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Monday, August 26, 2013
Privilege Protects: On Facing Little Nastiness in 15 Years of Lefty Media Production
Over the years, I have cast much written and audio material out into the world. Over that time, I have always been thankful, and even a little surprised, at how little hostility, nastiness, and abuse have been sent my way in response.
Of course, I am a white guy, and as many have observed before me, even in this virtual realm, that comes attached to far greater space and safety to be opinionated than is granted to women and trans people of all racial backgrounds and to racialized men.
There are other reasons that play a role in the relatively low level of nastiness I've received, of course. A big one is that, sad to say, grassroots media, and particularly grassroots media by non-superstars, doesn't have a lot of reach. I'm under no illusions about how many people are likely to read, see, or hear any single piece I put out into the world, via whatever medium. And the odds of getting nasty responses undoubtedly goes up with the total number of readers/listeners. As well, though I fully admit that it might be more politically useful to do otherwise, much of what I write or produce is geared to what would interest me, and that combined with the venues where my stuff is likely to appear is probably a bit self-marginalizing, such that whatever audience most of it does end up getting is disproportionately skewed towards the friendly. I also spend basically no time at all participating in online discussion forums, debating strangers on Twitter, or commenting extensively on other people's sites. And at least some of what I do -- in particular, much of what I publish on this blog -- is written in a way that is probably more work to read than most random trolls are interested in expending.
And yet dumb persistence pays off. Material gets out there, gets around. No single piece can be counted on to move far, but some move at least a bit, and over fifteen years that have included (at various points, and all in grassroots ways) books, print journalism, online journalism, op/ed pieces in mainstream newspapers, blogging, book reviews, polemics, analysis, radio, podcasts, extra-institutional intellectual work of diverse sorts, and sharing my own work, the work of others, and random opinions on various social media platforms, the opportunities for people to conclude that I am a hack, a fool, a danger, or just plain wrong do tend to accumulate. And the fact is, trolls do visit left-wing sites, do hear community radio broadcasts, do target ordinary no-name folks like me, do perhaps even read (or at least respond nastily to) blog posts that are too long and wordy to really suit the medium. And, sadly, folks under the broad "progressive" umbrella don't agree on everything (or, often, much of anything) and can be really frikkin' mean and oppressive.
Yet, over the years, I have been fortunate. Not no nastiness, but very little. And, yes, some critical responses that were pointed but well within bounds (not all of which, I'm ashamed to say, I handled as well as I should have). But little out-and-out nastiness.
I do not believe for one instant that this is unconnected to the fact that I'm a man and white, even given those other factors. From what I've heard about other people's experiences in my years of perusing feminist, anti-racist, and other critical sites, there is no way, even accounting for the limited reach of much of it, that a woman or a person of colour could churn out as much content as I have, including a great deal that lots of people are likely to take exception to, and emerge as unscathed as I have. No way.
As one of my favourite political journalists -- a feminist Brit named Laurie Penny, whom I'm pleased to say I've been reading since before her career hit the big time -- wrote recently for The New Statesman, "Right now it's pretty scary to be a woman who makes a public spectacle of herself in Britain. By 'making a spectacle', I mean 'daring to have an opinion in public'". That, incidentally, is from a piece in which she talks about the aftermath of her being the latest in a string of women journalists in Britain to be the target of a bomb threat. And her point is that it is not just people who make regular appearances on TV commentary programs like her who are the targets of venom and misogynist abuse, but lots of ordinary women who have small-readership blogs where they talk about feminist things and everyday life.
Now, I recognize that there is nothing particularly novel about noting this phenomenon. I decided to go ahead and write about it anyway in the spirit of adding yet another morsel of corroboration through describing my own experience. That mission, at any rate, has been accomplished. But I often like to end posts with a bit of reflection on what can actually be done about whatever it is I'm writing about. And after much thought, I just don't have the kind of zingy, satisfying, three-easy-steps answer that plays well in some corners of the blogosphere.
So how exactly should someone in my position respond to this reality? In a way, I suppose the initial level of answer to that is pretty obvious: Don't be an oppressive jerk online and make good political use of that extra bit of safety that comes with privilege. Support others who have been targeted by oppressive jerks online. If you see oppressive jerkiness going down online, figure out a way to engage in an online version of bystander intervention. If you are an organizer or moderator of any kind of online community, take this stuff seriously and figure out what you can do (in collaboration with people in the community who have these experiences) to keep the environment safe. Pretty basic stuff -- not necessarily easy, but elementary.
I think there's more, too, though -- stuff related to taking risks and challenging yourself when it comes to your own work. Pay attention to who you listen to/watch/read, and what your political interests are. And challenge that. Expand who you listen to/watch/read, and the topics you pay attention to. Learn about gender struggles and anti-racist struggles, particularly through material produced by people who experience those oppressions and participate first-hand in everyday and/or collective struggles against them. Spend time thinking about how they relate to you. Share them, recommend them, tweet them. And, in ways appropriate to the situation, don't forget them as you write/record/produce your own stuff. Don't indulge the drive to take over that often comes with privilege, but don't let not wanting to do that keep you from taking up and treating seriously those subjects that most often elicit retaliatory venom. And constantly reflect critically on the political effectiveness and reach resulting from your own choices and practices around the form, content, and venue of what you produce -- that is, maybe you (by which I really mean I) could be doing more to engage those likely to disagree.
All of which is very unsatisfying because it is all very individualistic, and as such is completely inadequate to the problem. Politically decent individual behaviour by media producers with privilege isn't a bad thing, of course, but it is only collective struggle -- offline as well as on -- focused not just on oppressive trolling but on the social relations that produce the context that allows and produces the trolling that has any chance of turning the kind of relative freedom from online abuse that I've experienced from a privilege enjoyed by a few to a basic expectation for everyone. So (in ways that are politically appropriate, that follow and respect the leadership of those who experience the oppressions in question, and that take responsibility for privilege) participate in and support those struggles that such trolling is meant to silence.
Which is kind of an unsatisfying answer as well: "Get involved!" is hardly original advice. But I think it's about the only way to respond to what is really one symptom of a much larger cluster of issues.
Posted by Scott Neigh at Monday, August 26, 2013
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Apple will update iPhoto this summer, to bring iOS inspired features to its photo editing software for Mac.
That's according to Dutch site Apple Weetjes, which spoke to anonymous sources who claim that Apple's iPhoto '12 will be "largely inspired" by the recently launched iPhoto iOS app.
The report suggests that Apple will add better iCloud integration so that users can store and share photos and photo books between devices. If a user has iPhoto installed on their iPad, for example, any photos added to iPhoto on their Mac will be automatically added to the iPad app.
Apple Weetjes also suggests that Mac owners with OS X Snow Leopard or earlier users will be unable to upgrade to iPhoto '12 because iCloud is only available on Lion and the upcoming Mountain Lion operating systems.
The report claims that iPhoto '12 will launch this summer. It has been more than a year since Apple last updated the software as part of its iLife '11 suite for Mac.

subset: commoncrawl


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Thoughts on Solomon's Temple
Copyright 2011 James Wasserman
The Temple of Solomon is the metaphysical center of human incarnation. It lies at the spiritual heart of the Bible and, therefore, of Western Culture. It is, further, the primary archetype of all esoteric societies and occult motifs within the Mystery Traditions.
Strong words indeed, but consider: The Temple was built upon the Foundation Stone of the World, the Rock upon which Abraham was to have sacrificed Isaac at God's command. Instead, Abraham was found worthy after demonstrating his willingness to surrender to the Divine. He was allowed to substitute a ram for his beloved son and thus reformed the ancient world's practice of human sacrifice, at least among the Jews.
The Foundation Stone is also believed to have been the location of the Garden of Eden where the first humans walked with God—divine consciousness being an implicit reality rather than the central goal of all religious and spiritual aspiration and hermetic practice and doctrine as it has been since.
Before Eden, the Rock of Ages is said to have been the point of coalescence of that ray of Light which burst forth from Heaven, traveling through Space, until it mysteriously transformed itself into Matter, creating the pinpoint of Substance upon which the three-dimensional world was born. The point grew, first to become the Rock upon Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, then expanding outward to create the Earth upon which we move today.
The Edenic state of unity serves as the central theme of the Bible. Adam and Eve were seduced by the Serpent to taste of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and become as gods. They were then cast forth into the plane of material life, forced to earn their bread by the sweat of their brows. The long path through Western scripture after the Fall is a search for the means of reclaiming divine unity.
The Bible catalogs mankind's quest through a series of tales. We find God's people enslaved in Egypt. After several startling and tragic demonstrations of God's power, the Jews are free to leave their state of bondage. In their journey to the Promised Land, the Lord repeatedly demonstrates His omnipotence.
Moses ascends Mount Sinai where the voice and hand of the Lord deliver the Law upon which Western culture is built. While the Ten Commandments may now be considered too dangerous to be displayed on public property—at least in the U.S.—they have formed the bedrock of the legal and ethical codes of our civilization for the last 3,500 years. Spiritual Masters from Moses to Jesus to Aleister Crowley have built their systems of attainment on certain basic principles of moral behavior that preclude, lying, stealing, murder, and envy. In addition, they each incorporate ritualized activities that affirm respect for and allegiance to the central reality of the cosmic quest—namely the existence of Higher Consciousness upon which the spiritual quest is predicated—"I am the Lord thy God."
After the Lord inscribed the Commandments on the two stone tablets, Moses returned to his people. They had rejected the path of spiritual self-discipline and fallen to the temptation of the golden calf (the modern equivalent of MTV and self-centered politicians proclaiming the lowering of sea levels and healing of the earth). The people were punished accordingly, then given another chance. A second set of Tablets was housed in a Golden Ark kept in the very holiest place of the Tabernacle, The Tabernacle was a large tent, a portable structure used for ritual. A cloud and a flame above the tent signaled to the Israelites when to travel and when to rest for the next forty years of their journey to the Land of Milk and Honey.
And then came Solomon, son of the warrior King David. Solomon sought wisdom. A talented ruler, he has long been regarded as the archetypal Magus, manipulating heaven and earth through the force of his incantations, reputed author of a myriad of grimoires and other magical texts. Solomon built the physical Temple that replaced the Tabernacle as the home of the Tablets of the Lord on the mystical mountain of Moriah in Jerusalem.
Covered from floor to ceiling in precious gold—the symbolic metal of purity, the Sun, and the Lord—Solomon's Temple served as the geographic spiritual center of God's people for a thousand years. (There was a seventy year hiatus after it was destroyed in 586 BC and before it was rebuilt in 515 BC. In 20 BC, Herod would restore the Temple in a magnificent effort that filled the entire Temple Mount.)
Jesus taught at the Temple, walking with his disciples and preaching the New Law—his reformation of the fossilization that had occurred within the Hebrew tradition. The language of the Gospels offers a two thousand-year-old set of spiritual instructions that may still be extracted from the text. Jesus brought a breath of fresh air, an internalization of that sacred Law of God that is the essence of all spiritual striving. He opened his teaching to women, scandalizing those rigid ideologues who had lost the essence of the Shekinah, the Hebrew goddess embodied in Sarah and Rebecca, Rachel and Miriam, Deborah and Jael, Ruth and Sheba. Jesus scoffed at those who misconstrued the Ten Commandments to forbid healing on the Sabbath—what part of the relationship between human and Divine did they not understand?
Certainly the teachings of Jesus were blasphemed after his death. But hidden in the post gospel New Testament, morsels of wisdom remain. At the last we come to Revelation and Saint John's vision of the New Jerusalem. John stands upon the Mount of Olives while the Angel shows him the heavenly city filled with resplendent light, whose structures and streets are built of precious metals, stones, crystals, and pearls.
"And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."
In fact we have come full circle—returned to that Edenic state of unity where God and Man walk together—free of division and separation, in a state of at-one-ment. That sacred unity is the goal of all spiritual paths, all mystical teachings, and all religious aspirations from the beginning of time.
The Temple of Solomon became the home of the Knights Templar. It is ritually recreated in Freemasonry. It is at the center of Ordo Templi Orientis. The Book of the Law proclaims: "But your holy place shall be untouched throughout the centuries: though with fire and sword it be burnt down & shattered, yet an invisible house there standeth . . ." (AL III, 34). The Temple was burnt down with fire and sword in 586 BC. Rebuilt soon after it stood until 70 AD before being burnt down again. In the writing and research of this book, I traveled to Jerusalem and stood on Mount Moriah on the site of the Foundation Stone of the World. I can attest to the fact that an invisible house there standeth.


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Interrogating the Ashraf-Ajlaf Distinction in Colonial India : The Study of Genealogies at Qasbah Amroha [Working Title]
This research project examines the ashraf-ajlaf distinction prevalent at the qasbah of Amroha located in the Rohilkhand region of the United Provinces in colonial India. Amroha, is a qasbah town in the present state of Uttar Pradesh in India, which has a cherished lineage of a social, cultural and political tradition. Through a discussion of the Urdu sources from the qasbah, focusing on the study of genealogies, this study will interrogate and compare the perceptions of the history of the qasbah upheld by the ashraf Muslims in relation to the perceptions of the ajlaf Muslims. An alternate history of the ajlaf Muslims in Amroha will be constructed through the colonial archive and gazetteers, labour manuals and records, and oral sources such as Sufi folklore prevalent at the numerous dargahs located at the qasbah.
Erstgutachterin: Prof. Dr. Margrit Pernau
Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Torsten Tschacher
Drittgutachter: Prof. Dr. Gayer


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4 chicken breast fillets
1 lb. broccoli, frozen
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 (8 oz.) Velveeta cheese
1/2 box Ritz crackers
Cut chicken fillets into bite-size pieces. Saute in butter until it turns white. Cook broccoli according to directions on package. Mix chicken and broccoli. Place in an 8 x 8 inch casserole dish. Melt Velveeta cheese in microwave.
Add both cans of soup to cheese. Pour over chicken and broccoli. Stir until well mixed. Top with crushed Ritz crackers. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes until brown.
May 10th, 2017 admin
4 chicken breast fillets
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OSHA's free software to figure out specific injuries cost you! Link to Osha.gov injury cost analysis
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Thank you for all your help


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Self-promotion project
January 24th is our anniversary. We created this poster for our first birthday, a year remembered for being full of joy, projects and lovely people. We wanted to thank the love we received from those who helped us to make our dream come true.
This piece not only reflects our particular way of doing things but also adds a subtle message for everyone who's ready to look.
'Creativos lunáticos' ('creative lunatics'), that's how we describe ourselves.
– Lunatic: a person who suffers madness, not continuously, but at intervals.
– Creative: that possess or stimulate the creation, invention, etc.
We conceive creativity as a map of constellations, where creatives and projects coexist in an extensive network and make infinite connections.
Who hasn't lay down in the grass to watch the stars and create forms by joining them? This is our day to day —always looking for the next star to connect.
This poster was crafted with a mixture of techniques –collage, letterpress and phosphorescent pigments. It shows a group of individuals looking at a message. Our intention was to create a chain of observation between the viewer and the piece, making him part of these group of people. All condensed in a point of view where stars, ideas, people, creativity, projects and life meet.
Our passion above all.


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Coming & Going: June 2013
May was yet another strong month in the markets, with few investors selling early this year to avoid a summer slump. However, some investors were spooked early in the month after the FOMC rate decision and press conference. In its statement, the Fed said it would continue its $85 billion a month bond buying program, but indicated that it could either increase or decrease the amount it purchases monthly depending on the economic environment. May also saw a number of new funds launch in the beginning and end of the month, with 10 new ETFs entering the ring.
Below, we outline all of the new ETF launches from the past month to give investors a better idea of which one might be right for their objectives:
Pro Membership Required to Continue ReadingTo continue reading this article, you must be an ETFdb Pro member. Please login or begin your 14-day free trial to continue reading. There are several benefits to becoming an ETFdb Pro member today:
- Access to 50+ All-ETF model portfolios. Whether you're a long-term, buy-and-hold investor or a more active trader looking to establish a tactical position, our collection of ETFdb Portfolios has something for everyone.
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Monday Mischief Featuring Chloe and Beemer
So perhaps our mom freaked when she looked out the window and saw us at the bottom of the pool...which had been drained of water. We PROBABLY weren't supposed to be in there...and we really weren't touching any of that stuff...promise!
Besides, our dad said we could be in there...helping him work!
22 comments:
- Sugar the Golden Retriever said...
Woof! Woof! Yes that's dangerous ... Happy Monday Mischief BLOG HOP Day. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar
- February 6, 2012 at 6:39 AM
- Bicontinental Dachshund said...
To me, it looks like you were out there pooling resources :)
- February 6, 2012 at 7:05 AM
- Amber DaWeenie said...
Well, look on the bright side....at least it was drained of water. You really didn't want a baf, did you? Dat is one big baftub!
- February 6, 2012 at 8:50 AM
- Mr. Pip said...
How did you get in there? Better yet, how are you going get out! I am sure your mom will help you out. BOL.
Your pal, Pip
- February 6, 2012 at 9:08 AM
- Finn said...
How did you get down there?!?! Too funny guys, too funny!
- February 6, 2012 at 9:20 AM
You guys are just curious, right?
- February 6, 2012 at 9:59 AM
- CrystalChick said...
Awww, well they were helping atleast. LOL
Sweet pictures.
Happy Monday!
I love your red heart background here.
- February 6, 2012 at 10:20 AM
- Remington said...
You have to be careful....
- February 6, 2012 at 10:35 AM
- yuki and rocket said...
hi there, it's so nice to meet you! if mom would've found us at the bottom of the pool, she'd be so freaked out!! hee hee, us canines sure like to scare our human's don't we?? we're are now following. :)
♥yuki and rocket
- February 6, 2012 at 11:16 AM
- momto8 said...
- February 6, 2012 at 11:21 AM
- Katya said...
Aw, what good pups...helping Ben!
- February 6, 2012 at 12:28 PM
- Ron said...
Chloe and Beemer were probably in the pool checking it out, because they can't wait until summertime when they can swim again....doing the "doogie" paddle - HA!
Cute photos, Jeanne.
And I LOVE the name Beemer. A good friend of mine in Florida had a friend who was nicknamed, Beemer!
Happy Monday to ya!
- February 6, 2012 at 1:04 PM
- Brenda said...
Ut Oh. Time for a bubble bath.
- February 6, 2012 at 2:03 PM
- Two Doodles and a Dane said...
You two are good little helpers! Be careful though!
- February 6, 2012 at 4:07 PM
- Two French Bulldogs said...
Oh my word!! You definitely qualify for mischievous BOL
Benny & Lily
- February 6, 2012 at 4:33 PM
- When I Grow Up I Want to be a Vet said...
You had to check it out of course! What if there were something awesome there and you missed it??
- February 6, 2012 at 4:34 PM
- Ann said...
moms freak out way too easy don't they? I wondered where you two were
- February 6, 2012 at 5:32 PM
- tubby3pug said...
Its neat you have a pool we are jealous, or at least Bob our only water dog is. He only has a tiny baby pool
- February 6, 2012 at 5:35 PM
- Dexter Dog said...
What good helpers you are. Happy Monday. Dexter
- February 6, 2012 at 5:48 PM
- faye said...
This one made me chuckle...thanks for the laugh on an otherwise dull Monday.
- February 6, 2012 at 7:24 PM
- Suka said...
Now that looks like fun kind of mischief! Exploring is always fun, and who knows what exciting things you might find. Just make sure you get out before they start filling it back up! :->
- February 7, 2012 at 12:39 AM
Okay kids, be careful! I know your daddy was looking out for you. Blessings!
- February 7, 2012 at 11:20 AM


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OCEAN BEACH , Calif., April 4 (UPI) -- Five-year-old San Diego resident Kristoffer Von Hassel found a backdoor into Microsoft's Xbox One Live, alerting the company to major security glitch.
The glitch wouldn't have been found had Kristoffer's parents not noticed that he was logging in to his father's Xbox Live account and playing games he wasn't supposed to be playing.
"I got nervous. I thought he was going to find out," said Kristoffer.
Kristoffer then showed his father, Robert Davies, how he logged in to the account. After typing in the wrong password, Kristoffer was taken to a password verification page. There, by typing in a number of space keys and then hitting enter Kristoffer would be logged in, finding a backdoor into one of the most talked-about gaming consoles in past few months.
Davies said that his first reaction was one of happiness.
"How awesome is that!" Davies said. "Just being 5 years old and being able to find a vulnerability and latch onto that. I thought that was pretty cool."
Davies works in computer security and said that this wasn't the first time Kristoffer had hacked into a device. At age 1, Kristoffer was able to get past the child lock screen on a cell phone just by holding down the menu key.
Kristoffer has received a mention in Microsoft's security acknowledgements for March and the company will also give him four games, $50 and a year-long subscription to Xbox Live.
[ABC News 10] [Microsoft Security Response Center]


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Welcome to Ignition - the Northgate Employee Benefits Calculator
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If you would like to talk to us about the next steps then please give our team a call on 01952 212566 or browse our latest vacancies to apply on line
If you are applying for a job with Northgate which is not listed above and you would like to know more about our total benefits package then please contact our team on 01952 212 566 or email us on firstname.lastname@example.com and we will make contact with you.
Van Monster has slightly different Employee Benefits - visit the Van Monster Benefits Calculator here


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Working in electronics brings some very specific risk exposures, and it's critical that your enterprise is underpinned with specialist insurance and sound advice.
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LocationHuntley, IL
14000 Automall Dr
Huntley, IL 60142
New 2019 Keystone RV Alpine 3651RL
Keystone Alpine fifth wheel 3651RL highlights:
- Free-Standing Table
- Kitchen Island
- Master Suite
- Two Electric Awnings
- Fireplace
- Convection Microwave
Are you ready for a cozy weekend away with this Alpine fifth wheel at your favorite destination? Throughout this model, you will enjoy all of the livable space that comes from three slides. When the night gets chilly, grab a blanket and a book and relax on the theater seating or sofa sleeper in front of the warm fireplace or watch your favorite movie on the 50" LED TV. As you wait for dinner to be prepared on the 3-burner range top, you can grab a snack from the 18 cubic foot refrigerator and sit at the free-standing table with chairs as you chat with the chef. With its own bathroom entrance, a 32" TV, and a king-size bed, the master suite proves to be the most relaxing and comfortable place to spend each night.
When you choose an Alpine fifth wheel by Keystone RV, you are choosing luxury. The Whisper Air System is the quietest cooling system ever developed, and it keeps your RV at the perfect interior temperature no matter what the outside weather may bring. Every aspect of the Alpine has been designed to enhance your full-time camping experience, like the oversized pass-through storage which is the industry's largest at roughly 200 cubic feet, and the central vacuum system will help you keep your Alpine looking its best throughout each adventure. You will also love the Furrion RV Chef Collection that gives you the ability to cook with precision and consistency as you travel the country and helps you provide your guests with a higher level of cuisine during each camping trip.
Like most: I would just like to bring to your attention what a great experience we had working with Sherry Corne and your company. Sherry has sold us two campers now and has been more than professional and we just can't say enough about her personality, making us feel we were getting all of her attention and anything she could do for us and just making us feel comfortable in this new location for ... More » - Robert from Belleville, MI
Stock# 185230
|39 ft 4 in
|Ext Width
|8 ft 4 in
|Ext Height
|13 ft 4 in
|Hitch Weight
|2695 lbs
|Dry Weight
|12830 lbs
|Fresh Water Capacity
|66 gals
|Grey Water Capacity
|78 gals
|Black Water Capacity
|44 gals
|Tire Size
|Furnace BTU
|35000 btu
|Available Beds
|Refrigerator Type
|Samsung Residential
|Refrigerator Size
|18 cu ft
|Convection Cooking
|Cooktop Burners
|Number of Awnings
|Axle Weight
|7000 lbs
|LP Tank Capacity
|Water Heater Capacity
|12 gal
|Water Heater Type
|DSI Two Way
|30000 btu
|TV Info
|Awning Info
|11' and 18' Electric with LED Lights
|Axle Count
|Washer/Dryer Available
|Shower Type
|Shower w/Seat
|Electrical Service
|50 amp
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Blog storm over Obama video
Across the political spectrum, the blogosphere ignited Thursday over a video that shows a young Barack Obama, then a student at Harvard Law School, speaking in favor of a protesting professor whom some branded a radical and others a fighter for racial equality.
The online furor began to build when the recently deceased conservative pugilist Andrew Breitbart bragged a few weeks ago that he had video clips that would expose the president's racial biases.
Story Continued Below
"I've got videos — this election we're going to vet him — from his college days, to show you why racial division and class warfare are central to what hope and change was sold in 2008," Breitbart said during a speech at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference.
On Wednesday, BuzzFeed released video from 1991, licensed from a local TV station in Boston, showing a 30-year-old Obama at an outdoor gathering as he gave a glowing introduction of Derrick Bell, the first tenured black law professor at Harvard.
In the video, Obama speaks in support of Bell, who had stopped teaching and gone on a hunger strike to protest the lack of minorities on the law school faculty. Obama was the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review, and many on campus were looking to see if he would back Bell.
However, the video clips released Wednesday are widely regarded to lack the explosive content Breitbart promised, even as they nonetheless sparked a sensation in the blogosphere.
Further, as POLITICO reported, the clips were not even new — the video released by both websites first aired on a PBS "Frontline" broadcast in 2008.
Breitbart.com's staff, which was scooped on the videos by BuzzFeed, accused the site's editors of "selectively editing" the clips and released a slightly longer version in which Bell and Obama are shown embracing. The hug wasn't in BuzzFeed's video.
Breitbart.com also claimed that Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, who had a copy of the video, "wanted this video hidden" during the 2008 campaign.
"Below is footage of Barack Obama praising and hugging Professor Derrick Bell. It was spliced and diced by the media to avoid showing just how close Obama was to Bell," wrote Breitbart.com's Ben Shapiro. "[I]t is damaging, because Barack Obama was as close or closer to Derrick Bell than he ever was to Jeremiah Wright. … This is a man who posited that the civil rights movement was too moderate because it accepted the status quo, and believed that the entire legal and constitutional system had to be transformed in radical fashion."
Conservatives jumped on the video and tried to connect Obama with what they characterized as Bell's "radical" views.


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|Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York
Security Council
5605th Meeting* (PM)
Security Council welcomes report of working group on sanctions;
Adopts resolution 1732 (2006) unanimously
Deciding today that its Informal Working Group to develop general recommendations on how to improve the effectiveness of United Nations sanctions had fulfilled its mandate, the Security Council today took note of the best practices and methods contained in that Group's report, requesting also that its subsidiary bodies take note as well.
Through its unanimous adoption of resolution 1732 (2006), the Council welcomed the report of the Informal Working Group on General Issues of Sanctions, which was established in April 2000 to examine a number of sanctions-related issues, including the working methods of sanctions committees, the design of sanctions resolutions, the unintended impact of sanctions, humanitarian exemptions and targeted sanctions.
When the Working Group's mandate was extended in December 2005 for one year -- until 31 December 2006 -- the Council tasked the Group with addressing several other issues, including: the assessment of the unintended impact of sanctions and ways to assist affected untargeted States; the enforcement of targeted sanctions, especially such sanctions as asset freezes or travel bans targeting individuals or entities; and de-listing procedures in relation to targeted sanctions.
The meeting began at 1:05 p.m. and adjourned at 1:08 p.m.
The full text of resolution 1732 (2006) reads as follows:
"The Security Council,
"Welcomes the report of the Informal Working Group on General Issues of Sanctions, established pursuant to paragraph 3 of the note by the President of the Security Council dated 17 April 2000 (S/2000/319).
"Decides that the Working Group has fulfilled its mandate as contained in document S/2005/841 dated 29 December 2005, to develop general recommendations on how to improve the effectiveness of United Nations sanctions.
"Takes note of the best practices and methods contained in the Working Group's report (S/2006/997) and requests its subsidiary bodies to take note as well."
* *** *


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Thursday, April 23, 2009
A Prayer in an English Church on St. George's Day
Holy Spirit make my soul a living mirror which reflects the love of Jesus Christ.
Father write on my soul, more precious than the most richly byssus, the true and living image of Jesus Christ.
Mary, weaver of my soul, re-arrange those strands which have come undone, re-arrange them to your loving eye so that you may honor and glorify your Son. Amen.
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One of my favorite things to do ever is to sketch. I love grabbing any kind of notebook and my black felt tipped pens and draw away. I love sketching out project ideas, quotes, real life as it is happening and sometimes I just like to doodle. So many of my projects started out a sketch of some kind (even if it is on an old reciept or a half of a piece of paper). Lately, I have taken up getting actual sketchbooks to drw in and it has been so fun. I picked up a few different ones..all for different reasons.
I love sketching in my Smash journal because there are a variety of papers (and thus backgrounds) and it has brought a new fun side out to my ideas:
I love sketching in my Smash journal because there are a variety of papers (and thus backgrounds) and it has brought a new fun side out to my ideas:
Before you say..isn't this a kids book? Technically, yes. (But am I not just a really grown up kid?!):) NO..you would not believe how much fun I am having in these books (I have one other too)! These books have more prompts (most of which I ignore)..but the fun thing about these books is that I am using them to write stories for my kids. About fun and crazy superheroes. They will love going through it when I am done:
And then I have a big, plain sketchbook. I love to open a new fresh page and make the page come to life. I have obviously been thinking a lot about life lately, so this one came from one of those quick sketch sessions:
Do you use sketchbooks?
I am going to be showing more of my sketches off and on now..I always enjoy looking into the starting stages of someone's creativity!
I made this sketch into two little 5x7 prints. You can find them HERE.


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Rachel Schneider Joins Aspen Financial Security Program as Omidyar Network Entrepreneur-in-Residence
The Aspen Financial Security Program (FSP) announced this week that Rachel Schneider, co-author of The Financial Diaries: How American Families Cope in a World of Uncertainty, will be joining FSP as the Omidyar Network Entrepreneur-in-Residence.
As entrepreneur-in-residence, Rachel will explore how small, strategic cash infusions can go a longer way by helping families at pivotal moments.
Tilman Ehrbeck, partner at Omidyar Network says: "Rachel's work at CFSI and on the US Financial Diaries project have taken great strides to highlight the importance of financial health, and we are excited to support Rachel in translating that thinking into real-world experiments that will surface new solutions for promoting financial health."
Read the full blog post here.


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IDM CC 7.3.72 for Mozilla Firefox 30, 31,32, 33, 34, 35 and 36. IDM CC Firefox Plugin That It Is Necessary To Software Internet Download Manager. Because IDM CC Can Accelerate Process Download From Firefox to Internet Download Manager / IDM.
How to Install IDM CC as following:
1. Download the file of IDMCC 7.3.72.
2. Open your Mozilla Firefox browser.
3. Press Ctrl + O.
4. Dialog box appears, navigate to the file you have downloaded earlier (idmzcc.xpi).
5. Press Enter or Open.
6. Dialog box will appear, click install.
7. After the install is complete, restart your Mozilla Firefox.
8. Is complete, the IDM is ready for use.
Link Download :


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When can you request the court modify your child support so you pay less?
Child support is a certain amount of money paid by the non-custodial parent each month to support the needs of the child.
How is the Child Support Determined?
The child support (amount) is determined, based on a set formula in accordance with the NC child support guidelines. It takes into consideration several factors such as income of parties, insurance costs, daycare costs, etc. Each situation is different. Whether you are entitled to receive child support or obligated to pay child support, will depend on close review of your specific individual circumstances. You can use our free child support calculator to determine the amount of child support you will likely pay.
The amount of child support depends largely on the gross income of each parent and the number of overnight visits each parent has with the child.
However if circumstances change, the non-custodial parent can file for downward modification of child support. What are these changed circumstances?
Grounds for Modification of Child Support
If the non-custodial parent has lost his job due to the current economic situation, he can apply to modify child support. The rationale is that since the income has gone down (or is not there), it is reasonable ground for downward modification. However it is necessary to show that the loss of employment has resulted as due to circumstances beyond the individual's control. The court also wants to know that efforts have been made to seek alternative employment, but which have been unsuccessful.
Seek Legal Advice Early
In cases where both parties are unable to mutually agree on child support, the amount is determined by the court. In such a situation, the non custodial parent is legally obligated to make the child support payments on time. If for any reason, you find yourself unable to meet your payment commitments, it is best to seek legal advice early and file petition for downward modification. Otherwise you risk facing contempt of court.


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I frequently crave Greek inspired food, but not everyone I cook for in enjoys it as much as me. I made roasted chicken legs with a lemon oregano sauce to satisfy my craving and to make it enjoyable for everyone else who was eating.
Lemon Oregano Chicken
2 pounds chicken legs and thighs, skin on
1 lemon
2 tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
Lay chicken legs and thighs in baking pan. Combine juice of lemon, lemon zest, oregano, red wine vinegar and garlic in a blender, mix until well combined and garlic is chopped. Slowly stream in olive oil while blender is running to create and emulsion. Once sauce is combined and thickened slightly, pour most of the sauce, approximately 3/4 of it, over the chicken and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, until chicken is cook through and tender. Remove the chicken from the oven. At this point, pour the rest of the sauce over the chicken, and let it rest for 5 minutes.


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Featured Story
Mangroves move inland as seas rise
Adapting to the damaging effects of climate change, plants are gradually moving to where temperatures are cooler, rainfall is greater, f...
Browse » Home » Weather Observations » Wondering whether weather patterns will be permanent
Wondering whether weather patterns will be permanent
KENTUCKY is wondering whether weather patterns will be permanent - October in central Kentucky HAS NEVER BEEN HOTTER than it was Sunday and Monday when high temperatures flirted with 90 degrees. Add that to the fact AUGUST WAS THE HOTTEST MONTH EVER and one question begs to be asked: What the heck is going on here? Some climate predictions called for 2007 to be the Earth�s warmest year on record, a forecast Kentucky�s weather matches. A high-pressure ridge has blanketed the area, and when it looks as if it�s breaking down because of a passing frontal system or a shift in the jet stream, it re-forms. The National Weather Service predicts above-normal temperatures from December through February. Also, precipitation is expected to be more plentiful than in an average winter. Another player in this year�s odd weather is a La Ni�a system, which has developed in the Pacific Ocean. While its effects on Kentucky historically have been variable, it�s expected to bring dry weather to the South. As for central Kentucky�s drought, Bowling Green is 17 inches below normal and Louisville is down 9 inches.


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9ct Gold Drop EarringsBeaverbrooks
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Help Desk - Federal
Federal Court Help Desk (William J. Hibbler Memorial Pro Se Assistance Program)
A free, appointment only help desk providing advice and assistance to people without an attorney who want to file or have already filed a civil law suit in federal court.
Dirksen Courthouse, 20th floor
219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL
Appointment only.
Call (312) 435-5691 for an appointment.


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Sims 4 + Sims 4 Cats & Dogs Bundle (XB1)
Xbox One
- Retail $49.99
Released on Friday, November 2, 2018
Published by EA
Rated T
Create Cats and Dogs - Express your creativity as you create and customize your Sims' perfect cats, dogs, puppies and kittens. Bond with Your Pets - Experience the companionship and fun that furry friends bring to your Sims' lives. Become a Vet and Run a Clinic - Build a vet clinic, hire staff, and further your career as an animal doctor.
Please contact us for store availablility.


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The new hoplite tactics are well known to Homer who stresses the point that it is only the Greeks that know how to use them and that this gives them an advantage over the Trojans. The contrast between the silent and well-organized Greek phalanxes and the howling mob of Trojans (Iliad IV. 430) resembles the later descriptions of the battles between Greeks and Persians. Homer describes the hoplite tactics as a novelty used on certain occasions and combined with the heroic type of warfare. For this reason some scholars have found a support to their contention that Homer is an archaeologist describing a past age: he lives in an age of hoplite tactics but tries to describe the individual warfare of ancestral times. Followers of the analytic school classify as later strata all passages mentioning hoplite tactics. But far from being contradictory and imprecise in matter of battle techniques, Homer is exact and observant; ancient Greeks always considered him an authority on tactics. He reveals a perfect awareness of the impact of the new tactics on the style of warfare of his champions. In Book XII of the Iliad, when the Trojans reach the ships in the Greek camp, the Greeks in desperate straits organize themselves in phalanx:
The valiant Hektor confronted with these tactics shouts with indignation:
But the age of the heroes and of their helping gods is past, since Hektor, although .
The same episode is repeated in a more watered-down form in Book XV: here again the Trojans threaten the Greek ships, the Greeks organize themselves in phalanxes, and the might of Hektor vainly breaks itself against them.
There is no doubt that Homer sympathizes with the heroic type of warfare and likes to sing about it, but he is not blind to the facts. Scholars who insist that Homer is an archaeologist, or who see the poems as an anthology of passages written in different historical periods, fail both in terms of historical and of esthetic criticism. The apparent contradictions in Homer are due to the fact that he was a conservative, in the sense that he was speaking for a social class whose position was then threatened by a political and technological revolution. It is the deliberate assertion of the value system of a crumbling social order that constitutes the peculiar pathos of Homeric poetry.
The hoplite tactics were bringing about a political revolution because they meant the creation of a new class of warriors at a social level intermediate between that of the aristocratic heroes and the rabble of their followers. In heroic warfare the champions engage in individual combat, while the followers stay behind and throw missiles. The function of the followers is mainly that of providing a line to which the champions can withdraw for safety. In hoplite tactics on the contrary, the number of fighters becomes important; the phalanx needs a rather large number of men of equal skill; this skill does not need to be as great as that of the aristocratic heroes trained since childhood, but has to be superior to that of the mass of the heroes' followers. This point is well emphasized in Homer.
Homer stresses the point that the soldiers who are organized in phalanx are the better ones selected from the mass of the followers. In the two episodes in which the Greeks organize themselves into phalanxes to save the ships, this point is made clear: the members of the phalanxes are said to be "selected best men" (aristoi krinjente|s) in Iliad XIII 127, and in XV 295 ff. the mass of the army is sent back while "the best men" .bi (aristoi) form the phalanxes. Homer also notices the discipline needed in the phalanx tactics: the members of the phalanx march in silence strictly obeying the orders of their leaders, while behind them the mass is wildly shouting. Homer also stresses the point that the number of the soldiers fighting in phalanx is greater than that of heroes engaging in individual combat (XV 467). This is an important point because it brought about the enlargement of the number of the people having political rights and the transfer of power from the aristocracy to the oligarchs. According to Mireaux the rebellious behavior of part of the army in the assembly of Book II of the Iliad is to be explained by the fact that the heroes are now confronted with the power of the phalanx fighters who have detached themselves from the mass of the followers.
The relation between military transformation and social transformation is well indicated by the shift in the meaning of the word falagc and promaxoi in Homer. Basically promaxoi means the champions who engage in individual combat in front of the followers, whereas the falagce|s are the lines of the followers in the rear; but it also happens that a part of the followers are promoted to the rank of promaxoi and the term falagce|s comes to be applied to these selected ones whose lines come in contact with the enemy.
The new meaning of the term .bi promaxoi has been missed by scholars, even though an exact comprehension of this term is essential to the interpretation of Tyrtaios. Tyrtaios sings of the new hoplite tactics, but in a period in which these tactics had not become generalized. He appeals to the youth to detach itself from the rear ranks and to come forth as promaxoi to fight in phalanx formation. As in Homer the phalanx tactics are so new that they have not yet brought about a change in the armament: the phalanx of fighters still use the big shield and the long lance, good both for thrusting and for throwing. As in Homer the phalanx is followed by a second line of non-organized fighters. Tyrtaios specifically points out (fr. 11 Edmonds) how soldiers organized in phalanx can resist a much larger unorganized mass of enemies (andrwn plhjun). He mentions light-armed soldiers that scattered through the lines of the phalanx-fighters and, protected by them, throw missiles at the enemy (line 35-39): since this particular tactic was used by the Assyrian phalanx, one may conclude that in Tyrtaios' time the phalanx was still a recent imitation from the Assyrian warfare.
Tyrtaios describes a stage of development of the phalanx that is contemporary to that described by Homer. His language is so similar to that of Homer that it is a hopeless task to decide in terms of philology whether Homer has influenced Tyrtaios, or Tyrtaios Homer. The important difference is that Tyrtaios sings of a system in which the phalanx formation has become the only important technique of warfare and in which a new class of promaxoi has completely superseded the heroic warriors. One can conclude that Tyrtaios is a contemporary of Homer, but sympathizes with the social order linked with the new tactics. In this matter one must consider the very intriguing hypothesis of Mireaux that Homer's description of Thersites, "the audacious," is a satire of Tyrtaios.
The hoplite tactics are both more expensive and more economical than the heroic tactics of warfare: more expensive because an effective phalanx requires the participation of a much larger mass of skilled and equipped first-line fighters (promaxoi), and less expensive because these fighters do not need the heavy armor of the heroes and require a less specialized training. In Homer as in Tyrtaios the phalanx fighters still carry the large shield and the long spear. The hoplite armor is considered an inferior sort of armament. When the Greeks have to resist Hektor's onslaught against the ships and resort to phalanx tactics that need a larger number of promaxoi|, armor must be found for those that could not afford their own: "Let us put on the best and biggest shields in the camp, and cover the heads with the most shining helmets, and seize the longest lances we can find . . . If there is a stauch fighter who has only a small buckler, let him give it to some worse fellow with a larger shield and take his." (Iliad XIV 370-374). Leaf considers the idea of this passage as "extraordinary" and suggests it is a very poor addition. But in the second half of the seventh century B.C. it was realized that the small round shield and the short thrusting spear not only were sufficient, but more fit for phalanx fighting. It is clear from the Homeric description that the heroic armor forced slow movements on the heroes. The hoplite armor that had been considered an inferior form of armament became the standard one. Two studies of the archaeological evidence by Wolfgang Helbig indicate that the hoplite armor had been known in Greece since Mykenaian times and was used during the Dark Ages. But it came into general use only in the course of the seventh century B.C. Obviously the aristocrats resisted the introduction of such a cheap sort of armor, an armor well fit for the poor wretches who had to fight as mercenaries. The new cheap armor that came to be made of iron (whereas the heroic armor was of bronze) allowed the hiring of large masses of mercenaries. Hoplite warfare meant the ruin of the old aristocracies who were not sufficently numerous to form a phalanx. Only a revolution in the political organization of the poleis by broadening the franchise allowed the creation of a hoplite army of citizens, not of mercenaries. The need to have a body of hoplites caused Greek cities to spread the political and economic power over a larger body of citizens. But in the period of transition from aristocracy to oligarchy, hoplite formations could be obtained only by the hiring of mercenaries. It was this situation that gave their chance to tyrants.


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Le Jardin d'Orante Pomme et Speculoos Applesauce
After a busy few days, I'm back in the saddle again, so to speak.
I have spent most of my week at school and at SIAL, a biannual international specialty food show that just happened to be in Paris this year and at this time.
I wish I could tell you that I planned this all in advance, but I am just not that smooth. And I didn't plan the Salon du Chocolat taking place next week, either. Needless to say, it's been hectic, but amazing-
I have so many wonderful new products to show you!
For starters, there's this thing. A burgeoning food trend in France (can anyone tell me if this has extended to the rest of Europe?) is slapping speculoos on pretty much everything, as I've mentioned.
I have never been so happy, or so secretly ashamed, to tell you that literally 13% of my refrigerator contains speculoos-infused items.
This coming from the girl who "forgot" to buy toilet paper this week after seeing a 2-for-1 deal on mint-flavored water. Pathetic, but I wear it with pride.
This little number is the Le Jardin d'Orante's applesauce receptacle, nothing new there, crammed with exactly one speculoos cookie as per the package's diagram.
I wish all ingredient lists came with rebus-like easy math. The applesauce is thick and sweet, your basic Mott's-esque flavoring, with a smooth texture and slight pulpiness.
The problem lies in the speculoos. It's not chunky and doesn't make its presence known from a textural sense.
It's a lot like flavored water or seltzer- the essence of the flavoring is incorporated into the base, but it's indistinguishable in appearance from its non-screwed with equivalent.
However, I can't in good faith attribute any of the resounding complimentary flavors- cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, and ginger, with speculoos. The cookie itself is greater than the sum of its parts.
Without that inimitable texture and crunch, it's just spiced applesauce.
I applaud the ingenuity on part of Le Jardin d'Orante, but if I'm craving applesauce and cookies, will stick to the old-fashioned, albeit gross method of mashing them in applesauce with my bare hands.
gay paree


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The Al-Madinah Cultural Center and the Muslim Students Association would like to request of you to fast Tuesday, February 14 in an aim to raise money for the American Relief Agency for the Horn of Africa (ARAHA). For every pledge to fast we receive, our sponsors will donate to the organization. We also encourage you to join us in breaking your fast at the end of the day and to learn more about our cause in Coffman Memorial Union in the Great Hall.
Remeber to pledge, link is below:


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What's the difference between regular potato chips and "kettle-cooked" ones?
Kettle-cooked chips use a batch process. This means the chips are washed, sliced, and fried in batches. Other mass-market chips use a continuous process: Raw potatoes go in one end, and a huge conveyor system moves the potatoes down the line, through the cutter, the fryer, the seasoning application, and into their bags—barely touched by human hands. Oil temperatures and times are usually calibrated by computers. This means that potato chips can be made cheaper and with more consistency.
But in batch processing, the oil is harder to control. It's the same phenomenon you experience when you drop raw vegetables into a pot of boiling water: The temperature of the liquid drops and takes a while to heat up again. As a result, there's some variation in the color of the chips. But these days, consumers don't necessarily want chips white and predictable, and batch variances have been turned into a marketing advantage. Kettle Chips has built a business on them.
I notice that Lay's Light chips have olestra in them, but the scary olestra warning about "leakage" is not there anymore. What gives?
Olean is the brand name for olestra, a "no-fat cooking oil" developed by Procter & Gamble. P&G claims that Olean "travels through the body unchanged like any poorly absorbed food components, such as high-fiber bran."
Apparently, in the early years of olestra's life, it did cause some, ahem, relaxation. (Check out one man's experiment, if you dare. It's gross.) So in 1996 when the FDA approved it for use in salty snacks, products had to carry the buzz-kill warning that they may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools in some people. Yum! Pass those chips!
It turns out that the side effect was no different than what we experience eating normal fried foods like Pringles (a P&G product) and Doritos (from Frito-Lay). After reviewing the studies, in 2003 the FDA eliminated the need for olestra warnings.
But once a brand name is linked in consumers' minds with something like "anal leakage," the damage is done. Frito-Lay discontinued its Wow! brand olestra snacks and reintroduced them as Lay's Light and Doritos Light. Sneaky marketing, perhaps, but according to scientific studies on olestra, the risk is minimal—nowhere near that of sorbitol, erithrytol, and other "polyols" used in low-carb foods and sugar-free products like chewing gum. And these require no warnings.
Why do potato chips use MSG?
MSG is a flavor enhancer. And the excessive use of flavor enhancers is one of the dirty little food secrets of the snack industry.
The most common flavor enhancer is MSG, or monosodium glutamate. People are wary of MSG, so a sneaky way of working MSG into a product is by using soy sauce, which contains a naturally occurring version of MSG. This allows you to put soy sauce—not MSG—on your label.
Flavor enhancers intensify the flavors of other ingredients. They create complete, round flavors. Snack companies create a perfectly round flavor, then back it off just a notch to get you to reach for more. You know that old Lay's ad campaign "Betcha can't eat just one"? Well, betcha didn't know it was because it was loaded with flavor enhancers.
Another reason, says Carolyn Richards, chief flavor architect for Kettle Foods, is that many companies use flavor enhancers "as a cost-saving substitute for real food ingredients." Kettle uses powdered ingredients naturally high in glutamates—like Parmesan and yeast extract.
Barb Stuckey is executive VP for Mattson, the food and beverage product development firm; author of a food trade newsletter column; and a former restaurant reviewer.
Photograph by Chris Andre


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EducationSuperHighway recently released the full version of Compare & Connect K-12, which enables users to more easily view and compare bandwidth and broadband pricing information for their own and other school districts across Massachusetts. Compare & Connect K-12 is a free online tool that empowers …Continue Reading Compare & Connect K-12: Learn how to get more bandwidth for your budget
A hallmark of personalized learning is individual learning plans and pathways. The first step in guiding every student on a pathway that maximizes their success in demonstrating proficiency over competencies is knowing every student well. A key lens through which we learn about our students …Continue Reading Personalized Learning and Cultural Competency
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For those of you just tuning in, we decided to get a few people together from our BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ viewing support group to talk a little bit about what we're seeing. It's a lot of film and with so much and so many ways to talk about it, we nominated Brandon to get us started, and everyone added a bit just to get the conversation going. Chiming in here now are Cynthia Sailers, Julian Myers, Stephen Hartman, Dominic Willsdon, Brandon Brown & myself. Among us there are some poets, a poet/translator, an art historian, an analyst, a curator; none of us have before now seen the film. Please join us.
Brandon: The opening scene depicts Franz Biberkopf being released from jail after serving a four year sentence. He pauses, however, on the threshold between the jail and the busy street, and as he encounters the great din coming from the traffic of the street, plugs his ears, assuming a pained gesture. At this moment, the title of the first episode (The Punishment Begins) appears on the screen, and directly afterwards, Franz attempts to go back into prison. On an allegorical level, the "punishment" is identical with the establishment of human beings (as in the biblical story) as laborers in a world of objects (and other humans). Prison, which for Franz was an experience of the worldless, by contrast produced less pain.
Later, we learn that Franz, in prison, kept to himself and talked to no one. This moment, then, on the threshold between the prison and the city, marks the emergence of Franz from worldlessness into worldliness. As he assumes presence in the space of appearance, he is confronted with a world of objects which he cannot seem to navigate (honking cars nearly hitting him) or even comprehend (the forks which do not puncture eater's mouths).
The majority of the first three episodes of Berlin Alexanderplatz, then, depict Franz as he enters the exchange market by assuming a variety of social roles, including consumer (of prostitutes as well as beer) and laborer (vending shoelaces as well as Nazi propaganda.) The "betrayals" he is subject to, the absolute violence which marks his encounters with others and especially with women, the inability to apprehend objects (such as a swastika armband) as anything other than instruments for obtaining the means of subsistence: these are the hallmarks of the "new world" which Franz, the convicted murderer, crosses into from the safety of the prison walls. Despite his frequent insistence on the hardness of the hard time he served, it is clear that the objects and labors in Berlin are the true objects of risk, and these are what, we know, shall "lay him low".
Stephen: I agree with Brandon. There is so much to say about this lush film. My way into the film is to locate the story in the psychoanalytic frame of its day. I read Franz as a hysteric: someone, as Brandon says, who lacks "the inability to apprehend objects" and to whom history happens without agency. As our hero wafts between subject and object states, unable to apprehend self and other, in a terror about sexuality, castrated by unemployment, vexed by genuine commitments, and soothed by suckling on maternal women (on whom he is dependent and with whom he is mostly impotent and ashamed), he floats in and out of consciousness. Having been massively dissociated in prison, he emerges into semi-consciousness only to fall into the determining embrace of others: an insane Hassid (a dybbuk); a series of husky-voiced prostitutes; a pornographer; a paternal Nazi; a cruisy sausage vendor (again a Jew); a blond red; a fallen Christian…and others who seduce him up only to cut him down. Rage overtakes him, and he completely gives himself over to violent nationalism. Then, every now and again, (as Dominic points out), Eva, an occasional, mysterious angel whose sexuality is not sullied, calms him, awakens him (or lulls him back to sleep). As of yet, there is no convincing father, no lasting identification, only threat and drift with occasional fetishized glimmers of hope.
I particularly love how the narrative floats through a sequence of atmospheres, (the underground station is the one I find most gorgeous), like a nightmare that keeps returning all through the night. What a fantastic way to speak about how the subject emerges and yet can't escape from history–trapped in the frame of a dissolving film.
Cynthia: Who is Franz Biberkopf, this serial installment of a man? Why am I going to be invested in him for four weeks? I'm not a big fan of Fassbinder's films because of the trope of the woman character, often really simplistic, the ambitious prostitute, the business woman, they seem to be sadly all the same.
In the women's bathroom, during the intermission, all of the conversation seemed to be questioning Franz's sexuality. Is he gay? Is he really impotent? We were trying to figure out to what degree he really can penetrate. He's unemployed; he's not really able to penetrate much. Other questions were about his brutishness, and the vampiric nature of his biting and grabbing and sucking. Something about this ambiguity seems to allow him to be read as a more complex character. I'm not that interested myself in his ambiguous sexuality or not, I'm reading it as more infantile, perverse.
I'm more interested in the ways his psyche ruptures or seeps through—he has multiple social positions, the Nationalist, the criminal, the unemployed, the proletariat, the salesman, the abusive man-but then his own psyche seems to leak through. My question is, can he really take up ANY role, or any identity?
Suzanne: A couple of observations: First, that several times during the first three episodes, Franz says he can't speak, or that he doesn't speak very well; he then goes on to speak beautifully, oratorically, poetically (sometimes by quotation or song).
It seems to me that both Franz's impotence, and his speechlessness, are "cured" in the first episode, by RAPE. (Cynthia said, "by being bad".) Soon after his release from prison, and after being unable to have sex with a prostitute, Franz visits Minna, the sister of the girlfriend he's been doing time for murdering. Arriving at her door, he only mumbles, then he rapes her, then he shouts: "Franz Biberkopf is back!" It's worth noting that the scene which follows (I think) is the flashback to the murder scene.
And, two metaphors of 'strength': While Franz rapes Minna, she says in voiceover, "with men like this, there's nothing you can do, they have arms of iron." Later, Franz and 'Polish Lina' are at a dance hall, where Franz meets the Nazi who'll have him selling papers the next day. The song playing over the dance-hall scene carries the refrain, "A woman can never know the strength of the man she loves"–(Moral) weakness & betrayal just ahead. It's the beginning of the end for Franz & Lina.
Julian: I will confirm Stephen's impression of Alexanderplatz as "a sequence of atmospheres." The movie gives gives the impression, confirmed by the gauzy, fever dream look of the film, less of a modernist epic, than a sequence of melodramatic zones of action. This is modernism by way of Douglas Sirk and soap operas. "Dallas with Nazis" was Dominic's neat description. Indeed Dallas had its debut in April 1978 as a five-part mini-series – as Fassbinder began filming. Both Dallas and Alexanderplatz make the case for the mini-series as a distinctive form; what the novel was for the 19th century, the mini-series may have been for the late 20th.
Like Dom, I was struck especially by the two confrontations at the end of the second episode: The challenge from the Jewish "sausage-vendor" (a joke there I think) in the underground station where Franz is hawking copies of the Nazi Völkischer Beobachter; and the near-brawl with the communists in the bar afterwards. After a less-than-rousing version of The Internationale, one of the communists challenges our hapless, murderous anti-hero to a fight. Brandishing a chair to defend himself, Franz has a meltdown worthy of the Cabaret Voltaire: Singing a chaotic rendition of patriotic war-anthem Die Wacht Am Rhein, and spouting half-understood nationalist calls to order, he seems a pathetic and egoless character, and is smugly dismissed by his leftist tormentors.
But of course he's a sociopath and murderer. Even those who know he beat his fiancee Ida to death with a cream-whipper, don't seem too bothered by it. "What a lovely fellow!" cries Frau Bast, who saw him crouched above her corpse with bloody fists.
From Alex Ross's great recent study of avant-gardes in 20th century music, The Rest is Noise: "One night in 1928, Joseph Goebbels walked around the Tauentzienstrasse cabaret district and returned home to write: "This is not the true Berlin… The other Berlin is lurking, ready to pounce."
Dominic: I can't believe Julian quoted me on that 'Dallas with Nazis' line! That was me being a bit flippant. But it is true the film is more like a mini-series than an experimental epic. That's its difference from the book (which I started reading yesterday). The film is more centered on the characters and more plot-based, in a way that's more traditional, and more TV.
I'm interested to see if the film deals with the politics differently from the novel. You'd think so, given that Döblin is writing in 1928-9, during the so-called quiet years of National Socialism. We'll see.
I don't think Franz's (maybe temporary) support for the Nazis is just about having a job (selling papers), as Brandon says. I think it's somehow heartfelt. Franz wants order, because order means peace. The young Communists didn't experience the war as he did, he thinks, so they don't fear violence as he does. But then the next scene in the book (is it different in the film?) is the flash-back to Franz violently killing Ida. For me, it's as if Franz believes the Nazis are the kind of people who know it's necessary to control people like himself-if Germany is also going to 'go straight'.


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You've marvelled at the Taj Mahal, partied in Phuket and wandered along the Great Wall of China. But there are plenty of other places to discover in Asia.Read more...
Kashmir - When and where to visit
When to visit
Highlights and suggested itineraries
Whether you come in the dry or the rainy season, the state of J&K is a year-round destination and there are major attractions to see throughout.
J&K has a varied climate due to the state's size and its variation in altitude and topography. Jammu has a humid, subtropical climate with summer temperatures well into the 40s (°C); a substantial drop in winter sees lows just above freezing. The area receives monsoon rains between June and September, and annual rainfall averages 1,100mm.
Srinagar is also subtropical and humid, though due to its increased altitude, temperatures are generally lower. Summer days touch a pleasant 30°C, but in winter there can be deep snow and temperatures hover around freezing during January and February. There is less rainfall here than in Jammu, though the spring can still be wet and we've been caught in storms and hail in September.
The climate up in Leh is dramatically different: it's a desert. Winters are long and harsh with months of deep snowfall and bitter temperatures: it can get as low as –28°C. There's little rainfall here – just a few millimetres each month – and for much of the year the days are warm and bright, albeit cooler at night.
In the last three to five years, however, Ladakh has experienced a marked shift in its weather, most likely due to climate change. Much less snow is falling, leading to concerns about the availability of water. In the same timeframe, however, there have also been huge and unanticipated cloudbursts: in August 2010 four inches of rain fell in just 30 minutes. Floods washed away villages, as well as homes in Leh, and more than 250 people were killed.
A stunning view over the city of Leh in Ladakh surrounded by winter snows © J&K Tourism
When to visit
The state of J&K is a year-round destination: there are major attractions in every season, though if you want to visit a specific place or undertake a particular activity you will need to take the extremes of weather into consideration.
In winter Ladakh is only accessible by air, as the roads are closed by snow. This is the best time to spot snow leopards and to undertake the Chadar Winter Trek along the frozen Zanskar River, accompanying local teachers returning to Zanskar's remote villages after their winter break. Ladakhi Losar, the New Year, is celebrated in late December or early January, the exact date set by the lunar calendar.
Srinagar in the snow is a postcard-perfect scene. You can keep warm with a kanger beneath your phiren, tucked up toasty warm on a houseboat, or use the city as a springboard for Gulmarg. The most developed ski resort in the Himalayas, ski passes, kit hire and lessons are exceptionally cheap and you can even try your hand at heli-skiing.
Whether your idea of heaven is heli-skiing in Gulmarg or joining the monks for their early morning meditation, trekking along the frozen Zanskar River, white-water rafting on the Indus or simply lazing on a houseboat with a good book, you won't be disappointed.
The spring is when the snows begin to melt and the alpine meadows erupt into rainbows, with wild flowers everywhere you look. In Srinagar the magnificent tulip fields also come into bloom, and though the domestic tourists have begun to arrive, there are relatively few foreigners to be seen. Everything is lush, green and fresh, and the lower trekking routes start to beckon.
In the summer months, it's time for trekking. The snow has retreated to the uppermost peaks, and the roads are clear enough to drive to Leh and even down to Zanskar. While Leh itself is busy, there are plenty of quiet retreats in the surrounding valleys. You can walk, you can ride, and few things are more beautiful than sitting out around a campfire beneath the stars.
Even the rivers and lakes look enticing in July and August. There are plenty of opportunities for kayaking and white-water rafting on the rivers of Ladakh, while to the west the lakes of Kashmir offer a variety of watersports, leisurely boat trips and trout fishing.
The greatest draw in autumn is the Ladakh Festival, which runs for two weeks at the start of September. It's a wonderful celebration of Ladakhi culture and a prime opportunity to see traditional costumes and masked dance, archery competitions and polo. Come November the saffron fields of Kashmir are riotous purple; the crocuses are harvested and the saffron dried.
Highlights and suggested itineraries
It is often said that a place has something for everyone, but in the case of J&K that is actually true. Thousands of years of history sit side by side with vibrant modern communities; spectacular natural landscapes ripe for exploration are dotted with all manner of architectural curiosities. Whether your idea of heaven is heli-skiing in Gulmarg or joining the monks for their early morning meditation, trekking along the frozen Zanskar River, white-water rafting on the Indus or simply lazing on a houseboat with a good book, you won't be disappointed.
Buddhas of Kargil
Far less famous but no less impressive than the ill-fated Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan, which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, is the 7m-tall rock-cut Buddha at Kartse Khar. Dating back to the 7th/8th century AD, this statue was carved by early missionaries and the depiction of the body, jewellery and hair are typical of the Kashmiri style. Four other Buddha carvings, including the standing Buddha at Mulbekh, are also found within the district.
The 7m-tall giant buddha of Kartse Khar, carved by early missionaries in the typical Kashmiri style © J&K Tourism
The Mughal Road
When the Mughal emperors travelled to their Kashmiri paradise in the 1600s, the road they took was far west of the current National Highway. Their route has recently been paved and now hosts the annual Mughal Road Car Rally, as well as giving other motorists the opportunity to pass through the spectacularly beautiful Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary.
Mubarak Mandi
At first glance Jammu's Mubarak Mandi is a crumbling wreck, a pitiful place of neglect. Look closer, however, and this 19th-century palace complex has remarkable, wedding-cake architecture and is overrun with monkeys. Some restoration work has already been done and shows the possibility that the buildings may yet return to their former glory.
Trekking in Zanskar
The vast majority of trekkers head to Ladakh as the routes are more easily accessible from Leh, but it's well worth the effort of travelling further afield to Zanskar. The landscapes are more striking, there are fewer people on the trails and there are fantastic opportunities for spotting flora and fauna, including the elusive snow leopards. Even in winter you can join local teachers on the Chadar trek as they brave the snow and ice to return to their rural schools after the winter break.
Meditating at Thiksey Monastery
Joining the monks in their early morning prayers sends shivers down your spine. The room, dark save for candlelight, resonates with sonorous chanting and we sat completely spellbound. Though other monasteries such as Hemis are better advertised, we prefer the laid-back atmosphere of Thiksey where you feel more a part of the community than simply a spectator.
Mughal Gardens
We grew up with the idea of the Shalimar Gardens as an Eden-like place, never guessing once that they were real. The discovery that they did exist, and indeed survive to the present day, was a cause for great excitement. Come early in the morning to Shalimar, or to the equally beautiful Chashma Shahi, and you'll not only be able to explore the gardens before the crowds but also see the mist rising eerily off the lawns and water channels.
Houseboats of Srinagar
If you take home one image of Srinagar, it'll be of India's floating palaces, the houseboats of Dal and Nagin lakes. Stay just one night afloat and you'll see why the colonial British hired boats for months on end; take a shikara ride among the lotus gardens and you'll probably never want to leave.
Khardung La
There's a certain draw to visiting places with superlatives attached to them, and the (probably) highest motorable road on earth is no exception. Yes Khardung La is touristy, yes it gets crowded, but without climbing Everest it's probably the closest you'll get to standing on the roof of the world, and that makes it worth the effort.
Top 10 Adrenaline Hits
• Run the Ladakh Ultra Marathon and prove your endurance at altitude
• Mountain bike from Khardung La down the world's highest motorable road to Leh
• Rock climb in the sandstone cliffs around Sonamarg
• White-water raft through the rapids of the Indus River
• Fish for trout in high-altitude lakes around Srinagar
• Complete the Chadar Winter Trek across frozen rivers to Zanskar
• Ski off-piste at Gulmarg, India's top winter sports resort
• Horse trek to the Thajiwas Glacier
• Paraglide above the lush, green landscapes of the Vale of Kashmir
• Try heli-skiing at a price you can afford
Suggested itineraries
Your itinerary is inevitably going to depend on a variety of factors: the time you have available, how far you want to travel, the time of year and, if time is short, whether you're going to focus on Srinagar or Leh. We've therefore suggested a mixture of options in the hope that there's something here for you, wherever and whenever you're going.
A weekend
With just two days based in Srinagar, book yourself on to Chicago Houseboat to see what it's like to live aboard. On the first day take a ride on the new gondola to the shrine of Makhdoom Sahib, then continue up the hill to Hari Parbat Fort and have a picnic in the surrounding eco-reserve, looking out across the city.
After lunch pay a visit to the Hazratbal Shrine with its sacred hair of the Prophet, then return to Dal Lake via the Jamma Masjid, making sure you're back on the boat in time to watch the sunset across the water.
It is often said that a place has something for everyone, but in the case of J&K that is actually true.
Rise at dawn and take a shikara ride to the floating vegetable market, admiring the patchwork of floating islands as you go. Buy some honey macaroons to keep hunger pangs at bay, and then return to land for a tour of the Mughal Gardens.
Chashma Shahi and the Shalimar Gardens are a must, as are the tulip gardens if you're visiting in April. Finish up your day with a drink at the Vivanta by Taj hotel, the entirety of Srinagar laid out at your feet.
If your two days are in Leh, prepare yourself for immersion in Ladakh's Buddhist culture. Start your visit with a walk in the Old Town, climbing up the narrow streets from Main Bazaar to the LAMO centre for an introduction to Leh's history. Have a cup of tea at the atmospheric Lonpo House before continuing up to Leh Palace and then Tsemo Fort. If you're feeling less than fit, or haven't yet acclimatised to the altitude, you might need to take a taxi between the two.
On day two go to the Shanti Stupa before breakfast so you can explore it before the crowds. Drive back into town via the far older Tisseru Stupa, and have a bite to eat at one of the many cafés in Changspa. If you're an adrenaline junkie you now have time to do the descent from Khardung La by mountain bike, or spend a more leisurely few hours taking a meditation class at the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre.
A week
With a week in Ladakh, use Leh as your hub for exploring the district. Travel first to the south of Ladakh, visiting the monasteries of Thiksey and Hemis en route to Tsomoriri and Tso Kar lakes. Stay in a tented camp and take the opportunity to do some walking in the surrounding hills, being careful to keep back from the Chinese frontier.
Pass through Leh again as you drive back north, continuing on to visit Phyang and Likir, where you can spend the night with the boy monks at their school and admire the impressive, gilded Maitreya Buddha. There are finely preserved wall paintings at Alchi and, if you have time, the lunar landscapes just before Lamayuru are a fascinating geological feature. If at any stage during your trip the Dalai Lama is preaching, drop everything else and join the devotees hanging on his every word.
In a week you also have time to drive the length of the Vale of Kashmir from Srinagar to Jammu. Having explored Srinagar itself, travel to the relaxing hill resort of Pahalgam via the saffron fields at Pamore and the two remarkable temples at Avantipore. If it's winter and Pahalgam is inaccessible, go to Gulmarg instead for a rewarding (and affordable) day on the slopes at the Himalayas' premier ski resort.
The drive southwards through the valley is spectacular: the hairpin bends clinging to the mountainside are an attraction in their own right, if a little hair raising. Take time to visit the stunning Sun Temple at Martand and, if you've not yet had your fill of horticulture, the Mughal Garden at Verinag. Approaching Jammu, the Hindu shrine at Katra is an important pilgrimage site, and quite a contrast from the Muslim pilgrimage places further north. End your trip staying at Hari Niwas, the former palace of Maharaja Hari Singh, sipping gin and tonics on the lawn overlooking the Tawi River.
(Photo: Don't miss a chance to browse the bazaars of Kashmir for treasures – you never know what you might find © J&K Tourism)
If Kargil's airport reopens to commercial flights during the lifespan of this edition, a week will also enable you to visit the Central Asia Museum in Kargil town, the finest museum in the state, and some if not all of the five stone Buddhas. You'll be able to get up to Dha-Hanu or, alternatively, down into the stunning Suru Valley with its unique Dard culture and the twin peaks of Nun and Kun. If you're determined, it'd also be possible to reach the northern part of Zanskar, stopping for the night in the tent camp at the foot of Rangdum Gompa.
Two or more weeks
A fortnight or longer is sufficient to travel across larger parts of the state and/or to do an extended trek. If your interest is primarily in Ladakh, start in Leh exploring the town and the monasteries between Leh and Lamayuru. Take the short (two day) trek from Lamayuru through the mountains to Rangdum and then allow yourself seven to ten days in Zanskar. Don't miss Karsha Gompa or the 12th-century rock-cut monastery at Phuktal, the latter of which is only accessible on foot. In Padum there are superb Buddha carvings down by the river, which are unfortunately often overlooked.
Coming back, drive through the Suru Valley, making sure you see the Buddha at Kartse Khar. Attempts on Mount Nun are best undertaken from the base camp at Tanyol, 6km from Panikhar, but more leisurely walks along the valley are also a pleasure, especially in spring when the slopes are covered in wild flowers.
The trekking opportunities in Kashmir are also under-appreciated, and two weeks is ample time to get up into the mountains and away from other foreigners.
From Pahalgam to Sonamarg it's a four-day trek via the Amarnath Cave, and your companions will be Hindu devotees visiting the cave's Shiva ice lingam. You can then trek the further seven days from Sonamarg to Naranag (base camp for Mount Haramukh and Gangabal Lake), where there are some notable 8th-century Hindu temples (now in ruins), and then to Srinagar.
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UK Mortgage Lending remains weak
Posted: October 29, 2010 at 1:42 pm 7,749 views One Comment
Figures from the Bank of England show the number of mortgages approved in September has remained the same as the previous month at 47,474.
Net Mortgages were down on august but higher than July.
Personal loans and credit card borrowing has risen slightly in September and they will continue to rise towards the Christmas period.
Consumer credit was at £262 million by the end of September.
People are still adopting a cautious approach toward borrowing in this uncertain time surrounding the economy.
There is a great contrast compared to the boom in the autumn of 2007. In September of that year net lending increased by £10 billion. This year the figure is £112 million, around 1% of 2007.


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National Zoo 7-9-09
The National Zoo celebrated giant panda cub Tai Shan's fourth birthday with a three-tiered ice cake (which I missed) for Tai Shan and fruitcicles (which I didn't miss) for all three pandas.
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