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Recasting the War on Terrorism
Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 6:10 am
Buoyed by high expectations for the first year of Barack Obama's administration, an informal coalition of progressive national-security and civil-liberties experts are urging the president-elect to redefine the war on terrorism.
Eight years of the Bush administration's approach to counterterrorism have yielded two open-ended and bloody wars; a massively expanded security apparatus, and spending on defense far outpacing outlays on domestic programs, even during a crisis-plagued economy.
Yet while liberals have spent much of this time opposing the Bush administration's agenda, many of their proposals for Obama go beyond merely rolling back President George W. Bush's policies — withdrawing from Iraq, shuttering the Guantanamo Bay detention complex, abolishing torture — to offer new areas of emphasis, like stabilizing Afghanistan, an Arab-Israeli peace and a re-envisioned balance between security and liberty.
Through white papers delivered to the Obama transition team, new reports and interviews with reporters, this loose affiliation of progressives is saying it has a real opportunity to recast the U.S. effort against terrorism in fundamental ways.
Consistent with the broader progressive agenda of achieving global security through multilateral cooperation, economic development and respect for human rights, the past few days have seen a series of proposals urging rejection of the Bush administration's militarism. To the degree these various progressive groups have a concerted goal, it's to influence the transition with specific liberal ideas for new directions in the war on terrorism.
"Not just his rhetoric," said Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director at Human Rights Watch, "but in the promises he's kept — his vote against the Military Commissions Act of 2006, [which] was quite important — Obama has made clear he has a very different approach in mind to counterterrorism than the [Bush] administration has taken."
Mariner's organization, one of the leading global human-rights groups, released a report Friday listing 11 recommendations for Obama. Chief among them: sign an executive order restricting the CIA's interrogation practices to the same Geneva Conventions-compliant standards of the U.S. military; repudiate Justice Dept. memoranda that reserved for the president the authority to approve torture and indefinitely detain suspects in the war on terrorism; close Guantanamo and begin trials of its inmates in civilian courts, and create a commission to investigate human-rights abuses.
The Obama presidency provides "an opportunity for this to be implemented," Mariner said. "There's a broad recognition of a change of course needed by this new administration — particularly as it's the one that has, in many ways, signaled it wants to make dramatic changes. There's almost a perfect storm of possibility for change."
In the two weeks since his election, Obama has sent a number of signals that he intends to move quickly on reversing much of the Bush counterterrorism agenda. "I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that," the president-elect told CBS News' Steve Kroft Sunday on "60 Minutes." "I've said repeatedly that America doesn't torture, and I'm going to make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world."
Some of the expected front-runners for Obama's cabinet have sounded similar themes. Eric Holder, the former Justice Dept. official believed to have the inside track for attorney general, gave a speech at the liberal American Constitution Society in the spring that unequivocally rejected torture and Guantanamo and waxed almost metaphysical about the importance of a re-imagined counterterrorism approach.
"Let me be clear," Holder told the lawyers' association. "I firmly believe that there is evil in the world, and that we still face grave dangers to our security. But our ability to lead the world in combating these dangers depends not only on the strength of our military leadership but our moral leadership as well. … To recapture it, we can no longer allow ourselves to be ruled by fear. We must evaluate our policies and our practices in the harsh light of day and steel ourselves to face the world's dangers in accord with the rule of law."
As welcome to liberals as such statements are, an impromptu coalition of civil-liberties and national-security organizations joined forces, beginning in July, to deliver a then-prospective Obama administration with a coordinated agenda.
More than 25 organizations, including the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, the Gun Owners of America lobby group and the well-heeled Washington law firms of Arnold & Porter and Crowell & Moring, united under the aegis of the Constitution Project, a progressive legal foundation, to present a one-stop-shopping resource for both the presidential and congressional transitions. Titled "Liberty and Security: Recommendations for the Next Administration and Congress," the 62-item report was released Tuesday.
Its agenda is not dissimilar with Human Rights Watch's. High on its list are ending torture, indefinite detention and rendition; restricting the FBI's ability to obtain communications without a court order; rolling back this year's changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that civil libertarians believe contravene 4th Amendment's privacy guarantees; curtailing the president's ability to issue so-called signing statements that unilaterally exempt him from obeying laws, and strengthening Congress' exclusivity over declaring war.
Becky Monroe, policy counsel for the Constitution Project, explained that her organization began in late spring asking veterans of previous administrations what was most helpful to their work of staffing a new government. The general answer: consolidation.
"We were acting more as a convener," she said, since "so many different groups were coming forward with different documents" outlining their vision of a recalibrated liberty-security balance.
The resulting coalition intends to present "members of the transition team [and] staffers on the Hill" with the report, Monroe said. "Further down, we want to set up experts with meetings" with transition staffs, she said. While Monroe didn't say so, such meetings could go a long way toward landing liberal security and civil-liberties experts jobs in the all-important middle tiers of the federal government.
Beyond the formal reports, the constellation of progressives in and outside of Washington have no shortage of ideas for Obama to take up.
"A successful counterterrorism agenda for the new administration needs to place a high priority on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflicts," said Jeremy Ben-Ami, a senior White House policy aide in the Clinton administration who is now executive director of the progressive American Jewish organization, J Street. "If the new president is looking for a single bold strategy that can not only weaken extremist non-state actors, undermine the pull of state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran and bolster the governments of allied moderate states, he need look no further than active efforts to promote a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. President-elect Obama's victory provides the best opportunity in a generation to repair the U.S. image and restore its leadership in the world, enabling it to rally the world to defeat the forces of extremism and terror."
Richard Smith, an Army veteran of Afghanistan who is now a member of the progressive veterans' organization VoteVets, urged a less conventional approach to the Afghanistan war that Obama has pledged to reprioritize.
"I'd like to see a specific effort in the agricultural sector," Smith said in an email. "Often, the guys who fire a [rocket-propelled grenade] at a [U.S. military base] or convoy aren't Taliban loyalists, but farmers who have felt pocketbook pain as a result of poppy eradication. The Taliban offer them a little something, and they get to feed their families for a few days. Basically, destroying poppy to defund the Taliban also helps them recruit. However, the areas were poppy is currently cultivated (particularly Helmand province) was once famous for pomegranate orchards. If we can provide agricultural assistance and help develop an export market for Afghan pomegranates, I think it would be a great benefit to the [counterinsurgency] effort."
Taylor Marsh, a progressive political analyst and former radio host, also urged a renewed counterterrorism focus in South Asia. "Counterterrorism in the Obama administration has to begin with the Af-Pak region immediately," she said, referring the to Pashtun areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. "First, we need limited additional deployment of forces into Afghanistan. Afghan cities must be made more stable, through working with NATO countries, or we're going to have more problems not fewer with regard to terrorism. Because focusing on Pakistan alone, the jihadists will simply cross the border where we're not building security. The Af-Pak region deals with two countries of varying complexities and unique challenges for Obama — but neither country can be dealt with in a vacuum."
Michael Froomkin, a law professor at the University of Miami and a blogger at Discourse.net, argued for a greater U.S. cultural re-engagement with the world, including a removal of visa restrictions on foreign graduate students. The U.S. needs "way more exchange programs," Froomkin emailed. "We win both ways — they come here and learn we're OK (or even wonderful); we go there and learn the language and culture and learn how not to step in it…."
Still others urged a broader theoretical reconception of the war on terrorism. "Counterterrorism should be a law-enforcement accountability, not military," emailed Jesse Wendel, a veteran of the Army's 101st Airborne Division, and his co-blogger, the pseudonymous Minstrel Boy, who said he is a U.S. Navy Seal veteran of Vietnam. Both blog at the popular Group News Blog, which Wendel publishes.
"Treating terrorists as military targets gives terrorists enormously too much credibility," they contended in a co-signed email. "Terrorists are not nation-states; they are criminals and should be treated like the murderers they are, without giving them a political platform or publicity. The military is not trained to hunt civilians worldwide. The military is trained to kill targets in a kill-zone."
Similarly, Matt Stoller, the progressive netroots activist and blogger with OpenLeft, said he hoped the Obama administration heralded an end to "security theater" — using a term coined by cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier that means ostentatious but ineffective displays of increased security.
Schneier himself, reached in London, was skeptical that security theater would be eliminated. "Imagine you're an elected official," said Schneier, the chief security technology officer for BT, the British telecommunications corporation. "You can either exaggerate the threat or downplay the threat. If you exaggerate [to say], 'We must do all these things,' and you're wrong, no one notices. You can even claim you're right.
"But if you downplay a threat," Schneier continued, "and you're wrong, you're out of a job. So it's the natural propensity for anyone to overplay the threat. It makes you look strong."
Still, Schneier expected Obama to represent a significant improvement over Bush in the counterterrorism realm. "He'll do a lot of good things to make us truly safer," he said. "Will he eliminate the [Dept. of Homeland Security's] color-coded threat system? Probably. Will he rollback airport security to pre-9/11 levels? Probably not. Will he make our foreign policy more sensible? More likely. Fund intelligence fully? Most likely."
Follow Spencer Ackerman on Twitter
29 Comments
Comment posted November 20, 2008 @ 8:12 am
The more agricultural approach to the followers of the Taliban is right. (Kandahar is the center of pomegranate production not Helmand but Helmand was a cash crop area since the 1960s with cotton, peanuts, melon, vegetables etc. (and there is still a government cotton gin in Helmand built by the British in about '65, but none of these crops are getting support from our aid program and central Helmand, the largest irrigation system in the country mostly built with our support between '46-'79 has fallen to the Taliban because of our failure to follow through on projects stated in 02. And the military cannot "win the hearts and minds"of these farmers. They are seen as a non-Muslim foreign military occupational force in support of a marginal central government that many farmers see as an extension of the Soviet occupation…not liberators.Since 02, our military presence has grown, become more obvious, killed more and more civilians as "collateral damage", not supported the ag sector which is the center of the economy and thus supported the recruitment of many of the young unemployed farm laborers into the Taliban movement. We must attempt to redirect our efforts away from our military occupation and focus back on the economy. But it may be too late after too many mistakes and misdirections and blunders.
Comment posted November 20, 2008 @ 10:21 am
Terrorism is a CRIME against humanity in general and people in particular.
Defining terrorism as a crime opens the way for ALL the worlds police forces to fight it. It lowers the cost of the solution. It taps into existing organizations, methodologies, and will necessarily promote cooperation among nations. It depoliticizes the solution by stopping the war vs peace debate. It stops the preemptive war nonsense which has lead the US to be, in reality, a rogue nation and an aggressor.
Had the US chosen this route initially instead of the "War on Terrorism" it would have been more successful.
When is the world going to learn that the military is a poor tool when fighting gorilla warfare. It is an especially poor tool when fighting fanatics that are willing to use suicide as a tool. Does anyone remember Viet Nam? Did 9/11 need an army? How will the armed forces protected the US from another 9/11? The answer of course is by taking away the Constitutional rights and the Posse Commitatus act, which is exactly what is occurring.
Further the military solution is way too narrow to defeat the us vs. them, rich vs. poor, have vs. have nots that is the seed bed of terrorism.
We need to get food, health and economic factors into the areas that globalist economies have passed over. We need to demonstrate to these areas and the whole world that we are willing to help them to a better life that terrorism will never lead to. We need to convince mothers that they will be able to raise their children safely in a world that needs education not guns. We need to convince national leaders that we are willing to help without the price tag of either occupation or political dominance.
In short caring humanitarian aid coupled with local police forces supplemented by agreed to and asked for international police force intelligence organizations is the way to win a war on terror, not bombing, shooting and occupation.
Comment posted November 20, 2008 @ 11:40 am
Traffic is in fact more of a threat to the security of the U.S. than every terrorist act ever conducted or attempted against the U.S..
Comment posted November 20, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
The vote against the MCA was good. But the Obama capitulation on FISA in June? Exceedingly disappointing.
Comment posted November 24, 2008 @ 12:06 am
If you guys think anything will change in the M-E, think again.
The article is a JOKE for even mentioning the possibility. And as for "Change we can believe in", early indications, judging by Obama's appointments so far, it appears that the only change between Obama and GWB, will not be substantive, but mostly of style.
Comment posted November 24, 2008 @ 8:06 am
If you guys think anything will change in the M-E, think again.
The article is a JOKE for even mentioning the possibility. And as for "Change we can believe in", early indications, judging by Obama's appointments so far, it appears that the only change between Obama and GWB, will not be substantive, but mostly of style.
Pingback posted April 29, 2009 @ 4:33 pm
[...] Spencer Ackerman has a terrific piece up today that brings together the opinion of an informal coalition of progressive national-security and civil-liberties experts are urging the president-elect to redefine the war on terrorism. The piece at Washington Independent is important, getting some of us on the record on what's important going forward in fighting terrorism, long before President-elect Obama and his administration are sworn in. [...]
Comment posted August 17, 2009 @ 7:49 am
Pingback posted March 13, 2010 @ 10:16 pm
[...] Here, for instance, is a story I wrote in November about one such strategy "advisory" paper prepared by the civil liberties community for the Obama transition about counterterrorism strategies. Really, this is as stupid as saying that a guy who writes a letter to The New York Times "advised" editor Bill Keller. [...]
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Comment posted August 6, 2010 @ 5:23 pm
The article is a JOKE for even mentioning the possibility. And as for "Change we can believe in", early indications, judging by Obama's appointments so far, it appears that the only change between Obama and GWB, will not be substantive, but mostly of style.
Comment posted August 17, 2010 @ 3:58 am
Thanks for you share. I like it.
Comment posted August 18, 2010 @ 8:12 am
they contended in a co-signed email. "Terrorists are not nation-states; they are criminals and should be treated like the murderers they are, without giving them a political platform http://www.vip-plaza.com
Comment posted August 20, 2010 @ 2:10 pm
Comment posted September 7, 2010 @ 4:26 am
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Comment posted September 17, 2010 @ 12:56 pm
A bankruptcy in the airline business is different, Schmitt claims, because travelers tend not to care much about the long-term financial health of their carrier.
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Comment posted October 16, 2010 @ 12:45 pm
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Comment posted November 26, 2010 @ 5:06 am
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
My nephew is a SSH rep for the Fresno Grizzlies (the SFG AAA team). For a while, I'd been meaning to take a roadtrip up to Fresno to visit him and catch a game.
I would have caught the Bees, but they were only in Fresno over Father's Day weekend, so no go there. Instead, a buddy and I went up this weekend to catch the Grizzlies play the Reno Aces (D-Back's AAA team).
Before the game, there was plenty to see and do around the area such as visiting all the local fruit stands...
Well, we eventually got to the stadium:
And met my nephew:
Fun game. Nobody major was rehabbing for the Giants, but there were some interesting names there for the Aces...
Juan Rivera... Yes, that's the. Frosty Tipped Bat Sniffing Juancho.
And Tyler Skaggs.
The Grizzlies played about as well as the Angels have of late, losing 9-1, after loading the bases in the bottom of the 9th, with two out, followed by a weak groundout to short. Sound familiar?
In any case, it's been a fun trip, and I hope you enjoy the pix...


text:
August 1, 2005
Americus- Staff members in Sumter Regional Medical Center's operating room will never forget the day Sergeant First Class Victor Anderson became a part of their family.
"We felt like we wanted to support somebody who was from our hospital," says operating room nurse Christine Rundle. "He was very bubbly. He was proud be able to go to Iraq being able to serve the country. It's what he loved to do."
Anderson was one of 45 Sumter County soldiers in Iraq the hospital adopted and began sending care packages and letters to. He told us he knew the support would help make his tour of duty easier.
"Anytime you're away from home, whether it's in the United States or Europe or in a war zone, if you get some mail it always helps," Anderson told us back in May.
The news of his death has shocked the O.R. nurses.
"This just made us sick yesterday, those of us who heard about it yesterday and today, because we really feel for them and feel for the family," says O.R. nurse manager Betty Evans.
The nurses were excited to get postcards and messages from Anderson and were gathering items to send him another care package.
"We sent lots of things in the boxes. He was appreciative of all of it. He wanted some 80's music. He said that was showing his age, but were in the process of getting another box together to send to him," says Rundle.
It's the second tragic death that has effected hospital employees in two weeks. Spc. Gus Brunson's ex-wife also works there. Brunson of Worth County and Sgt. John Frank Thomas of Valdosta were killed last week in a blast similar to the one that killed Anderson.
"It just makes you realize how much we need to be thankful for and how much they have given up for us," Rundle says.
"It's kind of like there's a void now. I almost want to say we don't want to adopt another soldier, because we don't want to lose another one," adds Evans.
The hospital is planning a special memorial to honor the fallen soldiers.
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About This Game
- Summary
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A downloadable edition or the classic fighter, Marvel VS Capcom 2 pits some of Capcom's familiar faces against a host of Marvel Comic's biggest names in explosive three-on-three team battles. The game features the biggest roster of challengers to ever square off in a Capcom fighting game, a total of 56 combined brawlers from both the Capcom and Marvel universes. Players can mix and match from both worlds in order to create their own ideal three man/woman/robot/monster team-up.
Offering both offline and online battles, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is designed to be a gateway for new players to experience the fun of fighting games while providing a deep system for hardcore fighting fans to dig into. Action is based around colorful, exaggerated attacks that include gigantic projectile attacks and high-flying aerial moves.
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- Online
- From the world of Capcom comes characters such as Ryu from the Street Fighter series, Jill Valentine from the Resident Evil games and unofficial company mascot Mega Man.
- Marvel is represented by some of its biggest names, including the Invincible Iron Man, Captain America, the Sentinel of Liberty, and War Machine, Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- The controls are somewhat simplified from the classic six-button system at the heart of Capcom games, utilizing a four-button control scheme for the action, with two "assist" buttons that pull in your team members for additional support.
- Battle offline or online -- networked modes included Ranked Matches and the popular Player "Quarter" Match, that allows up to four people to watch and chat while two others are battling it out.
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- An optional advanced visual filter improves the overall appearance of the game
Marvel vs. Capcom 2Release Date: TBA
Marvel vs. Capcom 2Release Date: TBA
Marvel vs. Capcom 2Release Date: July 30, 2009
Marvel vs. Capcom 2Publisher: CapcomRelease Date: July 29, 2009MSRP: 15 USD


text:
Put workforce planning to work
How a strategic workforce plan can improve your bottom line
Companies across North America are encountering a critical workforce shortage. Dwindling pools of experienced local talent are forcing organizations to search further afield for new sources of skilled employees.
At the same time, changing demographics are affecting the workforce. Growth in the 55 to 64-year-old age group will account for about 70% of the net increase in Canada's working age population in 2010 — and all of it by 2020*. Given that new hires can take several years to reach high proficiency levels, many organizations are worried about impending shortages of critical talent.
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Find out how a strategic approach can help your organization.
*"Managing the Workforce Planning Process." Corporate Leadership Council, August 2004.


text:
At the beginning of Any Which Wall, Laurel Snyder's second middle-grade novel, four bored children while away the summer, wistful for the kind of magic that only happens in books. They've been reading Edward Eager, author of the 1954 uber-classic Half Magic, which also begins with bored children yearning for something, anything exciting to happen.
And those children—the kids in Half Magic—have been reading E. Nesbit, the mother of all adventure writers (The Railway Children, Five Children and It, etc.) and the model for Eager himself. Any Which Wall then, is the second degree of separation from Nesbit to Eager to Snyder, and the new book holds up well in such august company.
Magic is actually quite common, as we are told by the chatty, no-nonsense narrator who has not forgotten what it's like to be a kid. "Common magic" is what can happen to characters lucky enough to be bored, be together, have excellent taste in literature and have parents too busy to interfere. Such as Emma, six years old; her brother Henry, a rising fifth grader; Henry's best friend Roy; and Roy's older sister Susan. Susan is charged with looking after the younger ones, but does not do a great job keeping anyone out of trouble. The trouble starts at the end of a path through an Iowa cornfield, where a bizarre, gigantic stone wall launches adventures accidental and on purpose. As in Half Magic, each kid gets a turn, and each kid discovers the power of words. "Be careful what you wish for" has never been such an apt caution: wordplay and syntactical imprecision make for unexpected (and funny) plot twists. Also look for the funky, retro-feel illustrations by LeUyen Phem: magical in their own right.
Perfectly timed for a summer release, Any Which Wall should handily alleviate boredom for young readers, and keep us all wishing for a sequel. Of course, the ultimate accolade would be a book written by someone in the next generation of children's authors, and which begins with bored characters wistful for the kind of magic in Any Which Wall.
Joanna Brichetto still owns the copy of Half Magic she first read 34 years ago (price: 75 cents). Copyright 2009 BookPage Reviews.
Horn Book Magazine Reviews 2009 #3
One summer day, sibling pairs Henry and Emma, Roy and Susan stumble upon a magical wish-granting wall. Faster than you can say "root beer float," the hot and sticky kids find themselves whisked to a diner for some cool treats. After a bit of trial and error, the friends figure out the wall's magic and begin their explorations. First stop is a visit with Merlin, who explains more of the rules and proclaims, "Magic transforms you." Not surprisingly, Merlin's message proves prophetic: little Emma, perceived as helpless, frees the older kids from a dungeon; brash Henry curbs his greed after tousling with an opportunistic (but scaredy-cat) pirate; introvert Roy takes decisive action in the Old West; and Susan, on the cusp of adolescence, regains her appreciation of play and wonder after reuniting with her best friend. Throughout, an omniscient (occasionally obtrusive) narrator instructs readers, reflecting this contemporary-set story's old-fashioned sensibility, also seen in Pham's black-and-white line art. Snyder acknowledges her debt to Edward Eager; fans of Jeanne Birdsall's Penderwick books will also be pleased. The tale's tame episodic exploits and pervasive sense of idyll gracefully reinforce the narrator's assertion that "fun does matter. It matters a lot." Copyright 2009 Horn Book Magazine Reviews.
Kirkus Reviews 2009 April #2
Susan, Henry, Roy and Emma stumble upon a wall in the oddest of places--the middle of a cornfield. To their delight, it turns out to be wishing wall, complete with a key, capable of whisking them away to fascinating times and places. It's not all fun and games, though, at least not at first. The kids have to puzzle out how the magic works and then contend with some mysterious visions granted to them by none other than the famous Merlin. The visions, along with the particular wishes each child makes, unfold into a unique life lesson for each of the children. Unfortunately, these lessons can feel a little contrived, particularly when it comes to Susan, the oldest of the group, who is desperately trying to grow up without losing the childlike qualities of imagination and adventure that are a fundamental part of her spirit. Nonetheless, the fast-paced plot and glib narrator--fond of making asides--will keep readers turning pages and looking for magic in their own corners of the world. (Fantasy. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus 2009 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
Library Media Connection Reviews 2009 August/September
This magical story is sure to please any reader with its adventurous story line. Six-year- old Emma and her 10-year-old brother Henry spend the summer days playing with his best friend Roy while being supervised by Roy?s 12-year-old sister Susan. One day they encounter a huge wall in the middle of a cornfield and discover that it is magical. When their hands are placed upon it, they can wish for it to transport them to any other wall in time. The children experience a series of adventures where they meet Merlin and Guinevere in Camelot, a gunslinger in pioneer Iowa, Blackbeard the Pirate?s son, and even a former best friend in current New York City. The adventures teach them a little something about themselves and each other. The story is engaging and even includes a perky librarian. Children will find it easy to relate to at least one of the main characters as they are well-defined with their own unique personalities. The descriptions of the locations they travel to are informative and realistic without detracting from the storyline. This highly engaging story will entertain a variety of students. Recommended. Lynn Christiansen, Library Media Specialist, Armstrong Elementary, Conroe, Texas ¬ 2009 Linworth Publishing, Inc.
School Library Journal Reviews 2009 June
Gr 3-6--During an Iowa summer, two sets of sibling neighbors--first-grader Emma and fifth-grader Henry, fifth-grader Roy and seventh-grader Susan--are getting bored. Luckily, adventure looms in the shape of a huge wall in the middle of a cornfield. When the children discover that it is magic and figure out its rules and parameters, they are transported to Merlin's castle, the American frontier, the home of "the worst pirate in the world," modern-day New York City, and an ice-cream shop and a movie theater. This book begins with a quote from Edward Eager's Seven-Day Magic (Houghton, 1999) and, as in his fantasies, the charm of the story lies not just in the magic, but also in how four kids figure out how it works, what to do with it, and how to get along at the same time. That magic, like everything else, has consequences is made clear to the youngsters, especially when their adventures saddle them with a large, wounded, lovable, homeless dog to take care of. Snyder's fresh, down-to-earth voice is complemented by Pham's energetic illustrations, which seem at once retro and modern. Fantasy fans will enjoy this novel, but so will readers who like stories about ordinary kids.--Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library[Page 138]. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.


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Scarlett Johansson Gets Stunningly Sultry For Vanity FairJune 26th, 2013
Here are a couple of photos of a stunning Scarlett Johansson for the new France edition of Vanity Fair magazine, and even though she isn't busting out her bodacious cleavage or showing off any skin, she somehow still looks like a supernova of hotness. Crazy, I know. Maybe it's the face that she's back to being a blond. Or maybe it's because she's dressed like a wealthy sugar mama. Or maybe it's the fact that she's wearing… a fancy bib? Oookay. Anyways, enjoy!
Photo Credit: Vanity Fair France
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CORVALLIS, Ore.– A consensus first-team All-American cornerback at Oregon State, Jordan Poyer was projected to go between the second and fourth rounds of the draft. That didn't happen. He slipped to the 7th round to Chip Kelly's Philadelphia Eagles. From Astoria, Ore. to the NFL, Poyer shares his experience in a one-on-one interview.
Web Extra: Coleman, Lokombo, Pellum
Web Extra: Spring Brings Helfrich Era
Inaugural KEZI 9 Sports Oscars
Web Extra: Helfrich On Signing Class
Oregon Announces 2013 Signing Class
EUGENE, Ore. — The University of Oregon signed 19 players in its 2013 recruiting class. The group includes one junior college players, and 18 high school players. There is one five-star player, and 8 four-stars. The list of new recruits committed to the University of Oregon is as follows (courtesy of Oregon Sports Information): JUNIOR … Continue reading »
1-on-1 with Marcus Mariota
Fans React to Helfrich as New Head Coach
EUGENE, Ore. — The announcement of Mark Helfrich as the Ducks new Head Coach on Sunday was not a complete surprise for fans. Many had expected this coming when Chip Kelly was first expected to go to the NFL right after the Fiesta Bowl. With the NFL playoff games on Sunday, it was a big … Continue reading »
Ducks Introduce Mark Helfrich
EUGENE, Ore. — Four days after Chip Kelly left the Ducks for the NFL, there is a new leading man in Eugene. At a press conference today in Eugene, the University of Oregon announced Mark Helfrich as the new head coach of the Oregon Ducks football program. Helfrich was the offensive coordinator under Chip Kelly. … Continue reading »
Ducks to Announce Head Coach at 1PM
EUGENE, Ore. — After losing head coach Chip Kelly to the Philadelphia Eagles earlier in the week the University of Oregon's football program is set to enter the headlines once again. They will be announcing their new head football coach today at 1:00 PM. KEZI 9 News will air the coverage of the press conference … Continue reading »


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09:55 AM, Tuesday, August 19
GOLIAD – One way or another, Dalhart Windberg was determined that he was going to make a living with a paint brush in his hand. After a two-year stint in the army during the Korean War, the Goliad County native returned home and found work paintin...
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All students with the intention of entering a U.T. Martin undergraduatate program who are accepted for the Intensive English Program will be given a Conditional I-20. Students who intend to study only English will be given an English-only I-20. To attain full admission to the University of Tennessee at Martin, an undergraduate student must study intensive English until achieving a TOEFL score of 61/500 (ibt/paper-based test) or successfully completing all levels of TIEP, while a graduate student must achieve a TOEFL score of 71/525 and fulfill requirements such as the GMAT, etc. before taking regular university courses.
To be admitted to the TIEP, a student is preferably a high-school or university graduate with a 'C' or above average or is with a family member attending TIEP or UT Martin, submitt documents of financial support and have valid travel documents. The Conditional I-20 is granted after the Office of International Programs receives a student's completed application (print application now) and then issues the Conditional I-20 which the student must then take to a U.S. Embassy or Consulate along with the necessary documents required to get a visa. Call the nearest U.S. Embassy for local requirements.
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Students will be met at the Memphis International Airport (MEM) and escorted to the University by a staff member if students' arrival in Memphis is before 8:00 pm on the date specified in the acceptance letter.
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Creating a new custom change avatar page problem
Hi all,
I want to make my own 'change-avatar' page based on BuddyPress' code. I found example on the Internet, but I have some problems with it.
this code:
My problems are:
1. bp_get_avatar_admin_step() never == 'crop-image'
2. bp_avatar_to_crop() always is null
Anyone can help me ? I was trying all day and now i don't have more ideas : (
Salute !
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» Posts Tagged 'birdemic'
Chill Distribution Platform Aims to Provide 'Studio Quality Tools' for Everyone
Could the future of your career as a filmmaker depend on learning to market yourself? That's what Brian Norgard thinks, founder of Chill, a new platform that aims to be a 'partner' for filmmakers through every step of the digital distribution process. At nofilmschool we had an opportunity to chat with Norgard alongside Jason Brubaker, founder of Filmmaking Stuff and the Film Acquisitions Manager at Chill. Hit the jump for our discussion about how their tools can help filmmakers, their philosophy behind digital distribution, and fundamentals behind having a successful self-release: More »


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They call it one of the best kept secrets in Berkeley county. J.K. Gourdin Elementary is a school that stands strong on community support, from the young and the young at heart. We're in Berkeley county for our Cool School of the week.
The old saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child, and the Dads Club at J.K. Gourdin has that saying engraved in their hearts.
The Dads Club is made up of ten men, retired grandfathers of students and community members. Louis Mayrant is president of the Dads Club. He says their job is to assist the teachers and students, and help the school in whatever way they are needed. Mayrant says, "It takes a whole community to raise a child, and we think we're very much needed here." Benjamin Bryant is also a member. He says, "They say there was a lack of men in the school and I wanted to come and help out as much as I can. I'm hoping I'm making a difference." Mayrant says, "Most of our kids come from one parent homes. We feel like we're a very vital and important group here because they see an image of a man everyday. One of us is either in the classroom, or we're in the lunchroom, or we're in the library with them, or even in the hallway. We're on school grounds, so it's very important that we are here."
The Dads Club holds fundraisers, and donate their own money for trips. They built a gazebo and beds for the school's vegetable garden. Fifth grade student Dywan Reaves says, "I think that's really nice of them because they probably have other things to do. It makes me feel happy." Principal Lorene Bradley says, "There is a lot of love in this school. The Dads Club is getting ready to work on another initiative by taking it to another level and serving as mentors for male students." Fourth grade student Brandonn Watts says, "I feel like they're like a second dad." Fifth grade student Jacob Wiley says, "They devote their time to help us because they care about our education." Fifth grade student Briana White says she's thankful, "We're a very small school, but it's the little that counts because we are a Cool School."
The Dads Club sell dinners, they hold raffles, and they're planning a banquet fundraiser for a trip to Washington D.C. for students this summer.
The school received Farms to school and Lowes Tool Box grants to help with supplies for the gazebo and garden beds.
Coming up Friday on News 2 Today, we'll present J.K. Gourdin with our Cool School award.
We want to hear about the good things going on at your school. Send an email to Octavia at email@example.com. Maybe your school will be the next Cool School of the week.
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Art of the Moment
Hockney's influence on contemporary art is irrefutable and this exhibition pays homage to his career.
David Hockney: 'Early Reflections' in the Walker Art Gallery of Liverpool /
The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool shows the first works by the English painter David Hockney. This exhibition gathers works from several collections that treasure this artist's oeuvre, an icon of contemporary art that has deeply influenced the painting that is produced nowadays.
Almost forty pieces, created between 1960 and 1978, will be on display. Among these we can find Gregory, an engraving that stands out because of its excellent execution, it is accompanied by a note where Hockney clarifies that it was made following a technique that Aldo Cromm taught him in Paris, a master who received the technique from the incomparable Pablo Picasso.
Another relevant piece is Peter Getting out of Nick's Pool, a painting that was made in California in 1966. It was made using acrylic paint and the man who is portrayed is Peter Schlesinger, one of Hockney's lovers, both were in the pool of the gallery owner Nicholas Wilder. This piece won the John Moores painting awards in 1967 and would define the creator's work in the future.
The exhibition opened in October and will remain on display until March 16 2014. There will be engraving workshops, lectures and visitors will even be able to personify the painter.Tagged: David Hockney, painters, painting, modern art, exhibitions


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BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 13 LSU (4-0) opens a three-game series versus Holy Cross at 7 p.m. Friday in Alex Box Stadium. Game 2 of the series starts at 3 p.m. Saturday, and first pitch for Game 3 is Noon Sunday.
Live video, audio and stats of all three games may be accessed in the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net. All three games can be also be heard on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network.
LSU is ranked No. 13 this week in the Collegiate Baseball magazine poll. The Tigers have won their first four games by a combined score of 41-8 while recording a .348 team batting average and a 1.50 team ERA.
Friday's game will mark the 2011 season opener for Holy Cross, located in Worcester, Mass. The Crusaders, members of the Patriot League, posted a 26-26 overall mark last season and finished third in the conference with a 10-10 record.
"I know that Holy Cross has a veteran club and a lot of quality arms on their pitching staff," said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. "Teams from the Northeast have tough players that play baseball in very difficult conditions, so I know the Holy Cross team is composed of hard-nosed kids who love the game. We're going to have to continue to play at a high level to beat them."
Mainieri said that freshman right-hander Kevin Gausman will start Game 1 on the mound for the Tigers. Gausman made his collegiate debut last Saturday against Wake Forest, allowing two runs on six hits in 5.2 innings with no walks and six strikeouts.
Freshman right-hander Kurt McCune, named SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday, will start Saturday's game for the Tigers. McCune fired six shutout innings last Sunday against Wake Forest, allowing just one hit with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Senior right-hander Ben Alsup will take the mound on Sunday after working five innings in a win over Wake Forest last Friday. Alsup surrendered just one unearned run on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Holy Cross coach Greg DiCenzo will counter on Friday with junior left-hander John Pedrotty, who was 5-1 with a 7.27 ERA as a reliever last season.
LSU preseason all-America centerfielder Mikie Mahtook is hitting .417 through four games with team-highs of four homers, eight RBI and seven runs. Junior third baseman Tyler Hanover is batting a blistering .600 with two doubles, one RBI and five runs, while sophomore rightfielder Mason Katz is hitting .462 with four doubles, one homer, seven RBI and seven runs.
The Crusaders have seven returning starters in their lineup, including senior outfielder Jack Laurendeau, who hit .355 last season with seven homer and 25 RBI. Other top hitters returning for Holy Cross include senior first baseman Eric Oxford (.302, 4 HR, 38 RBI) and senior outfielder Nick Ciardiello (.368, 10 HR, 57 RBI).
Friday's series opener marks the first meeting between LSU and Holy Cross, though the Tigers have faced some of the Crusaders' Patriot League brethren. LSU has a 2-0 all-time mark against Army, 2-1 versus Bucknell, 4-0 versus Colgate, 0-1 against Lafayette and 9-3 versus Navy.
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Dream: Microsoft Surface With ViviTouch Cover
The TouchCover accessory for the Surface looks pretty sweet to anyone who doesn't hate it, but I wonder if Vivitouch might not help make it even better:
It's thin as hell and it wouldn't take much power or mass to give the TouchCover just a little bit of haptic feedback to make it feel just a little more like the TypeCover. As an added bonus the cover can add to the gaming experience even when flipped back. Or perhaps even while being used!
I hear haptic feedback is a summat polarising issue on phones and tablets; what's your take?


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Size zero; is it really so bad? For the last few years the media has been obsessed with the size zero phenomena, exposing celebrities who are making super skinny fashionable and passing the blame from person to person. What is size zero anyway? Well, technically a U.S. size zero is a U.K size 4, but according to one doctor, size zero is not a real size, it was invented to classify women which are excluded from standard sizing. Not to mention the fact that the media need a catchy name to make a super skinny size even more shocking.
The Runway
In the last decade, the media and fashion industry have been blamed for an increasing number of people developing eating disorders because of the 'perfect' bodies they choose to put on show in magazines, television and on the catwalk. Madrid Fashion Week was the first to ban underweight models from the walking the catwalk in 2006. Any models with a body mass index below 18 were unable to take part. Milan followed suit with similar regulations, but why has London not taken this step? Many people in the fashion industry realise that this is a bigger issue than the number printed in your dress. Some women are naturally very slim. True, it is unlikely that anyone is effortlessly a size zero but there are other ways to decide whether they are healthy or not. Under Madrid's rules of excluding the use of models with a BMI under 18, Kate Moss would be banned, but she always been tiny since she was a teen and despite having kids she has remained tiny. Should a girl be discriminated for being healthy and slim?
Search for Perfection
The thing is, fashion is about escapism and perfection. We all like beautiful things, the drape of a silk dress, the sparkle of diamonds, the sense of wonderment from letting our eyes gaze over a stunning fashion photograph. We like admiring perfect models and perhaps feel a twinge of jealousy and a desire to be more like them, but we also understand the powers of Photoshop and make-up artists and that perfection isn't an everyday occurrence. As the fashion industry is increasingly blamed for inducing eating disorders in men and women, there's no denying the statistics. The number of people being admitted to hospital for eating disorders in the last decade has increased by a third and it is thought that four out of ten models are suffering with eating disorders.
A model's career depends on their looks and what clothes size they are. It is the job they have chosen to do, but no job is more important than health and happiness. It is scary when a model's knee is wider than their thigh, but to many designers, a model is a clothes hanger for their wonderful creations and they want our focus to be on the garments not the model. Clothes do look better on skinny frames, especially when sashaying down the catwalk, it is important that the clothes hang beautifully. Many designers will make their garments in small sizes and only use models that fit into the clothes. Not all designers are the same, some prefer a nicely fleshed out model, whilst others will use the smallest model possible. It is their artistic licence to choose.
Obviously, health is the most important thing. Some people are a healthy size 6, others are a healthy size 14. The fashion industry may put pressure on people to look good, but everyone feels better when they look good and there is nothing wrong with that.


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This is what's disgusting about the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show
It's huge. It's an absolutely monstrosity of an entertainment event that includes musical mega-stars, incredible celebrity appearances and the latest line of Victoria's Secret lingerie.
It's also a complete lie. It's a lie that girls around the world accept as truth. It's a lie that propagates eating disorders, poor body image and unhealthy views of femininity and sexuality.
Losing that much weight, maintaining that pattern of eating and exercising, is extremely difficult. As an editor at Elle Magazine discovered, it's a full time job to maintain that kind of body.
Allure Magazine interviewed the models about their diet and exercise leading up to the show and found diets and exercising twice a day were common leading up to the big show. One model told the magazine: "I wouldn't call it diet; it's a Victoria's Secret show after all, we cannot be too skinny. So we can't really fast much. There aren't many carbs in my diet, not much sugar. Not much processed food. Everything is fresh."
And it's quotes like that which are part of the problem. It sounds achievable. It's just about exercising and eating right: Then you can have a body like a Victoria's Secret model. But these are the reactions from young girls watching the show:
*watches victoria secret show to prove that I am an inferior species to those models*—
khalia ||ASHTON PLS (@cuddleirwin_) December 11, 2013
The Victoria secret show just started and I already feel inferior. Y r they so perfect 😩—
lesley Vizak (@lesleyVizak) December 11, 2013
I hate Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows because they make girls like me feel inferior.They make me look myself in the mirror and hate myself.—
FemaleHustler• (@SomeOtherGirl__) December 11, 2013
Victoria secret fashion show is over time to starve ourselves now…—
sydney (@Syd_the_squid13) December 11, 2013
Idk whether to starve myself or die in a hole after watching the Victoria's Secret FS #caradelevingne #CandiceSwanepoel #AdrianaLima #wcw—
becca lee (@beccaa_lee) December 11, 2013
When I watch the Victoria's Secret fashion show each year I wanna starve myself 😅—
Cruz , AveGail (@aveegaail_) December 11, 2013
I'm fuckn hungry but I'm gonna starve myself until I look like these Victoria secret models—
Yuni (@lilbigDgrande) December 11, 2013
In the end, we have to call a spade a spade. These manufactured ideals of beauty are not natural. They take a lot of work and effort. They are not the way anyone's body naturally forms. The models are right when they told Canada.com that "sexiness is all about confidence and inner beauty." But the format of the show and the tongue-wagging that accompanies it don't reflect those lofty ideas.
blame the patriarchy for making you feel inferior to the victoria's secret models, not the models themselves.—
@nthony (@nthonygrayson) December 11, 2013
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is a source of shame and embarrassment for thousands of girls and women. Whether intentional or not, the show's organizers must bear some responsibility for that and begin to place more emphasis on messages of healthy normal living and positive body image.


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♡ reblog this with 286,771 notes ♡
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Today is Chinese News Years! I may not look like it, but I'm actually Vietnamese (it really freaks people out). Though, the holiday should seriously be renamed as South East Asian New Years, since essentially all the Asians celebrate it. xD. I had to go home from college and leave my boo behind. I'll really miss him for the weekend.


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DIY Warrior: Refinishing Wood Floors
Over time, wood floors begin to break down and show age. Here's how to turn back the clock.Continue Reading
The Daily Fix: Tighten Loose Chair Legs
As home furniture goes, chairs take a lot of abuse. Constant weight, movement, and even a chair's age can cause its legs to become wobbly. Try these easy fixes.Continue Reading
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Hot stuff, from thermometers to a pocket hotspot;
and rugged gear, from backpacks to drills to tweezers.
Believe it or not, there was a time before
handheld electric drills. I grew up twisting my
wrist and torquing my hand getting screws
in and out of wood and metal. My father's
fingers are actually bent from screwing so
many bolts and screws by hand in his youth.
No longer are these indignities required,
and a staple tool of any modern maker is the
electric drill. I've owned my share, but I don't
think I truly learned the beauty of an electric
drill until I started using Milwaukee's 18V hand
drill and its oft-ignored cousin, the 18V impact
driver. I wouldn't do without either.
The impact driver is truly astounding for
what it can do. I recently turned my attic into
a playroom with it, and it gave me nothing but
joy. If you don't know what an impact driver
is, you should. It's kind of like a front-end
loader — you probably think it's a luxury and
too much tool for your job, but as soon as you
have one, you search out jobs to do with it
because it's just plain fun.
The Milwaukee 18V series feels like it's built
as tough as a front-end loader, too. Which
is exactly why I've managed a love affair
with Milwaukee that was missing with other
brands. It's just that special something of
a tool that's better.
Yes, you'll pay more, but it's absolutely
worth it. The better battery charge indicator
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build of these tools. Enjoy.
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Milwaukee 18V Compact Drill and Impact Driver Combo Kit
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eScrip Fundraising – Sign Up, Renew and Verify School designation
BHS PTSO prides itself on not inundating parents with fundraising events but instead relies on the dollars generated through Directory sales, PTSO donations and the eScrip program. eScrip generates funds for our schools through money spent at companies like Safeway without any additional expenditures - so parents just need to sign up, designate their school and renew each year by November 1st. We can renew for you and will do so for everyone who has not done so (unless we hear otherwise from you by October 1st).
To sign up, renew or change your school designation, you can find directions on the PTSO website in the PTSO section in the Family tab or click on this link. eScrip Instructions
Co-President - Karey Manor email@example.com
Co-President - Mary Beth Ahearne email@example.com
Treasurer - Jennifer Sharp email@example.com
Co-Volunteer Coordinator - Darcy Brigham email@example.com
Co-Volunteer Coordinator - Julie Davis, email@example.com
Secretary - Adrienne Crowley, email@example.com
Site Council Rep - Molly O'Hara, firstname.lastname@example.com
12th grade Rep - Susie Gleason, firstname.lastname@example.com
11th grade Rep - Shayna Shulte, email@example.com
10th grade Rep - Cathy Sanford, firstname.lastname@example.com
9th grade Rep - Emma Brown, firstname.lastname@example.com
2013-14 PTSO General meetings
Location: BHS Library
Time: 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Dates: Wednesday, December 11, Wednesday, February 5, Wednesday, March 26, and Wednesday, May 14


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This writer certainly didn't watch the game or the unbearable hours long pre-show, and really, all we cared about were the movie spots during the Super Bowl, but of course, there were plenty of non-film related ads that aired as well and among those still creating chatter after the game was a series of three commercials for group-buying site Groupon.
Starring Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Hurley and Cuba Gooding Jr. (his best role in years), the each spot began as a typical PSA before turning on a dime and tying in the savings you can have by participating in Groupon buying. Among the interwebs, many thought the ads were in poor taste but post-game, some interesting details have come forth that might explain the joke. Firstly, Groupon started as a crowd-sourcing philanthropy site The Point, so the joke about doing some good for humanity/the planet is very much at their own expense, and secondly, the spots were helmed by none other than mockumentary legend Christopher Guest. So are the ads funnier now that you know this? For this writer, he found it kind of amusing the first time around the spots didn't ruffle his feathers, but different strokes for different folks and all that jazz. You can check out an excerpt of Groupon's full explanation as well as the spots below and see what the hubbub is all about. [via Cinematical]
The gist of the concept is this: When groups of people act together to do something, it's usually to help a cause. With Groupon, people act together to help themselves by getting great deals. So what if we did a parody of a celebrity-narrated, PSA-style commercial that you think is about some noble cause (such as "Save the Whales"), but then it's revealed to actually be a passionate call to action to help yourself (as in "Save the Money")?
Since we grew out of a collective action and philanthropy site (ThePoint.com) and ended up selling coupons, we loved the idea of poking fun at ourselves by talking about discounts as a noble cause. So we bought the spots, hired mockumentary expert Christopher Guest to direct them, enlisted some celebrity faux-philanthropists, and plopped down three Groupon ads before, during, and after the biggest American football game in the world.
Christopher Bell | February 9, 2011 2:33 AM
I can't believe people are still saying "epic fail."
goldfarb | February 9, 2011 1:00 AM
these are great...
the writing and the tone of all three of them make it pretty obvious what the intention is...the Hutton one is paced poorly, but the flippant tone of the dialog and delivery keeps it from being in bad taste...
those who are objecting to these ads are just more examples of over-sensitive, entitled idiots...
ufoclub1977 | February 9, 2011 12:11 AM
I just saw the Cuba one, and was wondering what they were going to say about how whales could be saved or exactly what threat they were going to address, then it turned into a Groupon ad, and it seemed like a parody of what an advertising agency would think is funny... because it wasn't actually funny, it was more like a parody of what was supposed to be funny but fails to be funny and then turns the market against the client that asked for an ad campaign.... as they say.... EPIC FAIL! This wasn't in a comedy movie about an inept ad campaign... it really was the ad campaign... now that's kind of funny. But not like they intended.
Mr. C | February 8, 2011 11:55 AM
I think the Timothy Hutton advertisement is just written in such a way that it digs its own grave when talking about "the people of Tibet are in trouble". Since we are talking about people that really puts a human face on it coupled with the fact that we see so the CU shot of the Tibetan man which makes you more empathetic to their plight and at that moment you really aren't in the mood for a joke nor is there enough levity within the scene to make you shake loose that sad empathy built up in the first half of the ad.
The Cuba Gooding one is great and the Hurley one isn't so bad but it is still has a more abrupt transition. The punch line is much better for this ad however and I think it successfully pulls the viewer out of any distress about the state of our rainforest.
One ad poorly crafted ruins the rest of them. Maybe if the Hutton one had been the last one seen the premise for the ad would have carried on and made that one less of a shock.
Mr. Chicago
Jt | February 8, 2011 5:51 AM
Elizabeth Hurley...I really do love the site, but the editing sometimes is terrible.


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Pictures of Gwyneth Paltrow, Camilla Belle, Meryl Streep, Ali Larter at Good Housekeeping Shine On Awards
Gwyneth Has Famous Friends For a Good Housekeeping Night
Gwyneth Paltrow got some of her best Big Apple girlfriends together last night for Good Housekeeping's Shine On Awards, which honoured the achievements of powerful women. The actress was there to salute the work and raise awareness around maternal health done by Christy Turlington Burns, and they shared the evening with other ladies like Meryl Streep, Rebecca Romijn and new mum Ali Larter. Gwyneth, who was on the cover of the magazine's February issue, has been busy with her return to Glee, and promoting her latest publication — she hosted a dinner for friends like Cameron Diaz, Jay-Z and Mario Batali on Monday to toast her new cookbook My Father's Daughter. She was on hand yesterday to congratulate others, but Gwyneth took a minute to discuss the long hours she spends maintaining her awesome figure. Gwyneth said on the red carpet, "The reason that I can be 38 and have two kids and wear a bikini is because I work my [expletive] ass off. It's not an accident. It's not luck, it's not fairy dust, it's not good genes. It's killing myself for an hour and a half five days a week, but what I get out of it is relative to what I put into it. That's what I try to do in all areas of my life."
Keep reading for more photos!


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I would like to try to convert some pictures into a short movie, making use of a nokia 6680 mobile phone. (S60, v2, FP2)
Since it's easy to connect the mobile device with a PC, the movie can either be made automatically on the PC, but it would also be nice to find something to do it on the mobile phone itself. What would be the best solution (on PC or on phone)?
Also, which picture format is best for this use? PNG, JPEG, GIF, ...
What kind of movie should then be made? Flash-movie, MPEG-4, 3GPP, RealVideo,...?
If it is done on the mobile device itself, what should I take into account, is there already some information available somewhere, ....?
If it is done on a PC, what programs can be used to convert this pictures (most likely) automatically?


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Exciting news at WCAX. The station has been nominated for a Boston-New England Emmy Award for a series we called "A Prescribed Addiction." Channel 3's Jennifer Reading and photographer Lance Mackenzie investigated the rise in opiate abuse, how it's fueling crime and a lack of treatment in the state.
We find out if Jennifer and Lance take home the Emmy June 1.
Related Stories:
A Prescribed Addiction, Part 1
A Prescribed Addiction, Part 2
A Prescribed Addiction, Part 3
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The CTA plans to roll out a new Ventra card fare system in a few months. But frequent rider Ankit Patel has launched an online petition drive on Change.org to stop it.
Patel and other opponents are against the card's price increase for single rides, a price hike for those who don't use the card and other service charges riders could have to pay.
The CTA said the card is a more convenient way to pay for rides.
The petition's aim is to dump those new fees and charges.
Follow @fox32news
WTTG FOX 5 & myfoxdc5151 Wisconsin Ave. NWWashington, DC 20016Main Number: (202) 244-5151Newsroom: (202) firstname.lastname@example.com


text: We're Australia's biggest new release DVD retail site going around. We've got the largest range of new release titles and movie trailers with the cheapest prices on new release TV shows on DVD, Blu-ray. Don't forget our extensive 3d Blu-ray range. Whether you want to buy the latest new release DVD box set, or some seriously cheap DVD movies, you'll find all your favourite movies and boxsets at done dirt cheap. Want to buy DVDs? Buy them Done Dirt Cheap.


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Tonight is the 2nd State of the Union Address (SOTU) given by President Obama.
I am certain we will be treated to a somber opening where he will talk about how hard he worked to bring us no jobs but plenty for China, sustained high levels of unemployment with people losing their houses at a conservative estimated rate of one in five; the highest in history. He'll of course address how he helped perpetuate a new level of rancor between parties, unprecedented incivility and silence from his office on it until the right moment to capitalize on it. No crisis should be wasted so why say anything sooner when you can heal a nation while riding a wave of baseless attacks at a memorial service that has nothing to do with it.
No doubts here he will have to talk about how well the BP Oil spill highlighted his amazing community organizer skills and tired him out so badly that he needed two vacations during the disaster. Golf sure helps one to concentrate.
He'll talk about how he made us look like a weakling nation and spent trillions in bailouts that will be re-invested abroad to make his green dreams come true. No one seems to care about the billions he's sent to palestine, the ruining of our Israel relations or the weapons he's sent to Saudi Arabia, so why mention that at all. He'll tell us how he has put lobbyists in positions of unprecedented, unelected power and how his crown jewel achievement, Obamacare, is doing so well over 200 companies and groups now have waivers exempting them from it. He'll tell us how he gave three more just recently to his pals at the SEIU. What a hit it's been. So much so that he barely will have to talk about how he's almost single-handedly destroyed our economy and helped drop us into ninth place worldwide.
I am certain he will tout how well the Department of Justice handled Pigford, The New Black Panther Party Voter Intimidation case that never existed but will deny taking credit for a sting of the Mafia; an investigation initiated under the Bush Administration and just came to a close under his watch. Of course, he has to also make sure we all know how hard he and his administration have worked to keep us safe from terror.We have the TSA patting and scanning everything that moves and nothing that doesn't now. Have no fear Janet 'I can't secure a box of Ho-Ho's' Napolitano is here! No shoe bombers, underwear bombers, cartridge bombers, Times Square car bombers, Christmas tree bombers or attempted metro suicide bombers for us! No sir! Just a lot of close calls.
By this point, he will practically proselytizing as if he were trying to channel JFK or MLK or any LK for that matter. Cheers will come from pockets of Democrats around the gallery who are not sitting in a group due to non-partisan seating assignments. I do wonder if they will have t-shirt and banners to brand this event as well? Afterall, Together We Thrive. Perhaps some of them will be down front since I don't think the Supreme Court will be attending this one given the disrespect shown them last time. From there I am certain he will wrap up with how well the Democrats did in the November 2010 election both in Washington and in State legislatures around the country. Then will come the rallying cries to the voters and perhaps we'll see Pelosi look like a deer in the headlights again as Obama neatly will throw her under the bus. He surely will include a tidbit on how his staff thinks he connects with voters so well. This SOTU address is sure to help him connect with millions more who undoubtedly will be super-impressed with his achievements so far. So impressed, that I predict he only will have to give to more SOTU addresses. Ever.
Remember, Together, We Thrive!!!


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MONTREAL — April 25, 2013 — Matrox Graphics Inc. and Matrox Video and will be sharing booth 4759 at InfoComm 2013 (Orlando, Fla., June 12-14). Matrox Graphics Inc. will present new video wall controller boards, video distribution over IP solutions, and KVM extenders. Matrox Video will showcase video streaming and recording appliances, and multiviewers.
Matrox Mura MPX Series output/input video wall controller boards feature highly flexible, universal input channel support for both digital and analog (DVI, RGB/VGA, Component, S-Video & Composite) video signals. Mura MPX's unique ability to capture and display uncompressed data ensures impeccable text, video, and graphics. Mura MPX high-density analog video capture cards provide additional NTSC/PAL/SECAM input channel support, while the Mura MPX-SDI board includes support for two
Author:Steve Choie-mailWeb: www.matrox.com/graphicsPhone: 15148226000


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This Japanese restaurant near Airport Boulevard has been empty for more than a year. It seems you can't drive two blocks without hitting a "for lease" sign. Mobile is too small to have specific numbers on commercial properties but we can get estimates. Commercial property is divided into three types: retail, office space and industrial. New construction for retail is a good sign. More than 90% of retail space is occupied. Along Airport Boulevard Josh Burmeister with SRS Real Estate Partners says his study shows Mobile's busiest street has retail occupancy of 95.3%.
"Rents are rising across the board, there's been a lack of new construction due to that there's an increase demand of existing space," says Burmeister. Office space is behind retail. At the bottom of the recession there was a 75% occupancy rate, that's been slowly trending upward to approximately 80%.
"It's just a function of the recession you know it started 3 to 4 years ago started to decline I think we have had some increase over the last few months," says Tommy Gleason a Partner at Gleason and Roberds.
Industrial property has seen the slowest growth. Only 75% is occupied. Realtors are optimistic Airbus suppliers could fill some of the void but the demand now isn't what it used to be.
"10 years ago developers would be 50,000 to 60,000 square feet of warehouse just on spec--hoping they would get a tenant, and they usual would nowadays you're not going to do it just because it's so difficult finding a tenant," says Cameron Weavil with the Weavil Company.
555 Broadcast Dr,Mobile AL 36606
Telephone: 251.479.5555
Fax: 251.473.8130
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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A Manning woman who worked as an income tax preparer and college instructor has been arrested on income tax charges.
The South Carolina Department of Revenue charged Vanessa Ragin-Boatright, 48, with six charges related to assisting in the preparation of a fraudulent tax return. Investigators say Ragin-Boatright knowingly prepared income tax returns for others that contained fraudulent figures and itemized deductions for the 2008 tax year. As a result of Ragin's returns, her clients received tax refunds for which they were not entitled.
If she is convicted, Ragin Boatright could get up to 30 years in prison and be required to pay $3,000 in fines. She is currently being held at the Clarendon County Jail and Detention Center.
Copyright 2014 WIS. All rights reserved.
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Boston Schools Create Parents Education 'Boot Camp'
Boston Schools Create Parents Education 'Boot Camp'
90 results for 'public schools'. Showing results 73 - 90
Boston Schools Create Parents Education 'Boot Camp'
Many Biology Teachers Lukewarm on Evolution
ACLU Warns Tenn. Schools About Christmas Focus
Controversial D.C. Schools Chancellor Resigns
Ariz. Small Town Students Must Prove Residency
Los Angeles Unveils Priciest Public School in U.S.
Mass. School Board: Condom Policy Will be Reviewed
Christian Speaker Spreads Gospel in Public Schools
ACLU Sues to Stop Graduation at Conn. Church
Could Gay Protections Trump Religious Freedom?
Kansas City Board to Close Nearly Half of Schools
Court Says School Strip Search Illegal
Houston Public Schools Ban 'Sexting'
Christian Group Challenges Homeschool Ruling
'Stand for Marriage' Concerned about Maine Schools
State High Court to Hear Homeschool Case
Home-schooled Girl's Case Heads to NH High Court
Court Sides with Plano School District in Lawsuit


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Sounds like Atheist's Elements
I really like how the album Elements, by Atheist, blends metal and jazz fusion, however, I can't find anything with a similar sound. I am not looking for bands similar to Atheist in general, I listen to a lot of other technical death metal and thrash metal bands. I enjoy thrash and technical death metal but I am specifically looking for something that incorporates a lot of jazz elements. If you know of any bands/albums with this sounds please let me know,
Try Candiria and Yakuza. They're nothing like Atheist - they both hail from the same scene as The Dillinger Escape Plan - but they do incorproate a lot of jazz into their sound.
Of course there's Naked City as well, whose number includes none other than John Zorn. Naked City spin all sorts of influences into their sound: grind, metal and free-form jazz amongst others.
Hope they're the sort of recommendations you're looking for.
Check out the album And if... by the french band Droÿs. Doesn't sound exactly like Elements, but then again what does? Droÿs are atmospheric and definitely incorporate jazz stylings into their music; should be a worthwhile listen regardless.
Thanks guys, great suggestions.
Don't know if this anything near what you're after? I'd recommend to check out a couple of their songs to get a feel for 'em.
They're pretty cool, the rapping threw me off in the beginning but the rest of the song was great. Thanks
Yea, it does feels a bit odd to begin with, but it has definitely grown on me and they don't use it all that much in their songs so it's not a major issue anyway. In this song, though, I think he does a good job of it and it fits pretty well in the context and on a fourth listen.
I'm sure you're already aware of Cynic, but just in case...
Yes, I was going to say Cynic, but I felt it was probably too obvious. So, anyway, again..
I am aware of cynic, they are awesome, good suggestion.
How familiar are you with Watchtower? They broke on the scene well before Cynic and Atheist with a really awesome jazz/thrash/prog metal sort of thing. They aren't as heavy as Cynic or Atheist, but just as good as far as I'm concerned.
DEFINITELY give Watchtower a shot.
I'm only vaguely familiar with Watchtower, definitely need to give them another listen.
Any of Ron Jarzombek's work should blow your load.
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A Time for Douchebags
I sometimes wonder if my writing will forever be trapped in that rebellious teenage phase.
When I first started writing Tome of the Undergates, it was in direct response to a rough draft that I had begun penning when I was fourteen, which was influenced largely by the books I was reading at the time.
Hence, there were a lot of words like "hero," "good," "evil," "dark master" and I think once I actually unironically wrote "nefarious fiend" being thrown around.
You know the kind of story I'm talking about. The sanitized, bloodless, swooning-damsels, muscular-men with hearts of gold because that's what they do versus the ugly, weird orc-like things that are totally ugly and gross and stuff.
I gather that, from all the discussion we've had about grittiness lately (and no, we're not going to talk about that here…much), a lot of people were reading the same books as me. Hence, when I wrote Tome of the Undergates to feature a lot of unpleasant people doing exceedingly bloody things that bordered on bastarddom, I was pretty pleased with myself.
But now that your average hero in fantasy tends to be an asshole of one kind or another…I don't know. I guess I'm getting a little bored?
Don't get me wrong, I can see why we went down that road. Beyond just rejecting the idea of white hats and black hats, we were interested in seeing what makes bad guys tick. It was fun and unique to find out what makes these wicked people do what they do, because up until then, we've kind of taken it at face value that bad guys will do bad because they are bad and good guys will do good because they are good.
And it's paid off. We've come very far in understanding more about the former. And yet, I can't help but think we might not have asked ourselves the same questions about the latter. And one of those questions now is…
Is there room for good ol' fashioned good guys in fantasy?
Before you answer, let me do it for you: no. There is no room for good ol' fashioned good guys in fantasy (emphasis mine). The traditional sanitary morally-irreproachable fantasies of your granddad's day are dead and buried and should stay that way. There are a lot of reasons why, of course. They simplify all the morality and thought of a human being into an insulting stereotype. They carry with them a lot of negative and iffy connotations as pertains to the aforementioned swooning damsels and the "other" (orcs, goblins, anything that isn't a hero vaguely based off a medieval European dude) as a villain. But for the purposes of this blog post, we'll be talking about a sin they commit that has led to a slow decline of the "good guy" in fantasy.
They take good and evil as rote. And that makes them dull.
I'm sure I've mentioned my friend Carl before, but for those of you just tuning in, he's equal parts friend, spiritual advisor and fellow nerd. Carl and I share a love of most video games and chief among them are RPGs. From Baldur's Gate to Skyrim, Carl has had one character he prefers to play and it will always be the first character he makes in any RPG: the lawful good paladin. If there's an option, he'll always choose for nonviolence and making everyone happy. If there's no paladin class, he'll come as close as he can. If there's no morality system, he'll impose one on himself.
I can't remember which game it was, precisely, that led to the conversation, but he was recounting an experience in which he pulled off the classic Lawful Good heist. He saved every innocent NPC there was right down to their puppies. He smote every last villain he knew to be wicked. He made all his companions happy, saved the day and brought about a mighty triumph for truth and goodness. For his troubles, he was awarded a sword of inestimable power.
And he sighed deeply and turned off the game in disappointment.
"Well, isn't that sort of the course for video games?" I asked him. "You are given a task to complete, you do it, you get rewarded."
"Yeah," he replied. "If you're the average adventurer. I was the good guy. If I'm doing it for the obvious reasons, then it's not really interesting."
And this, I think, is where we go wrong in writing good guys.
We live in a society where, basically, "good" is taken as the norm. In most situations, our parents bring us up with the same basic values: don't hurt other people, think of other peoples' needs, be generous, try not to be an asshole. Hence, we've sort of come to expect it as the default setting for most people (hence why we get dramatic variations of "I have lost faith in humanity" all over the internet whenever some dumbfuck does something awful in the world) and hence, we've kind of figured out all we care to know about it.
And a lot of that got translated into our early fantasy. This guy is the point of view character. He is like us. Hence, he is good. He tries not to hurt people, he isn't an asshole, he thinks of other peoples' needs. That's just what he does.
If the point of writing is to help us figure out what it means to be human, then it's a small wonder that we rejected that idea of good as the "default" setting and started figuring out what makes a person a bastard. We know what makes bad guys tick now, quite thoroughly.
But do we know what makes good guys tick? Have we honestly asked ourself why someone would choose non-violence? Have we honestly asked ourselves what makes someone give up everything for another person? Have we given the good guys the same moral scrutiny that we gave the bad guys?
Possibly. I'm certain you savvy readers out there could point me to a few examples.
But I've become more and more interested in exploring the idea. If we look at good as "default," then obviously it's boring. We didn't put any thought into it. But if we look at good as a choice, as hard and difficult as any bastard's decision, then it becomes more intriguing.
I guess it wasn't until The Skybound Sea that I started exploring this in my own work more. But I wanted to make sure that the desire to do the "good" thing wasn't the easy thing.
For Gariath, the decision to stick with his friends meant giving up the closest thing he would ever have to people like him.
For Dreadaeleon, the decision to give up power meant losing his one chance to be the hero he always wanted to be.
For Lenk and Kataria, the decision to cling together meant giving up their very identities.
I mean, it's not like sacrifice, love, friendship, heroism and all those other happy snuggly things are subjects that inherently repulse people. We've seen some of our most timeless masterpieces of science fiction and fantasy penned with those themes in mind (Star Wars comes to mind. The good ones, anyway). Every kid grows up wanting to be a hero, after all, but for a very long time our understanding of what it means to be a hero didn't grow out of that childlike phase.
What we rejected, when we tore away from the old fantasy, was the idea of a spotless hero. The idea that the world could be totally black and white wasn't something we were very interested in because we knew the world didn't work that way. And don't get me wrong: I'm not advocating for a return to that at all. It was rejected for good reason. The idea of the hero as something pristine and flawless is stupid and boring.
But lately, it almost seems like we're going the other way, where we measure worlds and people in shards and fragments: they are sharp and they hurt to touch, they are broken and the only way to tell the difference is whose pieces fell off in the biggest chunks.
When I think of a hero, I think of something cracked and dirty. Something that seems like it'll never quite break, but it's something that only someone who's been with it a long time could love. Because they could point to each smudge, each crack, each break and recall how they got that scar.
I guess the best example of this would Locke Lamora from Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series. He's not what you'd call a classically good guy. I mean, he's a thief. He robs people, deceives them and he is fairly unrepentant about it. But he sacrifices, he puts other people over himself (not everyone, mind you) and generally is willing to go beyond the typical pettiness.
Perhaps if we stop treating it as rote, as routine, as default, the idea of "good guys" doesn't seem so boring. Perhaps if we understand how painful it is to give up something, how heartwrenching it is to let something go for what you know is right, how beautiful love can be if the world burns for it, then maybe it's worth talking about?
I mean, I don't know. Part of my general desire to rebel against establishment means I'm not always going to reflect what the readers, as a whole, want. Maybe I'm deluding myself. Maybe there isn't a way to portray that idea of "good" as interesting.
But I can't help but wonder. If Tome of the Undergates, in all its bloody glory, was a rejection of the stuff I used to read, there must have been a reason it appealed to me in the first place. Even if I outgrew the presentation of goodness, I never stopped being fascinated with the idea of it.
Maybe there's still more to say about that.