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To begin with, it should be understood that in Counter-Strike: Source (CS), there are many different map types. These kinds are:
Explosive device Map (de)
The Terrorist goal inside a explosive device map would be to go to a particular location (marked in your map) and plant an explosive. The explosive is on the timer, so once it's grown, you have to defend it until detonation.
The counter-terrorist goal on explosive device maps would be to avoid the terrorists from planting the explosive device whatsoever costs. You can do this by getting rid of all the terrorists, defusing the grown explosive device, or (in some instances) protecting the explosive device site until time expires.
Hostage Save (cs)
In hostage save maps, the main goal for counter-terrorists would be to save hostages taken and held through the Terrorists. You may also win by getting rid of the terrorist team.
The Terrorist goal would be to simply avoid the counter-terrorists from saving the hostages by getting rid of them, or maintaining charge of the hostages until time expires.
Explosive device Maps – Counter-Terrorist
Like a counter-terrorist on explosive device maps, the best choice (undoubtedly) would be to get rid of the terrorist team before they are able to plant the explosive device. Defusing the explosive device enables you to a sitting duck, which is a scenario you need to avoid. Maintaining your terrorists searching to plant the explosive device means you're able to remain on the defensive, which provides an advantage.
Explosive device Maps – Terrorist
Like a terrorist, your main goal would be to completely overrun a explosive device site. If you can't seize control of the explosive device site inside the first thirty seconds, your team will probably lose the round. The very best technique is to hurry everybody on the team aside from two or three (tops) one site. Another couple of gamers will behave as a distraction in the other site, therefore the counter-terrorists protecting it are not equipped in as re-enforcements.
Hostage Maps – Counter-Terrorist
I've discovered the very best technique to be distributing they out and attacking all angles. Coordinate a synchronised attack if at all possible, but make sure nobody just "runs in, guns blazing," because that technique almost guarantees dying inside a hostage map.
If a person side from the attack seems to punch through and obtain within the area under Terrorist control, the relaxation from the team should proceed to that area to be able to profit the attack.
Hostage Maps – Counter-Terrorist
As terrorist, your main strategy here ought to be to sit and wait. Your ultimate goal is to allow them to come your way. Sit, Wait, and SHOOT!
Generic Methods
Fake Reload
Shoot a round from your pistol at the outset of the match. Whenever you think (or hear) an opponent nearby, change to your pistol, press reload, and rapidly switch to your primary rifle. Most opponents will get noticed and attack once they hear the reload seem, simply because they think you're defenseless.
This has turned into a staple of counter-strike in the last years, however, many gamers don't quite comprehend it. If you're in a firefight at range, you are able to strafe-shoot to keep precision but nonetheless be a hard target.
The way in which strafe-shooting is completed is as simple as pressing (or tapping) the strafe key to obtain your player moving and delivering it simply while you start to fire. Your player is constantly move for an additional step, however your shots is going to be accurate.
The AWP No-Scope
Lots of people have experienced issues with this, which is really so simple. A No-Scope shot happens when you shoot a rival having a rifle forum without needing the scope. For those sniper rifles, the mix-fur happen to be removed when you're not while using scope, and also the weapons are really inaccurate. It was done deliberately to pressure individuals to make use of the scopes on sniper rifles. The issue using the scope is it is tough to create short-range shots, as well as your player moves very gradually while searching through it, which means you become a simple target. The reply to this is actually the No-Scope shot.
No-Scope is completed by simply pressing the left and right mouse buttons simultaneously while your intended target is really as near to the center of the striving point as you possibly can (you need to estimate this). The scope will appear for a part of another, as well as your shot is going to be accurate.
You will observe after playing Counter-Strike for any lengthy time that many gamers follow very foreseeable designs. Ammunition is expendable, and the rifles (AK-47, M4, etc.) will penetrate through concerning the first 3 inches of the corner. When approaching corners that have in all probability competitors on the other hand, shoot the corner. You'll frequently hit your opponents before they help you.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Alan Jackson will have country fans and tourists ready for a good time in downtown Nashville when AJ's Good Time Bar opens at 421 Broadway. The location was home to The Wheel and The Wheel Cigar Bar. The three-story, 6,000-square-foot venue was purchased for $5.75 million, and will feature a rooftop bar.
"I always wanted to own a honky-tonk that plays real country music on Broadway that I could put my name on," said Jackson, who is also a partner in the popular downtown restaurant Acme Feed & Seed.
Jackson is the latest country artist to announce a bar in downtown Nashville. Dierks Bentley recently announced plans to open a Whiskey Row establishment in 2017 at 400 Broadway. Big & Rich's John Rich is also set to open a Redneck Riviera bar at 208-210 Broadway in late 2016.
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About the AuthorJessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at [email protected]
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The Met Office say that showers or outbreaks of rain will turn wintry overnight into Wednesday.
Although as we look at the latest forecasts, Merseyside has a greater chance of seeing sleet than any snow.
Icy stretches on untreated roads and pavements are also likely, which may lead to some difficult driving conditions and the potential for travel disruption into the Wednesday morning rush hour.
A forecaster at the Met Office said: "A cold front will move east and south across the United Kingdom through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
"This will introduce significantly colder air with frequent showers, these turning readily to sleet and snow even at low levels, 1 to 4 cm is expected in some areas by dawn Wednesday with up to 10 cm in places.
⚠ #Snow and #ice could bring some disruption to travel tonight and into tomorrow for parts of the UK ⚠ pic.twitter.com/gbQs2G1Nvy
— Met Office (@metoffice) March 1, 2016
"These higher accumulations are more likely over higher ground above 200 m but may also occur to low levels where showers are heavy and prolonged.
"This is perhaps most likely across parts of Lancashire, the Manchester area and the Peak District and may result in local medium impacts.
"Clear spells between showers will also lead to icy stretches forming on untreated surfaces".
The warnings are in place until 10am on Wednesday.


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Category Archives: Data Science (inc Machine Learning & Predictive Analytics)
Jabil pilots Azure and Project Brainwave in advanced manufacturing solutions
Jabil provides advanced manufacturing solutions that require visual inspection of components on production lines. Their pilot with Azure Machine Learning and Project Brainwave promises dramatic improvements in speed and accuracy, reducing workload and improving focus for human operators.
Proud to be the lead architect working on advanced Machine Learning solutions and pipelines at Jabil.
Our machine learning development project makes it into //BUILD 2018 Keynote
Sometimes working on advanced technologies comes with the peril of NDAs … which limit what I can talk about… but it is nice to see yet another of our projects feature in Keynote speech by Satya Nadella, this time at Microsoft //BUILD 2018. Proud to be the lead architect working on advanced Machine Learning solutions and pipelines at Jabil.
Technical Reference Implementation for Enterprise BI and Reporting…
Our solution included in Microsoft Ignite 2017 Keynote
Azure Cosmos DB, Azure DW, Machine Leaning, Deep Learning, Neural Networks, TensorFlow, SQL Server, ASP.NET Core… are just a few of the components that make up one of the solutions we are currently developing.
Have been under a social media embargo, until today, but now that the Microsoft Ignite 2017 keynote has taken place, I am able to proudly say that the solution our team has been working on for some time was part of the Keynote addresses.
During the second keynote lead by Scott Guthrie, Danielle Dean a Data Scientist Lead @Microsoft discussed at a high level, one of the solutions we are developing at Jabil, which involves advanced image recognition of circuit board issues. The keynote focused in on the context of the solutions data science portion and introduced the new Azure Machine Learning Workbench to the packed audience.
Tomorrow morning there is a session – "Using big data, the cloud, and AI to enable intelligence at scale" (Tuesday, September 26, from 9:00 AM to 10:15 AM, in Hyatt Regency Windermere X)… during which we will be going into a bit more detail, and the guys at Microsoft will be expanding on the new AI and Big Data machine learning capabilities (session details via this link).
Awaiting Microsoft Ignite Keynote
Some cool stuff ahead today… keynote coming up…
Cosmos DB Change Feed Processor NuGet package now available & Working with the change feed support
Cosmos DB Change Feed Processor NuGet package now available
Many database systems have features allowing change data capture or mirroring, for use with live backups, reporting, data warehousing and real time analytics for transactional systems… Azure Cosmos DB has such a feature called the Change Feed API, which was first introduced in May 2017.
The Change Feed API provides a list of new and updated documents in a partition in the order in which the updates were made.
Microsoft has just recently introduced the new Change Feed Processor Library which abstracts the existing Change Feed API to facilitate the distribution of change feed event processing across multiple consumers.
The Change Feed Processor library provides a thread-safe, multiple-process, runtime environment with checkpoint and partition lease management for change feed operations.
The Change Feed Processor Library is available as a NuGet package for .NET development. The library makes actions like these easier to read changes from a change feed across multiple partitions and performing computational actions triggered by the change feed in parallel (aka Complex Event Processing).
Judy Shen from the Microsoft Cosmos DB team has published some sample code on GitHub, demonstrating it's use.
Working with the change feed support in Azure Cosmos DB
Aravind Ramachandran, Mimi Gentz and Judy Shen also just published an article Working with the change feed support in Azure Cosmos DB on the Azure docs site a few days ago…
Azure Cosmos DB is a fast and flexible globally replicated database service that is used for storing high-volume transactional and operational data with predictable single-digit millisecond latency for reads and writes. This makes it well-suited for IoT, gaming, retail, and operational logging applications. A common design pattern in these applications is to track changes made to Azure Cosmos DB data, and update materialized views, perform real-time analytics, archive data to cold storage, and trigger notifications on certain events based on these changes. The change feed support in Azure Cosmos DB enables you to build efficient and scalable solutions for each of these patterns.
With change feed support, Azure Cosmos DB provides a sorted list of documents within an Azure Cosmos DB collection in the order in which they were modified. This feed can be used to listen for modifications to data within the collection and perform actions such as:
- Trigger a call to an API when a document is inserted or modified
- Perform real-time (stream) processing on updates
- Synchronize data with a cache, search engine, or data warehouse
Changes in Azure Cosmos DB are persisted and can be processed asynchronously, and distributed across one or more consumers for parallel processing. Let's look at the APIs for change feed and how you can use them to build scalable real-time applications. This article shows how to work with Azure Cosmos DB change feed and the DocumentDB API.
Change feed support is only provided for the DocumentDB API at this time; the Graph API and Table API are not currently supported.
Use cases and scenarios
Change feed allows for efficient processing of large datasets with a high volume of writes, and offers an alternative to querying entire datasets to identify what has changed. For example, you can perform the following tasks efficiently:
- Update a cache, search index, or a data warehouse with data stored in Azure Cosmos DB.
- Implement application-level data tiering and archival, that is, store "hot data" in Azure Cosmos DB, and age out "cold data" to Azure Blob Storage or Azure Data Lake Store.
- Implement batch analytics on data using Apache Hadoop.
- Implement lambda pipelines on Azure with Azure Cosmos DB. Azure Cosmos DB provides a scalable database solution that can handle both ingestion and query, and implement lambda architectures with low TCO.
- Perform zero down-time migrations to another Azure Cosmos DB account with a different partitioning scheme.
Lambda Pipelines with Azure Cosmos DB for ingestion and query
You can use Azure Cosmos DB to receive and store event data from devices, sensors, infrastructure, and applications, and process these events in real-time with Azure Stream Analytics, Apache Storm, or Apache Spark.
Within web and mobile apps, you can track events such as changes to your customer's profile, preferences, or location to trigger certain actions like sending push notifications to their devices using Azure Functions or App Services. If you're using Azure Cosmos DB to build a game, you can, for example, use change feed to implement real-time leaderboards based on scores from completed games.
Read more at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/azure/cosmos-db/change-feed


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Nutella, Fruit, Pecan, & Bacon Waffles with HoneyPosted: June 2, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Breakfast, treat, Waffles Leave a comment
Our very first wedding gift was a waffle maker from one of Matthew's coworkers. I remember the giddy feeling of opening a gift for our new married life together. At first we were skeptical about whether or not we'd use it, but we were convinced we had to keep it, if only for what it represented. I'm thankful we did because waffles are a delicious once-in-a-while treat for lazy Saturday mornings or to mix it up on a week day night.
They may not be bikini friendly, but sometimes you just need to raid the fridge and make delicious Nutella, bacon, pecan, strawberry, banana, honey waffles for dinner.
Nutella, Bacon, Strawberry, Banana, Pecan Waffles with Honey
(Adapted from Joy the Baker)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups milk
1 stick of melted butter
Cooked, chopped bacon
Pecan pieces
Sliced strawberries
Sliced bananas
Drizzle of honey or drizzle of maple syrup
Set up your waffle iron on a level, clean surface and turn on to preheat.
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar. Whisk to blend. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, banana, milk and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold. Try not to over mix the batter or the waffles will become tough. It's ok if a few lumps remain in the batter.
Cook according to waffle iron instructions.


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A clean energy growth economy sustains our environment, creates wealth, and enhances our standard of living. Transitioning Canada to this long-term, sustainable model requires tracking progress in an evidence-based manner. This includes engaging key stakeholders across the country to help inform the development of the best-suited, data-driven metrics, but also to identify region-specific opportunities and challenges in this transition. This report summarizes the key findings of the CEGE Regional Input Tour on transitioning to this kind of economy.
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My next few blog posts will outline some of the things I found important. I will also provide links to books and vendor products I found interesting.
I have divided my comments into three categories,The Team, The Product and The Scrum Master. This post is about the team.
The TeamI learned as much from the people attending the conference as I did from the session speakers. This was especially true with the team.
The term T-Shaped Skills was used to describe a cross functional team. The diagram below depicts cross functional ability in an easy to understand manner.
Many times the notion of handling different team dysfunctions and personality types came up. A common idea is to have the team come up with a solution. A tangible way to do this is to have the team come up with Working Agreements and Ground Rules. Since the team came up with the details, when a rule or agreement is broken, it is easy to remedy.
Teams are often uncomfortable trying new things. In this case it is good to point out that we are not sure this will work and that we will Run an Experiment to see. This makes people more comfortable with the unknown.
Distributed teams are becoming more common. This is not just because of offshore teams. More and more firms have their employees spread across the USA.
The points below were mentioned as ways to ease the pain with distributed teams:
- Tools – there are a number of tools available that allow distributed teams to work better together. See the section on Vendor Solutions below for the tools that were mentioned.
- Google Spreadsheet – this was mentioned as a collaboration tool because when multiple users work on a single document, the change is annotated with the user's name in real time.
- Skype – one person mentioned that they have a computer on and available at each remote location at all times. This allows for easy adhoc meetings when a few people need to meet.
- Big Monitors Everywhere – one of the best way to provide transparency is to hang or draw burn down charts and other agile artifacts on the wall. With distributed teams, this is not possible. It was agreed that having the charts "available" in a tool is not sufficient. One attendee mentioned that he had big monitors in all locations displaying the agile artifacts.
I will follow up this post soon with points about The Product and The Team.


text: 10 one-ingredient recipes for super lazy cooks Posted on August 31, 2018 by admin 1. Insanely simple one-ingredient recipes! Good food requires a lot of patience and diligent cooking. Those who are true foodies do not shy away from spending a little time in kitchen if they want eat good food. But there are others who find kitchen to be the most mundane place on earth, probably because cooking never excites them. They hate the cutting, chopping and assembling ingredients required in making a dish. Then how to they address their hunger in times of need, when they really want to have something to zap their hunger but there is no one around to help them out. Here is a list of one-ingredient foods and drinks for all lazy cooks out there. 2. Baked sweet potatoes Wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly. Make small holes with fork. Cut into small pieces and bake at 120 degrees for 10 minutes. Occasionally flip till crispy sweet potatoes are ready. 3. Green tea If you are drinking it as a beverage, start thinking about it as a snack and this would be your first step towards weight loss. Boil water and add green tea leaves. Let it rest for 3-4 minutes. Strain and enjoy! 4. Boiled milk Now if you really want to nourish your body, without 'straining' it, boil one litre milk and reduce it to half. Allow it to cool slightly and sip it slowly. The lactose in the milk will concentrate, giving it a sweet taste. 5. Lemon detox water You just have to take a glass of warm water and add lemon in it. Sip it slowly in the morning for a clean gut. If you are drinking it for taste, use chilled water. 6. Eggs in oven Take a microwave safe mug and add 2 eggs in it. Mix well and microwave. Season it the way you like. 7. Roasted potatoes Wash potatoses clean and make gashes with a knife all across. Cover with a silver foil and bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes or till done. Remove the skin and enjoy with seasoning of your choice. 8. Cucumber water Finely chop cucumber and add it in a glass tumbler or mason jar and fill with chilled water. Enjoy! 9. Black coffee Boil water and add a teaspoon of instant coffee powder. Drink it hot. It is a great way to control your ravenous hunger. 10. Par-boiled broccoli You can make crunchy broccoli at home in less than 10 minutes! Chop broccoli into small florets. Boil in a little water for 2-3 minutes. Remove and insert it in a pan of ice cold water. Relish it with the seasoning and dressing of your choice. 11. Boiled eggs This is the easiest one of them all. Just put some some water and add eggs. Boil for a few minutes and enjoy!


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Saturday, January 31, 2009
On Closing Guantanamo Prison
Father Ghraib and Mother Gitmo Behind the garage there is a garden, in the wastelands. The builders stole the soil; they sold it to pay the landscapers crew! Water channels dug into sand and stone, through broken concrete and asphalt, recycled crap from everywhere. Experiment to see what will grow… builders just throw trees into holes, toss flowers into trenches… no mindfulness, no husbandry no botany, no lasting beauty… trees…symbols on an architect's sketch: seen from above pointillistic circles with bent branches twisting around a circle like swastikas deformed. But something grows in this waste land! A tree surrogate with leaves like elephant ears of a wide florescent green on a stem thinly veined in burgundy kermes; a desert spike with compounded eyes of saffron lids bepetalled; walking sticks with purple crowns, mille foil clouds, creeping parasols, great pendant hearts, explosions of the briar, Hemlocks where we hang our hearts; covert agents of desire, spies of reproduction, texting with chromo-semaphores. The fairies pippin, Mab's nonpareil, spanish pearmain, grizzly muscadine, early Margaret and scarlet crofton; all fruits of rich imagination! In the midst of this, on the verge of a small isle in the streams, stands a vulgar hyssop unseen among the vibrant pageantry. United around its upper course juvenile aphids clutch and huddle in prison suits of blood-orange: silently there and nowhere else… and wait for the time of their fulfillment. A denumerable crowd sits as if in dreaming prayer, bidden to the masjid of stinging nettle and menthol, alone and stripped of their imam whose sermon they cannot ken. I watch in fatal fascination this epithalamion symbiotic, not knowing if we rise as ladybirds to dry our wings… or swarm to our demise.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Lukipela's Railroad
Sho'a and Holocaust
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
After the fall of Jerusalem and the dispersion of Jews throughout the world in 70 A.D., the centers in what used to be Babylon, Sura and Pumbedita, were the centers of scholarship and were the incubators of the Babylonian Talmud. Pumbedita was founded by Judah ben Ezekiel (יהודה בן יחזקאל) who was also known as Rav Yehuda.
I have been doing some research on the war. It happens that - wonder of wonders - Pumbedita is none other than Falluja, or Fallujah, if you prefer. ( The final "h" in Arabic words is usually just an orthographic device to portray the Arabic " t'a marbuta " and is not really an "h" at all, it disappears in the plural of words, becoming a "t" or t'a.)
All this time, and I do not recall hearing once about that connection. I suppose it is not very interesting to most people.
Having said this, I hear that Pope Benedict XVI has reversed the excommunication of four episcopal members of the Society of St. Pius X, one of whom, Bishop Williamson, is a Holocaust denier. Jewish history is full of wonders and signs, and it is full of horrors and terrors, and it is full of the crockery of everyday life.
The Holocaust was a horror and a wonder. However, the Holocaust does not define in any discernible way the meaning of Jewishness. The Holocaust comes not before Moses, not before Mt. Sinai, although there are those who would like you to believe so.
There are those that would wish that an entire new era and time of Judaism begins with the Holocaust, and the Holocaust is the mark of the new age of a new Jewishness. I do not so believe. I vividly recall my shock at discovering that Holocaust denial was a crime in certain countries. I vividly recall my disbelief at hearing that a man was actually in jail in Austria for this crime of belief, this crime of knowledge, this outrageous crime against what all good people know.
How fitting that the tools of the Spanish Inquisition be used against unbelief: throw them into dungeons just as the Medieval Jews were thrown ! At that moment, my entire life underwent a great change of perspective. I began to put aside more of the blinders with which I had been afflicted by those in power.
(And speaking of blinders, I have no sympathy for the Society of Pius X. Nor Pius IX, for that matter. Prison Guards of the mind.)
A Theme Gone Awry
My theme was like this:
The Poor and all their Hustlings and Machinations and Skulduggery spent trying to outwit, fool, and scam the Man, the Rich, the Banks, etc., is symbolized by Brer Rabbit;
The Government, seemingly educated and erudite, yet basically a scoundrel, is symbolized by Brer Fox;
The Big Banks, stupid, slow, and brainless - always being tricked into bad deals by the Poor (i.e., Brer Rabbit ), and being lectured to and whupped by the Government is Brer Bear.
The problem is that all the TARP money that Brer Fox has given to Brer Bear has been used to enrich Brer Bear and his fellow Bears, and precious little has been used for its intended goal. In this, Treasury Secretary Paulson - like Alan Greenspan before him - had "faith" in the goodness and wisdom of Wall Street and Big Banks.
Mythic Landscapes: Uqbar Roads Less Travelled
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Hidden Face Of Evil
From the BBC:
Israel 'must sack' military rabbi
A human rights group in Israel has called for the military's chief rabbi to be dismissed for alleged incitement against Palestinians. The group, Yesh Din, said Rabbi Avichai Rontzki distributed a booklet to troops in the Gaza offensive, which advised them they were fighting "murderers". The booklet, citing an ultra-nationalist rabbi, told soldiers to show no mercy to a "cruel enemy". The Israeli military has not yet commented on the issue. Yesh Din, which says it is dedicated to defending human rights in the Occupied Territories, called on Defence Minister Ehud Barak to dismiss the rabbi. It said the booklet's contents could be "interpreted as a call to act outside the confines of international laws of war".
We must be aware that our unquestioning support of Israel involves support of this evil. We no longer have time to pretend otherwise. How intertwined are we in good and evil? There are investigations over the use of phosphorous shells by Israel, a substance that leaves horrible burns and wounds. The USA used such weapons in Iraq, specifically in Falluja. At first, the USA denied it. Later, it was admitted to be true. There is a certain amount of truth in the adage "Birds of a feather..."
Therefore, it is very important that you choose your friends wisely, and that each of you insist that the other be as righteous as possible.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Night Of Ashura: Laylat Ashurah
An Inquiry Into Crimes Of The Previous Administration
No Country For Old Men
...The other thing is the old people, and I keep comin back to them. They look at me like its always a question...You see em and they dont even look confused. They just look crazy. That bothers me. Its like they woke up and they dont know how they got where they're at. Well, in a manner of speakin they dont...
I see Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men as an allegory for the present; quite truly our world has become no country for old men, nor women, nor children either.
The story is set in the 1980's, and the early days of the drug wars are used to create the Inferno where every man's hand is raised against another, and the rules of society and religion has broken down. The lure of money leads men to the desert, and ultimately to their destruction. Once we have crossed into the desert, we find it is inhabited by killers and men of violence who hold life cheap.
The good man who has crossed into the desert becomes the prey of killers, and to survive must become a killer himself. He causes the death of his wife; he causes the physical and spiritual death of all whom he has intimately loved, for the transition to the desert destroys the man and his spirit which is tied to all mankind. Groups of killers clash at night. All deaths are certain, for even those killed by mistake are discovered to be corrupted by violent greed. And it will grow to take over countries, as we and Mr. McCarthy know: Colombia and Afghanistan are now both narco-states. We ask: do they feed narco-empires?
How much of the mindlessness that led to our present economic malaise was fed by substance abuse? I know that back in the 80's, cocaine was the drug of choice on Wall Street. (Certainly, rules such as those allowing insane amounts of leverage let one wonder whether the minds behind the rules were clean.) And how much of the money was narco-money being laundered and hidden?
The sheriff of the story foresees violent greed growing like pestilence and taking over the narrative land where he has lived his life. When he meets other law men in the course of their work, they talk and shake their heads over the breakdown of law and order and civility. In the desert, in Gaza, men kill each other, and they kill civilians, too, on both sides. In the desert of the financial system, men kill each other, and they kill dreams and squander lives and resources.
These sins which lay at the very basis of the 21st century must be removed: the stateless Palestinian and the Inequity of Wealth and Well-being. These are the bases of our godless idolatry, these are the affronts which have been committed for 30 years or more - the space of at least one generation. Otherwise, tell the women to get the children off the streets, for it will continue to be no country for old men, nor anyone else.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Montag Investments, LLC
Friday, January 23, 2009
Whose words? This speech was delivered by Anti Zionist Orthodox Jews at the "Emergency Protest to Stop the Massacre in Gaza" rally, Rockefeller Center, New York City, December 27, 2008, 2.00 PM and again at a Protest in London on December 28, 2008. It was originally delivered in Durban, South Africa by Rabbi Y.D. Weiss. It may be found at: http://www.nkusa.org/activities/Speeches/20081227.cfm.
Emergency Protest Demonstration Against the Zionist Massacre in Gaza December 28, 2008
Once again, the Western World was silent while the poor and innocent suffered. At least the Jews stood up for righteousness.
photos: Neturei Karta International
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Apex Of Creation
Catholic America
Anthony Stevens-Arroyo
The Pope Meets Chardin
Pope Benedict's words on July 17, before a crowd of more than 140,000 on a dock in Sydney harbor, provided ratification of the vision of Teilhard de Chardin. Though belated and indirect, the pontiff's testimony showed that the Catholic view of ecology differs from the "stewardship of the earth" approach of many other Christians. I will not try to "out-wikipedia Wikipedia" about Chardin, a Jesuit priest who died in 1955. Suffice it to say that he developed a comprehensive -- almost mystical -- view of the seamless web of life that now frames Catholic theology.
But rather than restrict his vision to the microcosmic, Teilhard simultaneously embraced the macrocosmic. The pope did not cite Chardin's book, The Divine Milieu, in his Sidney discourse to young Catholics, but he did relate the preservation of the planet to the survival of human life in the womb. This is how the pope met Chardin, making defense of all life a Catholic duty. The French Jesuit had filtered his preparation as a paleontologist through his Catholic faith.
Chardin asserted that nature has evolved inexorably towards complexity and consciousness. Rather than set humankind outside of nature as a caretaker or steward of things animal, vegetable and mineral, Chardin considered human being to be the element of creation that had attained consciousness of itself.
Chardin's The Divine Milieu described knowledge of God as the essential purpose of the universe. Chardin attached non-human beings to faith by teleology, a Thomistic concept. Without abandoning the human science that explains natural causes empirically, Teilhard's Catholicism reserved conceptual space for faith. Harmony in the cooperative existence of all created things, he emphasized, constitutes the ultimate direction of all life, its Final Cause.
When in his Sydney address, Pope Benedict called humankind the "apex of God's creation," he repeated the Teilhardian view. I suspect that the intellectual correspondence between the Jesuit and the pontiff is much closer than has been recognized until now.
In any case, I believe it sets a new concern of Catholic theology. To understand the difference between this Catholic view of ecology and the more pedestrian "steward of nature" used in many Protestant circles, consider this analogy:T
The steward stands beside a tomato plant and waters it to maturity. If something happens to the tomato bush, the steward simply plants another one. In each operation, he/she stands outside of nature and its product. For Chardin and the pope, however, the comparison is with a person who lives in a house he/she has built, high in the upper branches of a huge and growing tree. If the tree is destroyed, the person and where he/she lives also comes crashing down.
While both models are laudable, the urgency of caring for nature is much higher in the example of the tree-house than in the one about the tomato plant. Such is the distance between this vision of Pope Benedict and a stewardship model... ----------
Huzzah for de Chardin! Huzzah for the Pontiff! Another round of Mazels over here, waiter, if you please!
Pastor Warren's Invocation
That is spot on.
So, a cable TV aid-to-understanding person wondered whether Pastor Warren's invocation would be something to appeal to all, and not emphasize his own Jesus based beliefs.
Of course, the Pastor did mention Jesus by name, even though he had mentioned all the other major denominations, so they concluded that Pastor Warren remained true to his evangelical base. A nice way of politicizing an un-political event, a prayer.
Furthermore, it completely eluded this serviteur that early on Pastor Warren mentioned the religious belief in the One God.... Compassionate and Merciful. Anyone who is anyone around here in Uqbar knows that the Compassionate and the Merciful are the translation for "ar-rahmaan ar-raheem" as it occurs in the Quran. It is a standard formula and there is no missing where it comes from...unless you are a serviteur on cable TV in the USA, that is.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
January 20 2009: Fireworks Summer
Monday, January 19, 2009
Google Earth Screen Capture
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Obama's Whistle Stop Ride And His Critics
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The Christmas Conspiracy
By the end of the second week, these robust air engorged holiday fancies had littered the landscape, deflated, forlorn, strewn about in contortions no inflatable had ever been designed for. So, who was KILLING the inflatables?
Her immediate neighbors were no help, for they themselves had a display of inflatable reindeer and Santa which they inflated manually - or orally - or without the aid of air compressor! As a consequence, they were usually out of it, or out of breath, until New Year's. She broached the subject to her husband, my father, but his "Hmmm..." , no matter how sincerely mystified he could mutter it, was no water to her thirst for the truth. So my mother, who, by the way, is an avid reader of mystery novels, put on her Miss Marple persona and set out to find the culprit. She had already interrogated a number of local worthies. The butcher, the baker, the banker. The banker, a decidedly oleaginous character, actually had the effrontery to tell her that all was right, do not worry, things could not be better in the world of exterior holiday foo-fra. "My dear lady, these inflatable symbols of the season are designed to deflate upon the rising of the sun!"
Given the high price of compressed air, he said, at sunset there is a chip within the inflatables which " IN-spires them" and turns on their higher faculties; that is, to say, the strings of lights...which gladdens our hearts! And when rosy-fingered dawn stretches into the sky, this same MASTER chip bids its faithful servants to deflate...oh, deflate, breathe out, gentle rolly-pollies! ( whisper) lights out. sleep. rest....
Rolly-pollies?! I was not present to register my mother's undoubted disdain for this monstrous nonsense. She has been around. She is on the Beulah Land side of 80 years and does the Sunday Times crossword every week. She knows that when a person reaches the age of about 75 or so, every bank, utility, and drug company initiate a program of mistakes and flubs, backed up with maddeningly evasive automated telephone systems, expressly designed to scam, trick, deceive, and exasperate those old numbers who have been their customers for a half century or more. She immediately smelled a rat. An allegorical rat, that is. Not a real rodent. Why was the banker not telling the truth?
To set things in their proper time frame, I drove into town when the price of gas was $2.19 per gallon. I saw a few inflatables taking a break, recumbent on patchy lawns. I had already caught sight of inflatables in distress by my house. I had merely thought a good citizen had taken it upon himself to do us all a service and go about clobbering the Snow Goons littering the front yards.
This was all before I had learned that the Rev. Franklin Graham was going to have an inflatable of his father made. I began to take inflatables seriously. So my father and I drove about on our errands, keeping our eyes peeled for clues. We went to the Super K for cat food. My Mother had written "Seafood Medley" on a piece of paper. She had written that it was on sale at $8.49 per 18 lb. bag. Of course, this was a test. With the amount of detail she had supplied us, one would actually have thought that once we reached Super K, there would actually be a cat food department with some 18 lb. bags of "Seafood Medley" for sale.
It was a test. If we were going to be her assistants, she had to test our acumen. Of course, there was no Seafood Medley. There was something called Oceans O' Heaven. Working quickly, I decided that if indeed the apple did not fall far from the tree, and, running the video backwards, the tree did not grow far from where the apple fell, then she probably just made up the name Seafood Medley, wrote it down as if it were gospel, affirmed its existence four or five times, and sent us out. That's what I do; something, something, fish...something, something, various and several...ah! Seafood Medley, and all that it really says is " tuna". We returned home.
We saw a scene of a crime. It was a Pere Noel Desouffle. I hastily averted my gaze; too late; I had seen the hideously detumescent face of Claus! We returned home to make plans. The price of gas was $ 2.45 per gallon. We drove slowly on the way to dinner. We drove on roads where but a week ago a happy population of balloon buffoons bobbed and lived their brief existence. All gone. All killed. Yes, my mother had finally mentioned the unmentionable: the inflatables were the victims of conspiracy. (Since we have never looked at inflatables so seriously before, we found it difficult to tell the difference between an inflatable and a rigid, yet transparent, decoration. We devised a nomenclature: inflatables were "blimps" and the other rigid thingeys were "dirigibles".)
We drove through the gore. Well, since the inflatables' life blood, as it were, is actually air, the "gore" was pretty much invisible, and you had to use your imagination a good bit to see it. Had some disgruntled competitor in the annual Christmas Decoration contest taken an ice pick and Trotsky-ized all his neighbors' inflatables? And, mentioning Trotsky, had the order perhaps come down from somewhere higher up? From some malevolent Stalin of the Inflatables? There is much more sleuthing to be done.
If my younger brother had not been in jail, he would have been a prime suspect. He had once hatched the brainy scheme to attach the inflatables to the ground with stronger wire and fill them with HYDROGEN gas! He was in what the family refers to euphemistically as his Lakehurst, New Jersey phase and thought that the Inflatables hovering just above the ground would add an amusing and idolatrous touch to the proceedings. Of course, you know what happened next. An entire city block of Inflatables exploded one night, lighting up the sky for miles and rendering Port Desespoir visible to the Mir space station. The local paper ran a headline the next day " Oh, the humanity...!"
Friday, January 16, 2009
The Cause Of The Sub Prime Mess
Credit & Blame: A Game For All Ages
Goodbye, Bush White House!
Karl Rove ... Flounder , the nerd, whom everyone makes fun of when he lurches by, pushing his specks back up his oily nose with his thumb
Paul Wolfowitz ... Dean of booty patrol
John Yoo ... Niedermeyer
Dick Cheney ... Captain Harris ( from Police Academy! How did he get here?)
Rush Limbaugh ... Mean Dude in parking lot. complete the list as you will...
Something Evil This Way Comes...: Grendel's Mother
In World War 4 Report :
Neo-Nazis Prepare Pogroms Ten Years After Revolution
by Gwendolyn Albert, World War 4 Report
This is a story about a political party that has a focus of the "inadaptable" Roma, or Gypsies, and their malign effect on Czech society
...This past fall, the Czech authorities were caught completely off guard by the activities of a small extreme-right political party, active since 2003 and calling itself the Workers' Party (Delnicka Strana—DS). In recent Senate elections, the party garnered 29 000 votes—not enough to bring them anywhere near parliament, but the most support they had ever received and a number they are fond of quoting. The DS announced that it had received a "plea for help" from what it called the "decent citizens" of Litvinov, a town in North Bohemia not far from the German border, and that the party would therefore be "patrolling" the Janov housing estate in the town due to complaints about the behavior of "inadaptable citizens" there... After announcing their intention to "patrol" on the web, the DS members came to the housing estate dressed in uniforms of their own design. The event marked a turning point in Czech-Roma relations. The usual response of Roma communities throughout the Czech Republic, when faced with organized right-wing aggression of the sort that has resulted in murder and violence against them and other minorities ever since 1989, is to disappear indoors, if not to flee the country altogether. In Litvinov, however, the local Roma turned out with makeshift weapons and made it very clear that they would not submit to being "patrolled."...
Talk about the roots of racism or the causes of social unrest all you will, by now we should be growing aware that Fascism of the Nazi type is a gift of the 20th century that keeps on giving. We should no longer wonder at the causes, we should end the growth process. Why? Because there is evil sometimes. And particular species of evil grows well in Western society. I do not know why. But I do know this: by the time I divine the causes of Authoritarianism, I shall run the risk of a good probability of being in a concentration camp somewhere. Or dead. Which brings us here to our point: Ann Coulter. No. This is not an Alexander Pope type irony. where I speak of weighty and ponderous things, then switch to the nonce topic of a buffoon. Not at all.
Now I write about the the coming storm of our debased cowardice. It is not enough to elect a man to the Presidency. We must transform ourselves. If we do not, one night we shall find ourselves and others - as numerous as snakes and slithering vermin - getting up from our beds of the past, going to the bathroom, and looking into the mirror of the future as we put on the attire of the Neue Sturmabteilung: the new Brown Shirts. (Most readers will think me quaintly out-of-date with this. Wrong. Evil is never out-of-date. If not Ms. Coulter, then some other that comes after her will be the fuse of discord. )
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Stocks Down; XMT Tanks
Goodbye, Propaganda!
God as Evil?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Palestinian Public Service Messages: #1
Symbols January 14 2009: Enslavement
The Roots Of Hate
The Palestine Chronicle has a good many.
You can see your tax dollars at work. We will probably be innocently wandering in the park one day, when the day of retribution comes and catches us unaware. I wish I had no part in this generation of hate. I wish we could steal away from the monster pantomime of a world that the lovers of war have created over the past 60 years.
Financial Journalism: Bloomberg's
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Grand Unified Theory
Moral Relativism
Symbols January 13 2009: God
http://fatherdaughtertalk.blogspot.com/2009/01/symbols-january-8-2009-god.html I would like to repeat this point: Our experience of the Holy is a faculty rather like our experience of Language. It is inherent in the make-up of human beings. We experience the Holy in a symbolic way, just as we do Music, only the Holy has it own set of processes within individual human consciousness. Our experience of the Holy is direct to God, and independent of any other forms of symbolic consciousness. Just as all men speak, just as all men sing, just as all women use images in their invocation of memory, just as all women dance in structured physical poetry................ so does all mankind cohere with and link to God. It is when one begins to create a mixture of human desires and urges that nonsense results, such as the Joe the Plumber escapade. Language, as wonderful as it is, may result in hate speech. Art may result in pornography. Just so may our pure experience of God result in the Politics of God, the Wars of God, and the Genocides of the Holy! So we allow these gross distortions to pass for religion!
Joe The Plumber East Of Eden
Joe The Plumber is in Israel.
Israel has bombed a clinic for mothers and children after having sent a 15 minute warning to the clinic owners. The clinic was closed. I do not mean to imply that it was targeted during working hours.
Joe The Plumber is a Christian who supports bloodshed and war, apparently. I have mentioned that this is an abomination, and a direct insult in the face of Jesus.
The Palestinian Fish-in-a-Barrel situation, where Palestinians are enslaved in what used to be their own land, and are bombed, shot, and used for target practice by the Israeli Defense Forces is the Original Sin of our age. How long can people look the other way? We have been for 60 years and counting. The present situation we face is a direct result of our lack of morality and ethics. The Economic morass is a direct result of Greed, Immoderation, Lies, and the idea of using War to solve all problems.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Gangsta Green
Art Blogs: Felix Torrez
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Concept Of The Humdrum
Friday, January 09, 2009
Waiting for Guff-Man
When Life Gives You Lemons...
The American Experience: Land Rush Or Land Bubble?
Winter Illness
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Symbols January 8 2009: God
A very presumptuous title, I shall agree with you on that. However, we have to start somewhere with the serious business, so we shall start here, and be outrageous. The meaning of the picture above may become clearer as one reads. Right now, it is merely a mute sign. Human beings are individual entities. They interact with their environment in meaningful ways. Human beings create meaning, they communicate meaning, and they store meaning. They do this by way of symbols. Symbols are the carriers of meaning. Information is a concept of Physical Science; Symbol is a concept of Human Consciousness. Human beings work with meaning in various ways: Language, Music, Imaging, Mathematics, Plastic Arts, Planned and Structured Movements ( such as Dance ), Emotions, etc. There is a Core Set of these conscious behaviors that deal with meaning - Symbolic Behaviors- and the paradigm over the last century or so being Language. Each Symbolic Behavior is ontologically independent of any other; for example, Music comes into existence independent of any Language events.Each Symbolic Behavior is expressively independent of any other; Music needs no Language to exist. You may have a song with lyrics, but the lyrics are non-essentials to Music.
Symbolic behavior we are aware of is conscious symbolic behavior. Symbolic behavior of which we are unaware - the subconscious - is symbolic behavior which is not linked up with conscious behavior. Become familiar with the core set of behaviors you use to work with Meaning.The Imaging we do is one such system: When you cast back to remember your childhood, a good deal of this activity is accomplished with Images. As you know from dreams, the "grammar" of Images is not necessarily the same as the grammar of Language.Nor is the "grammar" of Music anything at all like the grammar of Language. The Conception of the Holy is a symbolic behavior which is one of the basic core set of human symbolic behaviors. In other words, I am saying that your experience of God is essentially on the same basis as your experience of language: it is an inherent potentiality to a new born, and it is part of our life of meaning in the world.Our experience of God is not derived from some other conscious event. I have seen people who gush over a beautiful sunrise, saying "Truly God exists!" This is not a religious statement; it is an emotional statement. The concept of the Holy is not dependent on feeling good, nor is it dependent on beauty. It is an independent human activity dealing with meaning. Experiencing God is similar, then, to experiencing language, music, art. To those who speak of the evil religions have done, look at the words of hatred uttered over history, yet we do not deny Language; listen to the cacophonous musical drivel produced at times, yet we do not banish Music. Nor do we denounce these symbolic behaviors as being inherently pernicious to humanity. Yet we do so with religion. "God" is a symbol. That is, God is a carrier of meaning. In our time, Mankind predominantly thinks in narratives and stories, the structured myths (mythoi) of Language, and Language is pretty much a tyrant of consciousness, relegating the other forms of dealing with meaning to insignificance. Remember this and consider: God is Unity within Diversity: the quest for oneness among the diverse conscious beings that see themselves as individuals. The individuals see their lives as narratives of independent entities. God brings them from the prison of their isolation, and they leap beyond the limits of their skin and intellect, and enter as one in the creation of one Holiness. When you feel alone, you are with many. The many are not those predators and spies and purveyors of celebrity who seek to strip us of our true individuality, but the many are the members of the circle unbroken! And we are joined as true individuals into the circle unbroken, where we gladly surrender our isolation. Yet again, God is the refuge when stories break down. God is the steadfast in chaos. When all things break apart, God endures, for the breaking apart of the structured world is nothing more than the breaking apart of our story world, a world which we have spun from the ancient meanings: from our old symbols and our antique memories. God is independent of the stories. His existence is the greater universe, a house in which our narratives are a small carpet upon a small floor.
The Carpet of Music
pic: alfarabbi
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
More Bush Legacy
Born In Sin, Come On In
Iraq was always, is, and will be an unmitigated disaster. Find yourself a blog written by an Iraqi citizen who has lived through it, such as Baghdad Burning:(http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2003_08_01_riverbendblog_archive.html) , instead of taking the lazy coward's way of listening to Fox News. Follow the blog from hope and euphoria to despair. But we won't, because we do not have the guts to take responsibility for what we destroy. The Iraq War was born in the sin of lies and deception, and will claim even more lives through violence and through diversion of money which could have been spent to improve people's lives.
If President Bush is ever considered to have been correct in his judgements, it will be in the interpretations and arguments of a future age debased and even more corrupt than we; it will be the Starship Troopers future of benevolent and fraternal Nazism.
The Bush Legacy
My father has come around to thinking the Bush Administration has long overstayed its welcome. He was a Bush supporter for a long time. What changed his mind is an article in the National Geographic about the extinction of animal species, and the fact that even the National Geographic finally has to say how little the Bush Administration has done. Indeed, this administration has been an obstacle to progress. But what could one expect from an administration that saw fit to appoint religious hacks to important positions in Space and Science agencies? Science, Space, the Environment, all of these were nothing but fields in which to reap political benefits. We may ignore the fact that by impeding the progress of science, we effectively act against our continued leadership in science, and , by direct causality, our economic well-being. However, he did say that you have to give Bush one thing: there has not been another terrorist attack on American soil since 2001. Of course, I resisted giving Bush this, because the overall logic is fallacious, just like everything about the neoconservative right-wing and their lackeys. Everything is a fallacy. If I were to admit that it is true that Bush is responsible for the lack of further attacks, then I would be essentially giving some sort of validity to a process of "giving credit". This immediately implies an acceptance of the validity of "giving blame". So who is to blame for 9/11? If I give someone credit, I must logically assign blame somewhere also. If I assign blame on a Democrat, I immediately drop my mask of impartiality and am discovered for what I am, a partisan of a political view. Therefore, my observation that credit is due Bush is a rhetorical device, and cannot be held to be a proposition that may be true or false. If I assign blame to Bush, who was the President at the time, every nitwit eager to give Bush credit for the lack of further attacks would immediately disagree with me, and denounce me. Thus, there would be no possibility of agreeing on any of the credit/blame propositions. It is complex. If it is complex to assign blame, giving credit is equally complex. Remember that only a year or so ago, Bush wanted to take credit for the economy! On July 19, 2007, to be quite exact. Look it up. Now the silence of Bush on Gaza will threaten our future, not make it safer. They believed in Power and the Sword; they were defeated by greater Power, ironic reversal of arrogance. But then name one thing that the Bush bunch done to encourage our lives, our fortunes, and our pursuits of happiness?


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Illawarra brewers enjoy breakout success
Being based in the Illawarra or South Coast isn't a problem for winemakers, with people regularly travelling to the region to sample their wares.
But it has been a different story for the region's two breweries - the Illawarra Brewing Company (IBC) in Wollongong and HopDog in Nowra.
While Tim Thomas from HopDog said he sold most of his beer out of the area, the IBC has had to overcome the hurdle of having "Illawarra" in their name.
This is despite brewers Ashur Hall and Shaun Blissett winning gold medals for their beers at the Australian International Beer Awards and Royal Easter Show.
"I got a bit frustrated with it about a year ago, reading blogs and the idea that we were from the Illawarra," Mr Hall said.
"There was one quote from a guy who said, 'I wouldn't bother drinking Illawarra beers, because I know they're bad'.
"This was after we won two gold medals at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. I thought, 'Hang on, mate, we beat beers that you like. so what's going on there?' It was just because of the name.
"But I think we're getting beyond that. In Sydney we've got a pretty good following."
Mr Blissett said that when they started they were lucky to be sending four or five kegs to anywhere other than the Illawarra Brewery. These days, there are at least 20 kegs a week leaving their North Wollongong brewery.
Mr Hall said the local market was growing but there was the need to educate people on a new approach to beer. The Good Beer Dinners that the pair organise - the most recent was at Diggies on Saturday - are part of that.
"There are plenty of people here who want to drink good beer," he said.
"But I think, like the Good Beer Dinners, it's dealing with the misconception of what beer is and what it's associated with - guzzling and not really enjoying it. What we try to do is produce beers that are enjoyed, not made for mass guzzling."
Journalist and beer lover James Smith, who runs the influential Crafty Pint website, said: "Wine's had 20 years to get to where it is now whereas craft beer's very much in its infancy."
But that said, the Melbourne-based Smith definitely knows all about the South Coast's two breweries.
"In their two very different ways they're making a name for themselves in the beer world," he said.
"HopDog, considering how tiny his brewery is, he's done a fantastic job of getting his beer into a number of top beer bars.
"He's always messing about - with barrels and crazy names - and I guess that caught people's attention.
"Illawarra, since the new brew team came in about two years ago, they clearly know what they're doing. They've hit their straps and made some fantastic beers. And I guess picking up trophies certainly helps."
Smith doesn't see the Illawarra name as a problem, claiming that "if you care about beer you want to see it everywhere".
"What is difficult, and Illawarra is helped by having their own bar - is trying to find local venues that are willing to take a chance on you," he said.
"Fighting to get a tap in local venues seems to be tough."
Discuss "Illawarra brewers enjoy breakout success"
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I was nominated for the Silver State Awards XIV "Best Real Estate Agent" for the 2nd year in a row, amongst 3 other very successful agents. This year, in 2016, to my amazement, I won! It is really one of the best feelings to be recognized and honored for your hard work and more importantly for your role in the community. It is truly a blessing to even be nominated but to actually win the award, is a whole other feeling of greatness! I really am grateful every single day that I have a business I created from the bottom up, by working non stop for 10 years, that works! Not only does it work for me, but it works for my clients and it works for the community! Its a win, win and WIN situation for everyone involved!
I always dreamt of being able to create security for myself so that I never have to rely on anyone in this life and through Real Estate I have been able to do this. At the same time, I dreamt of having the ability to make other people happy and through creating a level of success from real estate, I am able to do this. For example, I have the privilege of working with Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada and The Animal Foundation. Through Real Estate, I am blessed with the ability to bless those through these foundations and help make a positive difference in their lives. Other than being recognized for your hard work and efforts, having the ability to give to others something they need and make them truly happy, makes me happy every single day! It is a natural high for me! I love it! I love my clients/friends/family! I love this business and I am forever grateful for all the great people in my life who make all this possible, every single day!
By doing the right thing, every single day and every second of the day. By putting out the right energy in this world. Miracles happen all the time! Success is truly being the BEST person you can be in this world and surrounded by all the right people! Having a purpose greater than just yourself. I am honored and humbled. Thank YOU! #ChangingPerceptionsofWhatisPossible
Silver State Awards XIV


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I am a huge fan of daily meditations to help calm, relax and balance me. I prefer guided meditations to the silent meditations and have quite a large library of them now.
Some of my absolute favourites are by Collin Rosati, Director of Hypnosis Vancouver. He has the loveliest, calmest voice of any hypnotist I have ever heard, and never fails to relax me.
If you sign up for his newsletter at http://hypnosisvancouver.com you will receive a new one for FREE each month. The one I have just received in my email is called Romantic Magic – Wishing on a Star, and really is as beautiful as it sounds. I am feeling so blissed out right now 😀
P.S. I just discovered that Collin 'Sonny' Rosati has an associated website, with a blog, where you can listen and download some free meditations direct from the site here, without the need to enter your details, although I'm sure you will want his newsletter and more audios after hearing him. Happy listening 😀
Related articles
- Make your own Wishing Stars (momeefriendsli.wordpress.com)
- Should I push myself to meditate for a long time? (rootsbranchesmedicine.wordpress.com)


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Crochet Cable Wave Stitch
Try this cozy square with your new blanket, pillow or like a decor motif on the extra stuff. Feel free to use any type of yarn (or even thread) for your project. Consider which color to choose. Enjoy! For more details please visit : mypicot
My Favourite Flower Pattern
This is my favourite because I can make it any size I want using larger or smaller hooks and just keep adding on a back round for the amount of layers you want. People ask me for an easy crochet pattern for dummies! This is it! Honestly! For more details please visit : My Favourite Flower
Crochet Flowers Border
So, you just finished your crochet project and want to give it a finished look? Crochet borders will surely help you with this! Follow easy tutorials that will clearly explain each and every step you need to make. For more details please visit : Crochet Flowers Border
Peacock Stitch 3D Crochet Scarf
Today we are going to teach how To crochet peacock feathers scarf in 3D point. I think this scarf is just perfect, it's so elegant, so extraordinary and so easy to make that it's almost impossible not to love it. Without any other discussions let's learn how to crochet this adorable scarf. For more details
Really Easy Crochet Cluster Blanket
The crochet cluster stitch is made by working a group of incomplete stitches into the same stitch, or by working the incomplete stitches into several stitches on the same row. This beautiful stitch looks so great and gives a lovely, textured look for blankets and other projects. For more details please visit : Really Easy Crochet
Crochet The Diamond Stitch
The Diamond Stitch is quite an easy stitch to learn and follow and takes only a minimum amount of practice to master. It's a textured sticth this makes it perfect for bags , scarves or blankets, try it on a potholder too, will be a succes. For more details please visit : Crochet The Diamond Stitch
Easy Crochet Baby Ballet Slippers
These ballet slippers are thick enough to keep your baby's feet warm and safe when walking around the house, yet thin enough to allow the little one to move his little fingers freely. For more details please visit : Easy Crochet Baby Ballet Slippers
Two-Color Double-Sided Pattern
This simple two-color double-sided design is perfect for knitting warm blankets, as well as men's, women's and children's jackets and coats. For more details please visit : Two-Color Double-Sided Pattern
Crochet Wave Fan Edging
If you are looking for a special way for edging of the blanket – this is for you. All you need is bit time to watch the movie and focus on the tutorial. Wave Fan border will most attractive as an edging. For more details please visit : Crochet Wave Fan Edging
Crochet Simple Long Beanie
The overall look of this hat is soft, relaxed, casual and comfy… It is a long beanie but could be easily adjusted for those who prefer less slouch, just take away rounds. The time to complete this beanie will depend on your level expertise. You should be able to complete within 3-4 hours. For more


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Intermezzo Girls - You can check out the pronunciation guide for Koudjay here
Go to concert works from the menu at the bottom. Once the page loads, there is a button that says, click here for sample scores, text, translations and practice tracks. Hit that button and then scroll to about the middle of the page to find the pronunciation track for Koudjay.


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Qualitel implements reliable sustaining methods using a modern and powerful material requirements planning (MRP) system to manage materials and control inventory for our customers. We also implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) and MRP programs with all of our major vendors, so our standard parts consistently meet weekly demands – on-time, every time. All inventory is protected internally with restricted access to caged storage, and from external threats by advanced building security.
Qualitel can manage your inventory in order to reduce any and all excess component costs. This will free both time and storage on your end, which dramatically improves your ability to focus on your business.
Our modern tool notifies the Qualitel team right away if any parts are obsolesced, meaning they are no longer being manufactured even though they are still available in distribution. We can manage all last-time buys to meet your needs, even when they change, and we'll ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
Get in touch with Qualitel today to learn how you can take advantage of our inventory and obsolescence management services, and start focusing on what you do best!


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A future-looking report hits the resilience scene in August that underscores why preparing our communities for disruptions and disasters has become more important than ever, and how much resilience planning may save us in money, human effort, and lives disrupted or lost.
Packed with facts and figures, the "Global Assessment Report 2013" makes a great case for taking some of the trillions of dollars businesses are and will be investing in "hazard-exposed regions" around the world, and dedicating them to resilience. With hundreds of billions of dollars in direct disaster losses already recorded since 1981, resilience should be seen less as much a cost , states the report, and more as an opportunity to gain competitive advantage, ensure long-term business sustainability, and drive government spending on disaster risk reduction.
This year's GAR release includes a fantastic stand-alone app for iPad, GAR for Tangible Earth (GfT). The free app enables users to explore and create different risk scenarios, compare water, weather, geological, and human activity data sets, and explore "good practices" in resilience.
The most amazing thing about the already-impressive GfT is that via the Tangible Earth platform, environmental data are updated hourly, including "near-real time weather…climate variations and "global warming" indicators, geological data such as earthquake and tsunami updates," and even biosphere data such as animal migrations, air pollution circulation, and urbanization. These bring the app's disaster scenarios and resilience contingencies out of the academy and into the real world, even at tablet scale.


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Join 8,500 technologists, regulators and users across commercial and defense sectors for AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2019, the largest, most comprehensive trade show for unmanned and autonomous systems. As adoption spreads and applications expand, XPONENTIAL is the one event that brings together the entire unmanned systems community to share ideas, collaborate across markets, capitalize on best practices and emerging trends and harness the power of unmanned technology for your business.
Connect the dots on cross-industry opportunities:
Check out all of the show features designed to shape your XPONENTIAL experience:
Gradient presents the Tethered Uni-Rotor Network (TURN) UAS. This novel concept system offers vastly extended flight endurance with VTOL/hover capabilities, by incorporating the best features of both gliders and helicopters. Offering small-scale electric, developing mid-scale combustion engine, and researching large-scale eternal flight vehicles.


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Carlsberg Brewhouse, Copenhagen
- Location
- Copenhagen
- Sector
- Heritage & Historic
- Services
- Buildings, Façade Engineering
- Architect
- Wilkinson Eyre
The project involved a renovation and refurbishment of the existing 1900's Carlsberg Brewhouse in Copenhagen. The Brewhouse is one of 25 national Danish industrial heritage sites, and has a very pronounced position in the layout of the new master planning of the area. It is situated in between the two famous and significant landmarks of Copenhagen, the Elephant Gate and the Dipylon.
The refurbishment also involved a new rooftop extension above the existing building. The intention was to create a restaurant and bar space that provides connections with the city by reinstating the view of the city via the use of large openings within 'volumes/boxes' of the new extension. It will also be enhanced by day and night lighting creating dynamic visual experience of the space through changes of lights and shadows.


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Vehicles sorted from highest to lowest price
Sedans For Sale Under $5000
Inventory Page 187 of 408
1 Photo
Runs good, new tune up, fuel pump and tires. Only 123,000 miles
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Selling this wonderful Mercury Sable with leather cream Cadillac interior, Cadillac...
4 Photos
4-door sedan VW Jetta '01 for $2,200 by owner in Jacksonville, FL 32207. Car gets Amazing gas...
2 Photos
97 honda civic ex Passed smog Tags up to date Lowwering springs New tires
5 Photos
Dodge Stratus SE '00 by owner for $2K in Great Bend, KS 67530. 2.4L DOHC engine,...
4 Photos
Malibu v4 171*** miles Ac blows cold Car runs and drives Needs a tune up and some tlc Its...
6 Photos
It is in great conditions. To try ot os to buy it. Only two owners.
1 Photo
For sale by owner great first car, start over car!!! Chevy Lumina "Euro Edition" 3.1 Liter...
2 Photos
I want to trade this nissan for a good running,dependable truck. I drive this car everyday to...
- 1-Owner Vehicle
2 Photos
I'm selling my 1997 Toyota Camry XLE with only 116k miles, automatic door-window-seat,...
4 Photos
Great car, just needs a little TLC. Has AC and HEAT. No radio and daily driver.
4 Photos
One owner, regular maintenance records available, runs great, 193 k miles, new tires, new...


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Former Student Performs on the West End
Posted on 5th January 2017
It's always good to hear what our ex students are getting up to and you may have seen our next alumnus on the TV over the Christmas period.
Greg Tannahill studied with us from 2003-2005 taking A Levels in Communication Studies, Drama & Theatre Studies and Theology. Whilst here, he took part in one of the College's most memorable theatrical productions, Cabaret, playing the part of Ernst Ludwig.
Greg joined the Year Out Drama course, based in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2008 and then trained for three years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
Since then, Greg's acting career has flourished. He was part of the original cast of Mischief Theatre's The Play That Goes Wrong, an award winning West End comedy. An excerpt from the play featured on the Royal Variety Performance in 2015 which also featured cameos from Kylie Minogue, Josh Groban and Jack Whitehall.
So where might you have seen Greg over Christmas? Mischief Theatre's second play Peter Pan Goes Wrong, featured on BBC1 on New Year's Eve. If you missed it, you can catch it on the BBC iPlayer until 31st January.
Greg is now playing in Mischief Theatre's third, award nominated, farce, The Comedy About a Bank Robbery, at the Criterion Theatre. Catch it if you can.
Congratulations, Greg.


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Comic Reviews- Week of 1/28- Steve
There may be spoilers, so read with caution.
Click on the image above each review
for information about purchasing it
Aquaman 16- Writer- Geoff Johns, Artist- Paul Pellerier
Good. The Atlaneans are under the impression that the "surface-dwellers" attacked them so they are ready to kill everyone who breathes air and have already started their assault on Boston, a coastal city. The thing with Vulko, Aquaman's former advisor was unexpected, but where the hell did he just pull the scepter from? I'm afraid to even use my imagination….oh wait, I just did. It wasn't pretty. Once Aquaman left to join the Justice League, Vulko was S.O.L and banished. I like the idea of the story. The crisscrossing between two or more books is the old way of doing things, but how do they expect to wrap it all up? Either Aquaman kills his brother or his brother goes "you mean, the air-breathing surface dwellers didn't attack us? It was just a big misunderstanding? Boy is my face red." We'll see. Other than that, I like it. Good art. I think the story can be moving a little faster too at this point. Hopefully it gets wrapped up in the next issue of JL. They should crisscross it with a title that has absolutely nothing to do with the story; like He-Man.
Okay, calm down, that was just a little jokie-poo.
Batman: The Dark Knight 16- Writer- Gregg Hurwitz, Artist- Ethan Van Shiver
Good. Batman is trying to track down who's dealing in arms (guns, not their actual, ah, nevermind). The Mad Hatter, has, well, has always been mad. And not mad, like angry. Mad like insane, so I like how they drew him wall-eyed (each eye facing different directions). It just amps up the crazy and the dialogue is used well here. Good back and forth between Batman and the Penquin. It's not overly technical or filled with exposition. Hurwitz is one of those writers that needs to find the right fit as he has not done well with other titles in the past. This type of story could work well in Detective Comics.
Art is good too.
Detective Comics 16 - Writer- John Layman, Artist- Jason Fabok
Very Good. I know this is a few weeks old, but I don't believe it was discussed. I liked the whole idea of the Joker being gone and that causing the people who worshiped him to finally crack and start their own cults. They begin carrying out Joker-like deeds and punishing those who appear to be against the Joker. Art was good too. Layman, for the most part, knows how to tell a story well.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 6- Writer- Keith Giffen, Artist- Pop Mhan
Very Good. I wasn't there, but I would bet money that the boys reviewed this on the show. Pete contacted me and made me read it right after he did and waited for my reaction. Orko, it appears at one point in time double-crossed He-Man. To think he was written this way threw us all for a loop. Plus, who is Skeletor talking to at the end of the book? Red robe.
Fun fact: Orko's original name was Gorko. During the animation process, they needed to flip the image and having a "G"on the character's shirt would not have worked because it's not a symmetrical letter, however "O" is, so he became Orko. Originally Pete was named Reter, same reason! However, on his birth certificate it was written down as Peter, so they left it.
Masters of the Universe: Origin of He-Man 1- Writer- Joshua Hale Fialkov, Artist- Ben Oliver Good The back and forth between the past and present confused me at first (I'm easily confusable) and I had to read it a second time to understand what they were trying to do. Really cool artwork though.
Superior Spider-Man 2- Writer- Dan Slott, Artist- Artist- Ryan Stegman
Not good Why? The artwork is good and everyone is being treated true to character, however the consciousness/ghost of Peter Parker is commenting on every decision and move Octavius makes and it's going to get very, very unreadable if it lasts even two more issues. We get it, Peter doesn't approve. And it looks like Carlie is going to figure it all out very, very soon. So what's the plan? She figures out how to switch it back? Or Dock Ock is tired of being Spider-Man and switches it back himself? A seance? No, I know; someone actually kills Superior Spider-Man and once Doc Ock's soul, shall be say starts to die, Petey comes back. LAME.
I think it would be much more interesting if someone that knew Doc Ock very well, makes the connection before MJ or Carlie or Aunt May. Imagine Sandman coming across Spidey as he is now and hears the way he suddenly talks. Even though his voice is Peter Parker's, his voice patterns, phraseology and general choice of words belongs to Otto.
And one more thing, Doc Ock is a man of science and it makes sense that he's trying to come up with a mathematical answer as to how to bed MJ, but he's been in relationships before hasn't he? They make him out to be a robot....or Sheldon.


text: STYLE See This: BCBG's 25th Anniversary Exhibit 5:11 PM PDT 4/29/2014 by Stephanie Chan FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Courtesy of BCBG Sad that DVF's dress exhibit is leaving town? Fret not. There's a new retrospective on the block, opening May 3. And here's what to expect there. With Diane von Furstenberg's "Journey of a Dress" exhibit scheduled to close on May 1, L.A.'s fashionphiles will soon be in need of a style fix that comes with an academic slant. And on May 3, they'll get one when BCBG unveils its own retrospective exhibit featuring 25 years of contemporary design. STORY: Max Azria Throws Out First Pitch at Dodgers Game Founded by French fashion designer Max Azria, the L.A.-based fashion label (that, in full disclosure, is owned by THR's parent company) will toast its collections over the years with a retrospective exhibit called the "Living the Bon Chic Life" commemorating the company's history, the studio's design process and its ad campaigns over the years, as well as a "Red Carpet Hall" that will look back at designs worn by the likes of Beyonce, Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry and Alicia Keys, to name a few. "We could not be more excited to be celebrating this amazing landmark in BCBGMAXAZRIA history. Nothing starts without a dream and 25 years ago, Max had one vision: 'to create a beautiful dress,'" Lubov Azria, Max's other half and chief creative office of BCBG Max Azria Group, tells Pret-a-Reporter. "The 'Living the Bon Chic Life' retrospective is our way of not only reflecting upon the many milestones that have brought us to this point, but sharing this celebratory moment in BCBG history with our incredible team, partners and customers, who have made it all possible." PHOTOS: New York Fashion Week's Front Row Lucky for fans, the exhibit is opened to the public at the BCBG HQ (2761 Fruitland Ave., Vernon, 90058) on May 3, 4 and 10 from 12 to 5 p.m. Another bonus for guests? Visitors who attend the exhibit will also be able to shop a special-edition pop-up, where archival runway pieces will be sold for 70 percent off its original retail price. And if you can't make it, you can still get in on the retail action starting on April 30 here. Now doesn't that sound bon chic? FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Stephanie Chan firstname.lastname@example.com stephmchan


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Factual error: In the Japanese prison camp, the Japanese flag shown is the post war flag consisting only of a red circle. (01:08:05)Kaltenmeyer
Factual error: The plane that returns some of the troops to the USA in the last scene is displaying the registration VH-HID - this is a current Australian aviation registration number, not a US plane. (02:09:05)
Factual error: When the American prisoners are allowed by the Japanese to finally bathe in a local river, a B-29 flies over, but it has Army Air Force insignia under both wings. To be correct, the insignia should only appear on the upper left, and the lower right wing. (02:05:25)
Factual error: Early in the movie, a young Louis Zamperini throws a roll of bills into a wooden box. The outer bill is a $5 with a HAWAII overprint. This bill was issued in June 1942; this is several months after Louis enlisted in the Army Air Corps in September 1941. (00:10:05)
Factual error: In the opening scene, two individuals display patches for the 13th Air Force on the left shoulder of their jackets. Zamperini and his crew were part of the 7th Air Force.
Continuity mistake: In long shot where Lou is holding a railroad tie over his head it is turned long edge pointed up, then when the shot returns to a close up it is flat.
Factual error: At the end of the movie, when Louis Zamperini returns home from captivity by the Japanese, the plane he emerges from has the early World War II American insignia with the red "meatball" dot in the center of the white star. This was quickly removed when the Japanese entered the war, because the red dot could easily be confused with the "rising sun" emblem on Japanese aircraft. By the time Zamperini was released (1945), the American star had no red dot. (02:09:05)
Other mistake: When the airmen are in the life rafts for 45 days, how are 2 of them virtually clean shaven?Pie Man


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Feastday: September 27
Patron of charitable societies
St Michaels branch of St Vincent de Paul's
Mission Statement:
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a Christian voluntary organisation, working with poor and disadvantaged people.
Inspired by our principal founder, Frederic Ozanam, and our patron, St. Vincent de Paul, we seek to respond to the call every Christian receives to bring the love of Christ to those in need.
We are involved in a diverse range of activities:
At the moment SVdP consists of about 10 voluntary members.
If you are able too, please Make a Donation to our St Vincent de Paul Society at St Michaels.
Add us as a beneficiary in your will and testament. Leave a legacy…..
We NEED estate and cash donations urgently, financials are available for any willing donor.
Support and friendship
Through person to person contact, we are committed to respecting the dignity of those we assist and to foster their self-respect. In the provision of material and other support, we assure confidentiality at all times and endeavour to establish relationships based on trust and friendship.
Promoting self-sufficiency
We believe it is not enough to provide only short term material support.
Those we assist must also be helped to achieve self-sufficiency in the longer term and the sense of self-worth this provides.
When the problems we encounter are beyond our competence, we enlist the support of others more specialised.
Any amount will be used to assist the needy.
Bank:________________ STANDARD BANK ; RONDEBOSCH ; CAPE TOWN
Account Name:________ St. Vincent de Paul Society St Michaels Conference.
Account Number:______ CHEQUE ACCOUNT 071 488 944
Sort Code:___________ 02 50 09
"Visitation", is the Principal Work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
Even the first Christmas family "needed a little help", please help us to help others desperately in need.


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Hire for Talent, Not Fit
According to the Worldcom Confidence Index report, 43% more leaders are making employees their primary audience in 2018. What's causing this profound shift? Numerous employers across the globe are having a difficult time retaining talented employees.
A common strategy many employers follow is to hire candidates who seem "like us" or who "fit our culture." However, this philosophy does not necessarily ensure that employees will stay with the organization – or that they are the most talented option. While it is essential that all employees have a shared commitment to certain core values, hiring candidates based on this strategy may actually cause issues for the company in the long run.
Worldcom partner Corporate Ink, explains several beneficial outcomes to hiring for talent over fit:
1) Fostering Disagreement in Meetings
Not quite sure how this is a benefit to your company? While disagreement can create tension in the moment, it oftentimes leads to better ideas. Without a diverse range of input and perspectives, brainstorming can easily fall into cycles of groupthink.
2) Facilitating Growth in Employees
Learning to productively communicate with others, even when their opinions may clash with our own, ultimately strengthens employees' ability to work together. Exposure to alternative opinions forces us to think differently, eventually pushing employees towards growth.
3) Improving Market Reach
We know that our clients' markets are diverse and oftentimes very different from our own cultures. When a company hires employees with diverse backgrounds and experiences, new perspectives can be considered that may be helpful to improving our reach to client markets.
If you're still not sure that hiring for talent instead of fit is the best strategy for your agency, read about the experiences that led Corporate ink to adopt this philosophy.
Corporate Ink is an integrated B2B, PR and content marketing agency located in Boston. Their team of professionals work with clients to build brands, generate demand and we accelerate growth. With clients in industries including supply chain management, industrial and manufacturing, healthcare, marketing and travel technology, Corporate Ink has over 25 years of trusted expertise.


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It was nearly quitting time a few days after Christmas when the door knocker at Santa's Workshop began sounding. As he was the nearest of the elves, Godwin walked to the front of the factory, hopped up on a little stool and then on to the stepladder by the door. When he reached the top rung, he swung open the peep hole and saw the snow blowing fiercely outside. He was used to that – but what surprised him were all the tanks and other vehicles and the large assembly of men and soldiers who were outside the door.
"May I help you,?" Godwin asked.
A man held up a badge which said, 'Federal Bureaucracy of Interrogation. Godwin had never seen one of these before.
"We're here to see one S. Claus," the man said.
"Just a minute, sir," Godwin said. And he closed the peep hole and quickly scrambled down the ladder.
When he got to the bottom he turned to face the workshop, put his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Santa. We have visitors."
Santa was in his office. He had just finished setting up the "Naughty and Nice" book for the next season. He grabbed the book and put it on the shelf space which had been reserved for it, next to all the other ones that he had inscribed in years past. He pulled back from the desk, walked through the workshop and went to the front door.
When he opened the door the agent at the front of the entourage without greeting barged through the door and shoved his badge in Santa's face.
"Special agent N. Quisitor. Are you S. Claus?"
Santa, a little startled at the man's rudeness replied, "I'm Santa Claus. May I help you?"
"Please, gentlemen. Come in from the cold." And the group waiting outside the door came into the warm workshop, stomping the snow from their boots.
"We're here because there are some serious problems which have been raised by your operation. In fact calling them problems is an understatement. I have a list of violations, an extensive list for which you must answer."
"Violations of what,?" Santa asked.
"Federal regulations," Special Agent N. Quisitor replied.
"I can't imagine anything that we've done anything wrong, " Santa replied. "What exactly are these violations?"
"Well, to start with, we have no record of your filing any tax returns. That means that you are not only in violation of the IRC as a non-filer but you have not paid over the FICA tax you are withholding from your employees' paychecks, nor have you paid your employer's share of that tax. And we have no record of your having paid any unemployment insurance for your employees."
"Well, that's easy to understand. You see, sir we don't pay the elves any salary. They work for the simple joy of it and receive their room and board in return. And we don't make any profit at this business. We do this simply for the joy of being able to provide presents for the children all around the world."
A look of shock came over N. Quisitor's face. He responded, "Well, in addition to your failure to file the appropriate returns you are also in violation of the Federal Minimum Wage law. In fact, you're probably also in violation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which abolished slavery. Your elves are little more than indentured servants."
"Indeed," said Santa. "Nothing could be further from the truth. Feel free to ask any of the elves if they are held against their will. They all share my joy at the work we do and if any of them wanted to leave he is free to do so at any time. But if you speak with them, you'll find they have all been with me for centuries and are happy to be here."
"Then there's the matter of your violating OSHA requirements that you provide ramp accessible access to your facilities for your vertically challenged and otherwise physically handicapped employees. You will admit that your elf employees have a height issue, wouldn't you? I suspect that you haven't properly retrofitted your lavatories to accommodate them either."
N. Quisitor went on. "Then there's the issue that there are only male elves here in your workshop. That is a clear violation of the EEOC requirement that employment be offered irrespective of gender."
"Well, you see," said Santa, "the lady elves are all at home taking care of their children. They are busy rearing them, feeding them and they also are the teachers in Elf School."
"And what is the curriculum in your so-called 'Elf School'? Do you use the Common Core which is now mandatory in all grammar schools?"
"No. We teach the same thing that we have taught for centuries – toy making, Since that's what we do here, that's what the young elves need to learn."
"Well, that's a violation of Article XIII of the 'Universal Mandatory Education Act'. You will be held accountable for this gross deficiency and violation of the law."
"Now, on to the allegation that you have been depositing coal in certain of the stockings which people hang. Is that true?"
"Well, sadly it is true. You see, I would rather that no one get any coal but unfortunately … ," which was as much as Santa could say before Special Agent N. Quisitor cut him off.
"Aha. You realize that you are in violation of EPA regulation 27399 – Section 124 Paragraph 9. "The use of coal or making trade in coal whether anthracite or bituminous is hereby prohibited as it is responsible for pollution and global warming. Are you admitting that you are violating this regulation? Furthermore, I noticed as we came in that there is a herd of reindeer outside your facility. Are those yours?"
"Well of course they are. There's Prancer and Dancer…" N. Quisitor interrupted the jolly old man and said, "You realize that reindeer in their droppings produce methane gas – a further violation of EPA regulations – and are one of the contributing factors to the melting of the polar ice caps. On these EPA charges alone you have a lot of explaining to do. I hope you have a good lawyer."
"Last but not least, it's our understanding that you make your delivery of these toys by hitching the reindeer to your sleigh, flying around the world. However, the FAA has no record of your ever having filed a flight plan with them. Do you realize how you are endangering the public safety by conducting unauthorized flights, potentially compromising the well-ordered routes which licensed airlines fly?"
"Well, you know I've been doing this for decades – in fact long before there were airplanes. And in all that time there's never been an accident – not one."
"Mr. Claus. You've been very lucky – but you, sir are an accident waiting to happen. Get your coat and come with us."
And they took Santa Claus away – in handcuffs. And in their hearts they knew they had done the right thing – making the world safer for bureaucracy.