming and was way too risky. They took it up a notch anyways, putting a minute on me by the finish.
Cheers as I crossed the bridge into the finish area (see the photo above). Still a large crowd (12 of the 32 100-mile finishers came in during the 36th and final hour.) Rounding the corner, I was perplexed as exactly where the finish line was, but heard someone tell me to kiss the sign. You'd think I would be able to manage this simple task, including the very non-technical boardwalk leading up to it, but after 36 hours of running, walking and chewing gum would have been a challenge. This is classic. You have to have the sound turned up for the full comic effect:
link to video, courtesy Billy Yang
32nd and dead-last official finisher, 35:54:21
probable dead-last blogger to finish his race report, 18 weeks, 5 days and 21 hours
My kids and niece learned the phrase "face plant." They realized "Uncle Diarrhea Head" not nearly as elegant or funny as "Uncle HURT 100" and "Uncle HURT 100 Face Plant," and so that was my nickname for the rest of the vacation. Good times for the kids!
This tops my list of "I can't believe I made it" race finishes. I couldn't believe it. I still kind of don't. I collectively owe a lot to so many people, many of whom whose names I can't remember, to finish officially under the cutoff. The RDs, volunteers, other racers, and even random hikers on the trail. I love you all.
I actually wasn't the last to finish the 100 miles that weekend. Just the last to officially finish. I passed Alex Garcia, with I chatted briefly a few times during the race, ascending Nuuanu. In addition to his new but apparently defective Camelbak bladder bursting early in the race, his already bad knee continued to worsen, so that he couldn't no longer run downhill, among other disabilities. He ended up finishing the dark, about 90 minutes past the cutoff. The sweeps suggested to him that he could take the straighter way back to the finish, but he told them no, he was having a great run, and he was going to run the whole course. I thought it was cool that the RDs singled him out as the epitome of what ultrarunning is all about.
Which made me think: just a 6 more minutes, and I would have been just as unofficial. No buckle, no 100 mile results, just my 67 mile split as a 100 km result. But, in terms of the effort I put in and what I went through, almost the same. It's weird, arbitrary and a little harsh, but that's how it works. This time I lucked out. In the context of being really UNlucky, but I still lucked out.....
and got the same buckle as the winner
Thanks also Catra (Corbett) and Andy (Kumeda) for the ride back to our condo, where I found myself locked out since my wife was out and figured she'd drive the race finish and see if I was there. (I had texted her several times, to no avail.) But I still thank my wife for letting me finally do this race.
The banquet was fun, had great food, and I only had to use the toilet three times. A destination race, comparable to a destination wedding (more post-race hullabaloo than normal, and quite fun).
race website
I figured the rest of my races this year should seem like cake in comparison.


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Thief of Souls
Publisher's Summary
Nicholas Anthony's spirit has been corrupted. A moment of spite four hundred years in the past turned him into an immortal monster. Now he is obsessed by an unnatural hunger, feasting on the good in others while seeking the good in himself. But unlike the vampire of myth, it's not the taste of blood that draws him, but the very essence of his victims. The soul. Fortunately for Nicholas the evil that dwells within him has not destroyed his conscience, his ability to care, because that in the end will be his salvation.
That... and Regina Miles.
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- Patricia
- 24-03-2013
Romance with a hard edge
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I don't think this book got a fair rating by the last critic. I read it and wanted to listen to it again while at the gym, which I do a lot with books I like. This is not really a hard core horror book. It isn't a sweetie-pie romance either. But at heart it is a romance. It is the painful transformation of an essentially selfish man, who has been changed into a monster by gypsy revenge. Wicklund is not easy on him, which could turn off some readers. In fact, I definitely disliked him at first. The thing is, she manages to hook you into the characters slowly until you know he is either doomed to become the most self-loathing creature who has ever faced immortality or the heroine will in fact save him at the possible expense of her own soul/life. And she makes you care. You will not know until the end. Tragedy or redemption, I can't say or you will all want my throat--me too, I hate spoilers. All I can say is this is a gripping book for anyone who I enjoys a good vampire with their romance.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
- Zandalee
- 19-05-2018
The narrator narrate too fast and makes the character sound like there are in a rush.
- Kd
- 12-01-2015
2.5; unmemorable; unromantic
This paranormal, barely-romantic tale is the story about wealthy soul-stealer, Nick, and, physician, Regina/Reggie. In large part, it's about Nick's internal struggle and Regina's struggle as a result of his internal struggle, since she ends up being critical to that struggle. The story was so mediocre, passionless and ho-hum that it's hard to put a finger on what is wrong with it. It has no foul language and has 3 or 4 neutered sex scenes, though I hesitate to even call them that. I think the idea was good but just poorly executed. It was .5 level above boring. Still, I give the author credit for not being obvious in which of the 2 choices would be the ending. And the narrator didn't help. Her voice of Regina was bad because it was too close to a little girl's voice.
Overall, it was just like the meal you get to give it a try for the first time, and realize, after the first bite, that it's not good and it's not bad. You can finish it and do, but do so by giving some to your dog and feeling relief when it's done because you didn't throw away food. The taste is not so bad that you can't finish it or need something to wash the flavor away in your mouth, but you are very clear that you will never get it again.
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JORTEC or "Jornadas da Tecnologia" - the Days of TechnologyActivity by Gabriella Caldeira | added on Apr 19, 2011 | Portugal
Sponsor(s): Faculadade de Ciências e Tecnologias- Universidade Nova de Lisboa
JORTEC 2011 - Days of Technology, MIEQB Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologias da Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Our school organizes every year a conference week; this week is called JORTEC, which means "Jornadas da Tecnologia", "Days of Technology".
During this week is assigned a day for each course, and the event's success is the sole responsibility of the students organizers.
This year's theme will be "Chemical and Biochemical Engineering in the Future".
The subthemes and speakers are:
Order of Engineers- Eng. Luís Araújo (Confirmed);
-Óhmic Heating- Prof. Dr. António Vicente-UMINHO (Confirmed) and Dr. Ricardo Pereira-UMINHO(Confirmed);
-Ion Jelly- Dr. Pedro Vidinha -FCT-UNL (Confirmed) and Prof. Dr. Luís Branco -SOLCHEMAR(Confirmed)
-Alternative Forms of Energy Production- Dra. Lígia Martins –ITQB(Confirmed) and Dr. Ricardo Louro –ITQB (Confirmed);
-Bioplastics: Eng. Alexandre Soares - CABOPOL (Confirmed):
-Valuation of Industrial Waste for Chemical Industry: Dr. Elsa Nascimento- RENASCIMENTO (confirmed).
The hosts of this event will be:
Prof. Drº. Manuel Nunes da Ponte, in the morning and Prof. Drª. Mª Ascensão Reis in the afternoon.
The event will take place at Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade da Nova de Lisboa at Campus de Caparica on the 9th of May.
JORTEC is free and open for everyone, but your name have to be in our list. For that hapen you must send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com.
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SEVENTEEN? Where did the past week go? Anyone see it? I did buy the feeds though, just so I wouldn't forget.
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Yesterday Dan, Pradeep and I presented "y!Vmail: voicemail for your Yahoo! Mail" at the Yahoo! University Hack Day Contest, winning the award for the 2nd best Hack! (jump to the demo video )
Our team with judges Paul Tarjan and Rasmus Lerdorf
The adventure started when I heard about Yahoo!'s Hack U event:
Join Yahoo! web experts including Rasmus Lerdorf, the creator of PHP, for a week of learning, hacking and fun! You'll hear interesting tech talks, hacking tips and lessons, and get hands-on coding workshops where you'll work with cutting-edge technology. The week's events will culminate with our University Hack Day competition—a day-long festival of coding, camaraderie, demos, awards, food, music and jollity (it's a real word, look it up).
Years ago when I was in my teens, I was an avid participant on the school / college tech fest circuit. Almost every major institution in and around Delhi would organize annual technical festivals, hosting programming contests and software demo competitions. This was where I got a chance to showcase my creations and meet other hackers. Winning these events became a good way for me to pay off those telephone bills — web development in the dial-up age was an expensive hobby!
I decided to enter the Hack Day contest just for fun; it had been a while since I participated in one of these. It wasn't about winning this time; I just wanted to do the whole "idea to execution to demo" thing with a group of friends, and spend hours screaming at each other over STUPID hard-to-find bugs that are actually staring at you in the face, high-fiving every hour as a feature milestone was scratched off the todo-list. The reward: to be able to stand in front of a group of people and say "Hey guys, look what I made!." (If it's hard to appreciate what this feels like, this video might help.)
Yahoo! gave away a bunch of t-shirts, this was on one of them
3 days before the Hack Day, I had an idea about building a phone-based interface for email. The idea was simple enough to build in a day, but fun enough to make an enjoyable demo. The only problem: I was already in the midst of a "hack" daymonth of my own; VLDB was due 3 hours before the start of the Hack Day, and I was already sacrificing sleep for LaTeX and Python for more than a week. There was no way I was going to be able to do this alone. Enter fellow grad students Dan and Pradeep. I told them about the contest and my idea. While they are both expert hackers, I totally forgot about the fact that people in Operating Systems research don't really do a lot of Web Programming: "PHP….? I've never…" said Dan. I pointed them to the Yahoo Developer Network site and returned to my research paper writing madness. Hopefully by Friday evening, I would have a web-savvy hack team.
On Friday, I took a quick nap after my paper deadline, and walked over to the Hack Fest area to meet my team (who had become PHP and telephony wizards by now) and load up on caffeine and sugar that the Yahoo! folks had set up for us.
They even had my favorite candy !
We split the work into two parts; Dan would build the phone interface while Pradeep and I would figure out the email and contacts API to write an email client backend. 7 hours later, we had the first version of our product up and running. We could call in and read emails. Happy with our progress, we decided that it would be wiser to go home and show up early next day. We ended up wasting a few hours the next morning worrying about the presentation: the lecture hall had spotty cellphone coverage, a deal-killer for a phone demo! Pradeep made a breakthrough here, discovering that an obscure panel on the wall was actually a secret speakerphone. Having resolved demo issues, we resumed coding and plugged in the remaining features: navigating through emails, email summarization, and email prioritization. The friendly timestamps feature ("4 minutes ago") was stolen from my blog's code (i.e. the Status header of this blog).
Around 3:30pm on Saturday, we updated our hackday entry:
by Arnab Nandi, Daniel Peek, Pradeep Padala
"Not everyone has a computer, but everyone has a phone."
This hack allows people to access their Yahoo! mail through a 1-800 number, using ANY touch-tone phone.
Press 0 to open, * and # to navigate, 7 to delete. We figure out which emails are important, and read them first. We summarize long emails so that you dont have to listen to all of it. If you want to talk to the person, just press 5 — we'll connect you.
APIs used: BBAuth, OpenMail, Contacts API, Term Extraction API
Hack presentations started at 4:00pm on Saturday. I started with a 20-second powerpoint pitch, followed by a rather entertaining demo. Using the lecture hall's speakerphone we had the lecture hall call our service. Entering the correct PIN logged me in, which resulted in an entire roomful of people were now hearing the words "Welcome to y!Vmail. You have 5 new emails…"
Me pushing numbers on the phone
Here's a short video walk through of our app:
More details at http://yvmail.info
A few minutes after the presentation ended, the prizes were announced. We ranked second. The winning hack was Brandon Kwaselow's "Points of WOE"; a native iPhone app that allowed browsing and creation of placemarks on Yahoo! Maps. Congratulations, Brandon!
Overall, this was a very exciting and enjoyable event; I had a rocking good time hanging out with the Yahoo! folks and getting a cool project out the door with around 15 hours of work. I end with some lessons, acquired over years of doing demo contests:
- Be creative, but avoid feature creep.
- Split up into sub-teams, but make sure you're pair programming most of the time.
- Get Version 0 done Super Super Early. Then polish, polish, polish.
- Reuse (with attribution) as much code as you can.
- Take lots of breaks, make friends, and have fun.
Image credits: Rasmus, Erik
Shout outs: Folks at Twilio for making the coolest telephony API in the universe!


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President Obama pushed aggressively for Mideast peace Tuesday, saying in a historic three-way meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders that the time for "stepping back" had ended -- and that immediate progress is needed.
"Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward," the president said as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"Despite all the obstacles, despite all the history, despite all the mistrust, we have to find a way forward," Obama said. "We have to summon the will to break the deadlock that has trapped generations of Israelis and Palestinians in an endless cycle of conflict and suffering."
Obama also gave a specific timeline with detailed expectations from both sides. Exact dates weren't revealed, and Abbas and Netanyahu didn't speak after Obama's comments.
Obama's sit-down with Netanyahu and Abbas was part of a marathon day of diplomacy, during which he will also meet with the Chinese president and speak with sub-Saharan African leaders about boosting education. He also gave an address on climate change, calling on wealthy nations to help developing countries grow without hurting the environment.
"The security and stability of each nation and all peoples – our prosperity, our health, our safety – are in jeopardy," Obama told the U.N. Climate Change Summit. "And the time we have to reverse this tide is running out."
Obama said the U.S. is leading the way by cutting carbon emissions and investing in renewable energy. But he said developed nations must do more to help emerging nations make economic progress without it coming at the expense of the environment.
"That is why we have a responsibility to provide the financial and technical assistance needed to help these nations adapt to the impacts of climate change and pursue low-carbon development," Obama said.
Get more: MSNBC, The Associated Press, Politico


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Kenneth Anger didn't like Nigel Finch's documentary on Hollywood Babylon. He thought Finch's film ended up more about Finch than it did about Anger. It was like a test run for making a movie, which of course Finch went on to make. Anger told me this while we waited in my room, at the Standard Hotel, West Hollywood, Fall 2004. I was about to interview Kenneth for a documentary, and while we chatted, waiting for the crew to set-up, he tore stories out of tabloid newspapers to send to the Kinsey Institute, and I smoked on the balcony, watching the shimmer of eucalyptus trees in the late morning breeze.
When it was time for the interview, we walked along the orange-carpeted corridor only to be stopped by another film crew who were making a movie. At a half-corridor stood George Clooney and Brad Pitt, filming a scene for Ocean's Twelve. Both looked smaller, their heads somehow bigger. They must have kept their magic for the camera, for it seemed that neither had the presence or, looked as grand a star as Kenneth Anger, who stood half in shadow, quietly waiting by the AD.
Nigel Finch's ambitious documentary uses Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon as its keystone to build a film about Anger's life, his movies, his interest in Hollywood and its stars' scandalous lives. But what is evident amongst all this is that Anger is too big a genius, too complex a character to be fitted in between dramatic reconstructions of Fatty Arbuckle, and tales of Hollywood death and disaster. Though there are some excellent moments, the documentary teases the viewer, leaving an unfulfilled desire to know more about the great Magus of Cinema. Still, it's worth the price of admission, if only to catch Kenneth Anger on film.


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Got Something to Say? I want to hear from you. Drop me a brief email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
I'm not oe to cavalierly hand out compliments, but when the Jegs Engine Masters Challenge concluded October 9, I was extremely grateful to a lot of hard-working folks who put an incredible amount of time and effort into making it a success. Any current or prior competitor can attest to the amount of preparation that takes place, whether that's for rules clarification, venue logistics, sponsor involvement, or manpower. We can come up with wonderful ideas for contests all day long, but without key people to implement them, we'd be dead in the water. To that point, there's one person who I'd like to thank for making the EMC become a reality: our publisher, Ed Zinke. He's not on the editorial staff, but he's just as passionate for the Engine Masters Challenge as any of us. Ed really "gets it," and because of that, you benefit.
Besides Ed, there are some other notable folks, without whom none of this could've happened. My sincerest thanks go out to the wonderful people at the University of Northwestern Ohio, whose venue we use for the event. UNOH has a top-notch facility in Lima, Ohio, with some incredibly hard-working instructors and students. While there's plenty of thanks that need to go around to the UNOH students and faculty, I particularly would like to thank Paul Higgins, Randy Lucius, Andy O'Neil, and Tom Grothous of UNOH for making this event not only successful, but fun, too. If you are a young person considering a career in high performance or motorsports, UNOH is like a dream come true. (How many universities do you know of with a skidpad and a dragstrip launching pad in the parking lot? Can you imagine doing that in your school's parking lot and getting extra credit too?)
Another person who I can't say enough good things about is EMC Director of Competition, Wesley Roberson. As a longtime NHRA tech inspector, many of our competitors have known Wes for years. In the months leading up to the EMC, Wes devotes many hours answering the technical questions of our competitors. During the event, Wes keeps things running smoothly and metes out judgment calmly and equitably. Unfortunately for Wes, when he's doing his job really well, it means you don't hear about it in print or on the message boards. Once again, while the magazine staff makes many of the over-arching decisions about the structure and intent of the competition, it is Wes who largely turns those loose ideas into hard and fast rules that can be enforced. Lastly, it is Wes who orchestrates the teardown and post-event inspection of the competition engines. His NHRA experience has proven invaluable in this regard; his reputation of having a super sharp eye in the NHRA tech area keeps many competitors on the straight and narrow. Without Wes, this thing called Engine Masters doesn't happen.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't give a shout-out to the rest of the gang. Big props go out to Steve Dulcich, Robert McGaffin, Jenny Schmitz, Erica Presley, Yasmin Fajatin, Jake Hairston, RJ Sledge, and Michelle Turczyn for all their hard work before and during the Engine Masters Challenge too.
The week of Engine Masters is a whirlwind of activity. Stuff happens so quickly and in different places, I sometimes wonder if I'm capturing everything. It's the ultimate target-rich environment for a gearhead, sort of like being a kid in some insane toy store. The best part about it is that the hard, passionate work of all these people-before, during, and after the competition-means that I have the freedom to move around in it easily, grabbing stories; talking with competitors, sponsors, vendors; and bringing you the best hardcore engine tech in the business. Thanks guys!


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Get Maggie Gyllenhaal's Gorgeous Plum 'Nanny McPhee' Makeup!
Maggie Gyllenhaal's makeup artist tells you how to get her gorgeous vintage look!
Maggie Gyllenhaal looked totally glam at the NYC premiere of her new flick, Nanny McPhee Returns on Aug. 17. From her wavy bob to her plum lips and purple smoky eyes, she looked like a true vintage beauty. We were "inspired by the beauties of the 1920's and 30's," says her celebrity makeup artist Molly Stern. "We combined the smoky eye with an added electric element and a deeply stained lip."
"I smoked the eye out with Shu Uemura Pressed Eye Shadow in Iridescent Eggplant Purple. Then, I lined the top lash line with brown eyliner and smudged out the bottom lash line with CoverGirl LiquiLineBlast Eye liner in Violet Voltage," Molly says. "Two coats of CoverGirl LashBlast Fusion Mascara in Brown with a little black mascara on the ends" finished off the eyes.
The last dramatic touch was a deep plum on Maggie's lips. "Her deep lipstain is the new shade of CoverGirl Outlast Lipstain in Saucy Plum," Molly says.


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Anyone who turns on a faucet at Antlers, the easily accessible half of the College's Environmental and Outdoor Education Center at Raquette Lake, and finds it working correctly has amateur plumber and Adirondacks lover Lewis Cowan '73 to thank.
Those who have hiked the Huntington Camp's bumpy "corduroy" trails along Long Point Peninsula without getting their feet wet should credit teams of former sorority sisters from the 1970s and 1980s. During various scheduled volunteer work weekends, the women got down and dirty, literally, carrying and placing sizeable logs fresh-cut from woodland glades.
At Antlers, an enormous white pine was hollow inside and needed to come down, along with several other large conifers. The husband-and-wife team of Allison Barnes '94, M.S.Ed. '97 and William Tucker had the knowledge, the ability and the proper tools to safely section the trees and cut them up for firewood. Think of the couple, too, when admiring the handmade flower boxes decorating the porches should you visit the camps.
|William Tucker, the husband of alumna Allison Barnes '94, M.S.Ed. '97, demonstrated the correct way to dismantle an enormous conifer on the Antlers property — one large limb at a time. The images on this page were taken by Cindy Rosenhaus Santner '76 and Jean Needle.
Have you admired the smoothed-over and freshly painted walls inside the charmingly rustic-looking Cedars cottage at Antlers? This summer, Thomas Needle '76 patched the dilapidated interior and plied his paint roller to finish the job, assisted by an eager crew of Auxiliary Services Corporation summer employees: Caitlyn Jenkins, Amelia Welch and Bridgette Thurman.
"Jay Cummings (the former center assistant director) would give me a call every once in awhile if he needed me to do something there," recalls Needle of Liverpool, N.Y. An independent building contractor, he began lending his know-how and muscle to fix Antlers' assorted rustic chimneys, fireplaces and floors many years ago. During the summer he'll also return for a week of more traditional camp relaxation with his whole family.
"I don't want to let any secrets out," Needle said. "It's kind of a diamond in the rough there and I don't want to get everybody running up here."
For decades, many of SUNY Cortland's alumni, student groups and others have been helping the College maintain its beloved branch campus in the northern New York wilderness.
The Huntington property was acquired by the College in 1948. In the mid-1960s, Antlers was purchased by the SUNY Cortland Auxiliary Services Corporation, primarily to provide dock access to the lake and far more remote Camp Huntington. Alumni have been traveling to Raquette Lake since the late-1960s to camp and relax with classmates during scheduled weeks at the facilities. An almost equally long tradition has had some of them assisting with the considerable tasks of upkeep as well.
"The Recreation and Physical Education departments have the work project time built right into their schedules, hearkening back to the beginnings of Camp Huntington and the first few groups there," said Rhonda Jacobs '01, the Center's assistant director and manager of Antlers. "They did more service-type projects and building the camp up than is done nowadays. It teaches stewardship and gives them another opportunity for students to bond to each other and the property."
The volunteers do everything from washing and oiling the walls in the Casino classroom of Antlers and the Main Lodge to fixing weighted windows, pressure washing moss and slime off sidewalks, staining and painting exterior woodwork, building benches and sewing and hanging curtains. Fans of Huntington and Antlers also devote time away from camp to purchase items for the educational centers or to conduct historical research and records preservation.
During the past year, the helpers contributed a total of almost 650 hours, split fairly evenly between both camps. The alumni and student handy persons include individual alumni, couples and family groups, Class of 1959 friends and the former sorority sisters of Theta Phi Alpha, Arethusa and Alpha Kappa Phi/Agonian, Sigma Sigma Sigma and Sigma Rho Sigma. During some years members of student clubs in biology, political science and psychology have assisted. Additionally, a pair of individuals who runs Nature Ed-Ventures adult education programs also get their participants involved in camp improvements.
|Deborah Creeden-Cunningham '03 sprawled beside Antlers as she repaired a chair during the Spring 2012 Work Weekend.
"The Class of 1959 has done a work day since 2000," Jacobs said. "I've had an official work weekend since 2005, I think. The first one had about 12 people and we now have 30."
At Huntington, the need is more limited as the camp has two employees to do most of the repair and maintenance, Center Director Rob Rubendall said.
"We do have a traditional spring clean-up weekend to get the camp looking great for the upcoming season," he said. "There are three major sorority players who come to those and also do projects when they are in camp for their own reunion weeks. Each has a slightly different approach to contributing at Camp Huntington."
Theta Phi Alpha sorority's history with the camps goes back to about 1965.
Kim Mayer '82, who's returned to the camp for about 30 years, almost every year since she graduated, and organizes her sorority's reunions there, was on site when Huntington lost many buildings to a fire in 1983.
"We (Theta Phi Alpha) were the group that had been in camp that weekend," Mayer said. "We left camp the day of the fire. After the fire, all of the stones from the fireplace in the dining room were moved back to the 'dump.' During our next weekend there, we hauled all of those stones into the old green pickup truck and brought them back to the new dining hall. I remember all of these women lifting these sizable rocks into the pickup truck," under the direction of the center's first director, the late George Fuge '49.
"George knew we could handle it and we embraced the challenge," Mayer said. "Of course, we were much younger and had no limits."
The women have cleared trails using pruners, axes and chainsaws, repaired trails, cleaned windows, cleared snow and ice from roofs, inventoried the library, and cleaned the houseboat. They designed and purchased the dining hall plates. More recently, the sisters converted, at their own expense, Fuge's original film photography library to a digital format on DVDs for the sake of preserving the camp's history.
|Rick Wheeler M.S.Ed. '96, left, and Thomas Needle '76, fixed a sign familiar to campers in front of Antlers.
In casting around for a major project at Huntington, the former sorority members pooled their resources and underwrote the refurbishment of the historic, glass dining room. It was named for their beloved professor emeritus of physical education and honorary C-Club Hall of Fame member, Louise M. Moseley.
"Our love of Camp Huntington runs very deep," Mayer said. "George instilled in each of us the love of the outdoors and that everyone should help out at camp. We all feel a responsibility to assist at camp in some fashion. Whether it be doing KP or cleaning up around camp. It really made for a sense of ownership and that ownership runs deep with Theta Phi Alpha."
Beyond keeping the buildings in shape, for decades graduates have helped furnish the facilities.
"We've had people bring up their sewing machine for the week and make curtains," recalls Jay Cummings, who retired from the College in 2002 as assistant director emeritus of outdoor education.
"After they've been here a couple of years, they have a good idea of what we needed. They would bring lamps, decorative pictures, they would come up here with all kinds of stuff."
"One day we noticed that construction materials were being delivered and we helped offload the materials from the truck and carry them over to the barge," observed Cowan, explaining how it all began for him. "We did help and it was fun to do for a couple hours on a summer afternoon.
"This will be my fourth time going back to the work weekend at Antlers," said Cowan, noting he developed his plumbing skills during college to earn extra money. "Don't blame me if you find a faucet that doesn't work because I didn't get around to that yet."
"It's a very important place to us because many of us enjoy the outdoors," said Kathy Flack '71, who annually spends a long weekend with three or four fellow Arethusa sisters getting Huntington Camp ready to open in the spring. As a physical education major, Flack experienced Huntington Camp for two weeks as a student.
"Actually, some of the women who do the work weekend with us didn't have the opportunity to go there while we were in college," Flack said. "We are absolutely so excited that we get to go there now. The sisters have fallen absolutely in love with the place."
For several years, Raquette Lake has served as the location of an annual retreat for some early 1970s members of the former sorority, which lost its house decades ago. The sisters travel from Philadelphia, the Washington, D.C., area, Syracuse and Cazenovia to renew a sense of fellowship in the bunkhouses at Huntington Camp.
"It's a really nice experience for the sisters," Flack said. "For some of them, their first reaction is, 'I'm not going up there camping.'" I say, 'It's not really 'camping' camping — a tent situation.' It's like living in a sorority house in Cortland.'
"They're concerned about the history, about the camps always being there, about the upkeep of the camps," Flack said. "We try to help out."
|Cindy Rosenhaus Santner '76 showed no fear of heights as she installed fresh curtains inside the Antlers building's Casino classroom.
Joining other small spring work groups at Huntington, the women most of the time perform mundane — but necessary — tasks: raking the entire property, picking up sticks and doing a little garden work. Flack recalls the time the former center director, Jack Sheltmire M.S.Ed. '73, asked them to help build a corduroy road.
"He had two ATVs and a chainsaw and went out the woods," Flack said. "He had five women. We didn't mind. We would pick the logs up in the woods, carry them to the road and throw them down in the muck. That's really what we did one fall."
"Jack (Sheltmire) had dropped a bunch of trees he cut into logs so they could be placed on the trail in low areas," said Mayer, remembering her version of the same experience. "Well, some of those logs were 10 inches in diameter and 75 to 125 feet into the woods. It took some doing, but we moved every one of those logs and we were darn proud of ourselves. By the time the other group met up with us we had taken all of our outerwear off and we were filthy! It is an experience we will not soon forget."
The new director, Rubendall, is very organized, according to Flack. Volunteers can choose their tasks from a very long list.
"If it weren't for us, I'm not sure how they could keep up with it all," Flack said. "We try to help out when we're up there and when we can get there.
"We really feel that we should give back to the school."
One week this past summer, Needle came up to Antlers without his family and tackled the ruined walls inside the otherwise beautiful rustic cottage, Cedars. By day, he sweated out the hard labor. By late afternoon, he was lifeguarding children on the beach or socializing on a porch with other campers.
"It's a million-dollar view," said Needle, who's been coming to Antlers since 1975. "I will sit there at 5 o'clock in the morning with my cup of coffee, just me and the loons watching the mist roll in and the sun coming up over Blue Mountain Lake. You can't beat it."Then Needle will dive into his toolbox and go back to work.


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Nickname for the popular RIM communication device named Blackberry. The device, which is a phone, PDA, and e-mail appliance has gained outrageous popularity. Users/owners are typically addicted to checking e-mail and swapping short messages on the device. It appears as though they are addicted as a crackhead is to the pipe.
Look at him. Like he's a pimp/playuh all hooked-up on his crackberry.
by Paul August 23, 2004
Name for a Blackberry device, when its owner becomes far too dependent on it. For when someone becomes addicted to using their Blackberry, as if it were a drug like "crack".
Chris: What kind of phone do you have?
Matt: Blackberry.
Chris: Me too! I love it.
Matt: Yeah, it's so convenient.
Chris: Yeah man, I'm addicted to it. I couldn't live without my Crackberry.
Matt: Blackberry.
Chris: Me too! I love it.
Matt: Yeah, it's so convenient.
Chris: Yeah man, I'm addicted to it. I couldn't live without my Crackberry.
by B3player89 December 17, 2008
A comical name for the Blackberry device, usually referred to blackberry users who can't seem to put down their damn blackberry; blackberry addicts.
Can you put down your freakin crackberry for a second and pay attention to the movie?
by Michael Katzab February 07, 2008
buy the domain for your pet site
someone who is addicted to the use of there smart phone, who don't realized they have been plying with it for hours.
This guy is a real crack berry, you have to talk to him later
by 42brink February 10, 2009
Used to describe a person who is addicted to their blackberry's phone.
by tristans<3 December 31, 2008
by rononamission1 October 30, 2017
A nickname for Blackberry, usually used when a person is addicted to their Blackberry, and/or uses it in places their not supposed to (i.e., dinner table, cocktail party, etc.)
B: *click click* "Joe called Sara who texted C.C. who emailed Fred who chatted to Bob that Georgia and Ramone are both getting amputations after they have kids!"
K: "Yea Dad. No Crackberry." *click click*
K: "Yea Dad. No Crackberry." *click click*
by Catsoup August 19, 2010


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