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The Bureau of Industry and Security
Update 2013
July 23-25, 2013
Program Summary
(Subject to Change)
Tuesday, July 23
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Lunch Keynote Speaker
Wednesday, July 24
Interagency Panel
Lunch Keynote Speaker
Export Enforcement Panel
Breakout Sessions:
Tuesday, July 23 - Wednesday, July 24
Aerospace: Jurisdiction and Regulatory Changes Panel
This session will focus on the Initial Implementation of Export Control Reform rule provisions affecting aircraft, gas turbine engines, and related items, with a focus on the Commerce Control List's new Export Control Classification Numbers 9_610 and 9_619.
Anatomy of an Investigation
The Office of Export Enforcement will take you through a full criminal investigation. We will bring you from case inception and development all the way through prosecution and final disposition. This forum will allow exporters to see and understand the complexities and differences between a crime and an administrative violation.
Military Vehicles, Vessels, and Miscellaneous Equipment Rule
This panel will discuss any additional final Export Control Reform rules and the most recent proposed regulations involving these categories of items.
Export Control Reform – Changes for Shippers, and Automated Export System Changes
This panel will discuss recent changes being made to the Automated Export System (AES) as a result of the Initial Implementation Rule for Export Control Reform. The panel will also discuss the evolution of AES to reflect changes to the Foreign Trade Regulations of the Bureau of the Census. The material will be of particular interest to exporters who will be shipping items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. Topics will include EAR parts 758.1 and 758.2 regarding changes to BIS's AES filing and post-departure filing requirements and what specific AES changes may impact software providers and companies with in-house programs that interface with AES. Attendees will also hear presentations from a statistical (Census), and enforcement (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) perspective.
Export Control Reform – License Exceptions
The first final rules have been published implementing the President's Export Control Reform Initiative. The objective of the Export Control Reform Initiative is to protect and enhance U.S. national security interests, by fundamentally reforming the export control system. Changes to many of the Export Administration Regulations license exceptions which will be effective October 15 will facilitate the realignments being made in the Commerce Control List and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations of the Department of State. This session will discuss implementation of these changes.
Export Control Reform – New Order of Review and the "600 series"
The first final rules have been published implementing the President's Export Control Reform Initiative. The objective of the Export Control Reform Initiative is to protect and enhance U.S. national security interests, by fundamentally reforming the export control system. The new "600 series" of Export Control Classification Numbers within the Export Administration Regulations allows for identification, classification, and control of items transferred from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List. This session will discuss progress to date in this effort.
Export Control Reform – "Specially Designed"
The first final rules have been published implementing the President's Export Control Reform Initiative. The objective of the Export Control Reform Initiative is to protect and enhance U.S. national security interests, by fundamentally reforming the export control system. The new definition of "specially designed" which will be effective October 15 in the Export Administration Regulations corresponds with a new definition in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations of the Department of State. This session will discuss implementation of that definition.
Export Control Reform – Transition Issues
State Department and BIS experts will discuss the Initial Implementation of Export Control Reform rules, with emphasis on the State Department transition plan, and reexport issues.
Meeting the Deemed Export Challenge
The BIS Deemed Export requirements continues to be of strong interest for companies, research and development centers, universities and laboratories that hire foreign students and scientists working on technologies and equipment that are export controlled. The U.S. Government continues to receive numerous petitions for skilled foreign worker (H-1B) visas. The panel will address issues relating to: the effect of export control reform on deemed exports; the control of emerging technology; guidance on "use technology" and " fundamental research"; export control requirements for government contracts with industry and universities; enforcement of deemed export violations; visa requirements; sought after technologies; major deemed export country destinations; and deemed export compliance programs.
Nuclear Technology Policy, Licensing Issues and Trends
This interagency panel will discuss the status of U.S. export controls pertaining to nuclear related items. The U.S. maintains export controls on nuclear-related items under the authority of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act of 1978 (NNPA) to further U.S. nuclear nonproliferation policy. The U.S. carries out its nuclear nonproliferation obligations through its support of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime which entails membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and Zangger Committee (ZC). BIS administers export licensing requirements for items that have significance for nuclear explosive purposes and other items that may be used in sensitive nuclear activities. In addition the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission controls the export of items related to nuclear reactor vessels and the Department of Energy administers export controls for technology related to the production of special nuclear materials.
Regulatory Review
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is currently undertaking a retrospective review of its regulations to determine how they may be clarified or streamlined, and is also formulating new regulations to keep abreast of changes in the multilateral export control regimes. In this session, the staff of BIS's Regulatory Policy Division will review the regulations that have been published and those under development which are not directly related to Export Control Reform. Normally, this will include regulatory changes to conform to Wassenaar Arrangement decisions.
Interagency representative from BIS, the Department of State's Office of Economic Sanctions Policy and Implementation (SPI), and the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will discuss export licensing policy with regard to countries, entities, and individuals subject to sanctions. Panel members will address sanctions within the context of U.S. foreign policy and national security concerns and provide an overview of recent changes to licensing policy.
This session will discuss the proposed rule published May 24, 2013 dealing with how spacecraft and related items would be controlled on the Commerce Control List (CCL). Such items would be controlled by new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) 9A515, 9B515, 9D515, and 9E515 proposed by this rule and existing ECCNs.
Use of the Entity List Today: IED Counter-Proliferation Efforts
As one of the proscribed parties lists administered by BIS, the Entity List is a flexible tool that facilitates the U.S. Government's effort to counter the ongoing threat to U.S. soldiers and marines and coalition forces in Afghanistan caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In adding persons proliferating IEDs to the Entity List, the U.S. Government highlights these persons' nefarious activities and is better able to coordinate multilateral action against them. This panel's speakers will provide an overview of the Entity List in the context of the evolution of BIS's IED counter-proliferation efforts, and highlight the military's experience with counter-IED efforts. The panel session will conclude by opening the floor to questions and answers, whether specific to IEDs or about the Entity List in general.
Special Sessions and Activities:
Tuesday, July 23 - Thursday, July 25
BIS Online Services
Learn about online services and online training provided through the BIS Website. The staff of BIS's Office of the Chief Information Officer will be there to demonstrate and answer any questions pertaining to the SNAP-R Online Registration and Self-Management System and SNAP-R enhancements. Staff from the Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division will be on hand to demonstrate AESDirect and AESPcLink – the free, widely used systems that allow exporters and their authorized filers to report export information electronically. In addition, you may explore the electronic Export Administration Regulations (e-cfr) hosted on the Government Printing Office's website and learn helpful tools and search techniques.
SNAP-R Introduction for New Users
The Outreach and Educational Services Division will periodically present a live demonstration of the Bureau of Industry and Security's on-line electronic registration and application system for license applications and commodity classification requests. BIS personnel will assist new users to complete the registration form and activate a new account. This session may be especially useful for exporters new to the Commerce Control List.
Internet Café
An internet café will be open to provide internet access and printers. Program materials may be downloaded for printing on the BIS web site at www.bis.doc.gov to save on the provided flash drive or to print.
Exhibit Hall
The Exhibit Hall will be open throughout the entire conference, Tuesday, July 23-Thursday, July 25. Check the conference agenda for hours. Private sector and U.S. Government exhibitors will be on hand to present the services they offer to help companies meet various export control responsibilities and marketing goals. Such services include global logistics management, compliance strategies, and education and counseling on international trade management and regulations. Invited U.S. Government exhibitors include Bureau of Industry and Security's Outreach and Educational Services and Treaty Compliance Divisions, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Commercial Service, Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee Export Pavilion, Bureau of the Census, and the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, Inc.
Thursday, July 25
Roundtables and Open Forums
Throughout the day there will be roundtable and open forums designed to permit attendees to move about, listen, engage in discussion, and interact with colleagues and government representatives on several important topics. The open forums will run from 9:00am-11:00am, and then continue from 1:00pm-3:30pm. Check the agenda for exact times and locations.
Roundtable Discussions
A full day of specific topic roundtables will give attendees the opportunity to meet and network with officials of BIS and other agencies as well as export control peers in an informal setting. There will be four (4) one-hour sessions throughout the day from 9:00am-10:00am; 10:30am-11:30am; 1:00pm-2:00pm; and 2:30pm-3:30pm. You may participate in all sessions but, to provide sufficient opportunities for all, you are required to select a different table for each session. There will be program material to identify the topic of discussions and facilitator for each table. The tables will be numbered and this event will be on a first come, first served basis


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Francisco Goya Tu Que No Puedes, from Los Caprichos
Artist: Francisco Goya
Date: 1799
Reference: Harris 77ii
Price Upon Request
Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes was born on March 30, 1746, in a small village of Fuendetodos, in the northeastern Spanish province of Aragon. Goya is considered by many to be the 'Father of Modern Art,' as he pioneered what would eventually become hallmark subject matter of 19th-century art in Europe, specifically industrialization, urbanization, the effects of war and revolution on society, and political corruption. Stylistically, Goya's art was a response to previous conceptions of European academic art. The scope of Goya's art is vast, as he produced art continuously for over 60 years. At 17, he traveled to Madrid and studied the paintings of Tiepolo and Antonio Raphael Mengs, and at 24 went to Rome and survived by selling his own paintings. By the 1770s, he had gained royal patrons, the best-known of which being King Charles III of Spain. In July 1780, Goya was elected to the Spain's Royal Academy of San Fernando, the most renowned art academy in the country. At the turn of the century, Goya worked heavily in printmaking, and produced his two best-known works. Between 1797 and 1798, Goya created a series of 80 aquatint prints, called Los Caprichos. The sequence offers the viewer a bleak, critical, and satirical view of Spanish society in the late 18th Century. His targets included the rise of ignorance and superstition, the decline of logic and rational thinking, domestic and married life, poor education, and the corruption of the church and the moneyed classes.On May 2, 1808, residents of Madrid rebelled against the French military, who had occupied the city. This uprising resulted in the mass execution of Spaniards the following day, and began a six-year war between Napoleon's France and an alliance between Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom for control over the Iberian Peninsula. In response to this conflict, throughout the 1810s Goya printed Los Desastres de la Guerra ('The Disasters of War'), a sequence of 82 prints depicting the effects of war and starvation. Technically, The Disasters of War was ambitious, as Goya employed a breadth of printmaking techniques: the series contains aquatints, engravings, etchings, and drypoints.Both Los Caprichos and Los Desastres established Goya not only as an intellectual product of the Enlightenment in Europe, but also as a progressive and expert printmaker. He died in Bordeaux, France in 1828.

subset: commoncrawl


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I thought I knew pain. I had had my share of it — from hip arthritis to sprained ankles to gallstones and two bouts of childbirth. But nothing has been like the past two weeks of astonishing, electrifying pain that has nearly disabled my every activity.
It started so innocuously. There was an enticing looking trampoline in the back yard of a house we were renting to celebrate our 25th anniversary. I climbed on to bounce with friends, no more than a few minutes.
But the morning after that two-minute jump, I woke up and found that my neck and upper back felt stiff and tweaky, like I'd slept on my pillow wrong. I figured it would go away as soon as I started moving around and loosening things up.
I was wrong. I entered, for the first time in my life, a growing, debilitating, excruciating pain that just would not go away. By the fourth night,I wasn't able to sleep in my bed any longer. I was up every two hours, crying, only able to find intermittent relief if I rolled around on the floor with a lacrosse ball wedged underneath my shoulder blades.
I applied blue ice and microwaved, aromatherapy shoulder wraps. I got a plastic goose hook with a sharp beaky hook, and the only thing that allowed me to tolerate walking around was simultaneously digging that thing into my upper back, poking and clawing at the relentless spasm. A sweet friend came over and gave me a wonderful shiatsu treatment and when she left, I was comfortable lying on blankets on the floor. I dozed off feeling blissed out. But when I got up, the pain returned.
The only thing that gave me pure relief was regular doses of Percocet which allowed me to drift into comfortable sleep. The minute I put myself into a sitting or standing position for more than five minutes, the chewing, clawing sensation resumed.
I have learned many things during this Time of Pain. Things I never really appreciated until now. I learned that:
- Pain is expensive. During this period of pain, I had to give up hundreds of dollars for concert tickets I had paid for. Nobody on Craigslist or Facebook wanted to see Jackson Browne as badly as I had. Ditto for a triathlon I had registered for (I went, driven by someone else, to cheer on my friends who had signed up to support me). Ditto for a hotel room I had pre-paid to stay in for a friend's out of town wedding. It has added up big time, all these things I paid for when I assumed I would be active and well.
- Pain is boring.Not only for me, wandering from one horizontal surface to another, but for the kind people who ask me every morning,"How do you feel?" and getting the same tired, dogged answer every time. "Not so great." I wonder how long these friends will want to stick around when I am not the upbeat, active person I was before that damn trampoline.
- Pain is on its own timeline. It seems like maybe it's getting better. My husband (who has been a saint, and given new meaning to the words "in sickness and in health") observes that at least now I am "comfortable at rest" instead of "agonizingly uncomfortable no matter what position." But two weeks into it, I want to be better than able to lie around on my back all day. I need to get up and out and around. I need to be able to drive my car without crazy discomfort or narcotic wooziness. Pain doesn't give a shit about my schedule, my calendar, my job or my plans.
- Pain doesn't show on the outside. After I employ Lamaze breathing techniques to endure a shower, toweling off, getting dressed and drying my hair, numerous optimistic acquaintances have exclaimed, "You look so much better!" But I am cringing from the stabbing red-hot poker that is assaulting that area between my scapula and my thoracic spine. They don't notice that it doesn't take longer than me for ten minute to end up on the floor again, seeking out the ball, the foam roller, the ice bag. I know that I looked "fine" when I was cheering my buddies on at See Jane Tri, but I was feeling terrible. I had to stop several times to roll on a picnic bench.
- Chronic pain is absolutely debilitating. I am a physical therapist. I used to work primarily with people who had endured years and years of pain. I think about them now. I think about how they used to relay their stories to me and weep. How I didn't really understand the depth of the mental and emotional exhaustion that pain can exact on a human being. It has only been two weeks for me, but I see that this could be a long road.
- Pain is mysterious. Nobody can explain, really, why it hurts the way that it does. Maybe it is a rotated or twisted thoracic vertebrae, out of alignment with a rib. Maybe it is a neuro-electrical loop that won't close or stop. Maybe it is muscle spasm. Maybe it is the "moderate narrowing" of my cervical spine, pressing on my spinal nerves. Maybe it just IS. Many people can jump and fling themselves around on a trampoline to no ill effects.
As I write this, I don't know how or when I will feel "normal" again. When I will be able to effortlessly bathe, or eat a meal, let alone drive around in my car all day and practice as a home health physical therapist. When I will be able to swim in open water, ride a bike or run a 5k race. All of these things are like dreams to me now. All I can do is take each moment, each moment of discomfort, to try and learn someting, try and find a shred of compassion for myself and this situation. All I can do is ask for patience and a bit of relief.


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Can you ask your employer to let you work from home during a winter storm? Ask HR.
Johnny C. Taylor Jr., a human-resources expert, is tackling your questions as part of a series for USA TODAY. Taylor is president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, the world's largest HR professional society.
The questions are submitted by readers, and Taylor's answers below have been edited for length and clarity.
Have a question? Do you have an HR or work-related question you'd like me to answer? Submit it here.
Winter is definitely here. With almanacs calling for a wet winter with a lot of snow in some parts of the country and periods of bitter cold elsewhere, I predict that Mother Nature will cause her share of complications for workplaces this season.
When bad weather strikes, companies must make decisions on office closures, pay, leave and safety. Here are answers to some common questions about how workplaces handle – or should handle – inclement weather.
More:Ask HR: Do I need to attend the office holiday party? Should I give my boss a gift?
More:Ask HR: How do today's workplaces need to change to meet the future?
More:Ask HR: What should I do if there's no HR? Should employers offer paid time off to vote?
In inclement weather, are employers legally required to do anything to ensure a safe workplace?
Yes. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to "furnish employees a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees."
What does that mean? It means employers are responsible for keeping parking lots, sidewalks, walkways and entryways free from ice and snow. This includes places inside the building where employees track in snow. If an employee is injured because a company fails to meet this requirement, the employee may be entitled to workers' compensation benefits.
Can employers require you to come to work in inclement weather?
Yes. But, depending upon the severity of the weather, this might not be a good idea.
Employers should consider safety risks, such as the potential for auto accidents or slips and falls, before deciding whether to open their offices and require employees to come to work.
Even if a company is open, employees might not be able to get to work because roads are too hazardous for driving, or schools are closed and children must be cared for. In these cases, employees should contact their managers to take time off, either unpaid or paid using paid time off or vacation time.
Because being physically in an office is no longer a must in many occupations, telework is a good workaround for many. Offer this to your supervisor as an alternative to taking time off. Working from home lessens the impact of bad weather on productivity, and employees are saved from using their paid time off.
Some employers require essential staff to report to work during bad weather. Should they provide transportation for them?
Although there is no requirement to do so, some employers do provide or coordinate transportation. Managers offer to pick up employees, or employees carpool, especially if one has a four-wheel drive vehicle.
Local governments know that some industries have essential employees who must get to work. Their actions in declaring weather emergencies and getting snowplows out on the roads early can help the few people who need to be at work get there safely.
And when getting there just isn't possible, teamwork is the answer. At hospitals, for example, it is not uncommon in the name of patient safety for employees to pull a double shift if coworkers cannot make it to work.
Do employers have to pay you if you cannot make it into the office?
It depends. Hourly employees do not have to be paid for time not worked due to inclement weather. However, if hourly employees are sent home early because of the weather, state pay laws might require employers to compensate them for a minimum number of hours.
If exempt salaried employees choose not to work when the business is open and work is available, an employer could make a full day deduction from their pay. Instead, many employers will ask salaried employees to make up lost time after they return to work. This practice is not allowed for nonexempt hourly workers in the private sector because they must be paid overtime for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
What happens to my pay if the business closes a full day because of inclement weather?
Nonexempt hourly employees won't want to read this, but under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), they do not have to be paid for time not worked. Salaried employees, on the other hand, must be paid their full salary if they perform any work during the workweek. An employer could require employees, both hourly and salaried, to use vacation for time off. But before an employer requires paid time off be used, it should check its state's sick-leave laws to ensure it complies.
How do I find out if my business is closed?
Check your company's policies and practices. Many companies have inclement-weather policies or emergency plans outlining how they communicate closures and providing information on pay, use of leave and benefits in these cases.
If you and your colleagues do not think winter-weather protocol is being well-communicated to you, encourage your HR department to send an all-staff email now – before the next big storm – to explain inclement weather policies and how office closures will be announced and to answer common questions.
As part of their communication, companies should encourage employees to wear appropriate footwear to work and take walking paths that have been shoveled and thoroughly cleared.
Some companies might think that all of this does not need to be articulated. But they would be surprised! Sending out reminder notes now will lessen the number of frantic calls and emails from employees when winter weather inevitably hits.


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Open source Perl and Python implementation of Macromedia's AMF protocol
Download it! Current version is AMF-Perl-0.15.tar.gz.
If you don't have Flash MX 2004, get the examples from an older release: AMF-Perl-0.14.tar.gz
September 19, 2004. An alpha implementation of AMF in Python. Version 0.04.
Usage instructions and code samples.
What is this?
Short version
Remoting is a way for Flash movies running in a web browser to
request structured data from the web server. The following data types
are supported - strings, numbers, dates, arrays, dictionaries/hashes,
objects, recordsets. Flash clients talk with the server using the AMF
protocol, which is proprietary to Macromedia. However, it's not that
hard to decode.
The initial code is based on the AMF-PHP project.
There also exists a shareware (but not open-source) Java and .NET
implementation of server-side Flash Remoting.
Created on Feb 24, 2003.
Update history (last updated July 06, 2004)
Mailing list on SourceForge is set up. Please go here to subscribe.


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Copper/925 Sterling Silver Personalized Initial Ring
Custom Engraved Ring— Add Special Meaning to Your Ring | Yafeini Jewelry
Engraving your name, date, numbers, motto or any special message you want to your ring, makes it one of a kind jewelry. Which is a perfect piece of personalized jewelry that makes you special and shows your personality. It's also a very meaningful and thoughtful gift for your loved ones on Anniversaries, Birthday, Christmas, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, Valentines Day, etc. Each of our custom jewelry pieces is designed specifically for you.
|Shipping Methods
|Shipping Time
|USPS First Class Mail
|7-10 Days
|United States
|3-7 Days
|About $25
|All Countries
|3-7 Days
|About $25
|All Countries
|5-10 Days
|About $25
|All Countries


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This error usually means the FROM field is not a valid email address.
Your friends over here at WebAssist! These Dreamweaver extensions will assist you in building unlimited, custom websites.
These out-of-the-box solutions provide you proven, tested applications that can be up and running now. Build a store, a gallery, or a web-based email solution.


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Manart-Hirsch Acrybind® ¾" Bias Cut Acrylic Binding is binding tape made from Sunbrella Marine Grade Fabric.This makes it a perfect match to the Sunbrella Fabric you are using. Bias cut binding is cut at an angle to allow for sharper turns where needed. The edges are folded over on both sides. This helps to provide a clean look while minimizing fraying. Acrybind® can be used on Biminis, dodgers, awnings, enclosures, zipper flaps and virtually any edge of fabric that you would like to give a clean finished and protected look. Available in all Sunbrella Colors. Custom binding sizes are available by special order.
Installation of Acrybind® is easy. Simply fold the binding edges over the material edge you are working with and stitch through. Binding attachments are available for your sewing machine in many sizes or Acrybind® can be folded over by hand.


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Find the best fit for your health in bangkok
Find The Health & Fitness Solutions In Bangkok We help you find the perfect gym, coach, trainer, studio to achieve your health and fitness goals in Bangkok. At FitnessBangkok.com, we have hundreds of listings of businesses ready to serve and support you. Our Mission Helping you keep healthy in Bangkok. FitnessBangkok makes it easy for you to experience the most inspiring and effective services in Bangkok, Thailand.
Timezone: (GMT+07:00) Asia/Jakarta
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
8:00 am - 3:00 pm
Fitness Bangkok
Jasmine Building, 3rd Floor, Sukhumvit Soi 23, Asoke
Bangkok 10110
About Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population of 10.539 million as of 2020, 15.3 percent of the country's population. Over 14 million people (22.2 percent) lived within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region at the 2010 census, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in both size and importance to the national economy. Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which eventually grew and became the site of two capital cities, Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of the modernization of Siam, later renamed Thailand, during the late-19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West. The city was at the centre of Thailand's political struggles throughout the 20th century, as the country abolished absolute monarchy, adopted constitutional rule, and underwent numerous coups and several uprisings. The city, incorporated as a special administrative area under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in 1972, grew rapidly during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact on Thailand's politics, economy, education, media and modern society. The Asian investment boom in the 1980s and 1990s led many multinational corporations to locate their regional headquarters in Bangkok. The city is now a regional force in finance, business and pop culture. It is an international hub for transport and health care, and has emerged as a centre for the arts, fashion, and entertainment.
Neighborhoods around BangkokBang Krabue, Phrom Phong, Khlong Toei, Banglamphu, Bangkok, Bangkok, Pathum Wan, Phlabphla, Neighborhood, Neighborhood, Saen Saep Canal, The Grand Palace, Pratu Nam Market, 28 Chidlom by SC Asset, Fire Station, On Nut, Thanabhumi, Khao Kaeng Ruttana, HOLY SHEET Hostel, Nakhon Sanuk, Kuay Jab Nay Lek,
Things To Do in Bangkok
The Grand Palace
Temple of the Emerald Buddha - Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram (Wat Phra Kaew)
Museum Siam
Lumphini Park
Wat Traimit Withayaram Worawihan
Bangkokian Museum
Jim Thompson House Museum
Phra Sumen Fort
Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan
Ong Ang Canal
National Museum Bangkok
Bangkok City Pillar Shrine
Chatuchak Weekend Market
Golden Mount Temple (Wat Saket)
Local Museum Bangkok Thonburi
King Prajadhipok Museum
Asiatique The Riverfront
Wat Phra Chetuphon (Wat Pho)
Wat Benchamabophit Dusitwanaram
Wat Mangkon Kamalawat (Wat Leng Noei Yi)


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Performance Tuned Sway Bars for Improved Handling & Reduced Body Roll !!!
Eibach "Anti-Roll Kit" Sway Bars are designed to work with Eibach Pro-Kit and Sport-Line performance springs or as a separate suspension upgrade. Eibach sway bars reduce body roll through increased design stiffness over stock sway bars. This results in increased handling and cornering grip in any performance driving situation. Manufactured from cold-formed, high strength aircraft-grade steel for precision performance, and finished with a long-lasting red powder coat finish. All the necessary mounting hardware and instructions included for easy installation.
|Download Instructions:
|7212.310 Instructions
|13 lbs.
|Part 7212.310 fits:
|1998-2004 Porsche 996
2008-2016 Ford F250 4wd & 2wd (all cabs) - Daystar Polyurethane Body Mounts (includes hardware & sleeves) - Black


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Yesterday I released a new version of my message notification extension for gnome-shell (3.2 and 3.4), to install it or to update it just visit its page on extensions.gnome.org.
The main feature in the new version is that it just handles notifications coming from well-known applications: Empathy, XChat, XChat-GNOME, Pidgin and notify-send. Handling the Empathy notifications is easy because they are well integrated with the shell, but the other notifications required some hack because all the applications handle notifications in different ways. I did my best to make the notifications as useful as possible, similar to the Empathy ones, but there are some small limitations.
Some of the handled applications require plugins to show notification bubbles:
- Pidgin: Click on the "Tools" menu and then "Plug-ins". Make sure that the "Libnotify Popups" plugin is enabled. If the plugin is not in the list it means you need to install it. On Debian the package is called "pidgin-libnotify", other distros should have a package with a similar name.
- XChat-GNOME: Click on the "Edit" menu and then "Preferences". In the "Scripts and Plugins" tab make sure that "On-screen display" is enabled.
- XChat: Click on the "Settings" menu and then "Preferences". In the "Alerts" tab make sure that "Show tray baloons" is enabled for both "Private Message" and "Highlighted Message". If the notifications pile up in the bottom right corner of your screen and clicking on them does nothing, it means that XChat is using notify-send because it cannot find libnotify. I don't know how to fix this issue on different distros, but I found a Red Hat bug explaining the problem.
Notifications coming from Empathy and XChat-GNOME
Is there any other common application that you would like to be handled by my plugin? The only prerequisite is that they somehow use standard notification bubbles (and this means I cannot implement it for Skype).
If you are looking for the source code, it's in this git repository.


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The Demon at Agi Bridge and Other Japanese Tales
by Haruo Shirane (editor), Burton Watson (translator)
Columbia University Press, Nov. 2010
22.50 USD at Amazon
9.99 USD Kindle Edition
My rating: 4.5/5
When I came across this book on Amazon, it had me at : "The Demon at Agi Bridge," a fantastic story, and Haruo Shirane, a fantastic scholar. Being familiar with and an admirer of Shirane's writings on Basho and haiku, I could think of no better person to guide me through setsuwa, Japanese anecdotal literature.
The Demon at Agi Bridge and Other Japanese Tales includes thirty-eight moving and entertaining setsuwa from seven major anthologies compiled between the ninth to thirteenth centuries, selected by Shirane and translated by Burton Watson. With a brief, but informative introductions to the collection and each section, this book provides cultural and literary context for the reader unfamiliar with the history of Japanese literature.
The setsuwa in this book cover tales from India, China, and Japan (from Buddhist and secular veins), and features characters from all social classes and professions. One of my biggest complaints about Royall Tyler's Japanese Tales has been the exclusion of India and China setsuwa. Tyler's intentions are reasonable, but I feel he failed to acknowledge how these tales have influence and are a part of Japan's setsuwa tradition.
Of particular interest to me, Shirane has included several stories that feature prominent female characters, such as the woman in "The Woman of Pleasure at Eguchi" and the wife in "How a Poor Man Left His Wife and She Became the Wife of the Governor of Settsu," and several stories revolving around poetry, including the strong ending piece "The Deep Meaning Underlying the Way of Japanese Poetry." Each of setsuwa carries its weight and adds to the richness of the collection. With short stories, it's easy to read one in-between chores, but this book as a whole drags the reader back again and again until the end.
While the collection does contain a wide variety of characters, there is a heavy emphasis on Buddhist tales. Given the origins of the stories, it's not surprising, but any reader looking for an abundance of secular stories may be a little disappointed. Aside from that, my only real complaint would that all the introductions, while interesting, can be a bit disruptive to the reading experience when some sections only have one or two stories.
In The Demon at Agi Bridge, the rhythm and style feels familiar to translated Japanese literature I've read before; however, I must commend Watson in particular for his ability to make the setsuwa accessible to the English-speaking reader without padding the sentences and stories to fit English grammar. Watson's crisp and polished translations appeal to the sparse, but playful nature of many of the setsuwa. When reading, I feel he has stayed true to the original and actually given me the story, rather than just a translation. Furthermore, not only has Watson taken care with the prose, but with the poetry. In the five stories that include waka, each poem feels like a poem. A number of translators I've encountered have had a deficiency in one or the other, so it was a pleasant surprise when both the poetry and prose read smoothly.
The Demon at Agi Bridge is worth the investment for anyone who enjoys Japanese literature. Since it comes from an academic press, the price feels a bit steep for a short book, but the clean translations and extensive bibliography in the back make it worthwhile.


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Also published on The Huffington Post
In my opinion, the popular myth that homeless people "flock" to any particular city to take advantage of its services is cruel. This myth is espoused by some housed people, including some people in positions of political power in certain municipalities. They argue that their city should not offer humanitarian services or add further services to what they are already providing to homeless people, because, if they do, more homeless people will be attracted to their city.
In essence, they rationalize that homeless people will "flock" to their city for its services. As a result, this myth is often perpetuated as the reason to avoid creating or increasing services for people in need.
First, people don't "flock." When using the word, "flock," as a verb, we can say, "birds flock." Or we can say the phrase, "a flock of birds." People move.
Usually people who are housed or unhoused move individually or in family units. They move when it is convenient for them, often during vacation time so that their children avoid missing school. Or they move to accept a new job. Or to "start a new life" for whatever reason in a new locale.
Only the impact of a major natural disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina, forces numbers of people to leave their homes and move en mass because their homes have became uninhabitable.
Second, statistics show that when a person is housed and then becomes homeless, they generally stay in their own location.
For example, in 2005, the Los Angeles County Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) held "the single largest homeless enumeration effort ever conducted…using HUD-recommended practices for counting homeless persons" that was published in its 2005 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, "Executive Summary," p. 3. LAHSA also reported in this same "Executive Summary," page 8, that among the 88,000 plus homeless people residing in Los Angeles County, 78 percent of them were housed in Los Angeles County when they became homeless.
Obviously, these homeless people didn't "flock" from another jurisdiction to become homeless in Los Angeles County. In The Daily News of January 13, 2006, LAHSA Commission Chairman Owen Newcomer acknowledged, "We do not have a situation where hordes are coming in from outside the county."
In its 2007 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, LAHSA found that there were nearly 74,000 homeless people residing within the County of Los Angeles. At that time, LAHSA also found, but did not publish, that the percentage of homeless people who were housed in Los Angeles County when they became homeless increased to 84 percent. (Source within LAHSA)
Third, some people also say that homeless people "flock" to jurisdictions where there are services to help them. However, in its 2009 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, LAHSA reported that there were just over 48,000 people who were homeless in Los Angeles County. This number represented a decrease of 38 percent of the number of homeless people in Los Angeles County from 2007.
To what does the County of Los Angeles attribute this decline in the number of homeless people residing in the County? On November 13, 2009, I asked that question of a LAHSA employee who told me that the decrease in the number of homeless people was due to the cooperation between the City and County of Los Angeles and their programs that have been helping homeless people become housed. It would appear that providing effective housing programs does lead to a decrease in the number of homeless residents.
I asked several homeless people what they felt about this myth. I thank them for their responses that follow.
Jon, 47 years old: "I left East County because it was not making me happy and I have to be happy. Homeless people come to certain areas for the people. People are attracted by people. The services come after that. I didn't know about the services when I came here. I only heard about them after I was here."
Cosmic, 48 years old: "I wanted to come to Ocean Beach (OB). Someone told me about OB and I looked it up on the Internet. I didn't come here for the City services. I am an OBcian.'
Cameron, 32 years old: "They try to keep services out of the beach communities because they don't want to attract more people. But [homeless] people don't come here for the services because there're not many services or shelters."
In conclusion, it is human nature that people move from one location to another seeking better opportunities for themselves or their families. Housed people move, why shouldn't homeless people? However, if we are all kind to our neighbors, housed and unhoused, and provide housing programs for those people in need, there would be less homeless people in every city. What a wonderful way to put a myth to rest!


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Three articles related to libraries, technology and e-books caught my eye this week. Taken together, they paint a picture of how much the library and book world collectively fret about whether we're offering enough technology services to the public.
First there is the Nielsen report about teens' preference for print versus e-books. I'm not sure how surprising this is, but I know it's something many librarians and booksellers worry about — will anyone be reading print in the future? I check books out to teens all the time at my library and I am the parents of a teen who has never read an e-book for pleasure and regularly shops for regular books, so my view of this might be skewed by daily experience, but I was happy to read a report that backs up my optimism about print. If young people are not developing an affinity for e-books growing up, it seems unlikely that will be their preference as adults. I was also heartened to read that a solid number — about 45% — of teens are influenced by social media in making reading choicesm which is good news for libraries like mine trying to ramp up our social media presence. I'm hopeful that as The Teen Zone, Concord Public Library's teen tumblr, and its sibling the CPL Reading-Rumblr, gain more followers, we'll be helping people find good reads.
Next came a report from Britain on the state of public libraries. I was appalled to read a) only 35% of people in England use the library regularly (the closest stat I could find for the US is 54% who went to a library sometime in the previous 12 months, from a 2013 Pew report), b) one of the major recommendations, according to the Independent's story, is to offer Wi-Fi and "a comfortable, retail-standard environment, with the usual amenities of coffee, sofas and toilets," and c) "The Government should secure changes in European and UK copyright law to enable library users to borrow e-books remotely in the next legislative term, the report recommended." Whoa. I had no idea that only about a third of British citizens use libraries, that 1/3 of British libraries lack Wi-Fi, nor that in the UK readers can't check out e-books outside of libraries. Two things really disturbed me: the suggestion regarding making libraries more like cafes, and this bit about recruiting and training staff: "21st century librarian(s) will need… digital and commercial expertise." Sounds like the British government believes that if they turn libraries into Starbucks and librarians into cafe managers they'll have solved their problems! Wi-Fi is important, but focusing on hot drinks rather than recognizing — and educating the public –that librarians' information skills trump random internet searching seems incredibly short-sighted and, frankly, daft! If the British government doesn't appreciate librarians' primary role in supporting the development of a literate and well-read citizenry, I don't see how any of the other recommendations will do much good.
And about that digital expertise — I hosted the NH State Library's Technology Resources Librarian Bobbi Slossar recently to talk to our staff about "customer service in the digital age." I'd heard her speak at the NHLA Reference and Adult Services fall conference, and what really resonated with me about her approach is this point: Bobbi noted that libraries have always had car repair manuals but no one ever expected librarians to go out and do an oil change for a patron, so why should we approach tech. customer service any differently? Her solution is that staff need to focus on being librarians — teaching people how to find the information they need to solve their own tech problems — rather than trying to be help desk staff. And she notes that to teach others, we have to be comfortable with and knowledgeable about tech but even more importantly, we have to use our reference interview skills to get to the heart of what a patron needs. I couldn't agree more (maybe British librarians should fly Bobbi over to address Parliament?), so I appreciated "The Art of Sweet Talking Or How to Talk Tech to Patrons." Jason Pinshower, like Bobbi, notes that how we talk to patrons is just as important as what we say. His advice? "Our patrons need to be able to confide in us and feel comfortable being embarrassed about their technology need. Nobody enjoys asking for help." I love that. I tell patrons all the time that I personally find printers really frustrating, and it truly does make someone feel better if you admit you struggle with technology.
Thanks for reading Nocturnal Librarian and best wishes for a happy and healthful holiday season. See you in 2015!


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So what happened? Across the West we are seeing a wave of xenophobia and politicking that is fast becoming a 'hyper-norm' for hundreds of millions who remember a less volatile and divisive upbringing. Entire countries lurching towards the right after years of complicit media campaigns, with a resultant lurch to the left for its opposition parties. From Greece's dalliance with Golden Dawn to Brexit, France's Marine Le Pen to America's Trump, the Netherlands' tellingly named Party for Freedom to Hungary's correctional Jobbik. Even Turkey, bastion of secularism in a sea of religiosity on either side of its continental spans, is undergoing transition back to its purported roots under Erdogan. There are of course the countries that have swerved against the momentum – Portugal, Romania and a trend-bucking Greece with their new left wing governments, and a Russia playing all sides from staging neo-Nazi rallies to funding anti-Nazi leagues with the self same sword. But overall the story is one of a steady quickstep to the right, in the manifold glow of patriotism, rhetoric and righteousness, offset by virulent pleas and increasingly angered remonstrations of a once apolitical youth. Indeed, what did happen to put us in this spin?
To sum it up: regional destabilisation. If we were to try and pinpoint one episode that set it off we can look to Cheney's puppeteered invasion of Iraq in 2003, that the CIA warned would unbalance the entire region. We could look further back to what led to that invasion – 911, Amerika's final decade of oil independence, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, WWII, colonialism – but the latest boot up the arse that we can say pushed us off the collective edge would be Gulf War 2.0.
Let's try and put it in a sentence: Gulf War = legitimisation of Sunni/Shia conflict = destabilisation of the Middle East = Arab Spring = destabilisation of North Africa also = ISIS-Daesh = terrorism = more refugees = increasing destabilisation of Europe = destabilisation of the US. All to a backdrop of a media agenda in which the waves of right wing populism support the status quo of the global elite, notably a certain media baron that is the de-facto Head of State of several powerful nations.
No it's not all conspiracy theories, but we will have to wait a good few decades before it becomes textbook history, in which we'll look back from afar and think: Gawd what fools, that could never happen in this day and age. But look at history; we never seem to learn. Give it approximately 75 years- in short the lifespan of the last possible survivors – and we repeat the same mistakes. Amber Rudd's fiery 2016 speech in the Conservative Party Conference following Brexit (a year after the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII), calling on companies to submit lists of their foreign workers in a name-and-shame campaign, was highlighted as enacting chapter II of Hitler's Mein Kampf. Some went on to suggest she should garner a task force called the Greater Europe Search, Transfer, And Prevent Operation, or GESTAPO.
The similar rise of hate-speech and media portrayal of entire peoples following the grisly terrorist acts across Europe this year mirrored those following Zionist bombings and the burning down of the Reichstag in the 1930s. Not to mention the turning away of thousands of refugees, closing down of borders and an utter lack of empathy for the dispossessed finding parallels to the forgotten flotillas of Jews fleeing continental Europe, only to be turned back to a certain fate. Yet all these past lessons flow under a generalised, collective blinkerdom, behind an epic assault of the here and now with a swipe of the phone.
It's enough to make writers and journos turn to their window and think of writing a lovely misty piece on autumnal colours instead. That is of course the head-burying stance of much of today's youth, enamoured by social media and Kim Kardashian's abusive, powder keg relationships with diamonds and make up. There are infinitely more hits and cultural change attributed to shouty, always-late pop idols, or cool places to travel to, or American pranking on camera, or Russian dash-cam amazingness than any kind of socio-political legacy and their cronyist, bickering leaders of a certain vintage. As they say, politics is Hollywood for ugly people.
Yawn, what were we talking about again? It's the end of the West, the end of now, the end of thinking, as we scroll through memes and kitten gifs and blockbuster trailers, but can you blame us? Disillusionment is the name of the day, propelling the voting as well as the lack of. It's so much more enticing being cozy and nosy, and loved and funny than wrestling with socio-political discourse each and every damn day. Yes, there are indeed the battalions of celebs and kittens decrying the fall of America or Europe to suburban fencing (and the lone, haunting tweets of Clint Eastwood and er, Kirsty Alley who celebrate it), but overall it's gonna be a long while before their PR teams realise the potential in actually getting arrested, and spray painting those picket fences with allegiant colours.
Only a little more than a quarter of eligible voters were needed to see in the triumphant Trump to power, with 90 million abstaining or busy watching teevee, or just tired after the endless rounds of voting in the average US year, with more not having registered ,and the complications involved. Even in higher voter turn-outs, such as the Brexit referendum it still only took 26% of the population to win and direct the outcome for the remaining 74%. To add another layer of murkiness, voters have differing powers depending on where they live, and by default, even how much they earn, their age or their ethnic (read: 'native' or 'non-native') background. Hillary even won the 'popular' vote, with 2.9 million more voting for her than the questionable hair piece (more than the win for Kennedy), but by dint of regional representation in which seats are allocated to jurisdictional areas rather than equalised population catchments, rural, sparsely populated plots can have more voting power than teeming cities. If you read between the lines this is not democracy. This is another dimension to what fuels the disillusionment: the utter complexity, seriousness, and draining task ahead in taking on the rot in the system.
It's becoming increasingly evident democracy needs safeguards. On the one hand it needs to ensure it is a democracy in the first place, and not the kind of regional representation that leads to one or two party states, with an elitist slant to power of certain moneyed demographics as the UK and US are now experiencing. On the other hand, even if it is a bona fide democracy it needs to ensure it doesn't vote to you know, kill the Jews or the Tutsis or the Gypsies. Or lock up the Syrians or the gays or the women, or the poor. Humans can't really be trusted not to wreck each others lives, turn a blind eye and grab the money, even with the lessons of history. That's why we have constitutions, and differing lines of political thought. To manage our base instincts of battling over the remaining resources, mammoth carcasses and available females, while instating hierarchies, power, control, and economic pyramid schemes.
So let's make this as snappy and invigorating as a giant herd of kittens taking over Kim and Justin's bathtime. It's like a reaallly cool story bro.
Back in 1950s time (think Marilyn Monroe and Elvis and milkshakes and lynching) Paris was the place to be for the coolcats. The youth were like, always asking questions after that really bad world war, and seeing in the commies on one side and coca cola on the other. So basically there were two sides: free to be free (coke), or forced to be free (commies), coz like people wouldn't know otherwise ya know.
On the one side there was coke and water skiing and bikinis and the American dream of a pin-up housewife, giant car, meatloaf and a retro pad with perfect lawn and no Black folk to bother ya'll. You were free to be free. To buy all these cool things and one day, one day… get a whole fucking hoover and even a tele-vision, that would make all universities obsolete within the decade as we'd all be learning from it and going to the moon and shit and not shooting each other. After you know, an initial period of gross inequality, crime, corruption, and greed depending on your looks or race or class or gender. Individualism would be something to nurture and flower, like a selfie with 10 million hits of fame, and anyone could be anything if you wanted it enough. This we can dub Negative Freedom.
On the other side you were
forced made to be free, where everyone agreed to share the goodness of the earth and their work and the profits, and bask in this playground of light and industry and light industry, after you know, an initial period of killing off reeducating the old elite into equally likeable, free spirits working for a greater good, no matter your background, gender, race and class – I mean, what's class again? People can't be trusted you know, they need to be guided, at least until one day when they can be free from the stricture of law and prejudice and even governing. With all this collectivised effort we'd be going to the moon and shit and not shooting each other. The meaning of your life was not to merely buy crap, but to go all worker's paradise in family, friends, children, and forwarding the arts, society and culture for the progression of all, so everyone could be everything if you worked for it together. This we can dub Positive Freedom.
So some of these students coming out of Parisian universities at the time took these ideas of positive freedom to the holiday homes that Europe had set up around the world, those places like Algeria. This extension block of France had the pesky problem called Algerians, who lived there, and didn't much like not having you know, a vote, and getting rule and divide, generations of mis-education and their resources stripped. How annoying right!?
Anyhoo these students believed they had to force people to be free, so they started a civil war, but a really efficient one where they could plant a single bomb on some trendy cafe in Algiers and kill only a few people yet getting loads of attention and fear (almost as bad as accidentally clicking the Facebook Like button on porn). Plus undo the economy and stuff that would make things more expensive to police and fix than keep, a bit like iPhones. Rather than launch a badly thought out battle like you see in Zulu or cowboy movies, where loads and loads of savage darkies get mown down by the gazillion and quite a handful of handsome whities too, you could do the one selfie blow up and get a million hits overnight. No staging of overnight coups, picking battlefields or recalibrating satellites nosiree.
This was a really good way to win. They used hardly any arguing and resources compared to you know, Game of Thrones, although the killing turned out pretty bad when France went all Call of Duty on them and took out about 1.5 million Algies. But they still won, and the European holiday homes and farmsteads and mining operations and slave colonies around the world fell one by one following the same inordinately successful technique, in which some of the world's poorest nations usurped many of the world's richest, although at a cost of millions of lives. Most of these places switched after the initial war from positive freedom (forced to be free) straight into negative freedom (free to be free), as democratic, capitalist states (which means you watch teevee all day and buy stuff off TVC).
However the European nations they had freed themselves from would have charged them for the years and years of 'looking after them', for every brick built, rail laid and bullet shot in that time, as terms of independence, but kind of forgetting you know, the years of er, human and cultural genocide, plus nabbing the oil and gold and labour and crown jewels.
But hey, a few years of debt and astronomical interest rates on the mastercard is priceless for that sweet freedom right? We'll have everything up and running again in no time – no matter the generations of miseducation, rule and divide and the fact we're really made up of several countries and several hundred ethnic groups that won't bicker a-Tall. Not once democracy sets in and the majority (group) get the final say. They won't behave like the colonial powers they just booted out, no.
So the result is these nations become instantly chavvy and start fighting among themselves. Places like Sudan, speaking 200 languages, launching into 6 simultaneous civil wars from day one that it's still fighting today, and mirrored across much of Africa and all those places where the world holds its resources… but strangely also most of its poverty and wars. And those European powers? Well we can call them 'multinationals' now coz everyone rich from everywhere has jumped in on it too. For every $1 billion given in aid $8 billion is taken back in interest payments (not even debt repayment, which has already been paid back several times over), and most of the resources (like water, land) bought up again and sold back to the darkies at a million percent profit. But as we said, we can't be trusted. Places like Philippines became one big shoe shop for the queenie there, while America went on funding baddies and wars all over the place to keep itself rich and pretending to be a goody. The negative freedom (coke) in these cases resulted in so much corruption, division and inequality we can see humans were free to be free, but also free to step all over each other into total fails, aka 'Failed States'.
Meanwhile other places continued their revolutions even after winning, and becoming positive democracies, like Eye-Ran. The country, inspired by Harry Truman's promise to defend and free the oppressed peoples of the world, had originally elected a president, Mohammed Mossadegh, who promised no religious or royalty crap and instead democracy and taking the oil out of the hands of the Brits, that even won him Time Magazine Man of the Year back in the 50s.
But then, oops. The Yanks got a new president, and in league with the Brits ousted Mossie-Dig from power, reinstating the King, and taking control AGAIN of all the oil with half now going to the USAians. So in the end the Eye-Ranians rose up AGAIN (ha!), but this time opting for the positive freedom package. Like SO predictable yeah.
Where people were forced to be free, the new leader, Mr Ayatollah Khomeini (pronounced Iyatoller Hominee) had a masterstroke of combining religion with politics (usually one cancelled the other), a bit like finally setting up Ant with Dec as a duo, after Ant kept shitting over Dec's mum for years. Mr Hominy said that religion had all these sayings which supported positive freedom, bits like where women were free from inequality, fear, attack, rape and upskirt phone-cams by dressing them up in black picnic blankets and taking them out of dangerous situations, such as rooms with men in them.
When the big war with Eye-Rack next door finally loomed, backed by Western guns, Eye-Ran got surrounded with nowhere to turn. It was seemingly Game Over. But once again there was that masterstroke of having religion be the back up buddy when they ferried legions of voluntary teenagers into becoming martyrs, by marching them into minefields to form an escape route for the rest. So Eye-Ran was no longer running, but winning, in thanks to the fact it's Shia Muslim, which kinda, possibly maybe, means you could sacrifice yourself in the name of your faith, like that adorable nutterdad in Independence Day who first zaps the alien destructo-laser. Shia Muslims have this thing they do like in their version of Christmas or something where instead of giving presents they beat themselves with chains and whips and fire walk in respect of the sacrifice someone or other made sometime in the Book, and they're not meant to enjoy it or pay anyone to do it by the hour either.
This shocked the rest of the Sunni Muslim world, where suicide was considered a totally uncool thing to do, as only the Big Guy, peace be upon him, could decide where and when you popped your Nike-Airs. But it was a pretty rad idea and this cleric on the other side in Sunny-land Arabia said it was all a-okay and there was suddenly stuff about 72 virgins and all-you-can-eat ice cream thrown in, and everyone was like STILL NO, but some of them were like okaaaaay, lets see. So they did, and Ham Ass from Palestine went and started bombing Israelis, officially targeting citizens for the first time, in buses and cafes and beaches, much like in Algeria not so long ago, but all kamikaze style and justified, and starting a hero-worship culture.
Meanwhile there was this place nearby called Syria, led by this ruthless dude called Hafez al-Assad (pronouced Ass Ad), who looked a bit like Frankenstein but a bit nerdier. Even though he was a scary mutherhumper he had some great visions for the Arab (pronounced Ay-rab) world, which could extricate itself from the predatory West, like some vast horrible octopus sitting on its left, starting wars and overturning ships and planes and nations with its sucking tentacles, covered in oil and blood over 500 million people.
Ass Ad was given all these promises and secret deals, and totes played by the West, only to be betrayed in the war against Israel they said they'd back him against but backed them instead. So he went all gloomy and hellbent on revenge, and started to fund suicide bombing against the Israelis and Americans in Lebanon (killing 270 in one barracks). Which shortly after led to the Americans pulling out, humiliated. Re-sult!
However the U.S of A had found a different fall guy, in the richest guy in the world, drum roll please… Mr Colonel Gaddafi. A bit of a weirdo who had been stationed in the UK, near a delightful little model village called Beaconskot, and who endured racist bullying from ex-colonial officers. As leader of his country he was mad as a bag of snakes, always going on about his 'Third Way' which was the dangerously upsetting alternative to negative and positive freedom, as bolstered by contemporaries such as Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. Gaddafi's version of the Third Way united right wing economics ($$$) with left wing socialism (###), but this time from out of the yoke of Western imperialism and its motherfucking legolands.
Except he wasn't all that batshit crazy, what with setting up a state safety net giving out free education, healthcare, electricity, unemployment benefit equal to their professions, starter homes, starter cars, and child funds, and ensuring each person shared in the profits made from the voluminous amount of state oil. Anyhoo, they blamed the Lockerbie plane bombing on him (despite the CIA saying it had come from Eye-Ran, in retaliation for a similar jumbo jet lost to a US missile), and a Berlin nightclub bombing that killed three including American servicemen (most likely a Syrian bomb). They said he had weapons of mass destruction, then bombed the capital, and his gaudy palace, and reportedly his adopted 3 year old daughter out of existence, if she existed.
So now we have quite a complicated picture, a bit like Bieber's tour dates, causing grief and demonstrations across the globe. This vast squid thing has its tips inserted in pies so far in: Algeria, Eye-Ran, Eye-Rack, Libya, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria (oh and Egypt, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Turkey, Yemen and Jordan too). Fast forward a few decades and through 11 Western backed wars and the suicidal/ positive freedom, once unleashed by Syria is now biting it on its own arse. This malignant beast we can now call Eye-Sis. A certain Monsieur Gaddaffi is suddenly of use again.
In a screeching u-turn the world leaders announce he's one of the good guys all of a sudden. They shake hands in a blizzard of flashes, sign glitzy new trade deals, take in his family into their glittering celeb elites, and eye up the $200 billion the guy has in his South African bank accounts. He does of course, have to admit he will destroy his non-existent weapons of mass destruction, own up to the Lockerbie bombing and promise not to do anything batshit crazy again in order to get this rehabilitation, and a priceless platform for his Third Way. Despite the European and American intelligence agencies agreeing he did / owned none of these.
But then came the Arab Spring. Like the Paris Spring of 1968, when all those positive freedom students finally took to the streets of the French capital protesting the old skool bling, it would come full circle again. A poor Tunisian dude called Mohamed Bouazizi (sod it, if you can't pronounce it just try and remember that name), was publicly humiliated and left destitute one day at the start of 2011 by a police officer who took away his livelihood when she confiscated his unlicensed market stall, and slapped him in the face too, the fat bitch. This was not the first time. The poor guy went and stood outside the police station, and in his final act, set himself on fire, and straight into a culture changing force.
Like FUCK! He really went up like a candle into history. The publicity started protests, already blazed up by a WikiLeaks special a coupla months earlier exposing the corruption of the Tunisian state, with its high inflation, unemployment and institutional grafting, and the demos getting bigger and bigger and setting off copycat movements across the Arab world. Powered by social media that could organise and reorganise people power with an instant tweet or status update, government after government fell, including Libya.
It was all quite embarrassing really, here was people-power in action, long upheld by other democracies as the way to be and go. But these people were protesting the Western-backed regimes, that had so long kept them in the shitter. And they were demanding what the Arabs had wanted for so long – not religious righteousness, or historical rightings of wrongs, or land or resources or power. They wanted jobs, they wanted equal opportunities, they wanted an end to poverty and corruption and having to hustle up sex and drugs but no rock n roll for a living.
But in the end, the absence of any viable alternative saw religion step into the void to unite the disparate voices. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Ever more AWKWARD. Even the journos found it hard to report on the unsavoury aspects of people power, and what they fought against – notably us, the tyrannical 'we' in the West – despite it being the biggest wobbling of the world seen for generations to come. Here were heartfelt images of people all candle-lit in vigils and uniting for a common cause: for freedom after years of subjugation and that would change the world forever – but one against the regimes that we had kept propped in power, against the globalised culture we tried to sow.
This was highly fucked, like a selfie on your loo uploaded everywhere ever. Batshit Crazy Gaddafi had only just joined the cool kids at the table, now he was exposed as a tyrant and a dictator that they were all sharing lunch with, and everyone suddenly wanted to leave. And maybe chuck a grenade or three behind them, to pretend none of this ever happened, and that they weren't just having a jolly with his handsome sons and daughters after inviting them out at prom. Gadaffi's end came when a US drone bombed his convoy, then a beating and a final shot from a rebel group as he hid in a service tunnel.
So there we have it: one vast tentacle eating its way through several nations, then biting back on itself, and clawing a way out again. This happened again, on a much larger scale, involving several wandering, bloodthirsty limbs.
When the Americans invaded Eye-Rack a second time, it planned for the war, but not the 'peace'. As seen in Africa, the onset of democracy meant the competition of those straining for representation, especially the minorities that would lose votes by dint of lower numbers, and thus their bling. Democracy in this case kind of means if you're all sassy and hawt – but there's only you – the bigger guys get to take your iphone and selfie stick and pearls to share. This means fight fight fight!
Eye-Rack soon broke up into squabbles and bombings and massacres when the Americans instated a corrupt government that would have automatically put the majority (70%) Shias in power, leading in turn to an insurgency that led to the real extreme kid on the block to rise, Eye-Sis, or Eye-Sill, or Daesh for short.
Of the myriad fighting groups in neighbouring Syria, now stricken by its much bloodier version of the Arab Spring and a new helmsman at the fore in the more-flattering-but-just-as-vicious, Basher al Ass Ad, Daesh proved to be the longest lasting kingpin to sway his power.
This guy Dish was bad, real bad. And savvy. He knew the inherent weaknesses of every bully in the playground let alone every kid. He used their own social media against them to highlight their failings, and to bully them too – setting up horrific websites selling ransomed prisoners, shock scenes in their captured cities, mass executions – plus different websites, targeting schizos and those smelly people on buses that talk to themselves to blow people up, or run them over. Haunting things designed to disturb the comfy echelons that ruled from afar, as yet relatively divided from the horrors on the ground. So this of course leads to millions and millions of refugees, in turn fleeing a society gone mad and a war with an estimated 700 sides.
The story so far: two tentacles have embarked on a path to positive freedom, war, and suicide bombing and see their return by bombing and terrorising their own body back in Syria and Europe. Now other arms are sending refugees by the million, across treacherous waters, through minefields, deserts, soldiers, bombs and predatory gangs. Organised crime spots the opportunity to recruit a wealth of sex workers, kidnap children and exploit the desperate dispossessed, while innocents drown in their thousands off Trip Advisor highlights.
Aylan Kurdi.
So the European population is 750 million, they can absorb a million or three more surely? Plus its ageing population and slowing economies are calling out for precisely this kind of youthful, independent boost that will be a demographic dividend for generations to come. Not likely. A wave of revulsion from the right wing press, the terrorised and the patriotic has made it a destabilising issue, as a path is forged to the voting booths across the region to keep them out, and any others. Europe, the late 20th Century and 21st Century destination of choice for the worlds' migrants, is full they say. Many of its states, once the world's most popular tourist destinations, are now finding themselves on the list of most dangerous places in the world to visit, due to a wave of horrific suicide attacks, and a traumatised public dealing with the fall out. Never mind that out of the 2,984 terrorist attacks in Europe over the last 7 years, only 18 were Islamist (that's 99.3% being committed by other nutters for other politics – mostly independence movements), the coverage was global, bloody and penetrating.
And look again at the stats. Of the world's largest refugee hosting nations they are dominated by the Developing World, not the Developed, the poor guys not the rich, many of whom suffer their own internal conflicts and refugee movements.
- Jordan >4.5 million (70% of the population)
- Turkey, 3.1 million
- Lebanon 2 million ( a jump from the 69th largest refugee population in only 3 years, and now making up 45% of the population)
- Saudi Arabia 1.7million (not part of the UN agreement on refugees, but accepting them in all but name)
- Pakistan 1.6 million
- Iran >1 million
- Germany 1 million
- Ethiopia 700,000
- Uganda 700,000
- Kenya 600,000
- Chad 500,000
- Sudan 330,000 (likely to double this year).
For comparison the US comes in at 17th (267,000), less than China (300,000) or even those fleeing TO Iraq (300,000), a country already struggling with 4 million internally displaced refugees. UK is 30th with 117,000.
(Btw Iraq, despite, and perhaps because of its troubles, happens to be the worlds most charitable nation, with 70% of the population having helped out a stranger in the last week.)
So there you have it, it's a big fuss over nothing, a drop in the ocean, but a big big something in the background. Never mind the million+ dead, the faces of the survivors, or the fates of those to await, now is a time as Adam Curtis puts it, to give up the complexities of the real world and indulge in the comforts of the fake one. The Hypernormalisation of the craziness, blood lust and intricacies of all that is around, but photo bombed by what we want, not what we need.
If there is a lesson in all of this, we perhaps need to wrest the reins from the propaganda merchants for at least one last leg of the journey to the cliff, and not to lie willingly while our world and our judgments go the way of shit hitteth the fan. History has taught us, like a
stuck record, skipping CD corrupted download, to ignore it is to see it worsen, until it becomes that huge glowering thing of nightmares behind the bed nothing can swipe away. That the seeds our elected leaders sow do have consequences, no matter how much we brush it under the carpet, like a giant quivering mound of triffid smelling of wee and death.
And even if it really, really is just about us, it's gonna take a chump out of our future, and in terms of self preservation, that's not good. We can still try and feel safe, and loved with a future that beckons, where we will grow up to do great things and discover a life, but to ignore it is to tempt fate.
Aylan Kurdi.
And our journos may do well to respect the tradition of truth, even in a post-Truth world, where controversy and exposé do little to dent popularity based on our inbuilt chauvinism – even powers it, through the orators du jour that cater to what we want to hear not what we need to. Patriotism makes us feel warm, righteous and gives us meaning. It rekindles and celebrates our culture under the onslaught of constant change, it defends our proud history. It nurtures the kind of heroism reserved for fighting for others, and legitimised by a complicit media and millions of our kin. But beware what you bring into the room, it needs feeding.
Anyhoo, enough doom and gloom, in the great new journalistic tradition – less of Robot Wars and more of Strictly, so lets end on a high note. No article can be complete without a cat in it somewhere. We know this. May we all live long and prosper. Choose Life. Or something profound like that.


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Benefits of Crossfire's EDI integration with Sigma Healthcare
Our extensive network of global retailers, supply chain partners and software means you can integrate with Sigma Healthcare quickly, providing the following benefits:
Want to know more about the benefits of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)?Read our blog
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Feb 26, 2017
They say that "For every sigh, there's a psalm." As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, they are 100% correct.
What an absolutely, beautifully inspired collection of very real, honest, soul-soaring, gut-wrenching human expressions is contained within its 150 chapters.
So many verses of its 150 songs are profoundly personal prayers that you and I can pray right back to God, giving us an immediate connection with the principle players in the biblical drama.
Psalms, the single most emotion-filled book in the Bible. Yes, indeed. For every sigh, there IS a psalm.
If variety is the spice of life, then the Book of Psalms
is a pretty spicy book. One that includes hymns of praise, thanksgiving, godly wisdom and sound theology, expressions of our doubts and fears balanced by an unshakable faith in God through good times and bad. Imprecatory psalms that are cries for God's justice and vengeance in an unjust world. Songs of lament that give voice to the many challenges of our painful lives.
There are
also historical psalms that remind the worshipper of God's
faithfulness in the past. And for our purposes in this podcast,
prophetical psalms. Songs that flood our souls with the confident
hope that God will keep His many precious promises in future, just
as He has in the past.
Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play.
God bless you richly as you listen.


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Florence is a city in central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,084 inhabitants in 2013, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered by many academics the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages". Its turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city served as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy (established in 1861).
Additional Information About Milan
Milan is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city in Italy after Rome. Milan served as the capital of the Western Roman Empire, the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million while its metropolitan city has 3.26 million inhabitants. Its continuously built-up urban area, that stretches well beyond the boundaries of its administrative metropolitan city, is the fourth largest in the EU with 5.27 million inhabitants. The population within the wider Milan metropolitan area, also known as Greater Milan, is estimated at 8.2 million, making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and the 4th largest in the EU.Milan is considered a leading alpha global city, with strengths in the field of the art, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research and tourism.
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An Xi Tea Sampling Method
In this style of making tea, many of the key points, such as water temperature, water source etc. that have been mentioned before in our description of the 'Traditional ChaDao tea ceremony' method are relevant. To avoid repetition we will not mention them here again.
Here we can see the tea set laid out with the cups having been filled. The first stages of preparation are basically identical to those we described on our original 'Traditional tea ceremony' page. Again, we can see that the tea leaves are mixed with the water using the covered 'Gai Wan' bowl in which to infuse the tea. When we decant the "actual" infusion through the filter or strainer, this time we use a bowl which has a considerably wider mouth that the traditional gong dao bei jug.
One very noticeable point here is that the tea is not usually poured directly from the larger bowl but a spoon is used. This is done to ensure that each person receives an equal amount as well as for aesthetic reasons so that skill and elegance of the person, 'Pao Cha Shi', can shine through (Cha Yi Shi - more specific for a person who is an expert of all aspects of tea and its culture).
One of This method commonly uses smaller cups and a single spoon of tea is given to each person because of its use in commercial tasting's. In a more informal situation the tea is often just poured directly from the bowl to the cup for convenience.
One of the main reasons for this method is that the colour can be appreciated more fully as the liquid is thinly dispersed in the bowl. Again pure white porcelain is used. Particularly when buying higher grade teas this method can be very advantageous as the appearance of the tea is another way for human senses to be stimulated and so is an important factor in helping to evaluate tea. In many ways these pictures do not do the tea real justice. When directly looking at the freshly made tea, though translucent, there is almost an iridescence to it.


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"Gun" Screamed At Rally, Secret Service Agents ,Trump Rushed Off Stage, Wikileaks Bird Dogging List?#DrainTheSwamp#MAGA
This was very disturbing last night. Lower than low! But I think the Trump supporters would have given him a beat down. That made we want Hillary in prison again. Paid Hillary protester alleged attacker, Austyn Crites, who name is on alleged Wikileaks Bird Dogging List was the culprit.
Austyn Crites: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Is there medal detectors and or a medal wand used? Also I wonder is there is a shake down by security before entrance into rally?
Clinton's have poisoned the system. Those Bernie Sander's supporters, how could you ever look at that woman? She has put new meaning into the word corrupt? Horrid.
Trump 2016!


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Water, sewer rate hike in city's approved budget
KINGS MOUNTAIN – City water and sewer customers can expect an increase in their bills later this summer.
Kings Mountain City Council approved a 2013-14 budget Tuesday that includes a 7.5 percent increase in water and sewer rates, set to take effect July 1. No other rate increases and no change to property tax rates were included in the budget for the next fiscal year.
No employee cuts are included in the budget, and three city staff positions are added.
The water and sewer rate increase, as the Star reported in May, would cost the average resident an additional $3.50 per month for both water and sewer use. For a resident using 5,000 gallons of water per month, a bill is currently $46.18. That would increase to $49.67 with the new rate. Industries will also pay the increased rate, which will help fund city water system improvements this year.
City Manager Marilyn Sellers said Kings Mountain has seen positive growth in the past year, citing the new AT&T data center, a project to install fiber optic services in the city, the recent announcement of the coming of Starbucks and improvements to Patriots Park.
"I'm very proud to be a citizen and an employee of this city," Sellers said. "We've been very progressive."
Mayor Rick Murphrey also noted the city's progress.
"We position ourselves well and have promoted a climate that is pro-business and quality of life," he said. "We're just not status quo; we're reaching out."
Water system improvement plans and expected costs:
* The expansion and rehabilitation of the water plant -- $12 million
* A new 36-inch-thick water transmission line connecting the city to Moss Lake -- $16 million
* A waterline rehabilitation project for downtown -- $5 million
* Spillway repairs for the dam at Moss Lake -- $611,120
Proposed capital projects for the 2013-14 budget year:
-New roofs at city hall, the public works garage and Mauney Memorial Library
-Restrooms for the city playground
-Three new Ford Explorer patrol cars for police
-A vehicle and a portable stage for special events
-A commercial dishwasher and computer server at the Patrick Senior Center
Reach Molly Phipps at 704-669-3339, firstname.lastname@example.com or on Twitter @MollyAPhipps.


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Kenseth qualifies 20th at Charlotte
Jeff Gordon won the pole Thursday night for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Gordon turned a lap at 194.308 mph to edge Kevin Harvick for his ninth pole at Charlotte, the second most in track history.
Greg Biffle qualified third for the Saturday night race, Jimmie Johnson was fourth, and Kasey Kahne — who held the lead for most of the night — was fifth.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrated his 39th birthday by qualifying sixth for his 500th Sprint Cup start. Ryan Newman was seventh, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch.
Gordon enters the weekend fourth in the Chase standings, 32 points behind leader Matt Kenseth with six races left. Kenseth qualified 20th.


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Between 1998 and 2007, mind-altering medications were associated with 429 adverse drug reactions in Danish children under the age of 17. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Pharmaceutical Studies have published an article in the open access journal BMC Research Notes concluding that more than half of the 429 cases were serious and several involved birth defects, such as birth deformities and severe withdrawal syndromes.
Professors Lise Aagaard and Ebbe Holme Hansen from the University of Copenhagen studied all 4,500 paediatric adverse drug reaction reports submitted during the study period to find those which were linked to mind-altering medications. The two researchers found that 42% of adverse reactions were reported for psycho-stimulants, such as Ritalin, which treats attention deficit disorder (ADD), followed by 31% for antidepressants, such as Prozac, and 24% for antipsychotics, such as Haldol.
"A range of serious side effects such as
- birth deformities,
- low birth weight,
- premature birth, and
- development of neonatal withdrawal syndrome
were reported in children under two years of age, most likely because of the mother's intake of mind-altering medication during pregnancy," says Associate Professor Lisa Aagaard.
Use of antidepressants is increasing
The researchers believe that these tendencies should serve as a warning to pregnant women, doctors and health care personnel.
"Mind-altering medication should not be prescribed in ordinary circumstances, because this type of medication has a long half-life. If people take their medicine as prescribed it will be a constantly high dosage, and it could take weeks for one single tablet to exit the body's system. Three out of four pregnancies are planned, and therefore society must take responsibility for informing women about the serious risks of transferring side effects to their unborn child," says Aagaard.
There is a clear indication that use of antidepressants is increasing in Denmark, as well as in many other countries, and the tendency is the same when it comes to pregnant women.
"We are constantly reminded about the dangers of alcohol use and smoking during pregnancy, but there is no information offered to women with regards to use of mind-altering medication. There is simply not enough knowledge available in this area," concludes Aagaard, suggesting that greater control should be required when prescribing mind-altering medications to pregnant women.
From EurekAlert


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Happy Thursday everyone! This is another entry to the weekly Thursday Movie Picks that's spearheaded by Wandering Through the Shelves Blog. Here's the gist:
The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. Every last Thursday for the first nine months of 2015 I'm running the All in the Family Edition and today the theme is…
Father/Son Relationships (Biologically Related)
Well, for this edition, I decided to pick three movies that I didn't include in my Father's Day Special post. Besides, I think this post should focus on biologically-related father & son stories. So here are my three picks:
Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade (1989)
No doubt it's my absolute favorite of the Indiana Jones trilogy and it's largely because of the wonderfully entertaining father/son story. When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. suddenly goes missing whilst in pursuit of the Holy Grail, Indy set off to search for him and together they end up working together to stop the Nazis. It's absolutely perfect casting to have Sean Connery to play the role, despite only being 12 years older than Harrison Ford. Both of them are equally charismatic and somehow have the perfect personality and quirks that make them a perfect match as father and son. All the highlights of the movie feature the two of them, usually in a state of peril or impossible predicament that they somehow manage to come escape from. I can't think of a better chemistry between two actors and that's what makes them so entertaining to watch. But it's not just all fun and games, there's some genuine dramatic moments that truly test the bond between the two of them and challenge Indy's own personal belief.
Frequency (2000)
Family bond can transcend time and space. A rare atmospheric phenomenon somehow enables a NYC firefighter to communicate with his son 30 years in the future via HAM radio. There are films that deal with time travel and the huge ramification of changing the past. The sci-fi logic might be questionable but what I love about this film is the father/son relationship that's genuinely moving and beautifully acted. The film started off more as a drama but the third act becomes more of a thriller as the two work together to solve a murder case. Both Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel are fantastic as the father and son, there's a palpable & heartfelt bond between them despite not sharing a screen pretty much the entire movie.
Nebraska (2013)
This black-and-white dark comedy tells the story of an senile, alcoholic man who insists on making a trip from Montana to Nebraska in order to claim a million-dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize. His estranged son ends up traveling with him as his stubborn dad simply refuse to believe that the sweepstakes letter was a shameless piece of scam. Despite their testy relationship, the journey gave them a chance to reconnect. Bruce Dern and Will Forte are both excellent in their roles, I'm especially impressed by the latter as I've only known him as a comedian. There are some extremely goofy scenes such as when the son tried to help his dad find his missing tooth around a railroad track, but there are some poignant moments between the two. It's another wonderful family dramedy from Alexander Payne.
What do you think of my picks? Have you seen any of these films?