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United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
August 31, 2016
Eva Waldman, Revital Bauer, individually and as natural guardian of plaintiffs Yehonathon Bauer, Binyamin Bauer, Daniel Bauer and Yehuda Bauer, Shaul Mandelkorn, Nurit Mandelkorn, Oz Joseph Guetta, minor, by his next friend and guardian Varda Guetta, Varda Guetta, individually and as natural guardian of plaintiff Oz Joseph Guetta, Norman Gritz, individually and as personal representative of the Estate of David Gritz, Mark I. Sokolow, individually and as a natural guardian of Plaintiff Jamie A. Sokolow, Rena M. Sokolow, individually and as a natural guardian of plaintiff Jaime A. Sokolow, Jamie A. Sokolow, minor, by her next friends and guardian Mark I. Sokolow and Rena M. Sokolow, Lauren M. Sokolow, Elana R. Sokolow, Shayna Eileen Gould, Ronald Allan Gould, Elise Janet Gould, Jessica Rine, Shmuel Waldman, Henna Novack Waldman, Morris Waldman, Alan J. Bauer, individually and as natural guardian of plaintiffs Yehonathon Bauer, Binyamin Bauer, Daniel Bauer and Yehuda Bauer, Yehonathon Bauer, minor, by his next friend and guardians Dr. Alan J. Bauer and Revital Bauer, Binyamin Bauer, minor, by his next friend and guardians Dr. Alan J. Bauer and Revital Bauer, Daniel Bauer, minor, by his next friend and guardians Dr. Alan J. Bauer and Revital Bauer, Yehuda Bauer, minor, by his next friend and guardians Dr. Alan J. Bauer and Revital Bauer, Rabbi Leonard Mandelkorn, Katherine Baker, individually and as personal representative of the Estate of Benjamin Blutstein, Rebekah Blutstein, Richard Blutstein, individually and as personal representative of the Estate of Benjamin Blutstein, Larry Carter, individually and as personal representative of the Estate of Diane (
Argued: April 12, 2016
("defendants") appeal from a judgment of the United
States District Court for the Southern District of New York
(Daniels, J.) in favor of the
("plaintiffs"). A jury found the defendants---the
Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian
Authority---liable under the Anti-Terrorism Act
("ATA"), 18 U.S.C. § 2333(a), for various
terror attacks in Israel that killed or wounded United States
citizens. The jury awarded the plaintiffs damages of $218.5
million, an amount that was trebled automatically pursuant to
the ATA, 18 U.S.C. § 2333(a), bringing the total award
to $655.5 million. The defendants appeal, arguing that the
district court lacked general and specific personal
jurisdiction over the defendants, and, in the alternative,
seek a new trial because the district court abused its
discretion by allowing certain testimony by two expert
witnesses. The plaintiffs cross-appeal, asking this Court to
reinstate claims the district court dismissed.
vacate the judgment of the district court and remand the case
with instructions to dismiss the action because the federal
courts lack personal jurisdiction over the defendants with
respect to the claims in this action. We do not reach the
remaining issues.
A. YALOWITZ, Arnold & Porter, LLP, for
A. BALOUL (Mitchell R. Berger, Pierre H. Bergeron, John A.
Burlingame, Alexandra E. Chopin, on the brief), Squire Patton
Boggs (US), LLP, for Defendants-Appellants-Cross-Appellees.
A. Reiser, Zuckerman Spaeder, LLP, and Peter Raven-Hansen,
George Washington University Law School, on the brief for
Amici Curiae Former Federal Officials in Support of
P. Bonner, Stone, Bonner & Rocco, LLP, and Steven R.
Perles, Perles Law Firm, on the brief for Amici Curiae Arthur
Barry Sotloff, Shirley Goldie Pulwer, Lauren Sotloff, and the
Estate of Steven Joel Sotloff in Support of
Before: Leval and Droney, Circuit Judges, and Koeltl,
District Judge. [*]
In this
case, eleven American families sued the Palestine Liberation
Organization ("PLO") and the Palestinian Authority
("PA") (collectively,
"defendants")[1] under the Anti-Terrorism Act
("ATA"), 18 U.S.C. § 2333(a), for various
terror attacks in Israel that killed or wounded the
("plaintiffs") or their family
defendants repeatedly argued before the District Court for
the Southern District of New York that the court lacked
personal jurisdiction over them in light of their minimal
presence in, and the lack of any nexus between the facts
underlying the plaintiffs' claims and the United States.
The district court (Daniels, J.) concluded that it
had general personal jurisdiction over the defendants, even
after the Supreme Court narrowed the test for general
jurisdiction in Daimler AG v. Bauman, 134 S.Ct. 746
(2014). See Sokolow v. Palestine Liberation Org.,
No. 04-cv-397 (GBD), 2014 WL 6811395, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 1,
2014); see also Sokolow v. Palestine Liberation
Org., No. 04-cv-397 (GBD), 2011 WL 1345086, at *7
(S.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2011).
After a
seven-week trial, a jury found that the defendants, acting
through their employees, perpetrated the attacks and that the
defendants knowingly provided material support to
organizations designated by the United States State
Department as foreign terrorist organizations. The jury
awarded the plaintiffs damages of $218.5 million, an amount
that was trebled automatically pursuant to the ATA, 18 U.S.C.
§ 2333(a), bringing the total award to $655.5 million.
appeal, the defendants seek to overturn the jury's
verdict by arguing that the United States Constitution
precludes the exercise of personal jurisdiction over them. In
the alternative, the defendants seek a new trial, arguing
that the district court abused its discretion by allowing
certain testimony by two expert witnesses. The plaintiffs
cross-appeal, asking this Court to reinstate non-federal
claims that the district court dismissed, and reinstate the
claims of two plaintiffs for which the district court found
insufficient evidence to submit to the jury.
conclude that the district court erred when it concluded it
had personal jurisdiction over the defendants with respect to
the claims at issue in this action. Therefore, we VACATE the
judgment of the district court and REMAND the case to the
district court with instructions to DISMISS the case for want
of personal jurisdiction. Accordingly, we do not consider the
defendants' other arguments on appeal or the
plaintiffs' cross-appeal, all of which are now moot.
The PA
was established by the 1993 Oslo Accords as the interim and
non-sovereign government of parts of the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip (collectively referred to here as
"Palestine"). The PA is headquartered in the city
of Ramallah in the West Bank, where the Palestinian President
and the PA's ministers reside.
The PLO
was founded in 1964. At all relevant times, the PLO was
headquartered in Ramallah, the Gaza Strip, and Amman, Jordan.
Because the Oslo Accords limit the PA's authority to
Palestine, the PLO conducts Palestine's foreign affairs.
the relevant time period for this action, the PLO maintained
over 75 embassies, missions, and delegations around the
world. The PLO is registered with the United States
Government as a foreign agent. The PLO has two diplomatic
offices in the United States: a mission to the United States
in Washington, D.C. and a mission to the United Nations in
New York City. The Washington, D.C. mission had fourteen
employees between 2002 and 2004, including two employees of
the PA, although not all at the same time.[3] The Washington,
D.C. and New York missions engaged in diplomatic activities
during the relevant period. The Washington, D.C. mission
"had a substantial commercial presence in the United
States." Sokolow, 2011 WL 1345086, at *4. It
used dozens of telephone numbers, purchased office supplies,
paid for certain living expenses for Hassan Abdel Rahman, the
chief PLO and PA representative in the United States, and
engaged in other transactions. Id. The PLO also
retained a consulting and lobbying firm through a multi-year,
multi-million-dollar contract for services from about 1999 to
2004. Id. The Washington, D.C. mission also promoted
the Palestinian cause in speeches and media appearances.
have repeatedly held that neither the PA nor the PLO is a
"state" under United States or international law.
See Klinghoffer v. S. N.C. Achille Lauro, 937 F.2d
44, 47-48 (2d Cir. 1991) (holding the PLO, which had no
defined territory or permanent population and did not have
capacity to enter into genuine formal relations with other
nations, was not a "state" for purposes of the
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act); Estates of Ungar v.
Palestinian Auth., 315 F.Supp.2d 164, 178-86 (D.R.I.
2004) (holding that neither the PA nor the PLO is a state
entitled to sovereign immunity under the Foreign Sovereign
Immunities Act because neither entity has a defined territory
with a permanent population controlled by a government that
has the capacity to enter into foreign relations); see
also Knox v. Palestine Liberation Org., 306 F.Supp.2d
424, 431 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (holding that neither the PLO nor
the PA was a "state" for purposes of the Foreign
Sovereign Immunities Act).
the United States does not recognize Palestine or the PA as a
sovereign government, see Sokolow v. Palestine Liberation
Org., 583 F.Supp.2d 451, 457-58 (S.D.N.Y. 2008)
("Palestine, whose statehood is not recognized by the
United States, does not meet the definition of a 'state,
' under United States and international law . . .
.") (collecting cases), the PA is the governing
authority in Palestine and employs tens of thousands of
security personnel in Palestine. According to the PA's
Minister of Finance, the "PA funds conventional
government services, including developing infrastructure;
public safety and the judicial system; health care; public
schools and education; foreign affairs; economic development
initiatives in agriculture, energy, public works, and public
housing; the payment of more than 155, 000 government
employee salaries and related pension funds; transportation;
and, communications and information technology
plaintiffs sued the defendants in 2004, alleging violations
of the ATA for seven terror attacks committed during a wave
of violence known as "the al Aqsa Intifada, " by
nonparties who the plaintiffs alleged were affiliated with
the defendants. The jury found the plaintiffs liable for six
of the attacks.[4] At trial, the plaintiffs presented
evidence of the following attacks.
January 22, 2002: Jaffa Road Shooting
January 22, 2002, a PA police officer opened fire on a
pedestrian mall in Jerusalem. He shot "indiscriminately
at the people who were on Jaffa Street, " at a nearby
bus stop and aboard a bus that was at the stop, and at people
in the stores nearby "with the aim of causing the death
of as many people as possible." The shooter killed two
individuals and wounded forty-five others before he was
killed by police. The attack was carried out, according to
trial evidence, by six members of the PA police force who
planned the shooting. Two of the plaintiffs were injured.
January 27, 2002: Jaffa Road Bombing
January 27, 2002, a PA intelligence informant named Wafa
Idris detonated a suicide bomb on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem,
killing herself and an Israeli man and seriously wounding
four of the plaintiffs, including two children. Evidence
presented at trial showed that the bombing was planned by a
PA intelligence officer who encouraged the assailant to
conduct the suicide bombing, even after the assailant had
doubts about doing so.
March 21, 2002: King George Street Bombing
March 21, 2002, Mohammed Hashaika, a former PA police
officer, detonated a suicide bomb on King George Street in
Jerusalem. Hashaika's co-conspirators chose the location
because it was "full of people during the
afternoon." Hashaika set-off the explosion while in a
crowd "with the aim of causing the deaths of as many
civilians as possible." Two plaintiffs were grievously
wounded, including a seven-year-old American boy. Evidence
presented at trial showed that a PA intelligence officer
named Abdel Karim Aweis orchestrated the attack.
June 19, 2002: French Hill Bombing
On June
19, 2002, a seventeen-year-old Palestinian man named
Sa'id Awada detonated a suicide bomb at a bus stop in the
French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem. Awada was a member of
a militant faction of the PLO's Fatah party called the Al
Aqsa Martyr Brigades ("AAMB"), which the United
States Department of State had designated as a "foreign
terrorist organization" ("FTO"). The bombing
killed several people and wounded dozens, including an
eighteen-year-old plaintiff who was stepping off a bus when
the bomb exploded.
July 31, 2002: Hebrew University Bombing
On July
31, 2002, military operatives of Hamas---a United
States-designated FTO---detonated a bomb hidden in a black
cloth bag that was packed with hardware nuts in a café
at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The explosion killed nine,
including four United States citizens, whose estates bring
suit here.
January 29, 2004: Bus No. 19 Bombing
January 29, 2004, in an AAMB attack, a PA police officer
named Ali Al-Ja'ara detonated a suicide vest on a crowded
bus, Bus No. 19 traveling from Malha Mall toward Paris Square
in central Jerusalem. The suicide bombing killed eleven
people, including one of the plaintiffs. The bomber's
aim, according to evidence submitted at trial, was to
"caus[e] the deaths of a large number of
2004, the plaintiffs filed suit in the Southern District of
New York. The defendants first moved to dismiss the claims
for lack of personal jurisdiction in July 2007. The district
court denied the motion, subject to renewal after
jurisdictional discovery. After the close of jurisdictional
discovery, the district court denied the defendants'
renewed motion, holding that the court had general personal
jurisdiction over the defendants. See Sokolow, 2011
WL 1345086, at *7.
district court concluded, as an initial matter, that the
service of process was properly effected by serving the Chief
Representative of the PLO and the PA, Hassan Abdel Rahman, at
his home in Virginia, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 4(h)(1)(B) (providing that a foreign association
"must be served[ ] . . . in a judicial district of the
United States . . . by delivering a copy of the summons and
of the complaint to an officer, a managing or general agent .
. . ."); see also 18 U.S.C. § 2334(a)
(providing for nationwide service of process and venue under
the ATA); Sokolow, 2011 WL 1345086, at *2.
district court then engaged in a two-part analysis to
determine whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction
comported with the due process protections of the United
States Constitution. First, it determined whether the
defendants had sufficient minimum contacts with the forum
such that the maintenance of the action did not offend
traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.
Sokolow, 2011 WL 1345086, at *2 (citing Frontera
Res. Azerbaijan Corp. v. State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan
Republic, 582 F.3d 393, 396 (2d Cir. 2009)).
district court distinguished between specific and general
personal jurisdiction---specific jurisdiction applies where
the defendants' contacts are related to the litigation
and general jurisdiction applies where the defendants'
contacts are so substantial that the defendants could be sued
on all claims, even those unrelated to contacts with the
forum---and found that the district court had general
jurisdiction over the defendants. Id. at *3. The
court considered what it deemed the defendants'
"substantial commercial presence in the United States,
" in particular "a fully and continuously
functional office in Washington, D.C., " bank accounts
and commercial contracts, and "a substantial promotional
presence in the United States, with the D.C. office having
been permanently dedicated to promoting the interests of the
PLO and the PA." Id. at *4.
district court concluded that activities involving the
defendants' New York office were exempt from
jurisdictional analysis under an exception for United
Nations' related activity articulated in
Klinghoffer, 937 F.2d at 51-52 (UN participation not
properly considered basis for jurisdiction); see
Sokolow, 2011 WL 1345086, at *5. The district court held
that the activities involving the Washington, D.C. mission
were not exempt from analysis and provided "a sufficient
basis to exercise general jurisdiction over the
Defendants." Id. at *6 ("The PLO and the
PA were continuously and systematically present in the United
States by virtue of their extensive public relations
the district court considered "'whether the
assertion of personal jurisdiction comports with
"traditional notions of fair play and substantial
justice"---that is, whether it is reasonable under the
circumstances of the particular case.'" Id.
(quoting Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. Robertson-Ceco
Corp., 84 F.3d 560, 568 (2d Cir. 1996)). The court found
that the exercise of jurisdiction did not offend
"traditional notions of fair play and substantial
justice, " pursuant to the standard articulated by
International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310,
316 (1945), and its progeny. See Sokolow, 2011 WL
1345086, at *6-7. The district court concluded that
"[t]here is a strong inherent interest of the United
States and Plaintiffs in litigating ATA claims in the United
States, " and that the defendants "failed to
identify an alternative forum where Plaintiffs' claims
could be brought, and where the foreign court could grant a
substantially similar remedy." Id. at *7.
January 2014, after the Supreme Court had significantly
narrowed the general personal jurisdiction test in
Daimler, 134 S.Ct. 746, the defendants moved for
reconsideration of the denial of their motion to dismiss.
April 11, 2014, the district court denied the defendants'
motions for reconsideration, ruling that Daimler did
not compel dismissal. The district court also denied the
defendants' motions to certify the jurisdictional issue
for an interlocutory appeal. See Sokolow, 2014 WL
6811395, at *1. The defendants renewed their jurisdictional
argument in their motions for summary judgment, arguing that
this Court's decision in Gucci America, Inc. v.
Weixing Li, 768 F.3d 122 (2d Cir. 2014), altered the
controlling precedent in this Circuit, requiring dismissal of
the case. See Sokolow, 2014 WL 6811395, at *1. The
district court concluded that it still had general personal
jurisdiction over the defendants, describing the action as
presenting "'an exceptional case, '"
id. at *2, of the kind discussed in
Daimler, 134 S.Ct. at 761 n.19, and Gucci,
768 F.3d at 135.
district court held that "[u]nder both Daimler
and Gucci, the PA and PLO's continuous and
systematic business and commercial contacts within the United
States are sufficient to support the exercise of general
jurisdiction, " and that the record before the court was
"insufficient to conclude that either defendant is
'at home' in a particular jurisdiction other than the
United States." Sokolow, 2014 WL 6811395, at
the summary judgment ruling, the defendants sought
mandamus on the personal jurisdiction issue. This
Court denied the defendants' petition. See In re
Palestine Liberation Org., Palestinian Authority, No.
14-4449 (2d Cir. Jan. 6, 2015) (summary order).
case proceeded to trial in January 2015. During the trial,
the defendants introduced evidence about the PA's and
PLO's home in Palestine. The trial evidence showed that
the terrorist attacks occurred in the vicinity of Jerusalem.
The plaintiffs did not allege or submit evidence that the
plaintiffs were targeted in any of the six attacks at issue
because of their United States citizenship or that the
defendants engaged in conduct in the United States related to
the attacks.
At the
conclusion of plaintiffs' case in chief, the defendants
moved for judgment as a matter of law under Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 50(a), arguing, among other grounds, that the
district court lacked personal jurisdiction over the
defendants. The Court denied the motion. The defendants
renewed that motion at the close of all the evidence and
again asserted that the court lacked personal jurisdiction.
and immediately after trial, the District Court for the
District of Columbia issued three separate decisions
dismissing similar suits for lack of personal jurisdiction by
similar plaintiffs in cases against the PA and the PLO.
See Estate of Klieman v. Palestinian Auth., 82
F.Supp.3d 237, 245-46 (D.D.C. 2015), appeal
docketed, No. 15-7034 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 8, 2015);
Livnat v. Palestinian Auth., 82 F.Supp.3d 19, 30
(D.D.C. 2015), appeal docketed, No. 15-7024 (D.C.
Cir. ...
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text:
A Saturday in the City With Seth
After attending a special event for the blog last month, I was left with an afternoon with my eldest son in New York City. He is an architecture aficionado and looks at books and old magazines. I loved being able to take him to some of his favorite buildings.
Here he is looking up at the Empire State Building.
He loved the New York Public Library. I want to take this picture again in ten years. I am sure his stature will be much different!
New York during the holidays is simply magical. He loved the Christmas themed sculptures.
We had this amazing discussion about light and refraction after staring at these bulbs for awhile.
Of course we had to see the tree at Rockefeller Center.
Seth is about to turn 13 in the next few months. In all of the tween angst and anxiety it is rare to get an entire day of sheer joy from him.
We both loved this day. He got to see so many wonderful things and even meet one of his favorite authors. It is something I will treasure forever. A day with my firstborn. So many smiles. Beautiful memories.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Price From $231
The all-inclusive Breezes Resort & Spa, Trelawny, about 30 minutes east of Montego Bay, has everything you'd expect from a beachfront mega-resort: four pools, four tennis courts, basketball and beach volleyball courts, and two huge waterslides. Then there are the less-expected perks like a rock-climbing wall and a circus school where you can learn how to juggle, swing on the trapeze, and jump on the trampoline. The 349 rooms are decorated in bright plaids and florals, and some have bunk beds—perfect for larger families.
Free Wi-Fi? No; available for $15 per day.
Credit Cards Accepted AmEx, Discover, MC, Visa.
Details Doubles from $231, including all meals and activities.


text:
So, everyone thinks I am a nut. I took in a friend's dog for an indefinite amount of time. Might be a few months, could be 3 years…Not really sure. My friend is a single mom of 3 young kids, just moved herself, her kids, her 3 dogs, 2 cats and couple of bunnies from one state (where she had just finished her Masters in some sort of scientific smarty pants degree) to another state to go to law school (of course). And she is only in her late 20's. She came to my hometown to visit with her 3 kids and her 3 dogs. She had asked if I would be willing to keep one of her dogs for an extended stay. I agreed and here is why.
Firstly, I think she is an incredible woman. I am so impressed with her and what she is doing I was honored to be able to help her out. Secondly, when I was her age, my life was chaos and all I really needed was someone to take just one thing off my hands for just a little while so that I could focus and regroup myself and my family. I didn't have that. In fact, whenever I asked, it seems that I would have more crap piled onto my plate by whom ever I asked to help. I know the feeling of overwhelm and I know the feeling of just needing someone to lend a hand and I know the feeling of NOT getting that hand.
So, when she asked I said yes! Yes I will take your sweetie dog Bonnie. I think I was supposed to take her other dog but she was not as friendly with strangers and I have other people's kids in and out of the house so I didn't want a nervous dog to scare the kids. So, Bonnie came to stay.
My friends think I am nuts. My mom thinks I am nuts. I am probably nuts but in a good way. I think it's funny that my mom thinks I am nuts as she did the same thing with cats when I was growing up. Wonder where I get it from…Anyway, Bonnie is a good girl. She is a tiny jack russle mix. I would guess she has some corgi in her? She's a mutt. A snuggly little white mutt with freckles and brown eyes. My youngest is in love with her because she is not a spaz like Leo. She has manners and she likes to cuddle. And so Bonnie has moved in with my littlest girl. Leo was very excited to have Bonnie as a new friend. Very excited. VERY excited. EXCITED!!!!
Leo sniffed and barked and wagged. Bonnie cowered behind me. Leo sang a song, did his amazing flips from couch to couch to chair, and chewed on the coffee table all in an effort to impress Bonnie. Bonnie tried to crawl into my arm pit. Leo finally settled down on the chair and just contemplated his new "cousin" who was molded around my middle sound asleep. He didn't get her. He wanted to play! He wanted to jump around and make me yell at him (he loves when I yell at him and clap my hands and stamp my feet…he thinks it's funny). But Bonnie wanted nothing to do with Leo and his bad behaviors. Leo cocked his head and was confused. He also did not get the snuggling. He will snuggle if he is tired and it is almost bedtime anyway. But at any other time of the day he is GO GO GO!!!! No snuggling for Mr. Independent. He has stuff to chew, places to pee and a mom to piss off. No time for that snuggling crap.
Now, with the addition of Bonnie Love I have come to an awareness about myself and my choices in dogs. When I had Emma and Spencer, EVERYONE loved Emma because she was a good submissive girl who ONLY wanted to be petted and snuggled. Everyone loved Spencer because he was soooo good lookin and very funny. Emma was an attention hound. Spencer loved to get his belly rubbed but really, he could take it or leave it. I mean, if the garbage can was still upright, or the front door was open, or the toilet seat was up, well then, he had a job to do. Loving could wait. And as much as I hated the garbage knocked over or running around the neighborhood like an idiot yelling for Spence, I also very much LOVED his personality. His independent spirit, his ability to just be himself despite me. I enjoyed Spence. I loved Emma because she was sweet and there was no doubt that she loved us completely. Spencer, I was never quite sure that he loved us. He knew we loved him, I know he cared about us…but he wasn't co dependent. He had things to do ya know.
I see the same thing now with Leo and Bonnie. Bonnie wants love. She wants to be with us and physically close to us. Leo wants to be with us but mainly because he wants us to play with him, take him for a ride or walk, yell at him or chase him. Sure, he wants love….when he wants it. Not when he doesn't want it. Bonnie wants love 24/7 and even when she isn't in the mood, she is. She is never not in the mood! I am falling in love with Bonnie but really who wouldn't? That's a no brainer. A good dog who gives love. Isn't that the ideal? But I am realizing how much I love Leo and his naughty spazy self. I love his character, I love his personality and I love his independence. More than I did when I didn't have a good dog to compare him to.
The addition of Bonnie is making both of them shine.
Now, upon further thought, I realize that what I like in a canine is also what I tend to like in a guy. An attractive guy who is lots of fun, independent, kind of a spaz and takes it in stride when I get annoyed with his antics. But loving, loyal and smart. And fixed. Just kidding…kind of…


text:
Opt out from .NET Core telemetry
So Microsoft decided that the .NET Core Tools should "phone home" with telemetry data it gathers while using the tools to e.g. run or build applications using .NET Core.
While it is an aggressive default for an open source project, it is easy to opt-out. Open a terminal in Linux and type the following to disable telemetry system-wide for good.
echo DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT=1 | sudo tee -a /etc/environment


text:
It's not just liberals who are suggesting that Bush's secret domestic spying program was illegal. Here is conservative Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) this morning on Face the Nation:
SCHIEFFER: The Secretary of State said this morning that the president has statutory and constitutional authorization to do what he did. So I'll start with Senator Graham. Does he have that authority, Senator?
LINDSEY GRAHAM: If he has the authority to go around the FISA court, which is a court to accommodate the law of the war of terror, the FISA Act was — created a court set up by the chief justice of the United States to allow a rapid response to requests for surveillance activity in the war on terror. I don't know of any legal basis to go around that. There may be some, but I'm not aware of it. And here's the concern I have. We can't become an outcome-based democracy. Even in a time of war, you have to follow the process, because that's what a democracy is all about: a process.
Graham isn't the only conservative Senator concerned. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the chairman of the judiciary committee, said "there is no doubt that this is inappropriate" and promised to hold hearings next year.


text:
If members of the radical left, such as prominent Democrat activist Markos Moulitsas, are so concerned about political violence they're demanding their political opponents be rounded up and arrested for an act with no apparent connection to conservative speech, perhaps they just start by executing an arrest warrant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
"Federal authorities have arrested a Philadelphia man and charged him with threatening to kill House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and his family. Norman Leboon will be charged with two federal counts: threatening to kill a member of Congress and interfering with his federal duties, and posting video online containing such threats. He is scheduled to appear in federal district court in Philadelphia on Monday afternoon." "Man arrested for Eric Cantor death threat," Politico, Mar. 29, 2010
Philadelphia? Who could possibly have said what there?
"Mobster wisdom tells us never to bring a knife to a gun fight. But what does political wisdom say about bringing a gun to a knife fight? That's exactly what Barack Obama said he would do to counter Republican attacks "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," Obama said at a Philadelphia fundraiser Friday night. "Because from what I understand folks in Philly like a good brawl." "Obama: 'If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun'," The Wall Street Journal, June 14, 2008
And then there's this.
"Kenneth Gladney, 38, a conservative activist from St. Louis, said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow flags with "Don't tread on me" printed on them. He spoke to the Post-Dispatch from the emergency room at St. John's Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was awaiting treatment for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face...The SEIU guy came up to him and said, "Why is an n-word like you handing out these flags?" "Kenneth didn't say anything to the guy. Before Kenneth could even say anything or act in any way shape or form, the SEIU representative punched him in the face. He went to the ground. Subsequently, two other SEIU representatives or members, however you want to say it, jumped on top of him, yelled racial epithets at him...kicked him, punched him." "Eye Witness to St. Louis Scuffle: 'SEIU Representative Punched Him In the Face," The Weekly Standard, Aug. 7, 2009.
What could possibly have incited SEIU to punch people at town halls? (Assuming you're one of those types believe people are mindless sheep who only act when commanded to.)
"(White House officials) showed video clips of the confrontational town halls that have dominated the media coverage, and told senators to do more prep work than usual for their public meetings by making sure their own supporters turn out, senators and aides said..."If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard," (White House deputy chief of staff Jim) Messina said, according to an official who attended the meeting. "White House to Democrats: 'Punch back twice as hard'," Politico, Aug. 6, 2009
Yes, the violent attack occurred within 24 hours of reports the White House called on Democrats to "punch back."
If liberals think Sarah Palin should be silenced and even arrested because her PAC produced a map that used a crosshair graphic to depict districts they were spending money in, surely they'd agree Obama's vivid, violent call to Philadelphia activists is deserving of detention in Guantanamo Bay.
Or maybe they should just agree that insane, irrational people do insane, irrational things with no need to popular figures to command them, and that exploiting a horrible tragedy to issue demands the government silence your political opposition is in itself a troubling cry for help?


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Assassin's Creed Unity Travels to WWII
The location of the next Assassin's Creed game is often a hotly debated topic amongst the gaming public, and with the release of Unity less than two weeks away, we were certain that the entire game would take place during the French Revolution of the late 18th century.
A recent trailer released by Ubisoft entitled 'Time Anomalies' reveals this isn't entirely the case. In the trailer Unity's protagonist, Arno, jumps through a time anomaly transporting him to the occupied Paris of WWII.
Surveys conducted by Ubisoft in 2013, pinpointed a desire in Assassin's Creed fans to experience a city in multiple eras and Arno's new time travelling capabilities show attention to the consumer feedback.
With big name franchises such as Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty, incorporating significant changes to their gameplay and narrative components into their franchise's annual updates. It would appear these big name developers are feeling the pressure from critical fanbases, and are seeking new and interesting ways to keep their franchises relevant.
So will you be dispatching agents of The Third Reich when Assassin's Creed Unity hits the shelves November 11?
Source youtube.com


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A bunch of us, under the guidance of Ray and Shelley keeping her mother at home we worked tirelessly to decorate the roo, which came out great, the table setting and decoration and the hushed silence when it was clear that Nadine had arrived. Never in the history of Chloride was a secret kept. She and John had no idea that there were around 60 people helping her having a great birthday surprise party.
If I can find someone to help me uploading the pictures that came out great you'll see how great the party was.
Clowns from Amsterdam
7 years ago


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Last Wednesday I was presenting at Chicago PUG, and do not ask me why it took me a week to write about it :). Anyways, it has been a while since I've presented something at PUG, so it was good to get back and meet with people I've known for a long time.
That was the first time I was talking about the work we are doing at Braviant, the way we are building our consolidated Data mart from multiple external data resources, about the challenges and unknowns. Telling, how you can build a reliable reporting when you do not really own your data.
And I liked how did this conversation go. There is often a presumption, that when you use the third party services so extensively, you can't do anything exciting, you do not really develop anything new – and that is so-so-so not true!
Talking about our accomplishments to other actually made me realize, how nice and clean our approach is, and how many technical issues have being resolved. I will try to write a separate blog post about the details.


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11:00-11:10 Chairperson's Opening Remarks
11:10-11:35 VANDETANIB Pretreatment Circulating VEGF Levels as A Predictive Biomarker of Efficacy in NSCLC Patients Treated with VandetanibAnderson Ryan, Ph.D., Principle Translational Scientist, Cancer BioScience, Global Discovery Science Lead and Translational Science Strategist for ZACTIMA (vandetanib) project, AstraZeneca
Vandetanib has demonstrated improvements in progression-free survival (PFS) in advanced NSCLC in three randomized phase II studies: vandetanib versus gefitinib; docetaxel ± vandetanib; carboplatin and paclitaxel (CP) ± vandetanib. We performed an exploratory analysis of the relationship between baseline circulating VEGF concentrations and PFS and OS. These analyses suggest that low baseline circulating VEGF may be predictive of PFS and OS advantage in patients with advanced NSCLC receiving vandetanib versus gefitinib, or vandetanib + docetaxel versus docetaxel. Notably, patients with low VEGF levels had similar outcome with either vandetanib monotherapy or CP doublet chemotherapy raising the possibility that this test could be used to select patients for treatment with a targeted therapy instead of treatment with a standard cytotoxic chemotherapy regimen.
Detecting EGFR Mutations in NSCLC as A Predictive Factor for IRESSAGeorgina Speake, Ph.D., Translational Science Strategist, Cancer BioScience, Global Discovery Science Lead and Translational Science Strategist for IRESSA (gefitinib) project, AstraZenecaIPASS was a Phase III, randomized, open-label study of gefitinib versus carboplatin / paclitaxel in clinically selected patients with advanced NSCLC. Multiple, non-comparative studies have demonstrated superior efficacy of EGFR TKIs in patients of Asian origin, never / light smokers and in patients with adenocarcinoma histology when compared to other patient groups. A known higher incidence of EGFR mutations in patients with these characteristics made analysis of efficacy by biomarker status particularly interesting. We therefore hypothesized that a clinically selected group of patients with these characteristics treated with an EGFR TKI as first-line therapy would have efficacy at least as good as carboplatin / paclitaxel with benefits in tolerability and quality of life. The study exceeded its primary objective and demonstrated superiority of gefitinib relative to carboplatin / paclitaxel in terms of PFS, and EGFR mutation status was a strong predictive biomarker for the effect of gefitinib compared to carboplatin / paclitaxel. There are a number of different technologies that can be used to identify EGFR mutation status, all with different potential benefits and issues. Our experience of EGFR mutation testing will be discussed.12:00-12:10 Sponsored PresentationOpportunity available. Contact Ilana Quigley, Business Development, 781-972-5457 or email@example.com.
The KRAS Signaling Pathway Biomarker in Oncology: From Prognostic to PredictiveScott D. Patterson, Ph.D., Executive Director, Medical Sciences, Amgen, Inc.There are a number of biomarkers that are considered to be prognostic, although the difficulty in proving this with the array of treatment options available makes confirmation difficult. In some cases these same biomarkers may be predictive of response to specific therapies. Demonstration of this requires analysis of samples from clinical studies with control arms – often not employed until phase 3. Our experience in the elucidation of KRAS as a patient stratification biomarker will be presented.
Incorporation of Biomarkers into Tarceva Clinical TrialsFrank Richardson, Ph.D., Senior Director, Safety Assessment & Molecular Markers, OSI PharmaceuticalsTarceva® is an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved as monotherapy for the treatment of 2nd-3rd-line advance non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and in combination with Gemzar for the treatment of 1st –line advanced pancreatic cancer. There is intense interest in finding and validating new biomarkers that predict outcome to Tarceva and thus enhance clinical benefit. The development of biomarkers is a challenging process in which the promise of a specific biomarker can grow or diminish as new information becomes available. This talk will discuss and present preliminary results of two biomarker-selected trials in NSCLC as case examples that highlight ongoing efforts to incorporate and clinically validate emerging biomarkers in an ever-shifting landscape.
Scott D. Patterson, Ph.D., Executive Director, Medical Sciences, Amgen, Inc.Dr. Patterson returned to Amgen Inc., California in 2003 and is an Executive Director in the Medical Sciences function leading the Molecular Sciences department (with the Computational Biology department also reporting to him). Medical Sciences is responsible for conducting first-in-human studies through to Phase 2a for all therapeutic areas in the company, and Molecular Sciences is part of this function to enable biochemical determination of whether the targeted pathway is being interdicted, whether exposure:response relationships can be generated (to inform dose ranging), and in which patient populations the therapeutic may be more efficacious (should that be necessary). He is well known in the field of protein chemistry, and a pioneer in the field of proteomics. He has published extensively and is a frequent guest lecturer. After leaving Amgen in 2000, he served as Vice President of Proteomics at the Celera Genomics Group and then as Chief Scientific Officer of Farmal Biomedicines, LLC. While at Celera, he established the company's initial foray into protein-based drug target discovery and validation in oncology, building a large group of cell biologists, protein chemists and mass spectrometrists whose efforts resulted in the identification of cell surface targets for therapeutic development and diagnostics, a number of which have been licensed to Pharma and Biotechnology companies. Dr. Patterson first worked at Amgen from 1993–2000 progressing from a Research Scientist to Department Head, ultimately leading the Department of Biochemistry and Genetics. He received his Ph.D. and B.Sc. from The University of Queensland, where he held positions of increasing responsibility over a period of 11 years, culminating in that of Senior Research Officer. In 1991 he joined the faculty of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York where he established a program in apoptosis and pursued his technical interests in analytical protein chemistry applications.
Frank Richardson, Ph.D., Senior Director, Safety Assessment & Molecular Markers, OSI Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Richardson received his B.S. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his D.V.M from Iowa State University, and his Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from Duke University. His early research focused on mechanisms of carcinogenesis evaluating the relationships between molecular dosimeters and cancer. He was a Visiting Scientist at the Chemical Industries Institute of Toxicology before taking a toxicology position at Eli Lilly in a newly created carcinogenesis/mutagenesis research laboratory that conducted and published research on mutational and proteomic analyses of carcinogenic mechanisms. In addition, he was involved in early work on implementing biomarker analysis in preclinical and clinical trials. Dr. Richardson moved to Nexstar Pharmaceuticals in Boulder Colorado as Toxicologist responsible for evaluating mechanism of mitochondrial toxicities of nucleoside analogues. He has been employed by OSI Pharmaceuticals since 2001. He is responsible for preclinical development safety assessment and helped instigate biomarker sample collection, biomarker assay development and biomarker assay implementation in OSI preclinical and clinical trials. Current research is focused on identifying and conducting biomarker analysis that may aid in the selection of patients who will respond to OSI oncology compounds. In collaboration with partners Genentech and Roche, some of this research has focused on Tarceva®, the TKI inhibitor approved for treatment of 2nd and 3rd line NSCLC and advanced pancreatic cancer in combination with gemcitabine.
Please check back soon for updated information.
Biomarker World Congress
Bridging Drug and Diagnostic Development
Circulating Tumor Cells
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Protein Biomarkers: Challenges in Clinical Implementation
microRNA in Cancer
Bridging Silos in Biomarker Discovery: Integrating Omic Data


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DeskSoft EarthTime 5.5.11
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EarthTime displays the local time and date of any place in the world. It has a built-in database of thousands of cities worldwide but users can add any number of custom locations. EarthTime shows a map of the earth with daylight and night shadows and optionally a cloud layer with current satellite cloud data. Alarms can be set on the local time of any city in the world. Many options allow flexible customization.
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Kod:[Misafirler Kayıt Olmadan Link Göremezler Lütfen Kayıt İçin Tıklayın ! ]


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player allowDamage false;0 spawn{ _pos = getpos player; for "_i" from 1 to 15 do { _npos = _pos vectorAdd ([[random 50,0,200], random 360] call BIS_fnc_rotateVector2D); _shell = createVehicle ["ModuleOrdnanceHowitzer_F_ammo", _npos, [], 0, "NONE"]; _shell setVelocity [0,0,-150]; sleep (1 + random 2); };};
I'm using a kill info script to show the victim who the killer is, what weapon was used and how far he was away.
Well .. you told about the technics and how it would be scripted etc.The more important question for me: why should be this implemented?Most servers I'd been visiting, had the Scorcher & Sandstorm disabled, for good reasons. I see the difference, sure. But same way, I don't see any effort for the gameplay. *headscratch
We have the Sandstorm enabled. Why not? It's just a M4A1 chassis with 12 HE rockets. One salvo can't even flatten a small town like Charkia. The Scorcher is much more powerful. Players on my server have been requesting for it for a long time. But it can deploy mine clusters, which are way too OP. One single shot is enough to make a large town a ghost town.
Then you would have to adapt your script to come up with something appropriate, e.g. if FAR_killerAmmo == "ModuleOrdnanceHowitzer_F_ammo" then _displayName = "Artillery Strike"
On a side note, the reason why I don't show that info in vanilla is because I like to keep an air of mystery about kills. "Where did that come from? Is that a sniper? A fresh spawn? A drone?" - an authentic feeling that is part of all survival games.
Sandstorm missiles inflict 6 times as much splash damage as regular Scorcher shells (although they have the same blast radius of 30 m) and nearly as much direct damage as Scalpels. They are by all means the most destructive vanilla ammo (aircraft bombs are a bit more powerful, but have a radius of 15 m)
Scorchers can easily be customized via vehicleLoadouts.sqf to remove cluster mags.
case (_class isKindOf "B_MBT_01_arty_F"): { _mags = [ ["6Rnd_155mm_Mo_smoke", [0]], ["2Rnd_155mm_Mo_guided", [0]], ["2Rnd_155mm_Mo_LG", [0]], ["2Rnd_155mm_Mo_Cluster", [0]], ["500Rnd_127x99_mag_Tracer_Red", [0,0]], ["96Rnd_40mm_G_belt", [0,0]], ["SmokeLauncherMag", [0,0]] ]; _weapons = [ ["mortar_155mm_AMOS", [0]], ["HMG_127_APC", [0,0]], ["GMG_40mm", [0,0]], ["SmokeLauncher", [0,0]] ]; };
It weird that players in my server are reporting Sandstorm rockets not as powerful. Maybe it's due to its high dispersion. Need to test more.
The thing about them is that splash damage has poor penetration, so if you're hiding behind concrete, you won't be damaged at all. They explode on contact, so if they're shot inside a town then it won't cause much player damage. If they were airburst, you'd get a lot more complaints.
So I'm (almost) already done, I just need to do some extra testing to make sure everything works as intended, should be released by end of week.Artillery strike - feedback needed
Is it possible to make the rockets explode in the air by scripting?


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Wow, Its October tomorrow. Living in Jakarta all that really means is that it is getting hottter and maybe a little closer to the rainy season but other than that not much. For the northern part of the world seasons are changing, feelings are changing and there should be christmas in the shops by now. Here. We just have got passed Idul Fitri and now not much really happens until Christmas.
It is however like I said getting hotter. It did rain on Fridaay night I am sure I wrote about that. The pollution seems to be less or I have finally learned to stop breathing all the way to work and back but I doubt it.
Pretty tough day today mainly cos of the power cut at school as the electricity board plan a rolling series of blackout through the city. That simply does not help.
We had total blackouts on Sunday and even Taman Anngrek apartments went into total darkness for a while which was fascinating to see. It lasted 2 hours here and so that was no fun. I had just woke up from my afternoon nap (such a tough life) and got the tv on and then bang tv off and in dark we were. Saved by beer and a charged Ipod I survived the darkness chilling out on the balcony. Luckily enough the apartments have backup power and so I there was light but that was not really needed as I had nothing to do anyway.
There seems to be a lot of blackouts at the moment through the city, it could be lack of fuel to power the generators, it could other people stealing power, stupid people digging up cables by accident or the huge fire at a generating station in the city either way no enought to go round.
Monday morning again a power out in the apartments but the elevators worked so I went to school where there was power so that was good.
Back to the school after a week away. Some good news, all the teachers were present and even chirpy. That was good. Many students had returned also so that helped.
So lots of planning and discussion about things and what we needed to do for the week. Did not take long to get back in the swing of it. And with exam week upon us, the week hoepfully was panning out for an easy way back into work.
Going to the gym. Now that is a concept that I am still not sure about but swallowing pride and holding it all in off I went. Gold gym is a global brand apparently. Still it full of meat heads and fat wobbly women. I have seen muscle bound men on tv but this lot in the gym are astounding. I however quite like my British and comfy living figure however, following doctors orders I am doing in the gym.
Indonesia is great. I can walk into a gym and someone smiles helps me the least and then points me into the changing rooms and thats it. I am a faceless member. The spider has caught the fly in its web and so I now must take what comes.
Oh how it hurt.
I endured 50 mins of sweat and burn. But the hot showers were nice and needed and 10 minutes later I was home stuffing down pasta and water a plenty.
The goal - get cardio fit, get weight loss by 5kg, sort out some muscle tone where practical. Maybe see my toes without breathing in!!!!
Anyway it was ok really.
Nothing really happend Tuesday. Except the internet in the apartment went from slow to dead stop. Not Frustrating more pick up objects and hurl them around the place. But I gave in and went to sleep. Hey its only email after all.
And so that brings me to today. It is never a good sign to get to the motorbike park and get a handwritten ticket as that means.... yep power cut. So today the school had no power. Now that always sucks and makes the armpits even more steamy. 3 hours for me. I did convince the boss to have the air con turned on in the teachers room for the teachers which the generator that was running could run so that helped a little.
Quite a eventful day for me and only me is what I will write about. Thats cryptic but so what.
Had a huge postcard from Ma so that was good I enjoyed receiving that. Did some teacher reviews and they went well and actually spoke with Venny today. Something that I must remind her we need to do more. I dont like not talking every day with her and the team.
Choices choices, choose the gym over beer again and a very good thing too. Rode for 10km and the threw some weights about and then ended up on another machine. 50 mins of good pure sweat and hard work. IT does refresh the brain and body I have always believed that bit about the gym, and I also believe it will do me good in the long run. I want to feel some burn and the ache and feel different and also hopefully feel different.
The builders are back knocking banging and generally making more concrete skeletons to my left as I look out of the apartment. The men are back from holiday. So the noise has gone from 0 to a lot and I am not sure which one I preferred the most.
21 days to go now before I fly away to foreign lands (well Thailand still same part of the world ) and that is great. Now need to find a way to get to the UK next year for a visit. Dreams are amazing when those in them are trying not to strangle you............
Right thats all. More soon.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Wanna Know what is happening around me?
If you want to know a little more about my life here in Indonesia, read the news from here.
Click on news and then either City or National and read through what strange but typically normal things happen here daily.
Its fun
Posted by Luke
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More strange things in my wonderful world
I should be sleeping but I just have to write this all out. Arsenal and Fulham on ESPN and its well late and already into Sunday. I am also very tired.
I quite blogging on here although I have no idea why these things wonderous things cannot be found on the internet.
So http://mylifejakarta.blogspot.com is the place to find them and then from there look for the rest of my enteries over the years.
So Sunday already and that means tomorrow I am back in the chair, steering EF away from the dangerous shores and keeping all things kinda sensible and normal but thats another story yet to be told.
So from Thursday I have been not up to much. Thursday I rode the motorbike around for a bit getting fuel and then off to get it washed but to my displeasure finding out that the place I normally go is shut. Ah well back to the apartment and then settle down for the rest of the day.
I watched Ju'On or the Grudge but it is the original Japanese version and it was pretty freaky and creepy but not that special. Thats was about it really. I did intend to take some photos but I never took the camera and so I must go and do that another day.
Friday was different again. I went swimming in the pool. A gloriously hot and sunny day, the pool was warm and empty of people and so that was great. Enjoyed swimming and managed 5 lengths before I thought I just need to float here and try and change colour which hopefully would be to a darker colour not a paler colour.
Not much else really, watched tv and had a couple of beers, it seemed quite a good way to finish the day off. Mind what helped was the stunningly long lightning and thunder that knocked 3 channels off on cable tv and lasted about 2 hours and it rained for about 35mins. The lightning was awesome. I did try to record it but it never really happened but I know there will more opportunities so I will capture so great footage soon.
Saturday was a trip around the city. Met Yovita at Semanngi and spent hours looking for clothing for the holiday with her. Ate at rice bowl and the food was pretty rough but ok and then carried on shopping. Off to Citraland next as still needed to get more and so we did. Then as it is next door to the apartment I decided to find out about Golds Gym.
So completed a health questionnaire in English and then spoke to the marketing man in Indonesian, who very cunningly lied to us and told us I would not have to pay until 5 November but could start immediately which seemed ok. Paid for via the credit card and that was also ok as it cleared. However on challenging him further he had it all wrong. F*cker and so I get charged in October and have to pay from this month. However it is £30 a month for unlimited use and classes and includes free this that and the other so its not all bad. I had to sign for 12 months so as long as I have a job here its ok oh and I continue to live next door but I think that that bit will be ok.
Then once I had paid, the contract. F*ckers this is all in Indoensian to confuse and even the English speaking customer service person did not really know. Sigh oh How Indonesian..... I am hardly surprised by all this but at the end of the day, I have now joined a Gym and will hopefully begin on Monday. Objective - get fit, make the heart stronger, lose some belly and find some muscles (upper body) and maybe lose some fat....
So I now become a gym bod... Personally stunned but I think I can do 3 times a week Mon, Wed, Fri. Luckily for me it opens at 6am so I get start at 7pm and finish at 8. Get fit and feel better.
Made some stunningly spicey pasta - 7 chillis, whole red garlic, a lot of white garlice and onion. Very hot but good to eat.
Off to Jacksa for some pool and that was ok. The pool hall is in the middle of renovation so air con not really the best. Got bored, went to the movies. G force only - forget that, went to Starbucks - standing room only so Ice cream in McDonalds. Coffee McFlurry but it could be called McSlurry. Foul. The french fries tasted of chicken and the coke mix was too syrupy and flat. McDonalds sarinah truly is in my top 5 worst McDonalds in the world.
1. Times Square NYC
2. Boscombe - Near Bournemouth
3. Sarinah - Jakarta
4. Melksham - UK
5. Bath
Why? well mainly too full and crap food which considering its McDonalds has to be bad. However Green Garden and Kebon Jeruk both have good ones and overall the Big Macs here are well made and the triple cheeseburgers are great....
Any way I digress.
There are lots of superstitions on this planet some quite acceptable so quite silly and some quite bizarre. I live in a land full of this stuff
and the bunch of twigs I use to brush the bed mats chairs etc has to be stood upright with the twigs in the air the window to prevent ghosts from coming in. Now the curtains need to be washed as they are dirty and this is a haven for lost spirits. Closing the window apparently does not help but cleaning the curtains will.
I dont disbelieve but I dont find it strange, but my gf has strange dreams here, I do too but I wont say why as I dont know so anything might help....
So now you know about some more strange superstitions here and also my agreement to have these things happen in my room. But then I wont let anyone put new shoes on the table. My mother used to tell me off over these things so best I learn.
Well thats that lot off my chest. Best go to sleep. But first got to find me that pesky mosquito who has been busy.
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Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Central Park and Taman Anngrek
While I have the time to do this I might as well fill my time. As my other posts on here have said I am on holiday this week in the city and the place has been fairly quiet with many people away in their home towns and villages. So I have decided to stay in the city.
Today has been really hot not hot. Surprisingly it is always hot, currently it about 90+ and there is no sign of it cooling down. I guess the rainy season must be coming soon, please. Lets have some rain here. I dont care when. I can run from the apartment to hero for beer.
Anyway I ramble. I do like doing that. I had Yovita knocking on the door at 9am this morning so that woke me up and so now semi concious, a nice cup of tea and thoughts of what to spend the day doing.
Central Park, Jakartas latest mall is open and it is 5 minutes walk up the road so off we go. I did take my camera to take some pictures but I actually never bothered. Now I have been in some big malls in my time but this when open will be possibly the biggest. It is huge. 5 floors and it is going to be loaded with M&S, Gap, Espirit, Next, Guess, Apple, blah blah blah, a huge starbucks is coming, Burger King ( fantastic ) JCO (doughnuts and coffee nice) is already there. Also a huge cineam complex on the 3rd floor and the ultimate Carrefour in the basement which is roughly twice the size of Tesco's in Trowbridge and all on floor. So that will be nice to buy HP sauce and Toothpaste from. And it is all on the doorstep. Outside there will be an auditorium and cafes and restaurants to sit in and enjoy the night smog so I am relatively excited.
Then feeling hungry off to Jakartas largests mall (and that is debateable after Plaza Indonesia and Grand Indonesia got linked by a bridge) Taman Anngrek. Quick wander around then Macdonalds, well I do like traditional Indonesian food and then JCO for Yogurt and Kiwi and a read of the paper. Before looking for bikinis and clothes for Yovita.
We took a taxi back to the apartment as it was too damm hot ( 6000 rupiah or 45p!!!) and that was it really.
I did some cooking today again, Makes hot and spicy mushrooms which involves lots of garlic, red chillis, worcestershire sauce a lot of mushrooms. Ate with bread really quite spicy and good to eat.
Wednesday already and half way through the week. I cant believe I have been to 6 different malls so far, this is more than I would normally visit in a month.
Now tomorrow I am sure I will not post anything or write it depends what is going on. I think swimming and getting the bike cleaned. Also its time to sort out getting the internet upgraded. I do go on about this. For simple surfing its ok. For uploading pictures forget it. I cant even download virus protection updates as the speed is kinda slow to stop. But it is free and saving me cash a month but I would rather pay for a speedy service.
I have a feeling that I owe someone some money for my old service but seeing as they just cut me off without any warning and then demanded I pay for connection to a free service well they can wait. And I have yet to see the bill.
One thing is for sure I wont be walking around the streets tomorrow it is far too hot to do that sort of thing. I hope the laundry is open as I am running out of clothes now and I guess the builders will be back soon making far too much noise. I think maybe I will take some photos of around here so we can all have a look.
All this rest and lack of doing is beginning to feel good. And I get paid next week which means only 4 weeks to Thailand.
Tony has his orders, mother's going shopping and so thats good. Everyone is excited and I am sure Yovita is overly excited. Not at Tonys level which is a sleepless days and nights and surfing the internet for the best bars to drink in in Krabi but it is really close.
Ching Ching
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Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Whats in my world Tuesday 22 September
Fuck its hot outside as well as inside, as I step onto the balcony from the inside of my apartment. I am a freak of western culture according to some. I have no air con in my 23rd floor apartment, I have to buy it and I have not gor round to it yet. I think I will if I stay here for another year. Its a nice place, mediterania in Jakarta Barat (or Jakbar) and the place is quiet and not so full. There are shops and laundries, atms and most important swimming pools will help cool you down.
So no air con - saving the earth? no actually not reall wanted to spend 3 million all in on it and then the extra electricity bill actually, using my money for other things. That said I do think it is time for it.
Did I say it was hot?
Anyhow so here it is, my news from Jakarta and I am going to attempt to write down my thoughts, feelings and failings throught the months as it happens. I have lost since stopped doing this for reasons that have escaped me and considering I find writing a release I should get back on it.
Tuesday night, Tobruk is on HBO Max and I have beer, tim tams and the fan on. Its a great way to spend the evening.
I am on holiday this week as it is the Idul Fitri celebrations at the end of Ramadhan and so EF has closed and I am free for a while. Now, I could have chosen to travel with the rest of the country to somewhere nice but did I say I was going to Thailand in October, so I decided to remain in the city this time and not do much.
So far this week however for someone that does not do much I have been to FX, Senayan City, Chilis at Sarinah, Pizza Mariano at Senayan City, Semmangi, Pancoran Barat, Mampang and Puri Mall. So thats a lot in 4 days. I have ate a lot of food which makes a change, swam a couple of times and drank beer.
Today Yovita came round and after arguing with the taxi driver who had no change what soever and then borrowing 10,000 of the security man we decided to take the bike to Puri Mall. Driving in this holiday is actually quite nice as there is about 50% less traffic and so that means that it is almost pleasurable in this heat. My lungs and chest however do hurt when I breathe in deeply so I must remember to stop that but other than that the journey is always pleasant to Puri.
The best thing about Puri is that you can get pretty much everything thing you need there except today its BCA atm centre was closed. 15 machines all out of order and 7 men all sat there doing absolutely nothing. Great. And the funniest thought is that there are no maids and so the parents are forced to look after their own kids for 2 weeks, imagine that.
Pizza was nice as was JCO yogurt and then back here and that was the day.
And that is where I am up to now. I hope/intend to write more to capture the moments of life here, well my my life here.
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|Hong Joon-pyo, former chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, speaks during an interview with Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, in Seoul, Feb. 4. / Korea Times file
By Park Ji-won
Hong Joon-pyo, former chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), dropped out of the LKP leadership race, Monday, after the party rejected his request to delay the national convention.
"I am sorry for not being able to work through to the end. It is my fault. I will reflect on myself and listen to the people with a more humble attitude to continue to revive our country with people and party members," Hong said in a statement Monday.
"The upcoming national convention should become an opportunity to make a new party based on fair competition."
His withdrawal came after the LKP's election committee reiterated its position Monday that the national convention will be held as scheduled. Six of eight candidates, including Hong, pledged earlier to withdraw from the race if their demand for a delay of the election was not met. They hoped to avoid overlapping with the second summit between North Korea and the United States.
They claimed if the convention is held as scheduled, it will be favorable for leading contender, former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.
"Whether they will boycott the election is their business, not ours," Park Kwan-yong, chief of the party's election preparatory panel, told reporters after an emergency meeting with panel members.
The LKP plans to elect its leader and Supreme Council members on Feb. 27. The leadership seat remained empty after former LKP leader Hong resigned from the post to take responsibility for the party's large defeat in local elections last June.


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A typical Monday after a long weekend. I am torn between flea-combing the cat, chiseling up the old linoleum from the kitchen floor (a mistake to have started before ordering new flooring) or painting the only stairs to the one bathroom in the house. Note that none of these endeavors involves earning a living (to pay for the cat food, the flooring or the paint).
In order to be somewhat less scattered, it's time to clear my desk of "notes for blog." In doing so, I notice a certain theme. Corners. Then again a neighborhood that is basically a grid does have a lot of corners, but based on the land use notices that I regularly receive, soon there will be fewer corners without underground parking.
First corner: 24th & 58th NW. Tonight – November 26th is the Design Review meeting for the planned 31 unit six story development on this corner. The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Ballard High School. The buildings on this site were recently demolished and I wrote about meeting with the developer in October.
Second Corner: The first corner seems so small compared to this one. This corner is the northwest corner of Market and 15th NW, former site of Manning's Restaurant and more recently Denny's. That restaurant corner is a small portion of the area earmarked for 32,307 square feet of retail space with 261 residential units above. The block is zoned commercial and the building can go up to 65 feet. The plans call for 437 parking spaces, below and at ground level. This Design Review Meeting is scheduled for December 17th at 6:30 p.m. in the Ballard High School library.
So what does it mean when the notice says, "public may offer comments regarding the design?"
It doesn't mean that the public can change the zoning that allows C1-65′ (commercial, 65 feet) but the public can address their concerns about pedestrian safety, traffic sight lines, landscaping dangers and design elements such as the exterior materials. One member of the Design Review Board for the North/Northwest neighborhoods referred to what the Design Board is actually able to do as window dressing. But if we missed the boat on zoning, then we have to at least pay attention to the window dressing.
Look at the difference between Metropole and NOMA, the Ballard Library and the soon to re-open Broadview Branch. If we don't speak up on what we're allowed to address then it's hard to complain later.
Corner Three: 28th NW & Market Street. I had hoped to report on the Taco Truck reportedly serving at the site of where Arnold's gas station used to be located, but I wasn't fast enough. Although immediately appreciated by employees along Market Street, the truck has gone elsewhere for reasons that are doubtless less about the food than about the permit.
Enough corners for now, there's a floor to remove and meetings to attend.


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Simple herb-baked trout & horseradish
Nutrition and extra info
- Healthy
- Gluten-free
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal457
- fat23g
- saturates4g
- carbs1g
- sugars1g
- fibre0g
- protein63g
- salt0.4g
- 2 whole rainbow trout, gutted and cleaned
Freshwater trout:
Farmed rainbow trout has pretty, spotty skin…
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Olive oilol-iv oyl
Probably the most widely-used oil in cooking, olive oil is pressed from fresh olives. It's…
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
Oval in shape with a pronouced bulge on one end, lemons are one of the most versatile…
- sprigs of various herbs (parsley, thyme and dill would all work well)
- fresh horseradish, grated, to serve (optional)
Horseradishhors rad-ish
Horseradish root is larger than an ordinary radish, and has a hot, peppery flavour.
Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Lay the trout over a lightly oiled baking tray and stuff the fish cavity with slices of lemon and herbs. Season generously all over and drizzle with the remaining oil.
Bake in the oven for 20 mins until the fish is cooked through – the eyes will have turned white and the flesh will be soft to touch. The trout can be served as they are with your favourite seasonal vegetables, but for an added extra touch, peel away the top layer of skin and grate over fresh horseradish before serving.


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Organize an event or celebration needs professional attention and commitment. So in Grupo Parro it's our responsibility to take care of every detail and ensure customer satisfaction.
With our indoor rooms and outdoor terraces you can surprise in the heart of Seville. It all depends on your guests and what kind of experience you want to live, choose from a variety of possibilities:


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Monthly Archives: February 2013
Amazon: Only the End of the Funnel?
Over the past few months, I've been following some of the research on how people find and buy books (see here and here and here, if interested). All this research is interesting from the social science perspective, but it's also … Continue reading
2012 Nebula Award Nominees: Novel and Novella
A couple of days ago, I posted the Nebula Award nominees in the novelette and short story categories. While the novel and novella categories are of interest to me, I didn't post them because I doubt I'll vote on these … Continue reading
2012 Nebula Award Nominees (with links)
It's award time again. My little segment of the fiction writing world has two major awards given out annually: the Hugo Award (named for Hugo Gernsback) presented by the World Science Fiction Society and the Nebula Award presented by the Science … Continue reading
Ebooks Changing the Way We Use Libraries
I finished reading the Pew Report Younger Americans' Reading and Library Habits some time ago. I posted a few thoughts on the report several months ago (here and here), but I never got around to posting my final thoughts. In addition to … Continue reading
The State of Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores
Last year, Borders Books, the second largest bookseller in the U.S., closed its doors. Their inability to compete with large online retailers such as Amazon was the primary reason cited for their bankruptcy. When Borders went under, many industry experts … Continue reading
Should I Register my Copyright?
As a writer, you'd think I'd know the ins-and-outs of copyright law, especially considering the recent brouhaha over the Games Workshop trademark infringement case. Other than knowing that what I write is protected under U.S. copyright law the second I put … Continue reading
Who Owns the Space Marines?
This might be old news, but I just heard about it this week (so it's new news to me). The story itself—or at least this round of it—is over, but it illustrates the state of things in the online world. … Continue reading
And It's Out….
That didn't take long…but they also said it wouldn't…. The 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology from Stupefying Stories is now available for free download. It contains three of my stories: my Campbell-qualifying sale, "Thief of Futures" (originally published in Lightspeed Magazine), "Observations … Continue reading
Pre-Campbell Anthology Set for Release
I signed my contract today allowing up to three of my stories to appear in a special issue of Stupefying Stories. M. David Blake, one of Stupefying's editors, has put together a pre-award reader to assist Campbell Award voters. (The John W. Campbell Award is … Continue reading
"Still Life Through Water Droplets" Live at Toasted Cake
Yeah for Toasted Cake! My story "Still Life Through Droplets," originally published in Daily Science Fiction, is now up for listening at Toasted Cake, perhaps my favorite podcasts out there. If you're not familiar with Toasted Cake, it's a Parsec … Continue reading


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Jungle Barbie & The Slow Boat to Peru
E-mail originally written & sent home in May 2003 – after a week on a boat sleeping in a hammock in 'rather close' quarters – heading up the Amazon river from Manaus, Brazil to the tri-border of Brazil/ Columbia/ Peru. … SLOW being an understatement. I have finally made it out of Brazil after 4 […]Read More Jungle Barbie & The Slow Boat to Peru


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- Castle Community Bank heralds the return of Community-based banking to Edinburgh
- The accent is firmly on 'ethical banking' as new bank, created by the merger of two long established Credit Unions, breathes fresh competition into local banking with attractive savings and borrowing rates
Edinburgh, Scotland – Thursday 20th October 2016;Today (Thursday 20th October) is International Credit Union Day and the day the Scottish Capital gains a new financial institution – Castle Community Bank.
Castle Community Bank willprovide its citizens withfinancial products similar to 'High Street' institutions, but with the emphasis firmly on sustainable banking and a truly ethical approach which puts 'people before profit'.
The Bank, based in the north of the city, will offer savings and loans to all residents that fall within the EH postcode catchment area.
It is completely not-for-profit with any surplus funds being ploughed back into communities around Edinburgh. The bank has no shareholders and is fully owned by its members.
The new bank has been formed following the merger of two long established Credit Unions in the capital that served the communities of Craigmillar and North Edinburgh.
Whilst financial cooperatives have traditionally been designed to provide financial support and assistance to individuals and families who may be precluded from using traditional banking facilities, Castle Community Bank is attracting interest from young professionals and others motivated by conscience to place their finances in the hands of an ethical financial institution which is free from the shackles of shareholder dividends, 'fat cat' bonuses and significant banking costs.
Reverend Iain May, Minister of South Leith Parish Church in Edinburgh and a former banker, Marketing Manager with RBS and the Head of Planning and Strategy for Allied Irish Bank Group, helped set up the new bank.
He comments;
"Whilst we are different in structure to a traditional High Street bank, we adhere to the same robust regulatory requirements and independent scrutiny aimed at protecting our customer's interests. Castle Community Bank has taken well over a year to launch, because of the systems we had to adopt. Our core principle is to ensure that the vulnerable in our communities do not have to get caught up in a debt spiral or turn to payday lenders to make ends meet.
Equally, our market research indicated that people across the City would welcome a bank with a strong ethical policy, one that took corporate social responsibility to its heart within every facet of its operation and, importantly, ensures that 100% of all profits were re-invested into the community at all times. On that basis, Castle Community Bank is a bank for all."
The bank currently has a growing customer base, running well into four figures and a healthy deposit of customer savings, known as "member shares", as well as an active Loan Book. It's Capital Access Ratio is a very strong 17% – whereas 3% is the regulatory minimum requirement. Castle Community Bank currently offers competitive interest rates on fixed term deposits as well as free life cover on personal loans and savings accounts.
Moreover, all savings are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) – up to £75,000 (Castle's maximum deposit is £15,000) and of course it is regulated heavily by the FCA and PRA – similarly to banks)
Reverend Iain May adds;
"People want a community lender based in their community. I am absolutely certain that as we grow and the word spreads and people see the very competitive interest rates we offer, many will make the decision that some or all of their money should be in our community bank, rather than a large multinational which may be based in Frankfurt, London or Shanghai.
It will make sense to a lot of people that investment in their own community bank gives something back to the very people they live amongst."
Castle Community Bank has been working in partnership across Edinburgh and The Lothians with a wide range of public and private sector organisations and associations, social enterprises, schools and religious organisations.
It currently has two 'walk in' branches in Niddrie and Wardieburn, and has invested significantly in one of the most dynamically robust and secure online web presences offering 24/7 online banking. Website www.castlecommunitybank.co.uk
International Credit Union (ICU) Day® has been celebrated on the third Thursday of October since 1948. The day is recognised to reflect upon the credit union movement's history and to promote its achievements.
Over 57,000 credit unions operate in 105 countries worldwide, providing community-based financial services. Credit unions empower people to access high quality and affordable financial services and help 217 million members — many of them reliant on low income and/or financially excluded — to create opportunities such as starting small businesses, building family homes and educating their children.


text: New XML Schema Designer CTP released for Visual Studio 2008 August 28, '07 Comments [2] Posted in XML Sponsored By A few months ago the XmlTeam teased us with some screenshots and screencasts of a newly redesigned XSD Designer for Visual Studio 2008. It's unclear if this will make it into RTM or if it'll be a quick download/add-in, but regardless today they released CTP1 of the XML Schema Designer (download). The original schema design surface was more DataSet focused and it would sometimes mess with your Schemas. It was clear (to me at least) that it was schizophrenic to have on designer taking on double duty, especially as folks are making more and more complex Schemas. Here's a books.xsd schema I use for examples, loaded into VS 2008 with the new Schema Explorer on the right. Also, a tip when writing Xml Schemas in Visual Studio...don't forget to right-click and hit Insert Snippet. The XSD Editor includes a metric butt-load of XSD-specific snippets that are worth using. « Mixing XmlSerializers with XElements and... | Blog Home | Hanselman Forums - AspNetForum from JitB... » About Scott Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author. About Newsletter Sponsored By Hosting By Comments [2] Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or use the Permalink


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These Personalised Soldier Egg Cups are the perfect gift for your little ones.
You can personalise this Soldier Egg Cup with 3 lines, with 15 characters per line.
It features a soldier design around the egg cup, with "Tap! Tap! Crack!" being a standard text featured on the inside of the egg cup.
These Egg Cups are perfect for Easter, Birthdays, or any time that you want to treat a loved one.
Please note that once an order has been placed, it may not be possible to amend your personalisation. We are unable to print accents and symbols so please do not include these as it may affect your personalisation.
Dispatch time: 5-7 days
Made from: Bone China
Dimensions: H6.6 W4.9 D4.9cm
UK Standard Delivery £3.95
UK Next Day Delivery (Weekdays only, orders placed before 1pm) £6.95
UK Two Day Delivery (Weekdays only, orders placed before 1pm) £6.95
Saturday Delivery (Orders placed before 1pm) £11.95
Click & Collect (collection location can be chosen at checkout) £7.95
Europe £14.00
Rest of World £20.00


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I love to use old wood and make something new. This wooden cross is from the paneling that was on the walls in our house. The house was built in 1988. The living/dining space was covered in paneling. It was actually done very nicely….for paneling. It was framed and layered and looked good for what it was. But all I saw was paneling! My hubs loved it and didn't want to see it go. As you can see from this picture….it went!
I didn't throw any of it out. I just made a large pile (when I say I, I mean, my hubs!…okay, I did help make the pile of wood, I am good at collecting…stuff!). I have been dipping into said pile of wood for many projects. This one I have been wanting to try for several months now and I finally got around to making it. I think it turned out pretty good for old paneling.
Looks good now!!!
Because it isn't on my wall…..or at least not covering my wall!
I gathered my supplies:
Scrap wood.
Ruler (to make sure my edges were equal).
Polyurethane (sealer).
Paint brushes.
Clamps (to hold wood to table for cutting).
Metal saw tooth hanger for back.
Glue (craft goop, I like a thick glue).
Decorative crosses from local craft store.
Safety glasses.
I found a cross pattern I liked and cut it out for my pattern.
Trace your pattern onto the wood. Make sure your lines are dark enough to see once you start cutting.
Be sure to wear safety glasses!
Start cutting your design out. I used a jigsaw for this project.
I clamped my wood (because it is really thin) to my table saw so it didn't move on me and it made it easier to cut out.
After it is cut out, you will need to sand it smooth. I used a palm sander but you can do it by hand…it is a small project.
Paint it whatever color you wish.
I painted this one a teal with spots of a lighter blue to give it more interest. I mix colors for most of my projects. I collect paint and then mix together to get custom colors and that is what this one is!
The color in this picture is not true (closer in the last pic). But at least you get the idea it is painted. I then sanded it a bit more and used stain to distress it, to give it an aged look. Then use a poly sealer on it. Let it dry between coats of paint and stain and sealer.
If you don't want to age your project, just paint it, you can seal it with something made to seal paint or not seal it (depending on where you hang it). Either way should work fine.
Once it is completely dry I glued (the wood was too thin to use the nails that came with the hanger) the saw tooth hanger in the middle of the back (this is where the ruler comes in handy…center that hanger!)
Then I glued my decorative cross in the middle.
And it is finished! After it drys of course.
That wasn't so hard, was it?
If you have any questions, let me know.
Good luck with your own cross projects.
Craft on,


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Good night everyone. We'll talk again after the weekend.
Good night everyone. We'll talk again after the weekend.
In which we put a phrase in a mausoleum. And there's a good chance that Brandon doesn't know what a mausoleum actually is.
This week, Series 10 continues with the second episode "Smile", and for the most part Brandon and Danica stay on topic. But then there's the potential of Torchwood porn and alternative meanings for the BBC. And also Danica is horribly insensitive about British history, but to be fair, the British are history's villain. Except when there are Nazis or sometimes the French.
Podcast picture is by GIRL NAMED SHIRL PHOTOGRAPHY.
Another day is swiftly ticking to an end, and it looks like something has to give once more. I am committed to making sure words appear on this site, however, so welcome back to another garbage post.
You're welcome.
01. Over the past few weeks, I've been having odd fits where it gets hard to breathe. These only tend to last for a few seconds, but can be prolonged depending on what caused the attack in the first place. I'm assuming this is what panic attacks are, so yay. Very lucky to have those in my life. Topics to avoid in order to prevent me from slight hyperventilation? Well, dying, mostly. Or anything having to do with experiencing loss. I have some things that I'm working on right now, and I'm not sure it's going so hot. But maybe sharing this will help? I don't know.
02. What I do know is that while aspects of my life have definitely shifted as of late, many other areas are shifting towards a bit of clarity. I've discovered that opening up my options has given myself a lot more breathing room. Allowing for thoughts of many paths instead of single paths has been freeing, and has helped with any anxiety that has crept in lately. Also breathing. Breathing is wonderful.
03. Something that really resonated with me this week? The Big Moose one shot from Archie Comics.
This oversized comic featured three great stories about Moose Mason, one of which I think might be the most heartfelt story I've read all year. It's the second story in this book, written by Ryan Cady with art by Thomas Pitilli and Glenn Whitmore, with Jack Morelli on letters. The story explores how Moose sees himself – a well meaning meathead of a teen, just trying to do his best with the abilities that he has. He always has the best of intentions, even if he lets his temper get the better of him sometimes. He also lends his big heart so easily that his friends will pretty much do whatever they can to help him out. It's… it's a really great story, and I implore all of you to try and give it a read. It definitely made me feel better about life in general, if even for a little while.
04. I don't want the tenor of this update to alarm any of you. Life is… life is actually pretty good right now, but I'm trying to get better at admitting when things aren't exactly perfect. Pretending doesn't help and didn't help. In fact, it gave the appearance that I didn't care when things got rough. "Everything will be fine" is not always a great response, especially when a person just needs to hear "This is bad and I'm scared too" before you start trying to fix a thing. I'm learning, I hope. This is me reaching out, even just a little.
Thank you for reading. The next post will be this week's edition of Doctor Whooch, which gets a little sexy. You've been warned.
Talk with you soon.
A quick update tonight – just putting some words out there to catch up on a few things that have been happening.
Thank you for checking in. I should be back here tomorrow with something with a bit more meat on the bone. Until then!
Hey, were you wondering if Variant Edition was going to get dressed up in Nazi collaborator paraphernalia?
We aren't. But you can hear Danica talk about it a bit more over at The Daily Dot, where she summarizes things quite succinctly with this line:
"People shouldn't be cosplaying as Nazis. Period."
You think that wouldn't have to be something that should be said, but 2017 has been one hell of a year. Can the bullshit stop now? That would be great.
Five Things is an occasional check in on what's been and what might be. I refuse to set a regularity for it, because deadlines are for nerds and squares.
01. So it's late on Sunday night and we had a long day at the store (more on that in a bit). I'm supposed to be writing, but instead I spent the night dicking around making the logo you're seeing above. It's okay. I'm not a professional graphic designer by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd like to think I'm not the worst. Anyway, I just went to show Danica what it looked like, and she's already asleep because again, it's late af. I need to get this update done. Hi there. How are you. Continue reading
We're back! Hide yo' companions!
Brandon and Danica return to podcasting with a new companion, a gentle shot, and a zest for life(or whatever optimists say – we aren't, so we're just spitballing right now).
They manage to stay on topic until Brandon comes up with a fantastic theory about the similarities between companions. You'll have to listen to the episode, I'm not going to ruin it here for you. Who do you think I am? @SavedYouAClick? SIR OR MADAM, I AM OFFENDED.
Anyway, listen while the two fall in love with Bill, are still offended by Moffat-isms, and maybe just maybe are thinking positively about Series 10.
Outro music is "Bills, Bills, Bills" by YesSister, JazzSister
Podcast picture is by GIRL NAMED SHIRL PHOTOGRAPHY.
I have a compulsion to hurt myself. Not physically mind you, just… emotionally.
Do you have a voice inside your head that keeps telling you that you don't deserve good things? That the bad that comes your way was earned through a general lack of skill and talent? In my travels, I've discovered that this voice lives inside many of us. It also tries to tell us how everyone around us has things so put together. Meanwhile, that person we see smiling about their life is nervously listening to their own voice.
You're not good.
You were never good enough.
And so on.
It seems like these days, I'm desperately seeking balance. Like… I know that I'm not as bad as the voice in my head keeps telling me, but I also know that I've made mistakes… and that I will continue to make mistakes. I bargain with myself, trying to strike a balance between what I'm comfortable with believing, and what I want to believe. It's… it's a tough process. But it's one that I'm also privileged enough to be able to sort out, on the good days. And I'm also lucky that there are quite a few good days.
I think…
I think that most of us spend a lot of time trying to find balance. Between the voices and our beliefs and the various forms of self worth we evaluate through out the day.
I think that maintaining that balance is hard, and that everyone is just trying to make their way through the day bargaining with themselves.
I think that was all do it and that we shouldn't feel bad. Or at least not as bad as we think we should feel.
I think we should listen more to others, as they are usually better arbiters of worth than we are for ourselves. And I think we should be slower to dismiss what others seem to see in ourselves.
I think… I should listen to my own advice.
But then again, the voice in my head just told me this was all garbage so. Who am I gonna believe?
That's the choice, isn't it.
I ran away last week
I began reading a book
I took a walk down to the lake
I tried not to think about the future
I annoyed some geese
I watched a lot of X-Files
I tried not to think about the present
I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die
I bonded with a black cat
I tried not to miss my own cats
I finished the book
I tried not to think about the past
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