text:
Posted by martialartshop on September 19, 2014
It seems that there has been a few comments recently about how Brazilian jiu jitsu is not so relevant in modern mixed martial arts any more. People seem to forget how the Gracie family brought their brand of jiu jitsu and the sport of mixed martial arts to the world's attention when they devised the first Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament in 1994. It was in UFC1 that Royce Gracie took on and beat the top fighters from various martial arts using his families jiu jitsu. But we often hear how some fighters say how training Brazilian jiu jitsu is not so important and essential as it once was. They are making a big mistake, as they may find out to their cost.
If you are neglecting your BJJ training and specifically training in the gi, you are opening up yourself to all kinds of trouble. Training in the gi will definitely have a good cross over into mixed martial arts training. Many of the top mixed martial artist in the world have a background that has included Brazilian jiu jitsu training in the gi. Fighters like George St Pierre, BJ Penn and Anderson Silva have all gained black belts in BJJ. Even light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has now started to work on his ground game more and has started training in the gi.
Many of the fighters that are rising up through the ranks in the UFC and other mixed martial arts promotions are coming from wrestling backgrounds, especially in the US. Wrestlers that come into MMA have great skill sets, like powerful takedowns and ground defences, but they are often still lacking when it comes to offensive skills on the ground. A skilled jiu jitsu fighter will try to expose any mistakes a wrestler will make and when they are continuously have to try to defend off submission attempts, mistakes will happen.
Many of the gyms that now offer MMA classes may seriously neglect the ground game, you may have a couple of 1 or 2 hours sessions a week where you will be instructed on the various components that go up to make up the mixed martial arts, but the submission grappling training they do will more than likely be no-gi. If you are training like this, try to start training BJJ in the gi as well. Brazilian jiu jitsu is a very complex fighting art and you need more than just the bit of time you spend on the mat in your average MMA class.
For your MMA fight wear visit http://www.martialartshop.co.uk/mma-fight-wear/.


text:
Hot Apps: CES 2011 -Xbox LIVE Titles for Windows Phone
In this very special CES 2011 episode of Hot Apps, Laura shows you all the new Xbox LIVE titles being announced for the Windows Phone. Enjoy!
Right click to download this episode
- High Quality WMV (203.2 MB)
- Mid Quality WMV (74.2 MB)
- High Quality MP4 (148.4 MB)
- Low Quality MP4 (33.9 MB)
More episodes in this series
Hot Apps: Amazon Kindle, Fruit Ninja, ESPN Newsreader, Tetris 7, Sleep Well Tonight
Related episodes
Hot Apps: Implode!, Stub Hub, Collapse, Falling Skies, Pro Football Weekly
Hot Apps: Fight Game Rivals, Bad Trip, Multi Browser, Showcase'd, Bulls n Cows
XAPFest 2011 Sizzle Reel
Hawaii interns XAPfest 2011
Hot Apps: IonBallEx, Relaxify, Speed, NightStand Clock, Fastball 2
Ping 115: Dilbert Challenge, Mango Apps, Smarter file copying, RenRen
Hot Apps: Plants vs Zombies, Taptitude, LiveFrom, Brain Cube, PhotoFunia
Hot Apps: Beards & Beaks, Kill The Duck, Fantastic Finger Fun, Angry Birds Scoop, Eventful
Hot Apps: Cro-Mag Rally, Numerix, Wild West, Activity Roulette, HoloPhone 3D
Hot Apps: Words By Post, Fractal Graphics, ScriptTD, Drynks, Penguin
The Discussion
Whats the point prom this show, I CANT BUY GAMES OR APPS BECAUSE MICROSOFT THEY DONT WANT MY MONEY THEY DONT ACCEPT MY VISA CARD BECAUSE AM FROM KUWAIT simply they want me to buy from Apple app store.
good luck Microstore
Please provide download links for the apps mentioned in these shows.
Good stuff Laura. But where's Ping?
@Naser: What is the prob? Is it the web page is fix to USA Country ? (if it that ... change your regional setting language etc ) It's like that I fix my issue !
Please post the video to YouTube. Trying to watch or download it is imposible. What's up with your bandwidth?
Ah, I expected more.. nothing new, nothing wow :(
Please post the video to YouTube. Trying to watch or download it is imposible. What's up with your bandwidth?
also impossible for me. I'm too old to wait 25 minutes for an mp4 to download!
I love my WP7 and all the great apps i can get on there but it frustrates me that although the australian and US dollars are on par that i pay more for my apps than anyone in the US. How about something a little more fair MS!?
@Mike Greenway: Can you stream the show?
@Eric Julien: No it will not work because the marketplace monopolist for 17 countries only and one of these countries only the prime minister has a credit card !!
Why allways Microsoft like this Why allways coming late after Apple and Google do u know
i get my mobile by the ebay not from local authorized dealer because we dont have in the Middle east any distributor for windows phone 7 like Google and Apple, many of my friends saw my mobile and they like it and i say no for them because No marketplace no Zune no Arabic support.
thank you Microsoft
Those are some decent games. Hopefully Angry Birds will be available sometime soon.
I just ordered my windows phone, I'm excited about the games that are offered, It brings me back to my youth days. It's about time someone thinks about the adults that actually pays for these phones for the kids.... Thanks, and keep it up!
No streaming for me, I'm on a 1.5mbps DSL connection.
I've been downloading videos for years but for the last month or so, it been getting worse and now impossible. I am not having this problem with other sites ie. silvewrlight.net.
Thank you for asking.
Microsoft, please allow us from the rest of the world to buy something from the marketplace. I can't uderstand why I can use my credit card on Amazon, but can't on Zune Marketplace (I'm from Serbia, and I bought my phone from my mobile operator)
I think that most of users from many countries that still have no access would agree, the best way is to make it secure but not limit access to the services. Best regards, Alex from mp4 converter
I think that most of users from many countries that still have no access would agree, the best way is to make it secure but not limit access to the services. Best regards, Alex from mp4 converter
Great video there. Big up!
Jess @ juicy couture

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Last day of the beer festival today and we are open from 12 noon until 7.30 pm. We still have a selection of 38 beers plus foreign beer and we are replenishing cider stocks today. If you are keen to sample the real ales get here early as we cannot guarantee when they will run out but we will always have real cider and some foreign beer available.
Bouncy castles and Train rides for the kids will be on again all day, all funds of which go directly to charity.
Music today opens with the Baldock Community Orchestra and the we follow with the fabulous folk sounds of Said the Maiden. Joan ov Arc will be here in a special collaboration with G and Nick Plews at 3.30 then one of Cambridge's best bands 4th Labyrinth will be playing songs from their new album. Last but not least, the Doc and The Fifth Wheel will be closing the festival in a way only they know how.
Sun 6th May
6.30 The Fifth Wheel
5.00 4th Labyrinth
3.30 G, Plews and the Joans
2.00 Said the Maiden
12.30 Baldock Community Orchestra
See you at 12.00


text:
Last year was quite a year for both of us! Emily had unexpected surgery in November, which kept her out for a while. December is quite a crazy month for the education world and we were consumed in all that it offers! Emily's hubby had back surgery in January and he was out for 12 weeks! Once again blogging took a back seat.... As Emily only had enough energy to work, microwave dinner, and put everyone to bed (with maybe a bath).
To top it all off, it was one of those years where our students needed every bit of our energy while at school. I mean....every bit! Some days we were doing cartwheels to keep them focused....if you know what we mean! Kerry spent the year navigating a new relationship, travelling, and just relaxing in every free moment! Needless to say we have neglected our blog and are so sorry for that. Below is a funny ecard that sums up the year (not just Halloween!). :)
So today we start back blogging and we promise to keep up! We are so excited to start another school year. :)
We will leave you with a few pictures from our summer. I hope everyone out there enjoys their final days, it's back to school time! Ready or not, here they come!


text:
Green is good, we all agree. That makes it critically important that Manitoba's energy sector and especially Manitoba Hydro, our best exemplar of clean, renewable power, maximize their potential for growth. Instead, key elements of that sector are monopolized by the provincial government, with significant consequences for our tax and fiscal frameworks, the environment and job creation. Its status also exposes it to considerable danger from manipulation by green policy dilettantes.
"Today's NDP" still lives and breathes the quaint fantasy that depoliticizing the phone company was an apocalyptic disaster. To the contrary, the Filmon government's biggest achievement was its bold decision to privatize the company. That allowed the province to exit a fast–moving, increasingly risky marketplace while cashing out near the top of the market for telecommunications assets. MTS now offers lower consumer prices and better services. It has made massive investments in high-speed Internet, cell-phone service and television, all without cost to taxpayers.
Back when private capital markets would not invest in a scattered, low-density marketplace, a government telephone company made great sense.
Today virtual organizations like the Frontier Centre use Internet technology, including telephony and video-conferencing software (Skype), to link policy professionals telecommuting from home offices (DSL and cable), farms (wireless high speed) and log cabins (satellite) with each other and with sister think tanks in Brussels and Auckland, New Zealand. The cost? Aside from the internet hookups, it's free.
The risks of profit and loss lie with the shareholders and business operators of various providers like MTS, Shaw, Xplornet Satellite, Wiband.ca and Granite Internet Services. The Filmonites understood that the slow-moving bureaucratic model was an increasingly bad fit in a complex, multiple-provider marketplace morphing forward at warp speed.
With the state of technology in power markets comparatively stable, the need to privatize Manitoba Hydro on those grounds is less pressing. It does make sense, however, to unwind one of the Filmon government's biggest mistakes by separating and divesting Centra Gas from Hydro. Natural gas competes with electricity, and this minor policy recalibration would eliminate an obvious conflict of interest when its owners wear both hats. Remember the Doer government's policy gaffe when it cross-subsidized non-renewable gas prices with renewable hydro-electric revenue?
The ongoing tragicomedy at Manitoba Hydro plays out in many ways, including politicians that refuse to end its foolish under-pricing of electricity. One of the biggest myths in Crown corporation folklore is that waves of private investment, factories and industry will flood into Manitoba if we sell domestic power at or below cost. Pure bunk, as usual. Manitoba is dead last in private investment per capita in Canada.
This disconnect with reality creates cascading opportunity costs. Imagine Alberta selling its oil, worth $65 a barrel, in the market for $25. It makes up the lost revenues with high taxes that depress investment and the general economy. It then runs to Ottawa and whines that it is a "have-not" province and need billions in equalization payments. It winds up on the federal dole with high taxes and mediocre public services. Finally, cheap oil means everybody drives big, evil, dastardly SUVs.
That describes Manitoba almost exactly. Rock-bottom power prices have made us one of the highest per-capita consumers of electricity in the world. Stuck with 1930s "power at cost" ideology, the province foregoes almost $1.2-billion a year in lost revenue – the difference between selling electricity for what it is worth and what it costs. With that money we could eliminate all business taxes, including payroll, capital, and corporate taxes, plus cut income tax by 20%. It's almost enough to eliminate the sales tax, or end the school portion of property taxes while tripling provincial grants to municipalities (see Power Opportunity Cost Calculator).
Gary Doer's slick but uninformed campaign literature vows to keep electricity rates the lowest in North America and preserve this archaic edifice. But artificially low prices send consumers the wrong signals and turn them into power hogs. Lower prices also stunt the renewable energy sector. Wind power, for example, is more expensive to produce from the start. It can't compete with subsidized hydro energy.
Our green dilettantes respond with quiet subsidies for alternative energy. Shortly they will dabble with central planning – unnecessary emission regulations and carbon limits – as they futilely try to reduce energy consumption. In the end, we have little to show for the effort because electricity prices are too low. The smart green pricing hammer, easily wielded with appropriate protections for low-income people, is ignored.
The green argument for eventually privatizing Manitoba Hydro, subject to a careful process which maximizes benefits to the average Manitoban, is solid. That would eliminate its hidden subsidies which include tax exemptions, preferential interest rates on debt capital and a failure to take dividends, which means we fail to account properly for the cost of capital. They all help artificially underprice electricity and encourage wasteful consumption.
Down the road, a shareholder-owned Hydro headquartered in Winnipeg would expand beyond Manitoba's borders and become a mid-continental giant, paying huge royalties into the public purse.
But we need to walk before we run. First we must banish the green dilettantes from Hydro's levers and encourage intelligent conservation by capturing the full value of our renewable energy resources. We could then cut taxes and decisively break the back of the transfer-subsidy complex that underlies our pathetic"have not" status.


text:
Rotary Fort St John Weekly Update July 24, 2013
Rotary Fort St John Weekly Update
Starting this week for the upcoming year, I will be generating a short weekly newsletter to update members on the prior week's meeting and provide updates on upcoming events. If you would like any content added for the upcoming newsletter, please send it to Michael Elphinstone at
Last Meeting: Thursday, July 18th, 2013.
Thursday was an excellent meeting with a guest speaker Lesley Anderson from the United Way of Northern BC (based in Fort St John) was here to speak to us about a number of initiatives in NE BC. Lesley shared information on a number of projects including the Northern Brain Injury Association. For more information on the Unity Way of Northern BC visit their website at
http://www.pguw.bc.ca/index.php or their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/unitedwaynorthernbc.
We received a challenge for the 2nd annual Home Hardware Redneck Handyman Challenge which occurred this past Saturday for a head to head Handyman competition with the Sunshine Rotary Club. Unfortunately, we were not able to put forward a team to compete with Sunrise but hopefully we can challenge them in upcoming years.
Lastly, we received an update on the RCMP musical which took place on July 11th, 2013. Event was a success with 430 attendees despite the pouring rain. Despite the weather, event went well with strong sponsorship from key businesses within the community. Please join me in thanking Dean Anderson and his committee members for all their hard work on this successful project.
Next Executive Meeting
Next executive meeting is Wednesday, July 24th, 2013 at 11:30AM for lunch at Murray GM. Any/all members are always welcome if they are interested in attending.
2013 District Conference
The 2013 District Conference will be hosted by the Rotary Club of Edmonton Glenora on October 4th and 5th. As a club, I would like to encourage everyone that can to register online at
http://www.conference5370-2013.ca and attend the district conference. It has been a number of years since we have had a strong contingent at a district conference and lets make this the year that we change it. If you are interested, please contact Michael Elphinstone and we can try and coordinate travel plans for the event as I will be attending.
Fort St John Rotary Link of the Week
With the new Rotary Year starting in July, I would like to introduce our incoming President for Rotary International, Ron Burton. If you have the chance, I encourage everyone to read his induction speech for 2013.
The theme for 2013-2014 is Engage Rotary, Change Lives.
Next Rotary Meeting
Next Meeting is Thursday, July 25th, 2013 at 12PM at Quality Inn Northern Grande. I look forward to seeing you all at the meeting.


text:
Ski Resorts in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
Browse 225 attractions, meet 11 travelers, 3 tour guides and discover 373 photos
Travelers are voting Les Deux Alpes, Risoul and Auron Ski Resort as the best of 5 ski resorts in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur. Also popular are Isola 2000 and Pra Loup in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur. Want more? Check out our map of ski resorts in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur.
Les Deux AlpesRecreation / Outdoor Ski ResortsIsère, France
Les Deux Alpes (also Les 2 Alpes or Les 2 Alpes 3600) is a ski resort in the French Isère département.1
RisoulRecreation / Outdoor Ski ResortsHautes-Alpes, France
Risoul is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France. It is located in the French Alps between the towns of Briançon and Gap Ris…1
Auron Ski ResortRecreation / Outdoor Ski ResortsFrance
Auron is a ski resort with 135 km of ski runs, at an elevation of 1600m to 2450m, in the French alps in the Alpes-Maritimes department.1
Isola 2000Recreation / Outdoor Ski ResortsIsola, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Isola 2000 is a ski resort in the southern French Alps. It is located on the territory of the commune of Isola, Alpes-Maritimes. It is one of…
Pra LoupRecreation / Outdoor Ski ResortsFrance
Pra Loup, is a ski resort in France, at Uvernet-Fours in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, 7 km (4 mi) from the town of Barcelonnette.


text:
Union Chapel, London
28 November, 2014
Last night was over ten years in the making. I saw Easyworld countless times back in the day, but this was the first time I'd seen their singer, David Ford, playing solo.
The venue couldn't have been better – the sound, lighting and architecture of Union Chapel provided a perfect backdrop for David's distinctive voice and storytelling songs. The performance had an added richness, fitting the venue, with the addition of an orchestra. The place was packed with a rapt audience hanging on every word and note. It all made for a great night and it certainly won't be another ten years before I see David Ford again. Check his website to see if he's coming to your town soon.
16 images. Hover your cursor over the slideshow to control it. If you can't view the photos, the full set are up on my Flickr account.


text:
Main Page
When someone wins the annual Dice Tournament they are rewarded with the Hedron Cup. The winner is free to use the cup for any purpose they wish, though most prefer to drink liquid from it. Like most trophies, The Hedron Cup Trophy is highly coveted throughout Bluff Street. Each winner of the Hedron Cup is responsible for the upkeep of the cup.
Stuart Rufio is Bluff Street's go to shoe cobbler. Any Bluffian who has feet and wears shoes has gone to Stuart's shoe shop at least once in their life. While he does enjoy his work, he only really works to earn beans to buy stickers for his collection. Without a doubt Stuart owns the biggest sticker collection throughout all of Bluff Street.
While not cleaning and managing he various sticker books, he hangs out the Blue House and helps host bingo games for all Bluffians and visitors. The bingo games in the Blue House uses Stuart's bingo ball stickers that he has kindly and continues to donate to the Blue House.


text:
Rep. Amy Stephens to advise Colorado Health Institute
State Rep. Amy Stephens, a Republican who fought her own party over how to implement "Obamacare," has joined the Colorado Health Institute as a policy adviser.
In her advisory role, Stephens will ensure that the nonpartisan research institute is researching and analyzing health policy proposals from across the political spectrum, according to a news release from CHI.
"Health is often considered to be a liberal concern, but the mission of the Colorado Health Institute is to make sure that health and health policy is a universal concern," said Michele Lueck, president and CEO.
Stephens sponsored the legislation that created the Connect for Health Colorado insurance marketplace. She believed the measure protected Colorado from being held hostage from the federal government regarding implementation of the Affordable Care Act, but a number of Republicans accused her of working with the enemy, and they dubbed her bill "Amycare." Stephens responded that, "Amy cares."
Stephens also was one of four bipartisan sponsors of this year's Senate Bill 187, which created the Colorado Commission on Affordable Care.
"One thing that is certain is that we have absolute uncertainty in health care today," Stephens said. "As a legislator, I've appreciated the even-handed professionalism of CHI's research. Today, I'm excited to be working with CHI to explore health care policy ideas being done nationally and in specific states so that we can evaluate their effectiveness and potential applicability for Colorado."
The Monument resident served two years as the House majority leader. She is term limited in January.


text:
From Ed Tittel (IT Certification Guy)
You'll want to look at current salary and certification survey results from CertCities.com, Certification magazine (www.certmag.com), GoCertify.com, and Foote Partners to get a sense of where the real money is, and where the current and future action will be. Security, architecture, and networked storage are all good areas to dig into, whereas MCP and CCNA are strictly starting points on the IT cert path and by themselves unlikely to lead to a higher salary, though they can lead to other certifications that will ultimately pay off.
Ed is definately right on that point. If you are just starting out and are more familiar with windows then go ahead with the MCP. after that get your CCNA. these two will get your foot in the door. if you want to work towards higher salary then go for a security degree such as CISSP or a related security course. this area is growing faster with every threat that comes out.
Register Hereor login if you are already a member


text:
SIMBS makes extensive use of the Trailforks.com system, and encourages all riders to use it too. Trailforks is an incredibly useful tool both for riders and for SIMBS. Trail forks provides an app for users to use on their smartphone.
For riders, this allows riders to have an always up-to-date trail map in your pocket, which allows you to see where you are on the map, track your ride, and report any trail issues or maintenance carried out. It also allows you to see any trail issues on the map, so you can plan your ride, rate trails, and give feedback. Finally, it links with Strava, to allow the automatic import of rides from Strava.
For SIMBS, trailforks allows us to be informed about any trail issues, and rectify any urgent issues (e.g. downed trees), as well as advise riders of any temporary trail closures (such as when BC hydro were doing work on the power lines, meaning temporary closure of shock treatment). In addition, we can track trail maintenance hours and trail usage, which we can provide to the land owner to demonstrate (a) the value of the land access to the public, and (b) that we are carrying out maintenance as per our agreements.
So with this in mind, we strongly encourage riders to download the trailforks app, available here, and track your rides using it (or Strava, with Strava linked to a Trailforks account).
The Trailforks guide to linking to Strava is available here.


text:
Daily Archives: June 15, 2011
Co-Authors and Sharedthink
There's something deceptive about co-author projects with folks who are new to producing works. There's a sense that because they can do one form of editing with each other–namely copy-editing (grammar, typos, etc.)–that co-authors don't need an editor. I can usually tell which co-authored books didn't see an one, because they're disorganized, full of assumptions,


text:
Every car owner in the United Kingdom needs to do a MOT (Ministry of Transport) test to ensure that their vehicle is roadworthy. Your first MOT test should be done after your vehicle has clocked three years.
The tests will then be done annually after the first check to ensure that the vehicle is still in good condition. Money is needed to perform a proper MOT test, and it is for this reason that many ask themselves how to get the cheapest MOT test.


text:
Defendant zoning official was sued for alleged tortious interference because she denied various zoning permit applications. Plaintiff submitted six zoning applications to be reviewed for compliance, and five were denied by Defendant. This followed a review by a former zoning official who had allegedly recommended approval of the permits, but never put such in writing. The Plaintiff alleged that the denials were based on a "re-review" of the applications and that such denials were the result of political opposition to the development project. Plaintiff challenged the denials in the Town's Board of Adjustment but the Board rejected the challenge. The circuit court and Florida court of appeals also rejected the challenge. Plaintiff eventually filed a federal lawsuit and the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendant. The Court of Appeals determined that that the district court correctly found that Defendant was justified in reviewing the zoning applications from Plaintiff and that she was also justified in approving or denying the applications based upon her findings. The Court noted that the earlier review was not completed and was a work in progress, as no certificates of compliance had been signed by the former zoning official.
Forum Architects, LLC v. Jetton, 2010 WL 4358386 (C.A. 11th Cir. 11/4/2010)
The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/unpub/ops/200915362.pdf


text:
The late Osvaldo Soriano is one of
Funny thing, I've often thought, how Osvaldo Soriano and I never met. We were colleagues, contemporaries pretty much (he was born six years before me), and we haunted some of the same environments in the bad old days leading up to the 1976 military coup in Argentina — streets where hookers, sailors, printers and newsmen were about the only people stirring long into the wee hours of the night. And we started hanging out in those places in the same era, he having come to
I suspect we both got into journalism for the same reason, as a way of writing every day and earning a living at it. He did it all his life, despite his fame as a novelist, having been one of the founders of the controversial daily, Página 12, when he returned to
Anyway, at about the time that Soriano was writing for Jacobo Timerman at
I stayed on at the Herald and worked as a stringer for papers and magazines in the
Soriano, for his part, graced the editorial departments of not only
It was in this editorial management post that I started to get a chance to write regularly under a by-line and thus to become mildly well-known in certain circles. And so it was too that I got to know Soriano for the first time, without ever actually meeting him.
It happened one midnight (dreary) in 1978, as I was sitting at my desk, struggling with the first lines of an op-ed piece while waiting for the press to roll in our new installations on Calle Azopardo. Momentarily stymied, I decided to go through the day's mail that was still piled untouched on the corner of my desk. I found the usual readers' letters (which I dutifully separated and filed for future publication), some magazines, a few brochures (from merchants who wanted some free hype and which I put in the out tray for the advertising department), a couple of formal invitations to lunch and cocktails and, finally, a small rectangular package, the size of a book. It was addressed to my name in black marker, postmarked from Spain, had no return address and was wrapped in plain brown paper, as if to conceal some pornographic content.
Justifiably paranoid as I was in those days, given the constant threats the newspaper received, I sniffed the package, flexed it, shook it, picked at it, and tweaked it a bit, before finally deciding it was probably harmless. When I opened it, what I found was a rather thin little paperback book with a title as Argentine as tango itself: No habrá más penas ni olvido. So Argentine is that phrase from the classic tango, Mi Buenos Aires querido, that it is almost impossible to translate it correctly. I mean, one could try, say, No More Sorrow or Forgetfulness, but what the devil does that mean in English. It is only within the context of porteño lore — of immigrants far from home, of families separated by destiny and longing to be together once more, of perennial hope against a backdrop of barely veiled despair, of terminal melancholy turned outwardly to false cheer, of romantic abandon and unrequited love, of vengeance and remorse, of arrivals and departures, of European Americans with heartstrings stretched taut between continents — that those words make sense, even in Spanish. They would probably make sense in Italian…if they were spoken in
I scanned the first few paragraphs and was immediately, irretrievably hooked. I kept telling myself, "One more page and back to the op-ed piece…One more page and I'll go down to put the paper to bed…One more page and I'll put this thing down! But it was impossible. It wasn't until I felt the rotary press shaking the floor of my office like a small, benign earth tremor that I tore myself away from the plot and characters that peopled the story to go down and do my duty, plucking a copy of the latest edition of the Herald from the downstream end of the press and having a quick general look to make sure everything was okay before bidding the press crew good night over the din of the machinery.
Before I went to sleep only shortly before dawn, I had read half of the book and before I went in to work the next day, I had finished it. I was spellbound. Political analysts of all colors and nationalities were straining their intellects to the point of mental hernia to try and paint a clear if complex picture of the Argentine phenomenon. They were seeking some even vaguely objective definition of Peronism, attempting to explain in some feasible way what had gone so horrendously wrong that the country had stumbled headlong into total chaos, only to fall into the gnashing jaws of unbridled repression and ironclad authoritarianism. And by and large, they had failed miserably. But here was Osvaldo Soriano, high school drop-out, street-beat newsman and natural genius, who created the perfect allegory. He didn't try to tell the story from the standpoint of the big picture, where cloak and dagger political intrigue made it next to impossible to get to the core of truth. Instead he took the demise of Peronism to a tiny town in Buenos Aires Province, where everybody knew everybody else, injected the poison of political avarice, added the catalyst of petty jealousy, sowed the seeds of gossip and doubt, and fanned the flames of a witch-hunt that would turn a quaint and even comic village into a tragic nightmare of civil strife, torture and murder. And so the question of what happened in
But even though the story could not have been more Argentine in every sense, it was, I realized, also brilliantly universal. As universal, say, as Golding's Lord of the Flies, Huxley's Brave New World, or Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. It was an allegory on politics gone awry, a regime's running rampant, movements placing themselves above the people in whose name they acted. It was about an ideal turned caricature, a political thought gone psychotic. It was about human foible — complacence playing into the hands of dictatorial design, rebellion providing an excuse for free-wheeling repression and about what happens when two extremes come full circle and see each other in near mirror image. It was about how no one wins, but how power is retained, at least for a time, by whoever swings the biggest club. But it was also about how moral victory can only belong to those who maintain their principles at all costs, even at the cost of their very lives.
The next day I told a fellow in the shop about the book. He was what one might call a closet Peronist revolutionary. He had been, rumor had it, a leftist activist before the 1976 coup. He and I often discussed politics while putting the paper to bed. He had read a lot and I asked if he had ever read anything by Soriano, since this was my first encounter with the author. He said he didn't think so. Would I lend him the book to read?
"Sure," I said, "but I want it back."
"Tomorrow," he said. "I'm a fast reader."
The next night when I went down to the shop and said hello to him, he grunted, glanced over both shoulders to see if anybody was watching, reached into a dark little cupboard, where he also hid his little brown bottle of Bols Ginebra and retrieved the book from the darkest recesses. I couldn't help laughing aloud when I saw that he had very carefully covered it in heavy black plastic sheeting, obviously to keep the title from showing through.
"Here, chief," he said. "Get it out of here."
"You didn't like it?" I laughed.
"It was great," he whispered, "but not worth dying for."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.
"You know the security guy at the front desk? He said that if I didn't want the milicos to give me a ride in their truck, I'd better get that subversive book under wraps, because the author was a terrorist and the book was banned."
I lost that copy of No habrá más penas ni olvido in a move some time back, but for all of the years that it remained in my library, right up to the beginning of the '90s, it wore that black shroud. That cover, like the book itself, was a symbol of those times and of the exile from which Soriano so aptly described them.
In the early 1990s, several years after I quit my post as managing editor of the Herald and went free-lance, I had the honor and pleasure of sharing an office in
Years later, when I had already moved from Buenos Aires to Patagonia, and when Remeseira was about to pursue his own brand of self-imposed exile in New York, he again approached me on the subject, saying he had told my story to a guy who sort of knew Soriano and the fellow had said he was sure Osvaldo would be delighted to hear it. I said I'd think about it, because to me, hermit that I tend to be, it just seemed like an extroverted, off-the-wall thing to do. Remeseira managed to get me Soriano's home phone number and I promised that the next time I was in
"Haven't you heard?" he asked. "Soriano's got lung cancer. He's only seeing a few close friends. They don't think he's going to make it."
Even this seemed like another of his universal images, a passage from his last book, Piratas, fantasmas y dinosaurios (Pirates, Ghosts and Dinosaurs), the book's first image, in fact, where he writes: "Every New Year's Eve, I remember, if only for an instant, the last one my father lived. He was wrapped up in a threadbare robe, on the doorstep of the house he rented in Santo Tomé. There was still a butt between his lips, but by now it was killing him. He raised his arm to wave good-bye to me as firecrackers and colorful roman candles burst around him. We had quarreled, I think, because I hated the holiday season as much as he did and couldn't figure out what stupid custom made us get together to toast one another and wish each other things in which neither of us believed..."
It seems to me a universal portrait. His father's. My own father's, some years later when he was dying of that same disease and I couldn't help hating myself for having quarreled with him so often. Perhaps it's every man's father's image and every man's son's. In the end, a self-portrait as well.
An early version of this article was first published in Spanish and English on the website of Aleph Translations www.alephtranslations.com. A second Spanish translation was published in the Summer 2006 Edition of the Argentine literary magazine, Lilith (Yr. 2 No. 5). All rights reserved by Dan Newland
- Photo Caption - Osvaldo Soriano


text:
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
College Professors Love the Iran Deal
Cinnamon Stillwell of Campus Watch has written a report for Algemeiner in which she highlights some of the many university professors who support the Iran nuclear deal.
Iranian-born Reza Aslan, a noted apologist for radical Islam, recently spoke at UC Riverside on the topic of Islamophobia. In answer to my question during the q and a, he said that just because someone was badly treated by a Muslim is no excuse for being bigoted against Muslims. My question was whether he would dismiss Christians in Iraq and Syria as Islamophobes.
Also note the thinly-disguised anti-Semitic language of Hatem Bazian in the above article. This is a guy who reportedly told a college audience to count the number of buildings on campus with Jewish names on them. When he spoke at UC Irvine in 2010, I tried to pin him down on that as well as other reported comments, but what I got was a run around. A real credit to UC Berkeley.
Then there is Juan Cole, also the editor of the misnamed blog, Informed Comment. Last year, I saw him speak at Cal. State Long Beach, where he called British Prime Minister David Cameron a racist for telling the British public that some 400 British Muslims had left to join ISIS, a "minuscule" number according to Cole.
Given the history of these three characters, One might really wonder how much they oppose the Ayatollahs of the Iranian government-if at all.
1 comment:
- Siarlys Jenkins said...
My question was whether he would dismiss Christians in Iraq and Syria as Islamophobes.
Answering for myself, since I have not been appointed as Reza Aslan's spokeshole, and wouldn't take the job if it was offered, the answer would very with each individual Christian, and would depend on whether any particular one blamed Islam, or ISIS, for what happened to them.
Would I dismiss white people in the USA as racists? To say no, none of them, would be a lie, and to say yes, all of them, would also be a lie.
The Iran deal is par for the course in diplomacy. If we had the power to just take what we want and enforce it, whether anyone else likes it or not, we would do that. We don't have the financial resources, manpower, or will, to go to war with Iran, and we can't enforce what the jabberwockies in congress are jabbering about without being prepared to invade Iran. Ergo, we got a good deal, by using what we could do sufficiently well the it hurt Iran enough that we were able to get a modicum of what we desired.
Case closed.
Remember what Bill Buckley told S.I. Hayakawa about negotiations.
- August 28, 2015 at 1:08 PM


text:
Click below to refine your search. Find, for example: a winery (or restaurant, accommodation, tour or whatever you are interested in - under 'what'), wherever you want (under 'where'), open on any day you choose, producing e.g. shiraz, or organic, or with childrens' facilities, a cafe or al fresco dining (under 'with'). Then simply press 'advanced find' - it's easy to find the right experience just for you .
Gartelmann Wines is a boutique, family owned cellar door and wine producer, based in the idyllic Hunter Valley in NSW. They specialise in fine hand crafted wines ... read moreWobbly Boot Vineyard
Wobbly Boot Vineyard is a boutique vineyard located in the Coal River Valley region of Southern Tasmania »919 Wines
919 Wines is located just a few minutes from Berri in the Riverland of South Australia. The winery is certified organic, and their wines are made from many European grape varieties»Crittenden Estate and Geppetto Wines
Crittenden Estate is a small family-owned wine estate near Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. Crittenden's vineyard, which began life as ... read moreMudgee's Huntington Estate - Doing it differently since 1969
Huntington Estate is one of Mudgee and NSW's most respected winegrowers »
Learn about and explore Margaret River's forests and beaches on Eco Adventure's electric quad bikes - the first of their kind. Their EcoBikes have been specifically ... read moreAll Star Hire Limousine and Minibus Tours
All Star Hire Limousines and Mini Bus Tours set out to put people in limousines so that we could make our roads a safer place to travel. We have a unique fleet of ... read moreNaturaliste Charters
Naturaliste Charters offer private charters, eco wilderness sunset tours, deep sea fishing, whale watching tours and Killer Whale Expeditions. read moreOut of Sight! Tours
Winery Tours of the Great Southern. Getaway into the vineyards and surrounds of Denmark and Mt Barker in the South West of Western Australia. read moreBlue Lightning Fishing Charters
Welcome aboard the family owned Blue Lighting Charters. They bring Western Australia's best fishing and eco tourism destinations to you. From day trips out of Mandurah, ... read more
While some of our wine regions can be sampled in a day trip, sleeping among the vines and spending a leisurely second day exploring is often the way to go. Here are ten of the best places to stay »Explore the Whicher Ridge Wine Sensory Garden in Margaret River »
Imagine wandering into a garden full of plants of all colours, sizes and textures, gently moving in the breeze with a myriad of tantalising smells wafting through the air. Imagine too this garden suddenly giving you inspiration for what to dish up with your favourite wine »My Margaret River – explore a local's favourite places »
In our 2013 subscriber survey, Margaret River resident Megan Crossley offered to share some of her favourite places – the ones she proudly takes visitors to. Here are one generous local's hidden gems in Margaret River »Scenic Helicopters launches three new tours in Margaret River »
If a visit to Margaret River wasn't already exciting enough, Scenic Helicopters is taking it up a notch with three new tours launching this summer. Lighthouses, fishing and food and wine are the features for new sky high adventures »RAC (WA) invests in the Margaret River region
RAC (WA) has announced its acquisition of Busselton's BIG4 Peppermint Park meaning RAC members will now save when they holiday in the Margaret River region »
Enter your email address and click the Subscribe button. We respect your privacy.


text:
Zac Efron, star of the upcoming Baywatch reboot, has been cast to play Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, a new film about the serial killer's life. The story will be told from the perspective of Elizabeth Kloepfer, Ted Bundy's longtime girlfriend who spent years fighting the allegations against Bundy, but later helped bring him down.
Extremely Wicked will be directed by documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory). Principal photography is set to begin this October, aiming for a release sometime in late-2018. The screenplay is by Michael Werwie, a Hollywood newcomer whose Ted Bundy script earned him Nicholl Fellowship prize and made the 2012 Black List -- an annual list that names the best-unproduced scripts in the industry. In previous years, 500 Days of Summer and Juno were on the Black List and were produced after word of mouth spread. Both were critical and financial successes and kickstarted the careers of Marc Webb and Diablo Cody. THR first broke the news of Zac Efron's casting as Bundy.
Ted Bundy has been the subject of dozens of films, documentaries and books. The most notable is Matthew Bright's 2002 biopic Ted Bundy, which was an exploitational take on Bundy's crimes. The A&E TV movie The Riverman from 2004 focused on former police detective Robert Keppel working with an incarcerated Bundy to catch the Green River killer. Keppel and Bundy's relationship would go on to inform the creation of Thomas Harris's Silence of the Lambs.
The casting of Zac Efron as a serial killer like Bundy is a surprising choice. Efron started his career as a Disney kid in the High School Musical series and has since devoted his career to comedies. However, before his arrest and conviction, Bundy was known as an average, ordinary and pleasant man. Those who knew him were surprised by the revelation of his crimes. Bundy himself was considered a handsome man -- especially for a serial killer -- so in that way, the casting of Efron isn't that much of a surprise.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is to be one of Efron's few dramas. Outside of the upcoming The Greatest Showman, his last serious film was 2012's The Paperboy. Though the film was not well received by critics, it did offer an example of the kind of work Efron is capable of delivering outside the raunchy comedies he's been known for as of late.
Next: Baywatch Final Red Band Trailer: The Rock is Always Watching
Source: THR


text:
More About TEXASWILLIE
Visit My SparkPage Send Me SparkMail
Recipes I've Shared:
Low calorie whole wheat bread toasted with coconut oil, topped with Tillamook Medium Cheddar cheese and a slice of tomato.
It's Summer and the Garden is GROWING....The Broccoli isn't ready to harvest yet, but the leaves are taking over!
Harvest a few leaves and make a DELICIOUS and HIGHLY nutritious side dish!
Fresh Cabbage Wedges Smoked and Roasted on my Traeger Smoker/Grill
Omelete with Mushrooms, Sargento Reduced Fat 4 Cheese Mexican Blend
Easy Recipe for Homemade Sour Cream....As Fresh As You Can Get!
Loaded with Healthy Veggies
No calorie marinade that is delicious on Chicken Breasts, Boneless Pork Loin Chops, Steaks, etc.
Summertime Refresher
Great low calorie substitution for ice cream!
Saute'd Mushrooms and Onions mmmmm Good
A Wonderful Low Calories Dressing or Dip!
A Delicious take on the venerable Brussels Sprout!
Easy to make and delicious no calorie salad dressing!
Excellent Cauliflower recipe for your low carb pleasure!
Holiday Pumpkin Pie without the Pumpkin
Makes its own Crust
Recipes I've Rated:
Recipe Collections I've Shared:
|Texas Willie's Down Home Cookin'
|Texas Willie's Home Cookin'


text:
GMP+ International makes use of cookies. Read more about the use of cookies.
Publication revised GMP+ A1 General Regulation and GMP+ A5 GMP+ Feed
13 July 2017
The GMP+ A1 General Regulation and the GMP+ A5 Feed Certification scheme License Agreement have been revised in cooperation with the working group "Affiliates" and the Subcommittee Certification & Compliance and GMP+ International.
Most of the changes are based on International (ISO) standards.
The documents were approved by the International Expert Committee and recently also by de Dutch Accreditation Council.
Below you can find the main changes per document.
GMP+ A1 General Regulation:
- Implementation of the definitions of Critical-, Non-Critical location, Outsourcing Party, key-activities, objective evidence and the GMP+ Certification Agreement (between Certification Bodies and the Participants).
- The Requirements of the GMP+ Logo's and/or Trademarks are transferred to the GMP+ A3 GMP+ Logo's and/or Trademarks.
- Implementation of extraordinary Events.
- For the GMP+ accepted Certification Body/ Critical-, Non-Critical location and Outsourcing Party it is not allowed to impose additional requirements to the Participant other than specified in the GMP+ FC scheme.
- The Certification Body is obliged to keep the GMP+ database up to date.
- After determination of a Critical Nonconformity it is not allowed for the Participant to withdraw his GMP+ certificate on own request.
- If GMP+ International terminates the collaboration of the GMP+ accepted Certification Body the same is applicable for the Critical-, Non-Critical and Outsourcing Party.
GMP+ A5 GMP+ Feed Certification scheme License Agreement:
- Implementation of Critical-, Non-Critical location and Outsourcing Party.
- The GMP+ accepted Certification Body must establish a SLA/Contract with the above mentioned parties.
- The conditions/responsibilities of GMP+ accepted Certification Bodies, Critical-, Non-Critical location and Outsourcing Party.
- Critical- Non Critical location and Outsourcing Party must operate under the feed safety management system and under the responsibility/liability of the GMP+ accepted Certification Body.
- The Critical location can conduct key-activities, will be visible on the Portal of GMP+ International and will be audited at least once per two years by GMP+ International.
- Non-Critical location and Outsourcing Party cannot conduct key-activities.
Changes were made as a result of the implementation of Critical-, Non-Critical location and Outsourcing Party into the GMP+ A1 and GMP A5 documents.
Two versions of each document will be published.
- The revised clean documents,
- The original version with changes visible will also be uploaded on the portal, in the History of FSA-document section. However these versions will be removed from the GMP+ portal on 01.10.2017. Accepted Certification Bodies will receive the revised GMP+ A5 GMP+ Feed Certification scheme License Agreement by post.


text:
Easter Eggs
As you can see I had fun with this one from the front looks like cute Easter egg, Turn it over and it looks like a boiled egg LOL I thought that was a cute touch. Pull the ribbon and the Chick hatches and you get your candy. I Love it so much. I think the ladies in card club will like it as well.
You will need to cut out three large ovals. 2 white, and 1 DSP. Cut out 1 oval two sizes smaller in yellow. Stack all 3 large pieces no glue and take your 1 3/4 inch punch and punch all 3 at once in lower 1/2 of egg. Then take the treat cup and line it up with the hole on one of the white ovals, then put adhesive on back of DSP and place over cup onto the white layer. Now with scissors cut zigzag pattern off top. Now flip egg over and with glue dots place around bottom and sides about 2/3 of the way up egg. Place 2nd white oval on the back lining it up, this one is not cut. Decorate the yellow as above and before you place the top of egg on chick place chick in egg and then with a little glue match the two egg pieces together, let glue set and then pull chick out punch hole put ribbon through. Place chick in half way fill cup and push chick in all way to close.
- Raspberry Ripple, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, and Baja Breeze card stock.
- Different Packs of DSP Patterns Stack
- Basic Black ink
- 1 3/4 Circle punch, Owl punch, 7/8 Scallop punch, Word Window punch, and Modern Label punch.
- Oval Framelits
- Treat Cups
- White Ribbon
- Candy (Easter M&M's)
As always thank you for stopping by and taking a look if you would like any of the supplies you see above you can get them through my BFF and demonstrator Becky Crain at here webpage www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/beckycrain


text:
Is your brickwork looking tired and in need of a refresh?
Repointing is the practice of restoring the outer face of weathered mortar joints in brick or stone structures. Mortar is designedly softer than the masonry units and over time exposed mortar joints are subjected to gradual erosion due to rain, wind and pollution. Deterioration of the pointing may allow excessive absorption of water resulting in dampness penetrating through the wall. Trapped water is major cause of salt and frost damage in external brickwork.
It is straightforward to visually assess whether a wall is in need of repointing. Simply inspect the wall and establish whether the mortar is worn and eroded. If the pointing has crumbled or is missing then it is time to have the brickwork repointed. Repointing is a slow and laborious process but a good job should ensure the mortar joint repair lasts at least 50 years in most environments.
The mortar can comprise up to 15% of the total surface area; its condition has a huge effect on the quality of a wall and its overall appearance. There are a number of subtle finishes that can be applied to the mortar to offer the house holder a choice of effects; these include troweling the pointing flush to the brick-surface, at a sloping angle (weather struck) and a finishing with a shallow concave surface.


text:
Here's something to know about me...
I don't like sticky and I don't like fussy.
SO, all those fussy, frozen blended pina colada recipes are OUT when I am entertaining a crowd.
I want to have fun at my own party, you know???
I know you know.
It just makes sense.
Who in their right mind wants to be the sticky crabby hostess stuck in the kitchen by the blender all night? Nope, not me.
All my cocktails are made for a crowd AND they need to be dispensable to the common household guest.
This recipe is intended to be served over ice... hey, blend it if you like, or better yet, let your buddy blend it themselves.
Plan ahead...
- Make the mix
- Cut up garnishes (pineapple, cherries, oranges, whatever!) and thread on cocktail picks
- Get some paper umbrellas
- Add some bamboo print straws, or something else festive
- Ice and glasses
Here's my easy-peasy yummy drink mix!
Make about 6 cups
2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups canned coconut milk (I used a 14.5oz can- close enough!)
1 cup Malibu coconut rum (or other light rum)
1 cup dark rum
1/2 cup amaretto (optional, but recommended)
Mix together, and serve over ice. If you make it ahead, put it in the fridge until ready to serve.
Here's my mix, ready to go for.... well, right now!!! Hahaha.
Actually, I made two batches tonight. The first one I had to deliver to my dear niece who was in a scary car accident, but was A-OK. Still, a near miss is a reason to celebrate. What's better than a pitcher of pina colada delivery?
What things do YOU need to celebrate tonight?
Need some more ideas for a crowd?
The most popular blog posting I have?Need some regular ideas? "Like" my Facebook page


text:
I've had the good fortune of learning a little about tasting ferments from some of the very top winemakers in Bordeaux, Napa, Australia, and a few other places I suppose.
Back in Bordeaux in the Middle Ages, after our cellar was safe(ish) to enter, and we had taken the temperatures of each tank, the next major job was to draw samples of every single lot. We'd then take them to the main office for analysis by the Oenologist.
Wines constantly need to be checked throughout the fermentation for their progress in terms of alcohol conversion, and all the other standard tests, including the taste test. Tasting the ferments, and managing them as a result of that tasting, is a big part of the art of winemaking.
But drawing the samples often turned into a debacle. The issue was that many of the tanks in the cellar were made from concrete and they did not have a sample valve on them, which you would normally find on stainless steel tanks. So to get a sample out you had to actually crack one of the big lower valves just enough for a trickle of wine to drip out.
But this wasn't easy. The tiniest hand movements were required to ever so slightly ease the valve open. Crack it too fast and too far open, and a monster jet of red wine would spray your chest and ricochet back onto your face as you grappled to shut the valve. This was a cruel trick to play if you were a team of two people drawing a sample. But sometimes Xavier deserved it.
Anyway, it would then be tasting time with the Oenologist. We would pour a sample, look at the color and he would comment on the extraction level for its stage of fermentation. The smell can be beautiful with sweet fresh fruit aromas and that particular fermentation note. But the key thing was really the palate, looking at the tannin, acidity, weight, flavours and balance.
Decisions would be made based on the tasting. Increase or decrease the maceration regime, add tannin using a packet of powered tannin or grape stems, aerate the tank with a delestage, chaptalize or not, heat the tank, chill it to slow the ferment down, add yeast to a tank that was not fermenting well, drain that other one because it was done and needs to come off the skins, and on and on.
In Beaujolais they call the semi-fermented juice the paradis, as in paradise. Sweetish, slightly bubbly, often tangy. Just beautiful. It's always best to taste in the morning when your senses are fresh and everything is heightened. Tasting 40 samples before 10 am every day for weeks is fun but it is a serious job. Just make sure you spit, because you always walk out very slightly buzzed from the absorption anyway.


text:
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association raised the bar in it's rivalry with the Oscars by springing several surprises, notably an appearance by Bill Clinton, at its Golden Globe awards ceremony last night.
The former U.S. President came on stage to a standing ovation to introduce a clip for the movie Lincoln. "A tough fight to push a bill through a bitterly divided House of Representatives - winning it required the president to make a lot of unsavory deals ... I wouldn't know anything about that," he quipped.
His appearance was the result of his friendship with Lincoln director Steven Spielberg who persuaded him to make the trip to Los Angeles. But it did not bring in an award for best picture for Lincoln, even though the movie was the favourite in most critics' lists. Instead the Golden Globe for the best dramatic picture went to Argo.
Another surprise was the appearance of Tony Mendez, the real-life CIA agent who was portrayed by Ben Affleck in Argo, the true story of how Mendez (below with John Goodman) rescued six U.S. hostages who were hiding in the Canadian ambassador's house in Tehran after Iranian insurgents had stormed the U.S Embassy there.
But perhaps the biggest surprise - and the sharpest jab to the Oscars - was the best director Golden Globe award to Ben Affleck, who was not even nominated by Oscar voters.
John Hiscock is a film writer and Telegraph contributor


text:
Another doll which is no longer in my collection.
Sometimes I regret that I let her go to far Australia.
Rose is "Sweet Poodle" Momoko released in 2006. She came to me nude in 2009. Her original outfit looks like this. I transformed her two ponytails into one. I liked her natural lips but her lashes were not my favourite.
Her hair has two hues what you can see in the photo below.
She looked nice in my dioramas.
Her curly hair was both a disadvantage and an advantage.


text:
Thursday, February 21, 2008
So a relief teacher was sacked for mocking his students' atrocious standard of English on his blog. Then again, he's just another guy documenting the encounters of his job. Fella, you should have blogged with a pseudonym.
Posted by JY at 2:00 AM
Labels: blogosphere, crazy shite
No comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Neocon WatchIsrael, Iraq, Iran, Syria, neocons, PNAC Skip to News
Related articles about Russia and China, who have allied as a counter to the neoconservatives and their agenda in the Middle East, will be featured here as well, along with articles about the United Nations - a new battleground for neocon Bolton and others and their attempts to make it a more Israel-friendly place despite their being in violation of more UN resolutions than Saddam ever was.
Older updates of this page can also be found at the Neocon Watch Blog.
Israel, the spy who 'loves' us
Two former CIA officials - Philip Giraldi and Michael Scheuer - describe the efforts of Israel's lobby to get America to attack Iran.
6-19-08 We lost one of the good guys - Capt. Ward Boston. RIP.
It was June 8, 1967
Our men were viciously attacked 45 years ago
and the perpetrators got away with it.
They were napalmed during an attack by air and by sea that lasted for 75 minutes. Israel sought to sink their ship, and it was due to the sheer heroism and bravery of the men on board - some of whom didn't make it - that that ship stayed afloat. These men and their families have sought and have been denied justice for 45 years. Please support their efforts.
"Whose War?" By Patrick J. Buchanan - one of the most informative and well-written articles to date on the neoconservatives and their agenda. Also, there's Vice Squad - which details how Cheney's office teems with neocons. Though they avoided going into the 'political' reasons behind the neocon push for war on Iraq, PBS Frontline did a special entitled "The Dark Side" about Cheney and the neocons in his office and their role in the runup to the Iraq war which is available to watch for free online at this link. 07/26/06 - James Bamford writes an article for Rolling Stone about the attempts by the neocons and their AIPAC cohorts to get America to attack Iran. Click here to read it. See also, John Bolton - Israel's man at the UN.
The US inches ever closer to attacking Iran - post updated 08/23/08. If the link doesn't work, try this one.
---- News ----
09-03-12 - Israel is still demanding US commitment to Iran war
08-23-12 - Israel's Claims About American Intelligence Reports on Iran's Alleged Nuclear Weapons Program Refuted
08-14-12 - Israeli demands from Obama
I'm too pissed off to comment. I'll just leave you with the byline to the article.
Analysis: If US wants to prevent Israeli jets from taking off en route to Iran, it must commit to attack on nuclear sites after elections in case sanctions, talks fail
08-10-12 - Israel urgently goading the US into war with Iran
06-04-12 - 45 years on, justice still not served.
It has now been ten years since I first learned of Israel's attack on the USS Liberty - I saw a special about it on The History Channel in 2002. Since then, I haven't shut up about it.
Friday June 8 marks the 45th anniversary of the assault. Most Americans know nothing of this attack, nor is it widely commemorated like it is in the case of the USS Cole and other assaults on American servicemen.
In fact, recently John McCain calls a heckler a 'jerk' when he asks McCain about the USS Liberty. McCain (and his father) are noted Israel supporters. The 'Raw Story' news outfit subsequently branded Morris and all those that take the side of the USS Liberty survivors as 'conspiracy theorists'.
Watch this video:
02-26-12 - Israel wants the US to attack Iran This is nothing new, but it does appear to be increasingly likely.
7/20/2011 - Top CIA Officer: Israel Will Probably Attack Iran in Sept. Baer added that Netanyahu is "also hoping to draw the United States into the conflict, and in fact there's a warning order inside the Pentagon to prepare for conflict with Iran." The retired senior CIA officer predicted a scenario in which Israel would attack the Natanz nuclear facility as well as "a couple of others to degrade their capabilities." "The Iranians will strike back were they can and that will be in Basra and in Baghdad," where the US has a diminished troop presence, Baer said, adding "we've started to look at Iran's targets in Iraq and across the border."
7/20/2011 - Economic gaps widening in affluent Israel A month ago, Israel's central bank raised its official 2011 growth forecast to 5.2 percent, more than twice the International Monetary Fund's estimate released in June for real GDP growth for advanced economies. Unemployment in Israel has fallen to 5.8 percent, its lowest level in decades. The current government "has had significant economic achievements," Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz boasted in a television interview on Tuesday. Why are we going broke giving Israel billions of our taxpayer dollars and other perks?
7/20/2011 - Lawmaker: Iran shot down unmanned US spy plane Lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh Dafsari said the drone was flying over the Fordo uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom in central Iran, the state TV–run Youth Journalists Club said.
7/20/2011 - US spares Pakistan aid but keeps pressure
7/20/2011 - Hezbollah warns Israel over Med gas Last week, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Adnan Mansur said the maritime border as proposed by Israel posed a threat to regional security. The proposed frontier cuts through Lebanon's economic zone, he said, adding that Beirut would "turn to the United Nations."
7/20/2011 - The Corporate Supreme Court by Ralph Nader Never have I urged impeachment of Supreme Court justices. I do so now, for the sake of ending the Supreme Court's corporate-judicial dictatorship that is not accountable under our system of checks and balance in any other way.
7/20/2011 - U.S. may act unilaterally vs Iran-armed Iraq militias Panetta, who as CIA director helped oversee the covert raid that killed Osama bin Laden, said his number one priority since becoming defense secretary was to defeat al Qaeda. He has estimated there are around 1,000 al Qaeda fighters in Iraq. In language reminiscent of the Bush era, he appeared to link the Iraq war to the September 11, 2001 attacks in his comments to troops. Huh?
7/20/2011 - Confidential: New biography says Hollywood producer worked as Israeli spy, arms dealer "When the Israelis were first informed of the investigation by Assistant Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy earlier this year, they apparently were not aware of the export licensing requirements for Krytrons," Time wrote. "Prime Minister Shimon Peres last week told a U.S. television interviewer that Israel's close relationship with the U.S. obviates any need to smuggle out sensitive technology." Indeed, LAKAM itself was closed in 1986 following revelations that it had recruited an American naval researcher, Jonathan Pollard, to spy for Israel against the United States, causing the largest crisis in the history of U.S.–Israeli relations.
7/20/2011 - No Early End to Libyan War Expected Pluralities and majorities of respondents in numerous polls taken here since March have said that Washington should "not be involved" in military operations in Libya.
7/20/2011 - Dying At Home to Win In Afghanistan by Philip Giraldi The neoconservatives truly seem to inhabit a world that differs significantly from the place where the rest of us dwell.
7/20/2011 - Iran may deploy warships in Atlantic
7/20/2011 - S&P warns that chance of downgrading U.S. credit rating is 50 percent Standard & Poor's said late Thursday that it could downgrade the U.S. credit rating as soon as this month, and there is a 50 percent chance it will do so within three months, if Washington fails to come to an agreement over the nation's debt.
7/20/2011 - Amid Murdoch Scandal, Some Fear Pro-Israel Media Voice Will Be Muted Murdoch's sudden massive reversal of fortune – with 10 top former staffers and executives under arrest in Britain for hacking into the phones of public figures and a murdered schoolgirl, and paying off the police and journalists – has supporters of Israel worried that a diminished Murdoch presence may mute the strongly pro-Israel voice of many of the publications he owns.
..."Murdoch said he didn't see what the Palestinians' problem was and James said it was that they were kicked out of their f—ing homes and had nowhere to f—ing live," the account in The Guardian said. Murdoch chided his son for using foul language in the prime minister's home. Rupert Murdoch is a Christian Zionist and is thus a staunch Israel-supporter. And his Fox News network reflects that. I am not heartbroken in the least at the news of this scandal. Ladies and gentlemen, Karma is served.
7/20/2011 - Iran, China ink $4 bn in infrastructure deals China and Iran have become major economic partners in recent years, partly thanks to the withdrawal of Western companies in line with sanctions against the Islamic republic over its contentious nuclear drive.
7/20/2011 - Iraq, Iran issue border demands after clashes
7/20/2011 - Ron Paul's new TV ad opposes raising debt limit President Barack Obama has said that if a deal to raise the debt ceiling is not passed by Aug. 2, the U.S. government could default on its loans, creating a financial crisis. Paul and some conservative Republican members of Congress reject that conclusion and have insisted on spending cuts.
7/20/2011 - The Fast Fix PAC-ed to the gills What makes these PACS "super" is that they can raise unlimited amounts of money from almost any source. They came into existence after a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2010 that did away with the ban on corporations and labor unions from spending unlimited sums directly advocating for the election or defeat of candidates.
7/20/2011 - Turkey jails 14 over alleged anti-U.S. attack plan A Turkish court has jailed 14 people pending trial on charges of al Qaeda membership for allegedly planning an attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, state media said on Saturday.
7/20/2011 - Silver and Koch Spar Over Weiner Seat Koch recently called on Jews to defect to the GOP to send a message of disapproval to President Barack Obama over his handling of relations with Israel. Silver conceded that Jews may be unhappy with the president's stance, but insisted that sending a Republican to Congress from the heavily Democratic district would only make things worse. "What we need is more Democrats who will go to bat for Israel, notwithstanding what a president may think," Silver told the News. It's always about Israel.
7/20/2011 - Jews: Argentina and Iran both failed in bomb probe
7/20/2011 - Apparently, We Are All Belarusians On Tuesday the Tom Lantos Human Rights Hearing convened to discuss what to do about the Syrian regime, which may or may not be engaging in wholesale repression depending on who you believe. Lantos is dead, but while he lived he was considered a major conduit for illegal passage of classified information to the Israeli government. It is nice to see that his spirit lives on in the 112th Congress, particularly as Syria is a front line state that is considered an enemy by Tel Aviv. The Lantos meeting is co-sponsored by Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia, who is a major recipient of AIPAC funding.
7/20/2011 - New Man in Tel Aviv by Philip Giraldi Now some of us old fashioned types have long believed that an American ambassador is supposed to represent US interests, but that is apparently no longer the case, at least when Israel is involved. Even assuming that Obama is dissimulating just a tad to burnish his pro-Israeli credentials, the assertion that Israel's security is job number one should be producing some indigestion somewhere in the media or punditocracy, but, alas, I cannot find it.
7/20/2011 - Former US official derides Palestinian UN effort Bolton is in Israel along with other members of the Friends of Israel Initiative, a group founded last year by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
7/20/2011 - Neocons Fume Over US Boat to Gaza By Ray McGovern It certainly appears that the Likudniks, the U.S. neocons and some of the "Harvards" are running scared as Israel's growing extremism and anti-Muslim bigotry becomes harder to perfume over with every passing day.
7/20/2011 - Iran 'ready to cooperate' over attack on Argentine Jews Israel has pointed the finger at the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah for carrying out the attacks, which the Jewish state believes were masterminded by Tehran.
7/20/2011 - Christian Zionists unite in D.C. to express support for Israel The prime minister encouraged the conference attendees to not only think of Israel as an ally of the Unites States, but as indistinguishable from it This is the main problem with Israel-supporters. And it's why when I say I don't support Israel, they call me a traitor. They do not see Israel and the United States as two separate entities. It's why they feel the US should fight Israel's enemies (Iraq, now Iran). It's why the US Congress works tirelessly on their behalf - due to the efforts of the powerful Israeli lobby.
7/20/2011 - Murdoch faces calls for break-up of media empire
7/20/2011 - US Republican hopeful backs right to ban synagogues Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain on Sunday said US communities that want to ban synagogues have a right to do so, as he backed opponents of a synagogue being built in Tennessee. "Judaism is both a religion and a set of laws –– Talmudic laws. That's the difference between any one of our traditional religions where it's just about religious purposes," Cain told Fox News Sunday. Imagine if he had said that? The uproar. It's only ok to do this to Muslims, evidently.
7/20/2011 - 32 killed in Syria protests, Damascus moves: activists Syrian forces killed at least 32 civilians on Friday, including 23 in the capital Damascus, in an intensifying crackdown on protests against President Bashar al–Assad, activists said.
7/20/2011 - War With Iran? US Neocons Aim to Repeat Chalabi-Style Swindle Why would some of the most vocal advocates for prosecuting the war on terror now take an Islamic terrorist group under its wing and persistently lobby the State Department and the US Congress to have the group removed from terrorist list? Simply put, they say the enemy of the enemy is our friend. Maryam Rajavi, the MEK leader and self-proclaimed president of Iran, is their new Chalabi.
7/20/2011 - Assad to offer presidential election as Homs death toll rises
7/20/2011 - How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule Over the past 30 years, virtually all the benefit of U.S. economic growth has gone to the richest 1 percent of Americans. Effective tax rates for the very rich are at historic lows and many of the most profitable corporations pay no taxes at all.
7/20/2011 - Assad loyalists kill 10 in attacks in Homs A 12–year old boy was among those killed in Homs on Monday the Local Coordination Committees said, adding that the attacks focused on the al–Khalidiya district of the city.
7/20/2011 - Crackdown escalates in east Syria, protesters killed Syrian forces shot dead two pro–democracy protesters on Thursday in eastern provincial capital Deir al–Zoran, residents said, as a crackdown escalated against dissent in the tribal region bordering Iraq's Sunni heartland.
7/20/2011 - Indonesian Muslim group forms anti-terror squad An Indonesian Islamic youth group has set up a unit to counter radicalism in Muslim communities and even help police defuse homemade bombs, its chairman said Monday.
7/20/2011 - Iran 'hangs' child sex murderer: report Iran has hanged a man convicted of raping and murdering a five–year old girl in a village near the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the ISNA news agency reported on Sunday. We should do that HERE.
7/20/2011 - Syrian opposition forms council to counter Assad
7/20/2011 - U.N. nuclear agency brings Syria to Security Council The U.N. nuclear watchdog brought allegations of covert atomic work by Syria before the Security Council on Thursday, but the 15–nation body took no immediate action amid divisions among key powers.
7/20/2011 - The Secrecy of the Obama Administration - James Bamford Unplugged!
7/13/2011 - Iran prepares for nuclear work in bunker: sources diplomatic sources say
7/13/2011 - Russia lays out "step-by-step" approach on Iran Russia on Wednesday laid out a "step–by–step" approach under which Iran could address questions about its nuclear program and be rewarded with a gradual easing of sanctions. The proposal, described by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after talks with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, seeks to revive negotiations to put to rest Western suspicions that Iran may be seeking nuclear arms.
7/13/2011 - Taming deficit means pain for middle class, poor the spending cuts and tax hikes that are on the table would have a major impact on most Americans–especially members of the middle class and the poor.
7/13/2011 - House Threatens To Cut Off Palestinian Aid Over Statehood Move The American Israel Public Affairs Committee was urging its activists as late as Wednesday to press Congress, mired in budget debates, to pass the resolution. In the end, only six lawmakers – three Republicans and three Democrats –voted against.
7/13/2011 - All's 'Fare' in War by Philip Giraldi The other side of Lawfare, as the name indicates, is using the law itself as a weapon of war. The Israelis and American supporters of Israel have caught on to the potential of the legal weapon and are using lawsuits to tie up opponents.
....The lawsuit was filed with the assistance of the Shurat HaDin or Israel Law Center, which has been established as a Non-Government Organization intended to use the law against groups that are critical of Israel. The objective is to harass such groups with litigation so they become ineffective or, even better, bankrupted by legal costs.
....Any group deemed to be hostile to Israel will be attacked and litigated against. Many of the charges will be frivolous but those who are sued will have to waste time and resources defending themselves, which is precisely what is intended.
....Canadian legislators are already considering making any criticism of Israel a hate crime, and once the idea takes hold here in the United States something similar is sure to follow, creating yet another basis for litigation Wow. Is this America or the USSR?
7/13/2011 - Panetta Spins by Philip Giraldi The issue of Iranian support for Shi'a militias is more serious in that it can be considered to be a casus belli, i.e. "they are killing our troops." It also ties into a recent comment by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen and a reported statement by senior State Department official in Iraq Thomas Nides. Nides admitted that there was no actual proof that Iran was involved, only "classified intelligence." In other words, "I can't tell you but I think it's true." I have been following this issue ever since it was first surfaced in 2005, when it was claimed that Iranian supplied improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were being used in Iraq, and, later, in Afghanistan. The evidence for the Iranian involvement has always been on the thin side, particularly as it was subsequently discovered that many of the weapons were being manufactured in a former bicycle factory in Iraq. They are definitely low tech and the need for Iranian involvement was always somewhat suspect.
7/13/2011 - US isn't world's moral arbiter: Iranian FM The United States cannot be the world's moral arbiter, a top Iranian official said here Monday, dismissing charges that Tehran is involved in smuggling weapons to insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. The United States "has been making such statements for 30 years. We don't consider the US to be able to rule on what is right and what is wrong," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told a news conference in the Slovenian capital.
7/13/2011 - US Caught Off-guard by Iran Sanctions The decision by Iran's Parliament (Majlis) to impose sanctions on and indict 26 US officials who have perpetrated war crimes and violated human rights has come as a great surprise to the US government that has always accused independent nations such as Iran of violating human rights and supporting terrorism.
7/13/2011 - Ron Paul announces retirement from Congress Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul made a surprise announcement Tuesday that he will not seek re–election to Congress, spelling an end to a nearly 24–year House career amid his third run for president.
7/13/2011 - Iran denies US claims it armed Iraq rebels
7/13/2011 - U.S. may act unilaterally vs Iran-armed Iraq militias U.S. officials blame Shi'ite militias armed by Iraq's Shi'ite neighbor Iran for most of the recent attacks and U.S. military explosives experts showed reporters traveling with Panetta pieces of rockets used for attacks in Iraq that they linked to Iran.
7/13/2011 - Oil rises to above $97 after US crude supply drop Oil prices rose to above $97 a barrel Thursday in Asia as a report showed U.S. crude supplies fell more than expected for a second week, suggesting demand is improving.
7/13/2011 - House Passes $649B Defense Spending Bill The House on Friday overwhelmingly passed a $649 billion defense spending bill that boosts the Pentagon budget by $17 billion and covers the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
7/13/2011 - US Cancels Millions in Aid to Pakistan Military Despite billions of dollars in American aid since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the relationship has long been tense because of Pakistan's reluctance to target Taliban militants on its territory who stage cross-border attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan.
7/13/2011 - US Official: No Tangible Evidence at Hand to Prove Iran's Aid to Iraqi Militants Speaking to FNA in Iraq's Northern Kurdish city of Erbil on Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas Nides repeated his country's earlier claims against Iran, but admitted that the US has no "strong and tangible evidence" to prove the claim.
7/13/2011 - The Establishment in Panic by Patrick J. Buchanan The Republican Party has not said it will refuse to raise the debt ceiling. It has an obligation to do so, and will. The House has simply said it will not accept new taxes on a nation whose fiscal crisis comes from overspending.
7/13/2011 - Israel recognizes South Sudan, offers economic aid Israel recognized South Sudan Sunday, offering the new state economic help after it seceded from the mainly Arab Muslim north, which has no relations with the Jewish state. Israel, a prosperous country, recipient of the largest share of US taxpayer foreign aid is offering economic assistance to SOME OTHER COUNTRY? How about they GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK? We give them BILLIONS in taxpayer dollars each year. These are NOT LOANS. These are grants given at the beginning of the year so that Israel can further gain by the interest on the money. As US schools close, teachers are laid off, states, towns and villages are having to make severe cuts in order to balance their budgets, Israel sits high on the hog and is eager to dole out OUR MONEY.
7/13/2011 - Israel approves work on controversial museum Israel has approved the start of work on a controversial Museum of Tolerance that will be built on the site of an old Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. This would be headlines in the US and Congress would pass at least one resolution condemning the act if it were MUSLIMS that were building ANYTHING on a JEWISH cemetery.
7/13/2011 - Lebanon warns Israel against sea border move "President Michel Sleiman warns against any unilateral decisions Israel may take on maritime borders which would be a breach of international law, as is Israel's habit," Sleiman's office said in a statement.
7/13/2011 - Lebanon lawmakers approve Hezbollah-backed government
7/13/2011 - Iran threatens to attack rebels across Iraq border "The terrorists will not be allowed to take sanctuary in Iraq's territory and attack Iran with the support of America and the Zionist regime," the official said. "Action will be taken against these terrorists." The Israelis trained the Kurds, according to UK news sources.
7/13/2011 - Interpol issues warrants for Hariri killing suspects
7/13/2011 - For Israel, a Balkan bloom despite Palestine chill The Israeli leader, a free–market champion who is quick to celebrate his country's hi–tech advances and endurance through global economic doldrums, made no secret of wanting to exploit recent off–shore natural gas discoveries as strategic exports. "Because we need very little of this, we intend basically to lay a pipeline or create a shipping lane. We can be a big supplier in the natural gas field," he said. Israel is FAT from the US taxypayer welfare checks that we HAND them every year. Billions, kids. And there are tons more peripheral perks that they receive such as the US Security Council veto at the UN, defense agreements, numerous pieces of legislation, and the action taken in the Middle East by the US military.
7/13/2011 - Leon Panetta, a Defense Secretary With a Long History of Cooperation with Israel During his recently completed stint as CIA director, Panetta worked closely with Israeli intelligence, which reportedly has shared information about Iran and about terror threats. "It is important to understand that despite differences on Middle East policy, the military and intelligence relations between the U.S. and Israel were extremely strong," said Jim Colbert, policy director of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. "Director Panetta was closely involved on these issues." This really means that America is in BIG trouble. We will be attacking Iran before long, no doubt.
7/13/2011 - U.N. council split likely on Syria atomic issue: U.S. Notice how the issue is about what Syria MIGHT have been doing and NOT the fact that Israel violated international law by bombing Syria without any provocation.
7/13/2011 - Lawyer Who Promotes Anti-Sharia Laws Publishes New Study on Islamic Extremism Four years in the making, and part of a project costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, Yerushalmi's study is titled "Shari'a and Violence in American Mosques" and was co-written by Mordechai Kedar, a professor of Middle East studies at Israel's Bar-Ilan University. It is published in the current issue of the Middle East Quarterly, the flagship publication of the conservative think tank, the Middle East Forum. The study has been strongly criticized by liberal organizations but seized upon by conservative publications, such as FrontPage Magazine and National Review Online, as proof that Islam constitutes a grave threat to national security. Writing in National Review Online, Andrew McCarthy said the results proved that, "what we wishfully call 'radicalism' is in fact the Islamic mainstream."
...Yerushalmi did say that one of the study's funders was the Center for Security Policy, a neoconservative think tank devoted to opposing what it perceives to be the growing threat of radical Islam in the United States. Put forth by Israelis and pushed forward by neocons, are you surprised?
7/13/2011 - Syria says Clinton's remarks on Assad "provocative"
7/13/2011 - Tug-of-war over Iraqi Jewish trove in US hands There are claims of Jewish pressure to prevent the return of the collection, and questions about why the U.S. didn't prevent the looting of Arab and Islamic treasures during the invasion but was able to bring the Jewish collection to safety in America. That's a good point. Americans need to learn what the term 'philosemitism' means, and its implications. This country via our government seems to be suffering from it, and suffering for it.
7/13/2011 - U.S. slams Syria for 'outrageous' embassy attack The United States on Monday condemned Syria for refusing to protect the U.S. embassy in Damascus from an "outrageous" attack by government loyalists it said were seeking to divert attention from Syria's internal political crisis.
7/13/2011 - US says Assad failed to prove himself legitimate
7/13/2011 - West piles pressure for UN action on Syria
7/13/2011 - Bolstered by support, Syrians pour into streets Hundreds of thousands of Syrians poured into the streets of the opposition stronghold Hama on Friday, bolstered by a gesture of support from the American and French ambassadors who visited the city where a massacre nearly 30 years ago came to symbolize the ruthlessness of the Assad dynasty. The visit by U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford drew swift condemnation from the Syrian government, which said the unauthorized trip was proof that Washington was inciting violence in the Arab nation.
7/13/2011 - Debating Taboos by Ralph Nader The first nationally televised debate (C-SPAN) on the subject of mandatory voting, or voting duty, occurred in Washington D.C. on June 27, 2011 (watch it at: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/DebateonMa). Why did it take so long? Because discussing this topic has been a taboo in electoral, legislative and main media arenas. Hmm. That's an interesting concept.
7/13/2011 - Corporate Tax Escapees and You
7/13/2011 - France slams Russia, China block on UN Syria vote
7/13/2011 - Paul Caps his Congressional Career
7/13/2011 - Bachmann Looks for Social Conservative Support As Michael Dougherty wrote in the cover story of TAC's June issue, "the Tea Party, confusedly hailed by the media as a grassroots libertarian spasm, turns out on inspection to be the religious right wearing a tricorn hat and talking about Obamacare." Dougherty continues: "Neoconservatives who call for confrontation with Iran, a closer relationship with Israel, and pressing the War on Terror are not echoed by religious conservatives—they're drowned out by them."
7/13/2011 - Turkish FM to visit Iran Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Iran on Sunday to discuss a wave of unrest shaking Middle East countries, a senior Turkish diplomat said.
7/13/2011 - Lebanon's Hariri slams Hezbollah over UN court Lebanon's opposition leader Saad Hariri on Tuesday defended a UN–backed court that has indicted Hezbollah members in the 2005 murder of his father against "misleading accusations" by the Shiite group
7/6/2011 - Oil up past $96 on higher price forecast Oil prices bounced back above $95 a barrel Tuesday on the back of forecasts for more expensive crude in 2012, though gains were limited by the dollar's rise and doubts about global demand. Speculators strike again. Treason.
7/6/2011 - Israeli minister: Don't take eyes off Iran Britain believes Tehran has conducted at least three secret tests of medium–range ballistic missiles since October, amid an apparent escalation of its nuclear program and increased scrutiny from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
7/6/2011 - The Tea Party and Goldman Sachs: A Love Story The whole point of the tea party is to focus concern over our stagnant economy on something called "big government" while ignoring the big corporations that have bought the government as an accessory to their marketing strategies.
7/6/2011 - The US Must End Its Illegal War in Libya Now by Dennis Kucinich the war is illegal under the United States constitution and our War Powers Act, because only the US Congress has the authority to declare war and the president has been unable to show that the US faced an imminent threat from Libya. The president even ignored his top legal advisers at the Pentagon and the department of justice who insisted he needed congressional approval before bombing Libya.
7/6/2011 - Think tank: Shrink ground forces, end counterinsurgency missions for savings To help heal the nation's economic sores, Washington could free up billions annually by drastically altering how it uses the U.S. military and shaving the size of the Army and Marine Corps, according to a new study.
7/6/2011 - Winners and Losers by Philip Giraldi Bolton, a leading neoconservative, has been calling for attacking Iran for a number of years. As part of his argument, he always maintains that Iran's acquisition of a nuclear weapon is imminent. He never explains why it hasn't happened yet, making one suspect that his warnings are baseless and politically motivated. Even the United States intelligence community, in its recently concluded review of the National Intelligence Estimate of 2007, has stated its belief that there is no evidence that Iran has restarted the nuclear weapons program that it abandoned in 2003.
7/6/2011 - As recovery lags, corporations prosper–and lobby for more So to recap: This recovery is among the weakest since World War Two. But three years after the financial industry caused the economy to tank, corporations are doing better than ever, without using their profits to hire people. Meanwhile, they're lobbying for more tax breaks, which would make the deficit problem worse.
7/6/2011 - Hezbollah leader rejects Hariri court indictments He also portrayed the head of the court, Antonio Cassese, as a friend of Israel who is hostile to Hezbollah and said many of its officials had links to U.S. intelligence. "This investigation, and this court... as far as we are concerned is American and Israeli," he said.
7/6/2011 - U.N. prosecutor says Hezbollah should help Hariri probe Footage aired by Nasrallah on Saturday included scenes of a conference in Israel at which the U.N. Lebanon tribunal's president Antonio Cassese was praised as a friend of Israel. Nasrallah also showed pictures of documents which he said showed that 97 computers used by investigators had been shipped out of Lebanon via Israel, instead of directly from Beirut's airport or seaport, to the tribunal's headquarters in the Netherlands.
7/6/2011 - U.S. urges Lebanon to act on Hariri indictments Of course the US urges Lebanon to do so - at Israel's urging of course. This was a complete setup from day one to turn the Lebanese against Hezbollah. It has Israeli false flag operation written all over it.
7/6/2011 - Letter: AIPAC a big Kirk supporter Such a plan provides a powerful suggestion that Kirk is in someone's back pocket. It also brings to mind a February 2010 report on the TPMMuckraker website that states that the senator received $1,025,000 from pro-Israeli Pacs — AIPAC, in particular. After that, he called for the U.S. Navy to assist the Israeli navy to intercept the next Gaza relief flotilla on the high seas
7/6/2011 - The FBI's synagogue bomb plot Throughout the sentencing, Judge McMahon remained firm: this case was a government invention. The men in question did not agree to carry out the crime due to ideology. They had no allegiance to, or even knowledge, of the terrorist group Jaish-i-Mohammed, in whose name they allegedly acted. They were not motivated to criminal behaviour by their allegiance to Allah. They were motivated, purely and simply, by money; as such, they were criminals deserving punishment, but not terrorists. As Judge McMahon repeatedly stated, these men were not equivalent to the 2010 Times Square bomber, Faisal Shazad, or other ideologically motivated terrorists. It's not the entrapment that bothers this reporter but rather the potential for the spread of anti-Semitism. Ok.
7/6/2011 - Fourteen Propaganda Techniques Fox "News" Uses to Brainwash Americans Take the enormous amount of misinformation that is taken for truth by Fox audiences: the belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that he was in on 9/11, the belief that climate change isn't real and/or man-made, the belief that Barack Obama is Muslim and wasn't born in the United States, the insistence that all Arabs are Muslim and all Muslims are terrorists, the inexplicable perceptions that immigrants are both too lazy to work and are about to steal your job. The pro-Israelis use the same methods.
7/6/2011 - Hezbollah chief defends Hariri suspects in Lebanon Nasrallah said the suspects named in the indictment are brothers "who have an honorable history in resisting Israeli occupation." He went on to cast doubt on the U.N.–backed tribunal investigating the crime and said it was biased. Awful strange that those fingered were Israel's enemies, eh? Can you say false flag?
7/6/2011 - Syrian forces shoot dead 14 in Hama: activists
7/6/2011 - The Peasants Are Revolting by Philip Giraldi Brooks appears to be bothered most by the fact that the Tea Partiers are so common. How dare they not pay attention to "scholars and intellectual authorities," which undoubtedly includes David Brooks himself. Brooks seems unaware that it is precisely folks like him and his scholarly buddies who have gotten the rest of us in a mess that appears to have no exit door. His invocation of the "ancient habits of our nation" appears to accept running up catastrophic debts while fighting a series of wars of choice, which he, of course, chose and even cheerleaded. That is not so much an ancient habit as a recent one, brought to us courtesy of Brooks and his friends over at The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, and the American Enterprise Institute.
7/6/2011 - Movement to Abolish Corporate Personhood Gaining Traction Throughout the country people have responded by organizing against "corporate personhood," a court-created precedent that illegitimately gives corporations rights that were intended for human beings.
7/6/2011 - Russia criticizes US over abuses in wars abroad
7/6/2011 - Debating Taboos by Ralph Nader Make your own list of public taboos. For example, in all the talk about debts, deficits and taxes, notice the near total silence about a huge revenue producer, with a ready base of popular support, a Wall Street securities transaction tax--often called a tax on high volume financial speculation. In President Obama's 70 minute news conference last week, not one reporter asked his position on this proposed tax. Moreover, no President has been asked this question in public for at least the last 40 years. Yet several countries have such a tax and the U.S. had such a tax until about fifty years ago.
7/6/2011 - Pandit's Payouts Climb Toward $200 Million as Top Bailout Recipient Slips "Pandit, his $1 pay notwithstanding, cannot be considered modestly paid," said Graef Crystal, a compensation expert and Bloomberg News consultant based in Las Vegas. "Taxpayers saved this bank, and he's getting a bundle while shareholders are getting shortchanged on the stock price."
7/6/2011 - McCain & Lieberman Keep Up Interventionist Rhetoric
7/6/2011 - Is Default Inevitable? by Patrick J. Buchanan Administrations of both parties contributed to this rise in the federal share of gross domestic product. But the GOP committed itself in 2010 to rein it in, without raising taxes. On that pledge the GOP triumphed and should keep its commitment.
7/6/2011 - America: Indebted to War The most significant Republican proposal to actually reduce spending to a degree in tune with the severity of our problem was put forth by Sen. Rand Paul. Paul introduced a plan in March that would balance the budget in five years and reduce the debt by $4 trillion. Paul's plan sought not simply to stop or reform spending—but to cut it—the very thing virtually every Republican claims to support and agrees must happen.
7/6/2011 - Syrian forces kill 24, protesters tell Assad to go The assaults concentrated on the northern section of Jabal al–Zawya region, home to 15,000 people, many of whom are trying to flee to Turkey, which already has 10,000 refugees from attacks in Idlib earlier this month.
More headlines
To add our site to your favorites - Press (Ctrl+D)