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hand stitched illustrations inspired by nature and folklore
"I was captivated by Julie's stitched images of childhood.. They are so direct and expressive and immediately brought back memories. I loved them; just perfect to give to little people if I can part with them! "
Mary Sleigh
"I first discovered Julie's work at the 2011 Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate. I fell in love with it immediately and knew I had to have a piece of my own. Julie made me a gorgeous appliqué picture featuring her characters Rhian & Nog which was stitch perfect and exactly how I wanted it. Can't wait to see what she makes next!"
Bridget Neale
Editor of Popular Patchwork Magazine
Craft And Design Selected Silver Award 2012
"Beautiful little gems. I am very attracted to all things Indian and can see the big influence of India in this work especially with the hands on, hand stitching,"feeling" the materials and stories being developed. I like the use of Kantha, using mainly natural scraps of often reclaimed fabric and dyed by Julie. I really enjoyed reading her answers making me feel the love and personal feeling that goes into her work. I love her use of colour."
Pat Robson
Judge, Textiles & Needlecrafts Category
Craft And Design Selected Awards
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"Let the Muslims kill each other" 11
Yes. It would be greatly good if the savage fight now underway between two Muslim armies in Iraq, Sunni and Shia, could end in the destruction of both.
We quote from an article at American Thinker, by Mike Konrad, who argues the desirability of leaving the two sides to fight it out:
I know, I know, the recent ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) gains have everyone scared. No doubt, the Islamophilic administration will want to step in, and save Islam from itself once again. Let me advocate a course of action that will make sense to all sides in America; the left and right; from militarists to pacifists: Let the Muslims kill each other. …
ISIS is presently a large group of thugs with guns. They have no navy, no air force, except for a few captured helicopters, which they will soon break. The only ones they can threaten are their fellow Muslims. If they take over Iraq, who cares? They will soon reduce the Levant to the seventh century.
And this is a problem to us? OK, oil prices may spike for a while, but they are going to need to sell their oil because they've got nothing else to produce for export and can't produce any of the fruits of modern industry. Meanwhile, the high prices will encourage domestic drilling and production of our nearly boundless reserves held in shale deposits, to the point where we will become a major oil exporter ourselves.
These mujahadeen are incapable of maintaining the weapons they already have. Weapons need upkeep. Weapons have to be oiled, cleaned, and upgraded. Upkeep interferes with raping, pillaging, and chopping off heads. Within two years, they will be slaughtering each other with scimitars and rusty AK-47s.
Iraq's president, Maliki has asked for US assistance. Oh really?
Iraq insisted on setting up its country with an Islamic constitution; against our advice, and now he wants American help. For what? So Iraq's Shia can continue to run arms to Syria and Hezb'allah in Lebanon?
We'd rather President Maliki wasn't helped at all, but we like the idea of putting these conditions on any help he gets from the US:
If our State Department had men and women with intelligence instead of a love of the Qur'an, they would tell Maliki that our help would be predicated on four conditions:
1) Get rid of the Islamic constitution, and set up a secular state
2) Recognize Israel
3) Naturalize the Palestinians in your state
4) Break off ties with Iran
If Maliki says no, we say "Fine, have your Islamic state. We are not going to decide which flavor."
Whether Maliki agrees or not, he loses:
He has no choice. No matter what he decides, the West wins. Should ISIS take over, Iran will be cut off from land routes to Syria's Assad, and Lebanon's Hezb'allah. How does this hurt the West?
Sure! Iraq may go down. The Sunni officers in the Iraqi army will not fight for a Shia majority Iraqi state. In fact, many Sunni officers are already joining ISIS. The Shia, who are mere foot soldiers, are not prepared to fight the better trained Sunni. So what?
When thieves fall out, honest men prosper. When Muslims fall out, civilization prospers. …
Now, Iran is scared. …
Iran sent two battalions of Iranian Revolutionary Guards to help the Iraqi government in its battle against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is hugely important, if not totally surprising given Iran's intervention in Syria. Iran has the power to crush ISIS in open combat. But Iranian intervention could also make the conflict inside Iraq much worse …
Iran is hurting. Iran may have to decide between arming Hezb'allah or the Shia in Iraq. And this hurts the West how?
Other sources are reporting that Iran has called for international assistance to crush ISIS. Iran needs our help! The nation which has thumbed its nose at the West for 35 years, now wants our help?
Iran officials call for international response to ISIS violence …
Let them ask for Russian help, or Chinese assistance. I am sure the Russians and Chinese will be more than happy to make their nations targets for Islamic revenge. Nothing makes Muslim group A angrier than knowing that you have helped Muslim group B. And if the Russians or Chinese do intervene, good for them. Maybe international terrorism will re-direct their wrath eastward. Tell them it will be like the Chechnyans on steroids.
If Iran is really desperate to save its supply lines across Shia Iraq to save Assad, we could strike a deal.
You want our help. We want the Israelis to inspect your nuclear power plants; or you can go fight your fellow Muslims yourselves. Tell them, "Remember the first Iraq-Iran war." Make the offer public. No help until the first Israeli technician comes out of the Isfahan plant and says, "All clean."
Tell them up front they have to stop aiding Hezb'allah. Tell them that we are enjoying this.
At the same time, we should encourage all Euro-Muslim males to join the fight, and when they are gone, revoke their right of return to the West. Tell them, Allah Wants You; and send them off with halal meat and enough weapons to keep the Mideast in turmoil for another hundred years.
Why is this a problem? Even if ISIS wins the Caliphate, it will revert to seventh century technology soon enough.
Jordan is scared, now. She might be overrun. Supposedly, she is a Western-oriented state, which has the rudimentary forms of a democracy. Of course, honor killing and wife beating are still not prohibited; and Jordan refuses to take in more Palestinians.
If they want our help:
1) Saudis and Jordanians have to start naturalizing Palestinians
2) Set up truly secular states
3) protect their women
Be upfront about it. Of course, they won't agree. So let them shoot it out. When the Mideast is a flaming wreck, the administration should encourage Putin or China to intervene. Nothing sinks empires faster than trying to tame the Muslims. We will get out, and avoid our own collapse.
If our administration intervenes in any way, it would be foolish. Over the past two years our administration has made blunder after blunder in the Mideast, regarding Libya, Morsi, Sisi, Arab Spring, etc.
This time it is so easy.
All the administration has to do is … NOTHING!
It is that simple. … If it does intervene, it will be clearly seen as an attempt to prop up Islam, once again.
Let the Shia and Sunni kill each other. In the words of the late Mayor Ed Koch, "root for whoever is losing."
We like Mike Konrad's suggestions. (And we understand that he is not being wholly serious.) But more needs to be considered.
There is the strong possibility, astonishing though it may seem at first, that fanatically Shia Iran has been giving aid to the Sunni insurrectionists – as well as the Shia government – in Iraq. Why ? In order to bring about upheaval and chaos, so the mullahs will be called upon to restore order.
Another surprise: it is the Obama administration itself which has made this information – that Iran has assisted the Sunni insurrectionists:
Paul Mirengoff writes at PowerLine:
A mere six weeks ago, the State Department's annual Country Reports on Terrorism concluded that Iran is actively working to undermine Iraqi stability through terror groups. Significantly, for present purposes, the report assessed that Iran was facilitating both Shiite and Sunni terror activities.
With respect to Sunni terrorism, the State Department said this:
Iran allowed al Qaeda (AQ) facilitators Muhsin al-Fadhli and Adel Radi Saqr al-Wahabi al-Harbi to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and also to Syria. Al-Fadhli is a veteran AQ operative who has been active for years. Al-Fadhli began working with the Iran-based AQ facilitation network in 2009 and was later arrested by Iranian authorities. He was released in 2011 and assumed leadership of the Iran-based AQ facilitation network.
In addition, of course, Iran has "trained, funded, and provided guidance to Iraqi Shia militant groups" both inside and outside of Iraq. The training has included instruction in "the construction and use of sophisticated improvised explosive device technology and other advanced weaponry."
The terrorist activities of the Iran-supported Shia militants have undermined stability in Iraq and undermined support for the government among Sunnis. But, again, Iran is destabilizing Iraq from both ends by also facilitating Sunni terrorism.
If anything, Obama should be punishing the Iranians by continuing, and indeed escalating, a sanctions regime. Instead, he seems determined to cozy up to the mullahs. In all likelihood, this means granting them additional concessions when it comes to negotiations over Iran's nuclear weapons program. Why else would Iran help the U.S?
The mullahs have always understood that an unstable Iraq not only can't threaten or complete with Iran, but may well be forced to become a virtual client, as might now happen. But the mullahs could only have dreamed that an unstable Iraq would cause an American president to come before them as a supplicant.
Yet this too may now be about to happen.
And still another surprise. Amazingly, for once we find points to agree with in an opinion from the Left:
Among many assertions in the same column which we do not agree with, Richard Cohen, columnist for the Washington Post, writes some that we find ourselves nodding at:
Whose fault is the current debacle in Iraq?
It could be Nouri al-Maliki's since he is the country's strongman and has alienated the minority Sunnis.
It could be George W. Bush's because he started the whole thing off …
The one person who is not at fault, we are told over and over again, is the current president of the United States. …
But with that he does not agree. He takes Obama to task for his failure to do anything effective against the gassing of Syrians by Bashar Assad:
Foreign policy [is] the area where a president's power is substantially unchecked. … Other than avoiding war, it's hard to know what Obama wants. I know what he says, but actions always speak louder than words.
For instance, he wanted Bashar Assad to cease using chemical weapons. His language was strong, nearly warlike.
"Assad's government gassed to death over a thousand people, including hundreds of children. The images from this massacre are sickening: Men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas. Others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath. A father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk."
What happened next? Virtually nothing.
All those poisoned kids were soon forgotten and so, too, were all those people killed in the war, perhaps as many as 200,000. Those of us who advocated more forceful action were denigrated as war lovers who wanted to send in the infantry. (Better boots on the ground than head in the clouds — but I prefer neither.)
He disagrees with Mike Konrad's idea that nothing at all should be done about the war in Iraq:
Airstrikes and such might not have worked, but doing nothing never does.
This is a serious, depressing discussion. Countless lives have been lost. A civil war that might have been stopped in its tracks was allowed to fester. The Syrian dictatorship survived and the war has spilled into Iraq. It has the potential to engage the whole Middle East — Jordan, for sure, and then that tiny nation west of the Jordan River: Israel. The madmen of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria don't only kill Muslims; they would gladly drop a bomb on Tel Aviv.
Right. But he doesn't say that the bomb could be nuclear. And that two, or twenty, could be dropped on Israel.
Or that there could be targets in Europe, or even in America, since the mullahs have long-range missiles.
He rightly finds the idea of the US and Iran being in alliance "preposterous":
The U.S. may now find itself on the side of Iran — a majority Shiite nation much like Iraq. What could be more preposterous? What could be more ironic?
Worse, we could find ourselves engaged in a religious war — Sunni vs. Shiite. …
He fears non-intervention more than involvement:
Or maybe we should just wash our hands of the whole thing and turn over a hunk of the Middle East with its oil to a terrorist organization — one that boasts of committing massacres. …
You thought you can't get more evil than al-Qaida? Look at who's pillaging Iraq, a terrorist group that even al-Qaida can't stomach. …
The one thing we do know is that things can get worse. They did in the Middle East, where Obama settled for a victory jog around the political infield after getting Assad to give up most of his chemical weapons. He now must deal with a region that is so much worse than anyone imagined.
Where does the fault lie? Where it always has — where the buck stops.
By which presumably he means Obama. He means that the fault lies with Obama!
How many members of Obama's enormous media fan club, or of the Democratic Party, find him at fault over the carnage in Syria and Iraq, we wonder.
And will their disapproval induce Obama to act?
If so, how? Richard Cohen expresses his disgust, or frustration, or irritation – but he doesn't say what Obama should do.
We say Iran should be stopped by all possible means, late though it is to take action, from becoming a nuclear power. And that is obviously not what Obama intends or wishes to do.
Barack Obama: leader of Islam 1
Barack Obama is a great leader of Islam.
A report that he told an Egyptian Foreign Minister on January 19, 2010, "You will see what I will do for Islam" and "I am a Muslim" is very likely true.
Here are just some of the great things he has done for Islam:
He has made it easy for Iran to acquire a nuclear arsenal.
He has brought the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organization, into the government of the United States to help formulate its policies.
He supports and sympathizes with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.
He has made Israel's beleaguered existence far more difficult (see for instance here and here), and when Iran has its nuclear bombs, vulnerable to extinction.
He supports Hamas with funding and diplomacy, thus legitimizing a terrorist organization.
He has done the same for Hizbollah, except (as far as we know) for the funding.
He is helping the Taliban regain power in Afghanistan.
He restrained the government of Nigeria from cracking down on Boko Haram, the murderous Muslim organization whose mission is to kill as many Nigerian Christians as it can.
He continues to provide massive aid to Pakistan, one of the most repressive states among repressive Islamic states.
He is allowing Muslim terrorists to enter the US, in some cases more easily than other, law-abiding, applicants.
He is encouraging the issue of student visas to Muslims in ever greater numbers, while refusing them to most Israeli applicants.
He refuses to admit that the mass-killing of US servicemen and women by a Muslim at Fort Hood was an act of Islamic terrorism, although it was carried out in the name of Islam, insisting that it be dealt with by the law as "workplace violence".
He's had army instruction materials on the subject of terrorism purged of all reference to Islam.
He is allowing the Muslim murderers of US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, to go unpunished.
He will not allow the condign punishment of a Muslim who deserted from the US army.
He instructed NASA to make "reaching out to the Muslim world" one of the space agency's top priorities.
He has set five Taliban leaders free, described as "the worst of the worst", in exchange for a US army deserter.
He celebrates the bringing home of an American soldier who converted to Islam and embraced the Taliban cause.
Can there be any doubt that Islam has become an ever increasing menace to the non-Muslim world, and an ever increasing cause of death even within the Muslim world, since and because Obama became president of the US?
We register in our margin the daily toll of lethal Islamic terrorist attacks since 9/11/2001 as recorded by The Religion of Peace.
The number has reached 23,121 today.
The Washington Times reported and commented on August 12, 2012:
Mr. Obama has used the occasion of Ramadan to rewrite US history and give Islam a prominence in American annals that it has not earned.
In this year's greeting, Mr. Obama said –
The rituals of Ramadan remind us of the principles that we hold in common and Islam's role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings. Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality. And here in the United States, Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country.
That Islam has had a major role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings may come as a surprise to Muslim women. Young Afghan girls who are having acid thrown in their faces on the way to school might want to offer their perspectives. That Islam is "known" for diversity and racial equality is also a bit of a reach. This certainly does not refer to religious diversity, which is nonexistent in many Muslim-majority states. This is a plaudit better reserved for a speech at the opening of a synagogue in Mecca.
Most puzzling is the president's claim that "Islam has always been part of America". Islam had no influence on the origins and development of the United States. It contributed nothing to early American political culture, art, literature, music or any other aspect of the early nation.
Throughout most of American history, the Muslim world was perceived as remote, alien and belligerent. Perhaps the president was thinking about the Barbary Pirates and their role in the founding of the US Navy, or Andrew Jackson's dispatch of frigates against Muslim pirates in Sumatra in the 1830s. Maybe he was recalling Rutherford B. Hayes' 1880 statement regarding Morocco on "the necessity, in accordance with the humane and enlightened spirit of the age, of putting an end to the persecutions, which have been so prevalent in that country, of persons of a faith other than the Moslem, and especially of the Hebrew residents of Morocco". Or Grover Cleveland's 1896 comment on the continuing massacre of Armenian Christians: "We have been afflicted by continued and not infrequent reports of the wanton destruction of homes and the bloody butchery of men, women and children … "
Berri and Kerry: jokers 0
The picture of US Secretary of State John Kerry with Nabih Berri, head of the terrorist Amal movement and speaker of the Hezbollah-dominated Lebanese parliament, and the text beneath it come from an article at Front Page, by Daniel Greenfield.
We overheard the conversation in our imagination:
Kerry: "You really would allow ME to lick your boots?"
Berri: Why not?
The Amal movement kidnapped US Marine Colonel William R. Higgins who was slowly and brutally tortured to death. (Follow the link if you are feeling strong.)
What could these two chums be laughing about?
Maybe it's the autopsy report that found Higgins had been "starved and had suffered multiple lethal injuries that could have caused his death. The skin on his face had been partially removed along with his tongue and he had also been castrated."
Tony Blair warns that … Islam is a threat! 1
Remember Tony Blair? He was Prime Minister of Great Britain in President G.W. Bush's era.
Well, he's found out that Islam is a threat.
Muslim immigrants poured into Britain under his watch. But suddenly he's discovered that it was a bad idea.
The Clarion Project reports:
Tony Blair, the Former British Prime Minister, delivered a keynote speech at Bloomberg HQ in London entitled Why the Middle East Still Matters. In it he described radical Islam as the greatest threat facing the world today.
He specifies "radical Islam", and speaks of "Islamism", so evading the stark fact that there is only one Islam, and that it is Islam per se that is the greatest threat facing the world today. Its armies are actively waging the jihad by terrorist tactics.
Islam is not a race or a nation. It is an ideology. But like a nation, when it goes to war, its armed forces do the fighting, not everyone born into it or adopting it.
Blair is not a clear – let alone a deep – thinker. But he has at last come to an understanding that the non-Islamic world is under attack by Islam:
Wherever you look – from Iraq to Libya to Egypt to Yemen to Lebanon to Syria and then further afield to Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan – this is the essential battle.
Addressing those who regard these conflicts as distinct he said:
There is something frankly odd about the reluctance to accept what is so utterly plain: that they have in common a struggle around the issue of the rightful place of religion, and in particular Islam, in politics.
Not a good way of putting it. No Reagan-like plain speaking, let alone any felicitous Churchillian phrasing.
Yes, in all those countries Muslims fighting the Islamic jihad are engaged in the same "struggle". But it would be hard to find a jihadi who would say that his "strugge" is "around the issue of the rightful place of religion, in particular Islam, in politics".
Blair means that they are fighting a religious war, and he doesn't think that religion should be a political issue. Religion has a "rightful place", and it is not on a battlefield. He seems to have the thought swimming round in the shallows of his mind that religious wars are not the thing nowadays; that wars are fought in modern times over up-to-date political differences. (And that implies that he doesn't see Nazism and Communism as the religions they most certainly are.)
He does see that the war is global.
He argued that this struggle does not end at the borders of the region. Rather, "The reason this matters so much is that this ideology is exported around the world."
He asked listeners to "Take a step back and analyze the world today: with the possible exception of Latin America (leaving aside Hezbollah in the tri-border area in South America), there is not a region of the world not adversely affected by Islamism and the ideology is growing."
Bravo, Blair! You have seen that the battle is also being fought by immigration, propaganda, and intense proselytizing:
He notes that:
The Muslim population in Europe is now over 40million and growing. The Muslim Brotherhood and other organizations are increasingly active and they operate without much investigation or constraint. Recent controversy over schools in Birmingham (and similar allegations in France) show heightened levels of concern about Islamist penetration of our own societies.
He gets better still:
The main thrust of the speech focused on "two fascinating things."
The first is the absolutely rooted desire on the part of Western commentators to analyze these issues as disparate rather than united by common elements. They go to extraordinary lengths to say why, in every individual case, there are multiple reasons for understanding that this is not really about Islam, it is not really about religion; there are local or historic reasons which explain what is happening. There is a wish to eliminate the obvious common factor in a way that is almost wilful. …
The second thing is that there is a deep desire to separate the political ideology represented by groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood from the actions of extremists including acts of terrorism.
He acknowledged the motivation behind these fears, saying "We feel almost that if we identify it in these terms, we're being anti-Muslim, a sentiment on which the Islamists cleverly play."
And then he gets almost very good:
Blair swept these distinctions aside, acknowledging the laudable motives behind such interpretations, but ultimately pinpointing the profound danger posed by the Islamist ideology, and that it is fundamentally incompatible with the modern world.
He urged the West and indeed the entire world, to unite against the ideology Islamic extremism.
It's a speech that may help to wake up European leaders. Though it has its weakness, and the columnist Douglas Murray, clear-sighted as always, put his finger on it:
Douglas Murray argued in the Spectator that Blair went too far in his efforts to brand Islamism as disconnected from Islam and called on moderate Muslims to help combat radicalism by driving extremists from their communities.
Blair came on to suggesting what might be done about the profound danger he'd identified:
Blair outlined potential foreign policy options for the West vis-a-vis various Middle Eastern countries in order to combat Islamists and to support religiously open and tolerant elements.
Unfortunately, there aren't any – there cannot be any – "open and tolerant elements" among Muslims. Unless they are Muslims-in-name-only. (MINOs?)
In particular he focused on Egypt saying:
On the fate of Egypt hangs the future of the region. Here we have to understand plainly what happened. The Muslim Brotherhood government was not simply a bad government. It was systematically taking over the traditions and institutions of the country. The revolt of 30 June 2013 was not an ordinary protest. It was the absolutely necessary rescue of a nation.
All of these different policies are facets of the same policy:
Across the region we should be standing steadfast by our friends and allies as they try to change their own countries in the direction of reform. Whether in Jordan or the Gulf where they're promoting the values of religious tolerance and open, rule based economies, or taking on the forces of reaction in the shape of Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, we should be supporting and assisting them.
Hmm. Right about the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt having to be overthrown. Wrong about the West having friends and allies among Arab and other Muslim countries. None want reform of a kind that would turn them into reliable friends and allies.
Perhaps this statement by Blair sums up the message of his keynote speech best: "When we consider the defining challenges of our time, surely this one should be up there along with the challenge of the environment or economic instability."
It's his saying "up there with the challenge of the environment" that shows how his mind is still murky with leftist pollution. But for a leftist to put Islam "up there" with climate change is an admirable advance. He deserves loud and quite long applause. Even more so if his speech encourages other European politicians to start facing the truth: that war is being waged on their countries by the barbarous hordes of Islam.
The Clarion Project does not report the last paragraph of the speech. Blair ended with this:
Consider for a moment since 9/11 how our world has changed, how in a myriad of different ways from the security measures we now take for granted to the arenas of conflict that have now continued over a span of years, there is a price being paid in money, life and opportunity for millions. This is not a conventional war. It isn't a struggle between super powers or over territory. But it is real. It is fearsome in its impact. It is growing in its reach. It is a battle about belief and about modernity. It is important because the world through technology and globalisation is pushing us together across boundaries of faith and culture. Unaddressed, the likelihood of conflict increases.
Applause, applause. But then:
Engagement does not always mean military involvement. Commitment does not mean going it alone. But it does mean stirring ourselves. It does mean seeing the struggle for what it is. It does mean taking a side and sticking with it.
While it is true that military engagement alone won't stop Islam's subjugation of the West, and that the West needs to stir itself, and that every European country should side against Islam, if there is going to be reluctance to use military force at all, the war will be much harder to win. Perhaps he knows this, but feels it necessary to acknowledge – as he does – that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken away the West's appetite for war.
The full text of the speech can be found here. Those who read it will find that Blair erroneously believes – or at least says – that Islam has a "true message" which "Islamists" distort. And that he praises Secretary of State John Kerry for his (absurd) attempt at yet another Israeli-Palestinian "peace process" and thinks his "commitment has not been in vain". (It has been, and could not have been anything else.)
So – two cheers for Mr Blair. And let's hope his speech stirs up the dhimmis of Europe to start resisting the onslaught of Islam.
Ending the pax Americana 2
We are in principle against intervention in the internal affairs of other countries. But we are not for isolationism or pacifism – we regard either philosophy as a formula for national suicide. If other countries become belligerent, build up their armed strength, send their warships towards our shores, establish bases in countries on our borders, and declare their aggressive intentions towards us, the politics of those countries become our business. That is happening now. We are under threat – because Obama is deliberately weakening America. And his reaction to the result is to weaken America even more.
The conditions for major war develop much more easily when the U.S. is too weak. They are developing as we speak.
To a meaningful extent, the significant increase we've seen in unrest around the globe since 2010 has been made possible, and inevitable, by the retraction of American power. Even where we still have power in place, it has become increasingly obvious that we aren't going to use it.
We quote from a website interestingly named Liberty Unyielding. The article on the extreme folly of the Obama administration's moves to weaken America is by Commander Jennifer Dyer, now retired from the US navy. (Her own blog is at Theoptimisticconservative.wordpress.com):
The collapse of order in the Arab nations in 2011 was the first significant stage of the process. The perception that the United States would do nothing about a Hezbollah coup in Lebanon was tested in January of that year. The perception proved to be true, and when protests erupted in Tunisia and Egypt, for causes both natural and manufactured, a set of radical Islamist actors – the "establishment" Muslim Brotherhood, Sunni jihadists, Iran – saw an opportunity. The establishment Muslim Brotherhood has largely won out in Tunisia, but the battle still rages among these radical actors for Egypt, Syria, and now Iraq. Lebanon is being incrementally sucked into the maelstrom as well.
In multiple venues, Russia has watched the U.S. and the West effectively back Islamists in Russia's "near abroad": in Turkey (with support for the now struggling Erdogan government); in the Balkans, especially Bosnia and Kosovo; and in Syria. …
There was a time when the implicit determination of the U.S. to enforce the "Pax Americana" order – the post-World War II alignments of the region – held Russia in check. The Russians still derived some security benefit from that order, after all … It appears to me, however, that 2014 will be the year in which it becomes clear that, according to Russians' perception, they no longer benefit from the old order. If we're not going to enforce it, Russia will do what she thinks she has to.
In fact, Moscow's pushback against the plan for Ukraine to affiliate with the EU constitutes just such a blow for perceived Russian interests. It is of supreme importance for Westerners to not misread the recent developments. The EU and the U.S. did back down when Russia pushed hard last fall. The only ones who didn't back down were the Ukrainian opposition. I predict Vladimir Putin will try to handle the opposition factions cleverly, as much as he can, and avoid a pitched battle with them if possible. He respects what they are willing to do. But he has no reason to respect Brussels or Washington.
And that means he has more latitude, not less, for going after the regional props to the old order, one by one. As always, Russia's inevitable competition with China is a major driver, along with Russia's concern about Islamism on her southern border. The whole Great Crossroads – Southwest Asia, Southeast Europe, Northeast Africa, the waterways that snake through the region – is, if not up for grabs, at least in ferment. Look wherever you like: there are almost no nations where there is not a very present menace from radicalism, or where governments and even borders are not gravely imperiled by internal dissent.
Israel is the chief standout for politically sustainable stability and continuity. Romania and Turkey seem likely to at least retain their constitutional order in the foreseeable future, but Turkey's geopolitical orientation, in particular, is less certain. Greece and Kosovo – even Bosnia – have serious internal problems. Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia all remain in crisis at various levels. Jordan and Saudi Arabia are relatively stable, and the Arab Persian Gulf states relatively so as well. But their neighborhood is going downhill fast. Iran is riding a wave of radical confidence, and the Taliban are resurgent in Afghanistan.
In this tumultuous region, it's actually a little funny that Pakistan looks stable and staid compared to Iran, Afghanistan, and neighbors west. We can hope that Islamabad's perceived need to maintain a symmetrical stance against India will keep Pakistan's loose federation of intransigents federated, and the nukes under central control. But as we move across South Asia, we near another boiling pot. Thailand – long an American ally and pillar of stability in the region – has been rocked in recent months by national unrest of a kind not seen in Southeast Asia for decades. Islamist radicalism is a growing threat in Indonesia, and an unpacified one in the Philippines, after more than a decade of U.S.-Philippines collaboration in fighting it.
And, of course, China is making real, transformative moves against regional security with her proclamations about air space and maritime rights off her southeast coast.
This disruptive process, like the battles for many of the Arab nations, is already underway. We're not waiting for something to happen; it's started.
China assumes, quite correctly, that there will be no effective pushback from the United States. But two other nations with power and means will regard it as intolerable for China to dictate conditions in Southeast Asia: Japan and Russia. The dance of realignment among these nations has implications for everyone in Central Asia and the Far East. The day may be on the horizon sooner than we think when maintaining a divided Korea no longer makes sense to at least one of the major players. The day is already here when Chinese activities in Central Asia are alarming the whole neighborhood, just as Chinese actions are in the South China Sea. …
Russia and Iran are advancing on the US through Central America:
It's no accident that as radical leftism creeps across Central America (falsely laying claim to a noble "Bolivarian" political mantle), the maritime dispute between Nicaragua and American ally Colombia heats up – and Russia shows up to back Nicaragua and Venezuela – and so does Iran – and unrest turns into shooting and government brutality and violence in Venezuela – and Hezbollah shows up there to openly support the radical, repressive Maduro government.
Now Iran has a naval supply ship headed for Central America, very possibly with a cargo of arms that are not only prohibited by UN sanction, but capable of reaching the United States if launched from a Central American nation or Cuba.
We're not still waiting for the shocks to start to the old order. They've already started. I haven't surveyed even the half of what there is to talk about …
She looks at the latest defense cuts with dismay and considers what the consequences will be:
This is the world in which the United States plans to reduce our army to its lowest level since before World War II, and eliminate or put in storage much of its capabilities for heavy operations abroad (e.g., getting rid of the A-10 Warthogs, moving Blackhawk helicopters into the National Guard). It's in this world that DOD proposes to cease operating half of our Navy cruisers, while delaying delivery of the carrier-based F-35 strike-fighter to the Navy and Marine Corps. These cutbacks come on top of cuts already made to training and maintenance expenditures in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force that will affect unit readiness for years to come. …
Then comes what should be a shocking observation:
By cutting back on defense so drastically, America is deciding, in essence, to "fight fair": to give whatever opponents emerge more of a chance to kill our soldiers, damage our interests, and drag out conflicts. …
That would be hard to believe of any American leadership – until now. It is ludicrous. Worse, it is lunatic. But Obama has never concealed or disguised his wish to weaken America's military capacity.
The decision "to further limit our capabilities to use power in politically relevant ways" will result in "even more global unrest: more conflict, more shooting, more blood, more extortion and political thuggery menacing civil life in the world's poorer and more vulnerable nations", and that cannot be good for America. The point is that -
These unpleasant trends will spill over into civil life in the wealthier nations soon enough …
As it has, she points out, in Ukraine, Thailand, and Venezuela, "whether directly or through second-order consequences".
Peace and freedom have to be tended constantly; they are not the natural state of geopolitical indiscipline, but its antithesis. …
We're extraordinarily unprepared for the world that is shaping up around us. …
[And] a world that doesn't want quiescent trade conditions, tolerance of dissent, the open flow of ideas, and mutual agreements, peacefully arrived at, will not have them.
That's the world we are sentencing ourselves, for now, to live in. Perhaps we will learn from the consequences how to think again: about what it takes to guard freedom, and indeed, about what freedom actually is.
It is Obama who needs to think again, but there is no reason to hope that he will. It could hardly be more obvious that he does not care for freedom.
More terrorists fearing terrorist attacks 1
Continuing the theme of the post immediately below, here's a story of how the big Shiite terrorist organization Hizballah is terrified of being attacked by terrorists.
This comes from DebkaFile:
The Lebanese Shiite Hizballah, itself a listed terrorist group, was forced Thursday, Feb. 13 to cancel its most solemn annual event in memory of fabled "special security chief" Imad Mughniyeh, over an inability to keep the event safe from terrorist attacks. …
Hizballah and its Shiite following in Lebanon live in fear of devastating suicide bombing attacks by al Qaeda and other Sunni extremists. Since last July, they have staged 10 attacks and claimed scores of lives in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon over Hizballah's participation in the Syrian war. In a single attack last year, the bombing of the Iranian embassy, 25 people were killed.
Its Syrian expedition has left the Hizballah short of manpower for self-protection. This situation has become more acute since an intelligence tip was received disclosing that the terrorists were now gunning for Nasrallah [present leader of Hizballah] and other top operatives. This has necessitated doubling up security on their persons.
A special counterterrorism command center has begun operating at the Iranian embassy in Beirut. …
This center was set up by a high-ranking Iranian intelligence delegation … [which] had arrived in Beirut to tackle the terrorist threats to their Lebanese proxy. It was composed of senior IRGC Al Qods Brigades [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Jerusalem Brigades] operatives and high officials of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
The decision to cancel the Mughniyeh memorial assembly was taken by the new counterterrorism center at the Iranian embassy for four reasons:
1. Iranian undercover agents in Syria discovered that al Qaeda elements were plotting to hit the assembly for mass casualties.
2. This information was confirmed Wednesday, Feb. 12, by three women captured in the Lebanese Beqaa on their way to conduct suicide bombings at the Beirut event. Under interrogation, the captives revealed that several more female suicide bombers were heading for Shiite targets across Lebanon.
3. Hizballah is in the middle of a campaign to raise additional Shiite volunteers for the different Syrian warfronts … A new wave of anti-Shiite terrorism in Lebanon would quickly derail this effort, especially in view of the hundreds of Hizballah fighters who have already laid down their lives in Syria. The organization is intent on concealing the real figure, but cannot hide all the funerals.
4. Its Iranian bosses understand that … Hizballah's manpower resources cannot be stretched both for providing security at home and for augmenting its fighting personnel input for the Syrian war.
US switches sides in Syria 11
For the first time in the 1,000-day civil war, the Americans find themselves in greater sympathy with Russia, Iran, Assad and Hizballah than the rebel cause.
According to DebkaFile, Bashar Assad is winning the civil war (or uprising against his dictatorship). So the Obama administration has stopped supporting the rebels to the extent, and in whatever way they ever did, and is now romancing Bashar Assad. The new policy follows naturally from the exciting new love-in Obama is having with the Shia tyrants of Iran.
The conquest Sunday, Dec. 8, of Nabuk in the Qalamoun Mountains on the Syrian-Lebanese border is a signal strategic breakthrough for Bashar Assad's army, climaxing a row of battleground successes that have cast the rebel forces into deep disarray. Nabuk fell after a two-week siege by the combined forces of Syria, Hizballah, Iraqi Shiite units and the Iranian Al Qods Brigades. The Qalamoun range which separates central Syria from central Lebanon is at their mercy.
Assad and his allies, Hizballah's Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, can chalk up four major war gains:
1. The highway from Damascus to Syria's two port towns, Latakia and Tartus on the Mediterranean coast, is now open through the wayside town of Homs.
2. The last remaining rebel supply routes from Lebanon are cut off. Syrian rebels can no longer use Lebanon as a supply base for reinforcements and new recruits or as a destination for their casualties to receive treatment.
3. The Damascus-Beirut highway is now under Hizballah control, providing its Beirut headquarters vitally direct access to the forces posted to Damascus, and easing liaison and communications among Iranian, Syrian and Hizballah military units in the field.
4. Pushing the rebels out of their Qalamoun strongholds was the last step before loosening their two-year grip on the eastern suburbs of Damascus. Under relentless Syrian army siege, many rebel commanders holding on to those suburbs are crossing the lines and handing sectors over to Syrian army officers.
The Assad regime has reached a stage in the civil war at which the rebels no longer pose a military threat to his hold on power and have lost the capacity for more more than terrorist attacks or sporadic mortar shelling.
The Syrian rebel movement has lost its coherence as a fighting force. In desperation, they are releasing a stream of false claims of successes and unfounded accusations that Assad has reverted to chemical warfare. …
Since the only anti-Assad forces still in fighting shape are the two Al Qaeda affiliates, Jabhat al Nusra and the Iraqi branch, Washington is turning its back on the Syrian rebel movement as a whole and instead [is] ready to talk indirectly to Syrian army elements loyal to Assad as well as Hizballah. …
Indeed, in consideration of Hizballah's military kudos and rising political clout in Beirut, the Obama administration has opened up a back channel to its leaders, mostly through British diplomats.
It turns out that the same coalition which contrived the nuclear deal in Geneva on Nov. 24 – the US, Russia and Iran – is going into action again on the Syrian issue with a favored spot for Iran's Lebanese Shiite pawn [Hizballah].
We think this DebkaFile report is likely to be true in its main thrust: that US policy has changed, and America is now in alliance with Russia and Iran and in negotiation with one of the world's most savage terrorist organizations.
And if it is true, it is an enormity – an extreme wrong.
It is not that the rebels are any better than Assad. Both sides are evil. Both sides seem to be peopled by vicious murdering torturing cannibals. Neither should be supported. But Assad is Iran's client. Hizballah is Iran's creation. What matters here is the colossal boost to Iranian power. The US has conceded the territory to the mullahs.
Under a pretense by their traitorous leaders that it is better to negotiate than risk a war with belligerent enemies, the American people are being led into capitulation.
Iran will be nuclear armed. Hizballah can claim legitimacy, and the cost to Lebanon and Israel is dreadful to think of. Russia's power and prestige is being enhanced with each disastrous move Obama makes in the region of the Middle East.
And the US is no longer the protector of the free world. The erstwhile free world no longer has a protector.
"My chain of command won't let me die" 2
America honors her heroes in recognizing Veterans Day, including our brave SEALs.
Mark Baisley spells out what "SEALs" stand for – their name and their cause:
That virtuous moniker is actually an acronym for Sea, Air, And Land, indicating that these guys cover every quarter and every dimension. Members of the United States Navy SEALs are a special kind of human, incredibly smart athletes with unthinkable endurance and unimaginable tolerance for pain. The greatest attribute of a SEAL is devotion.
But in a brand new book, a tragic truth is revealed about the Obama Administration's unrequited devotion from our most selfless of heroes. Aaron Carson Vaughn is honored by his heartbroken dad in Betrayed, The Shocking True Story of Extortion 17 as told by a Navy SEAL's Father. The book chronicles the events that led to the death of Aaron Carson Vaughn and was authored by Billy Vaughn, with co-authors Monica Morrill and Cari Blake.
Aaron Carson Vaughn "once wrote a note of assurance to his concerned parents about his chain of command saying, 'They won't let me die'. But they did.
The book details the events of August 6, 2011 in Afghanistan surrounding the shooting down of an American Chinook helicopter that held the evocative name of "Extortion 17″.
A high-value Al-Qaeda leader was pinned down in a village by U.S. Army Rangers. Three hours into the intense ground engagement, Extortion 17 was tasked to carry seventeen SEALs into the battle with the onerous task of capturing the Al-Qaeda leader alive.
The Chinook was operated by a crew of five from the National Guard and carried an additional 22 Navy personnel in support of the elite SEAL team. One Afghan interpreter was also on board and, just before taking off, seven Afghan commandos were curiously assigned to the final flight of Extortion 17.
As the Chinook approached its destination, the enemy could be seen running into a building with a tower that gave them an advantageous shooting position. The two Apache escort helicopters had all the visibility and firepower to resolve the battle before Extortion 17 delivered the SEAL team. But the Apaches were denied permission to attack.
Under the Obama Administration's new rules of engagement, no strike could be made on that building without assurance that no civilians were inside. The enemy knows these rules, which is why they run into buildings where civilians may be located.
Just as in Gaza, where Hamas terrorists do the same. And PLO fighters in Lebanon used to place their guns on the roofs of schools and hospitals, and use UNRWA schools as arsenals. Such is the honor of the Muslim warrior.
Under the protection of Obama rules, the enemy set up on the tower of the building and shot down Extortion 17 using three rocket-propelled grenades. The Chinook fell to the ground in a tremendous explosion, killing all 30 people on board.
The parents of those SEAL Team members who died were gathered for a briefing and were given hundreds of pages of information from the investigation of the event. Betrayed includes many pages of that original material; material that raised enough unsettling questions that Billy Vaughn wrote a book.
One question asked at the briefing was why, even in the minutes following the shoot-down of Extortion 17, America's massive firepower was withheld.
Three-star Admiral Robert Harward explained to the parents that a drone strike wasn't used because, "we need to win their hearts and minds".
Can a three-star admiral actually believe in such a goal? Did he manage to say it with a straight face?
What the Commander-in-Chief was really after becomes terribly clear only with the knowledge that he put Afghans in command of American troops who were in Afghanistan to defeat Afghans:
Evidently, this policy of social politeness on the battlefront motivated the Obama Administration to relegate authority over American troops under Afghan command one year before the Extortion 17 crash, the greatest loss of U.S. military SEALs in a single incident.
Social politeness? It may look like that. But a commander-in-chief who puts his troops under enemy command is not just being socially polite. He is not trying to "win hearts and minds" like a missionary. He is helping the enemy to win. He is making sure that the enemy will win.
All knowledge, forethought, and mission planning for American troops within that country are under the joint oversight of the Operational Coordination Group, a command of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
And win the enemy did:
While George W. Bush was in office, we were treated to a steady drumbeat of casualty reports. But the silence of American media over the past five years has covered up the fact that far more of our troops have been killed and injured under the Obama Administration's rules of engagement.
It could not have been otherwise. That's what those rules of engagement were designed to do.
During the seven years of war in the Bush Administration, 630 Americans died in Afghanistan and 2,638 were wounded in action. During the first four years of the Obama Administration, 1,544 Americans have died in Afghanistan and 15,036 have been wounded in action.
Obama supported the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He has invited Muslim Brotherhood members into his administration as advisers and consultants. He is letting Muslim-theocratic Iran become nuclear-armed. He has had all critical references to Islam purged from army training materials. He withdrew all American forces from Iraq so letting Iran become a force of influence in that land whose soil is soaked with American blood. And his crippling rules of engagement have allowed the Taliban back into power in Afghanistan.
But today he will be seen honoring American veterans, in the posture of mourning for the heroic dead:
The bored kid in power 1
It seems that Obama views the civil war in Syria and the threats that it involves – including the use of chemical weapons, the growth of Russian influence, Iranian power projection, and the plight of refugees pouring into neighboring Arab countries – chiefly as a nuisance to himself personally. He excuses his inability to grasp the issues and decide on a policy by alleging that all presidents must be similarly baffled and annoyed by foreign affairs.
A New York Times report reveals this – though the reporters don't seem to realize the implications. Relating the long dismal story of Obama's vacillations over several years whenever he had to consider what if anything should be done about the Syrian bloodbath, they write:
In private conversations with aides, Mr. Obama described Syria as one of those hellish problems every president faces, where the risks are endless and all the options are bad.
Someone who fully realizes the implications of all such information that leaks out of the White House about what sort of president Barack Obama is, and what sort of man, is Daniel Greenfield. He comments scathingly at Front Page:
Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize winner, takes going to war every bit as seriously as you would expect.
Even as the debate about arming the [Syrian] rebels took on a new urgency, Mr. Obama rarely voiced strong opinions during senior staff meetings. But current and former officials said his body language was telling: he often appeared impatient or disengaged while listening to the debate, sometimes scrolling through messages on his BlackBerry or slouching and chewing gum.
Obama slept while Americans died in Benghazi because he was prepping to go party in Vegas with Jay-Z. And if Americans weapons fall into the hands of Al Qaeda and end up being used to kill Americans, then while that was being discussed we can take comfort in the fact that the man at the top was taking the time to chew gum, roll his eyes and scroll through his radical pals' latest Facebook updates.
What did Obama say about Putin again?
The New York Times is reporting that an anonymous source described Russian President Vladimir Putin as "infuriated" when Obama described Putin's body language "like the bored kid in the back of the classroom."
Right back atcha, Putin might have said.
Our ridiculous foreign policy is supervised by a ridiculous man-child with more self-esteem than brains who can't be bothered to pay attention when lives are on the line because his own entertainment comes first.
It's no surprise that the parents of the Americans murdered in Benghazi have yet to receive a straight answer from Obama. He doesn't care. That gets in the way of his "Me Time" playing golf and vacationing and partying with music stars and celebs.
War? He'll show up and play with his phone and then say, "Yes" or "No" or "Let's think about this some more" and hit the links.
We do not think the US should interfere directly in Syria. There is no good side in that internecine turmoil. But we think America should have a Middle East policy that treats Iran as a threat, Russia as a danger, the Muslim Brotherhood and all its offshoots including al-Qaeda and Hamas as enemies, and Israel as an ally.
A brief colorful history of the modern state of Syria (and its neighbors) 2
Until the end of World War I, the states of Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan did not exist. The territory they now cover had been part of the Empire of the Ottoman Turks for some 400 years. The names Syria and Mesopotamia designated Middle Eastern regions of the Ottoman Empire, roughly where Syria and Iraq are now.
In World War I the Turks were allies of Germany. The Arabs were loyal to their Ottoman overlords, and were also on Germany's side.
But the British incited sedition among some of them, bribing a man in high religious office to head a rebellion. The inducement they offered him was power and glory: rule of an Arab independency of undefined dimensions.
The man was Hussein Ibn Ali, of the clan of the Hashemites and the tribe of the Quraish, Sharif of the Holy City of Mecca, putatively a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
The British gave him arms, supplies, subsidies and advisers. When he asked also for a firm definition of his dream-kingdom, the British High Commissioner in Cairo, Sir Henry McMahon, sent him a "clarification" in a letter dated 24 October 1915, in which he made it clear that he could not make it clear. The British, he explained, could not promise territory to Hussein which the French might claim, and they did not know what the French might claim.
In 1916 the British and French agreed, in a secret document known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, on how they would divide up the territory between them once they had conquered it from the Turks. It was against the spirit of the times, when high principles were asserted against the old ideas of empire; principles which President Wilson of the United States set out in 14 points and became enshrined on the Covenant of the League of Nations. The new ideal was that never again would great powers impose their will on smaller nations.
In 1918, the British made another promise to the Arabs. It is known as The Declaration to the Seven. The "Seven" were from the Syrian region. They went to Cairo to ask the British what their intentions were in the Middle East. They were given a pledge that Britain would recognize "the complete and sovereign independence of any Arab area emancipated from Turkish control by the Arabs themselves". It was an uncharacteristically precise promise.
It prompted the self-dramatizing Englishman, Colonel T.E.Lawrence, who had a highly romantic view of the Arabs (a view that has polluted the atmosphere of the British Foreign Office ever since), to exert himself to lead Hussein's forces to a decisive victory. He marched them to Damascus, but the Australian Light Horse Brigade got there first, and took the city from the Turks. Lawrence persuaded the British to pretend that his Arabs had conquered the city. So the British ordered the Australians to drift out and let the Arabs march in. This set a really bad precedent by which the Arabs expected always to have a fictional version of reality replace any facts on the ground which inconvenienced them. It also gave the Arabs as a whole a false understanding of their own military power and achievements. (If they had beaten the mighty Turks at Damascus, how could they not be victorious against the new little Jewish state of Israel in 1948?)
When the British, French, and Americans won the Second World War, the British set about fulfilling – more or less – their promise to Hussein.
Hussein himself already ruled the Hejaz. His son Ali was his heir to that kingdom. (They were, however, to lose it in 1924,when Abdul Aziz al Saud conquered it. Saud was to join the Hejaz and the Nejd together and found a new state, Saudi Arabia, named after himself, in 1932.) But new kingdoms were created by the British for Hussein's other sons, Abdullah and Faisal. They were to be called Syria and Iraq.
They made Faisal King of of the new state of Syria, and proposed to put Abdullah on the throne of a new state of Iraq.
Faisal ruled Syria only from March to April, 1920. The French knocked him off his throne and threw him out of the country, whose destiny they claimed was rightfully in their hands. (The French were granted mandates over Syria and Lebanon.)
The British had to find another throne for Faisal, so they made him King of Iraq instead of his brother, and then considered what they could for Abdullah.
What remained in their power to give away – or so they made out – was an area of the Ottoman Empire to which the ancient Romans had given the name Palestine when it was still part of their empire. In July 1922, the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate (also agreed on at the San Remo peace conference in 1920) over the Palestine region. The British pleaded that they needed it in order to carry out a promise they had made, in the Balfour Declaration of 1917, to let the region become a National Home for the Jews. According to the terms of the Mandate they were to "settle Jews closely on the land". But when they were confronted by the problem of Abdullah being kingdom-less, they found that there was no need to let Jews settle closely on all the land. So they presented three-quarters of it, stretching eastward from the River Jordan to a chosen line in the desert, to Abdullah and called it the Emirate of Transjordan.
All the newly created Arab states fell short of Arab dreams. One was to flourish fairly well as a monarchy: the Emirate of Transjordan renamed itself the Kingdom of Jordan in 1949, when the Arab armies had failed to crush the new state of Israel, but the Transjordanian forces – known as the Arab Legion, under the able command of a British officer, John Bagot Glubb, better known as Glubb Pasha – had advanced across the River Jordan and taken control of what has ever since been called the "West Bank". (Israel conquered it in its defensive war of 1968.)
The French held a mandate over Syria until July 1941. In September 1936, a treaty of independence was negotiated, but the French Legislature would not ratify it. Only when the British and Free French beat the forces of Vichy France in Syria and Lebanon in the Second World War, did Syria become an independent republic. But coups and attempted coups followed hot on each other, and the state was extremely unstable.
The Kingdom of Iraq also had a history of instability with numerous uprisings, massacres and assassinations. In 1958 the monarchy came to an end. The king, Faisal II, was eleven years old. His uncle, Abd al-Ilah, was regent. He was an ambitious man. He had plans to dominate an Arab unity embracing Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Kuwait. In February 1958 he achieved a union between Iraq and Jordan, the two remaining Hashemite kingdoms. This was intolerable to the president of Egypt, Jamal Abd al-Nasser, who had just created a union of Egypt and Syria in the same month. The union of Egypt and Syria under Nasser's domination was intolerable to Abd al-Ilah.
Nasser had nationalized the Suez canal. Britain and France, who were joint shareholders in the Canal, lost their ownership of it. Nasser closed it to Israeli shipping. Israel saw this as a cause for war. Britain and France arranged with Israel that Israeli forces would strike into the Sinai on 29 October 1956, and they would invade Egypt on the pretext of restoring peace between the belligerents. President Eisenhower – unwisely – put a stop to the invasion when it had only just begun. America's intervention allowed Nasser to pretend that he had won a victory, and felt encouraged to pursue his pan-Arab dream.
On February 1 1958, the union of Egypt and Syria as the United Arab Republic (UAR) came into being, with Cairo as its capital and Nasser as its president. Yemen was added a month later to form a confederation called the United Arab States.
Nasser's agents and sympathizers went to work throughout the Middle East to spread his national socialist ideology. In Baghdad officers sympathetic to "Nasserism" plotted the destruction of the Iraqi monarchy. In 1958, under pro-Nasserite leadership, a contingent of Iraqi troops despatched by the Regent to quell a pro-Nasser uprising and civil war in Lebanon (actually put down by US forces) turned instead on their own ruling house. At dawn on 14 July 1958, the boy-king Faisal was murdered, along with his grandmother, his aunt, and others in the palace, including a helpless harmless orphan boy who lived with them.
Abd al-Ilah was dragged through the streets of Baghdad tied with ropes to the back of a truck, then – whether still alive or not when the tuck stopped – his body was dismembered with axes and his limbs and head tossed about by the hysterical mob. His trunk was hung from a balcony and chunks of its flesh were sliced off and thrown to the crowd below. The Prime Minister, Nuri al-Said, disguised himself as a woman and tried to escape, but he was caught and killed, and his body flung down on a busy street to be driven over, squashed and broken by the cars full of exulting motorists. His successor too was murdered after five years in power, and his body was fed to dogs.
In 1961, Syria revolted against Egypt's domination and reasserted its independence. So the UAE was dissolved, and Yemen released. Hafez Assad became president of Syria in 1971. Under his dictatorship, and after him the dictatorship of his son Bashar Assad, rebellion has been put down with ruthless massacres.
Or not put down, as is the case now that civil war rages; or war waged by numerous militias and terrorist groups against the forces of the state. There is no reason to expect a peaceful or stable Syria to emerge out of the chaos, whether Great Powers intervene or not. The Syrians have no precedent for peace and stability in their young unhappy country.
Jillian Becker September 9, 2013

subset: commoncrawl


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The 193 States Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity have adopted a set of texts aimed at renewing global cooperation with respect to nature conservation and the sustainable development of genetic resources.
This is the first major achievement of the international environmental negotiations since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change 13 years ago. A few weeks ahead of the Cancun Conference and in preparation for the Rio plus 20 Summit, which will review progress with respect to the environment and sustainable development, this sends a very positive signal to all countries in the world.
Three key texts were thus adopted in Nagoya:
1. 18 years after the signing of the Convention on Biodiversity, its third goal is finally being put into practice: a legally binding protocol to implement rules governing access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits arising from their utilization was adopted. Eagerly awaited by France, the Nagoya Protocol is an ambitious and balanced text which should enable us to combat "bio-piracy."
2. At the same time, a new strategy for implementing the Convention, aimed at preventing the loss of global biodiversity, was adopted. It notably includes components encouraging the States to incorporate the economic exploitation of biodiversity and the services provided by ecosystems into their policies.
3. Lastly, a road map for evaluating funding requirements and mobilizing financial resources enabling us to implement this strategy was adopted. On this occasion Chantal Jouanno announced, on behalf of France, major financing commitments in support of biodiversity.
The Conference also adopted a decision inviting the UN General Assembly to establish, as swiftly as possible, an intergovernmental group of experts on biodiversity changes - another priority for France.
On the sidelines of this conference, the French representation, which included deputies and representatives of civil society, participated in several parallel events, notably focusing on cities, oceans, and the economics of ecosystems.
Learn more on Biodiversity


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The band opened for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at SXSW and then joined them, Arcade Fire, Alejandro Escovedo, Eric Burdon, Tom Morello, Joe Ely and more to sing "This Land is Your Land."
This Land is Your Land (SXSW) from Backstreets on Vimeo.
The band performed "School Days Over" from the 50th Anniversary Chieftain's album, Voice of Ages, on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Today marks the release day for The Chieftain's 50th Anniversary record, Voice of Ages. We were happy to join a great list of artists who collaborated with The Cheiftain's and T Bone Burnett on this record including Bon Iver, Lisa Hannigan and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. We recorded Ewan McColl's song "School Days Over," which you can see and hear here. We are also excited to announce we will be joining The Chieftain's to perform the song when they hit The Late Show on March 13th as well as Carnegie Hall on St. Paddy's Day.
We recently recorded a soundtrack for an indie movie called Arcadia about a broken family on a road trip across the country to their new home. It premiered this month at the Berlin Film Festival and won a CRYSTAL BEAR in its category! The soundtrack is self-engineered and was recorded in a week. It consists of a few composed songs and harvested sections of epic improvised sessions. It was a new process for us and we are very proud of the result! We will keep you posted on when and how you can see and hear it.
The band was invited to work with T Bone Burnett on a song for The Hunger Games soundtrack and it will be released March 20th! You can pre-order from Amazon and iTunes now.
Happy Valentines lovers!! In Honor Of St. V we've put together a Trala-lala playist of some favorite love songs. In two parts.
Mating Rituals from the Strange Colony pt. 1 (A Valentines Mix)
Mating Rituals from the Strange Colony pt. 2 (A Valentines Mix)
The video of the recording of "School Days Over" with The Chieftain's has just premiered on the LA Times. Enjoy!
Greetings Englanders,
Golfing scarecrows of excitement. Received confirmation from central command. Returning to England's ultimate annual music gathering End Of the Road!!!!!!!!! This years is extra special, celebrating the 15th birthday of our label (and England's finest?) Bella Union. Proper fun. See you in Dorset!!!!!!!
The band's cover of "Stories of the Street" is on the covermount tribute CD to Cohen and "The Songs of Leonard Cohen" that comes with this month's issue of Mojo Magazine.
You can stream it below or get the full CD, "The Songs of Leonard Cohen Covered" with the magazine. It includes covers by Bill Callahan, Cass McCombs, Field Music and more.
Stories Of The Street (The Low Anthem) by MOJOmagazine
all the proceeds will go toward stem cell research. What is Snake Wagon, again?
A bunch of jokesters, pranksters, parodists, specialty obscurantist antique humorists, and satirical ironical songsmiths who blasted the sheet rock off the Pasta Sauce Factory walls in a quick, but fruitful, session last year. Listen to it! It comes highly recommended and it's worth its price in gold.
Our friends at End of the Road have started a new UK summer festival in Sherwood Forest on the weekend of June 8, 2012, and they have officially asked us headline it. We said yes! So come and check out a new festival with us in the land of Robin Hood! Andrew Bird and Dirty Three have also confirmed which will surely be amazing. Well worth the trip!
Now that we're leaving the road for a while, we're especially keen to lose the remaining merch. Thus we are hosting "The 2nd Annual Black Friday Merch Store 15% Feeding Frenzy Sale!" Be careful so no one gets trampled. We've added new shirts and posters that were previously only at shows, as well as a limited 10″ with outtakes from the Smart Flesh recording sessions AND a version of To Ohio we recorded for and with our sweet-singing friend Emmylou Harris's last record. This will be available digitally on December 27th (sans Emmy) but waxically right now.
USE THIS CODE: "blackfriday" to get 15% off everything except the new 10″, stuff that's already discounted, and the $5(!) posters. Offer lasts through "Cyber Monday" but watch our Twitter and Facebook where we'll have some "flash sales" throughout December.
God I hate trying to sell stuff.


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North Korea Aggression Delays Pentagon Missile Test
Kim Jong Un's own potential missile launch puts America, South Korea on edge.
North Korea Could Launch Missile On Anniversary of Country's Founding
Kim Jong Un might follow cultural tradition of making military moves marking historic dates.


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Author(s)Jan B. Haelssig, Andre Y. Tremblay, Jules Thibault, Seyed Gh. Etemad |
TitleDirect Numerical Simulation of Interphase Heat and Mass Transfer in Multicomponent Vapour-Liquid Flows |
Publication NameInternational Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer |
Publication TypeJournal |
Publisher Elsevier |
Place |
Editor(s) |
Number |
School |
Volume 53 |
Chapter |
Pages 3947-3960 |
Other Publication Information |
Publication Year 2010 |
Abstract A Volume-of-Fluid methodology for direct numerical simulation of interface dynamics and simultaneous interphase heat and mass transfer in systems with multiple chemical species is presented. This approach is broadly applicable to many industrially important applications, where coupled interphase heat and mass transfer occurs, including distillation. Volume-of-Fluid interface tracking allows investigation of systems with arbitrarily complex interface dynamics. Further, the present method incorporates the full interface species and energy jump conditions for vapour-liquid interphase heat and mass transfer, thus, making it applicable to systems with multiple phase changing species. The model was validated using the ethanol-water system for the cases of wetted-wall vapour-liquid contacting and vapour flow over a smooth, stationary liquid. Good agreement was observed between empirical correlations, experimental data and numerical predictions for vapour and liquid phase mass transfer coefficients. Direct numerical simulation of interphase heat and mass transfer offers the clear advantage of providing detailed information about local heat and mass transfer rates. This local information can be used to develop accurate heat and mass transfer models that may be integrated into large scale process simulation tools and used for equipment design and optimization. |
Keywords |
Website http:// |
Paper Status Published |
DOI / Publication ID |


text: Hi listers, A few days ago, I posted a message explaining that my braille daemon was not terminating properly when rebooting or halting the system. Since I understood why, and here is my explanation: in the sendsignals script, I think there should be a delay between the TERM and KILL signals are sent, to let processes the time to die gracefully. I've checked, on Debian and Slackware, they do a "sleep" between TERM and KILL. I think LFS should do the same. Maybe, 3-5 seconds would be a reasonable delay. Best regards, Sebastien. -- Unsubscribe: send email to listar at linuxfromscratch.org and put 'unsubscribe lfs-support' in the subject header of the message


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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
Benny Boom (born on July 22, 1971) is a music video director and current director of Gorilla Flix, Inc. He trained at Temple University's School of Radio, Television, and Film, and also served as a protégé of veteran director Director X and Hype Williams. He has also directed music videos for Nicki Minaj, Sean Paul, Nas, Amerie, Kelly Rowland, Monica, Keyshia Cole, Mario, Ciara, Cassidy, Lil' Kim, LL Cool J, Nelly, P. Diddy, 50 Cent and many others. His music videos often feature fonts in the beginning crediting himself.
The rap video director has created political advertisements against George W. Bush in the past, and he is quoted as saying, "We've got to get George W. Bush out of office, and it's very important that kids understand what a serious condition the world is in with this madman." Most of the ads end with the phrase "George Bush, he's not on our side."[citation needed]
Boom is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[1]
He directed the 2009 film Next Day Air.
He was the 2009 winner for Video Director of the Year at BET Awards. He was nominated for Video Director of the Year at the BET Awards of 2011.[2]


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Scores of articles have been written about Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's online prowess during the 2009 election cycle.
Steve and I certainly tip our hats to Patrick Ruffini, Mindy Finn and Vince Harris, because they demonstrated for many skeptical onlookers how a Republican candidate who commits the right resources to his or her online campaign can be successful. Unfortunately, not every candidate has the resources Bob McDonnell had, nor do they often commit to their online campaign with similar fervor.
In working with several GOP House of Delegates candidates in Virginia last year, Steve and I saw both obstacles – resources and commitment to an online operation – manifest themselves repeatedly. With perhaps only an exception for the benefits that ActBlue provides Democratic candidates, this problem extends to both sides of the aisle in the Commonwealth.
Trust us when we tell you, there will come a time (probably in 2011) when door knocking alone will no longer suffice for candidates seeking to become delegates or state senators.
Earlier this week, the 2010 Politics Online Conference was held in Washington. The event drew some of the nation's top political online experts from both sides of the aisle to share their insight on how candidates and advocacy groups can improve their online operations.
Here's an unfortunate fact about the conference, though. Out of the 140 members who serve in the Virginia General Assembly, Steve and I saw only two members attending the two-day event. We understand that not every member could make it due to busy schedules and travel considerations, but it was odd to hear the McDonnell campaign as the backdrop to so many of the panel discussions and yet to see so few Virginians in the audience.
State Senator Chap Petersen (D-34) not only attended the event, but he served as a panelist. Joined by Democratic Congressman Mike Honda (CA-15), CNN's Ed Henry (moderator) and Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson (D-Ward 7), Petersen discussed how he uses social media to connect with his Fairfax constituents.
As conservatives who've worked hard against liberals like Peterson in Virginia, Steve and I were treated to the disheartening lesson that Chap Petersen really does get it. He utilizes social media and digital technology for three reasons. First, so constituents of his district are made to understand that he is working on their behalf. Second, to provide a forum for his constituents to express their opinion. Finally, to aid his fundraising efforts.
Peterson was not the only Virginia Democrat to patrol the Politics Online Conference. On Tuesday, we ran into Delegate Mark Keam (D-35), who attended both days of the event, sitting in on panels and workshops in an effort to gain new insight into how to better execute his online campaign.
Both of these gentlemen do sit on the "other side" from us, but Steve and I have to congratulate them on their efforts to better their online presence.
Yes, Virginia politicos might be making strong progress with adopting digital technology, but members of both parties, as whole, still have a long way to go before we can categorize their use of social media and digital technology as being "cutting edge."
If we happen to have overlooked any other member or staffers of the Virginia Legislature who attended the conference, we do apologize and hope you were taking notes.
Ford O'Connell and Steve Pearson, Co-Founders, ProjectVirginia – "Where Politics Meets Social Media"
New technology overcomes old challenges. It also raises new ones. Nuclear plants generate the most electricity but have cleanup questions. The Internet has overcome and created challenges, too. Howard Dean used the internet to raise money at unheard of levels. Ken Timmerman reports Barack Obama's campaign raised $427 million dollars, much of it coming via the internet.
Almost half of the $427 million came from donations of less than $200. Campaigns don't have to identify donors until their aggregate giving exceeds $200. When giving was by check or cash, it was harder to cheat; cash deposits had to be accounted for and checks left paper trails. Credit card internet giving is the new way around the law.
Timmerman writes about an Obama donor, "Good Will", who gave $17,375 in over 1,000 donations under $200, far exceeding the limit for individuals. The FEC has ordered the campaign to return the excess money, and they've started to. They've got thousands to go! Warner Todd Huston writes of testing the foreign donation firewalls of both Obama and McCain. Only one campaign had any checks on the process in place.
Complicating matters, current monitoring and regulating mechanisms are outpaced by technology. The FEC didn't find "Good Will". Activists did. Giving is at T1 speeds. Enforcement is stuck on dialup.
"While FEC practice is to do a post-election review of all presidential campaigns, given their sluggish metabolism, results can take three or four years," said Ken Boehm, the chairman of the conservative National Legal and Policy Center.
If Presidential campaigns have these issues, what of lesser publicized and scrutinized down-ticket races?
Weekly updates & alerts
The American Scene Conservablogs Election Projection FiveThirtyEight.com Jonathan Martin Marc Ambinder Megan McArdle Patrick Ruffini Pollster.com The Foundry Government Bytes Race 4 2008 Real Clear Politics RedState Ross Douthat Soren Dayton
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Good Lefty Blogs MyDD Open Left Swing State Project


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SSV Audio Works in Agoura Hills, California, had the honor of building the sound and video. Keeping it low-key meant not cutting the perfect metal dash for a head unit and hiding all of the components. They chose a Pioneer head unit with two video iPods to store MP3 audio and MPEG video. Realm LS6C 6--inch components in the kick panels are powered by a Realm A300-2 two-channel amp and a Realm D500.1 mono class D amp powers the two 10-inch Realm shallow-mount subs behind the seat. Two flipdown Clarion visor monitors and a Valor rear view mirror/monitor take care of video chores and Auto Image mounted four EFX 680-amp mini batteries under the bed. Two are dedicated to the audio/video and two are for cranking power.
When all of the dust settled, Brian had spent 18 months transforming his '63 from a highly optioned daily driver to a SEMA show-stopper. Several talented individuals and cooperative companies were responsible, as the truck made its way through several shops and garages. Brian would like to thank, in no particular order: The Polish Shop, Scosche, Early Classic Enterprises, Magnuson, Borla, Asanti, Granetelli Motorsports, Rod Giles, Mike Bess, No Limit, Saticoy Auto Body, RBP, Realm Audio, Xciting Lighting, Bruce Horkey's Wood & Parts, A&A Corvette, Street & Performance, Nitto Tire, Coast Drive Line, Armondo Vega, Auto Image, and SSV Audio Works.


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Lyrics Depot | |
Lyrics » Everything But The Girl Lyrics » This Love (Not for Sale) Lyrics |
Lyrics Depot is your source of lyrics to This Love (Not for Sale) by Everything But The Girl. Please check back for more Everything But The Girl lyrics. |
This Love (Not for Sale) LyricsArtist: Everything But The GirlAlbum: Love Not Money Do you want to get on Or would you be happy just to get by? The small thoughts of a small town girl Grew up and wanted to change the world Will heaven echo back my plea Or cast it as a curse on me. Do you want to get on in this beautiful country girl? Listen hard to what the big folks say And you'll believe anything If you believe what they say of this world From the orcahrd to the foundry From farms to the city night Everyone cracks if the price is right Ideals soon begin to fail God must know by now This love is not for sale
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Naemoor Open on Full Greens.
Arndean and Cowden Open on Mixed Greens.
27.02.2015 15:00
Muckhart Ladies are defending their title as Champions in the Perth & Kinross Scratch League. The Team must win their final match away against Strathmore on the 18th of August.
Muckhart Ladies have now played all their ties. Whether they win the League now depends on how the other Clubs play against each other in the remaining matches.
The Team is made up of 6 players and 2 reserves, and extra reserves are always needed. To sign up for next year's Team, contact the Dumyat League Captain (details on the notice board in the ladies locker room).
Home games are 12.15 for 1.00, away games to be advised along with any dress expectations.
Team for each fixture will be picked from the squad of 36 who added their name to the list on the noticeboard and players are asked to reconfirm their availability if picked.
Teams will be posted here and on the club noticeboard 2 weeks before each fixture.
Cost remains £11 (home or away) which includes welcoming hot roll and coffee and high tea after the match.
These are friendly matches which began earlier in May and continue through to August.


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not to worry. Just 1000 tons of waste water was dumped into the sea.
not to worry. Just 1000 tons of waste water was dumped into the sea.
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...
IF the cover up is a cover up is there actually a cover up?
if you look at usgs site, the whole plate is shaking.
Last edited by chicharronne; Sep 20, 2013 at 02:37 AM.
im waiting for the atomic super monsters to show!!
you people do know radioactive matter doesn't just go away,that shyt lives forever.here in America,we dispose of our nuclear waste by crushing drums of radioactive matter,and burying it under mexico.look it up its a real thing.u can live far from the epicenter and still develop cancer years down the line.i just watched a special on fukashima the other day.they said its worse than Chernobyl,and I actually watched a Chernobyl special the week before.that stuff interests me because I had no clue how nuclear stuff works.well just like Chernobyl,fukashimas cooling towers shut down and the uranium fuel rods vaporize and start releasing massive amounts of radiation when it overheats.water is constantly cooling the reactor,so when u shut it down,they build up pressure and explode.i don't even know if they still go to fukashima since its not safe,but its right on the ocean,and they started pumping salt water to cool down the reactors and it all washed back out to see.its slowly making its way to California and when u start seeing sharks with 3 heads,then we know it finally hit home
We need to stop exporting all our fish to them. They are buying it all up n fast right now. I went to the grocery store and all the tuna was from Indonesia. We are getting tainted fish from Asia and they buy all our perfect food. If we stop exporting it, maybe their country will be force to clean up their own mess. The world needs to step up and force them to clean it up before we have no untainted fish. Yes I know about fresh water fish and mercury. I grew up in Michigan. We nuked them, rebuilt them, now they nuked themselves. It's their turn to fix it themselves under the pressure of the rest of the world. Sure these thoughts are a little over the top, but I'm a realist. People need to quit closing their eyes and think it will go away. Dreamer just dream. Realists get it done.


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The MBS Chirpstick is not only cool, but very functional. Its a plain-flavor lip balm that is SPF 15, is PABA Free, and contains Vitamin E and Aloe Vera. Try one today. Your lips will thank you.
Have to get it there quickly? Rush shipping is available! We offer 3-day, 2-day, and overnight service starting at an additional $10.00 fee. Rush shipping charges are added to the standard shipping listed and are based on the total shipment weight including packaging. Please call BWD at 800-879-2473 for all rush shipping orders.


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If you really want to ensure that your audience will use your promotional products, give them something high-end like an embroidered fleece jacket or a promotional jacket. These items aren't your standard promotional fare, so you can rest assured that they will certainly help your brand stand out! High-quality gift items like logo jackets will be loved, appreciated, and worn often. Simply imprint your company name or logo in a tasteful location on these custom apparel items and custom fleece and you'll have a stylish marketing tool that can increase brand awareness and recognition.
Promotional jackets and custom fleece may not be the first items you think of it when planning a promotional marketing campaign, but they can be a perfect fit depending on your audience and your advertising goals. If you're trying to make a lasting impression on important customers or win over potential prospects, you'll need to pull out the big guns! These types of campaigns call for more than your everyday promotional pen. Imprinted fleece jackets and embroidered fleece jackets are gifts that are guaranteed to put your business at the center of attention!
Are you worried about how much promotional vests, fleece, or logo rainwear might cost? Don't be. While there are some high-end brand name items with premium price points, there are also plenty of inexpensive options that provide a great blend between quality and price. These high-perceived value options are the best bet for companies working with limited budgets. For those who consider money no object, there are many higher end promotional jackets in the $75 and up range that will really wow clients and make your brand stick in their minds.


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Hey, Mom and Dad! Can you find and circle all the weapons your kids brought to school last year? Between August 2006 and July 2007, Miami-Dade... More >>
The sun reflects off the artificial lake at the center of Midway Campground, bouncing a torpid late-afternoon light onto a trio of humongous... More >>
Doppelganger Goes Down Filed under: News When I wrote the tale of Thomas Barrett Stringer, a 42-year-old con man... More >>
An aging Chevy Suburban rumbled into Homestead well after dark on a moonless September evening. Adrian "Casanova" Ellis sat at the wheel. He... More >>
High Rollers on the High Seas Filed under: Flotsam From Miami Beach, the 228-foot Aquasino looks like a... More >>
The Unfortunate Owner of Che Guevara's Hair Filed under: Flotsam Things got weird again in Miami when... More >>
Vote for Nudity! Filed under: Politics Times are tough, Miami. We're talking World War III tough. We've got our... More >>
The towering civil courthouse in downtown Miami buzzes daily with human drama. People lose custody of their children, change names, get rich,... More >>
The Wheels of Justice Filed under: Flotsam The other day, while whipping through the parking lot of the... More >>
Baby Bombshell Filed under: Flotsam On September 7, Skye Barth called her father with a random inquiry: She... More >>
Four years ago a husband and wife named Jonada and Angela Campos sold jewelry in stall N-30 at the Opa-locka/Hialeah Flea Market. On the... More >>
Yo Quiero In! Filed under: Politics In his upstart race against two-term District 1... More >>
Arnold Cohen wants your tushy clean. The desire took seed in the tall, polite gentleman sometime in the 1960s and has grown into a lifelong... More >>
Alan Rigerman pokes his head out the door of his little gray house in Northwest Miami-Dade and emits a crackle of excited greetings. He is... More >>
Bon Voyage, Manuel Filed under: News Manuel Noriega's swarthy, acne-scarred mug will be missed in our fair city... More >>
The Lexus Leprechaun Filed under: Flotsam Early last week the embattled John Timoney suggested that a friendly... More >>
Some months ago, on a hot winter afternoon, I found myself crawling toward the westbound tollbooth on the Venetian Causeway. The bridge was... More >>
Burger Sting Filed under: News It can't feel good to get scolded by a nine-year-old. How about 100 of... More >>
The June afternoon is surprisingly cool at this secret location in the Everglades. Rich moss and strange plants — strangler figs,... More >>
Tobacco Load Filed under: News Last Thursday night, the honchos of more than a dozen local premium cigar makers were... More >>
Hate Shack, Not Where It's At Filed under: Culture Tourists love 'em. So say Miami Beach city officials. But the... More >>
Just a few blocks east of where Martin Luther King Boulevard and Le Jeune Road meet, Flamingo Plaza bleeds Hialeah's gritty... More >>
The Go-to Guy for the Gun-Shy Filed under: Flotsam The bulletproof window near the entrance of... More >>
Souto Steamed Over Suit Support Filed under: News In their battle to stop Jorge Perez's luxury... More >>
Bazooka Babes Filed under: Culture In a lush field somewhere deep in the heart of Homestead, a... More >>


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Welcome to Mayfield Heights |
As Mayor of the City of Mayfield Heights, I am proud to welcome you to our official website. Our city stands out as a beacon in the suburbs of Northeast Ohio. Just 12 miles east from downtown Cleveland, Mayfield Heights offers residents... continued Anthony DiCicco, Mayor/Safety Director |


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CANCELLED: Tribute to Wayne ShorterPresented by StrathmoreSaturday, August 3, 2013 at 8:00 PMMusic Center at Strathmore
Unfortunately, the Tribute to Wayne Shorter, scheduled for Saturday August 3 at the Music Center, at Strathmore has been cancelled. We will make an attempt to reschedule this event and keep you informed.
All ticket holders will be issued a refund. Ticket purchasers who paid by credit card, will automatically be issued a refund directly back to their card. Ticket purchasers who paid by cash or check will have a check mailed to them within 10 business days.


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Speakers that break the reality barrier are extremely rare, but that's exactly what the Raidho C 3.1 does.
At CES 2015, USB Implementers Forum demoed USB Type-C, while MSI announces its first gaming laptop and motherboard that support this new connection standard.
CNET editor Dong Ngo explains the USB standard and the significance of the latest USB Type-C.
DisplayPort technology lost out to HDMI in the marketplace, but it could get some help from next-gen USB connectors coming in 2015. Don't kiss those copper cables goodbye just yet.
The official design for the next-generation, reversible USB has been finalised, and it can be plugged in upside down.
Gal, recruited six years ago by former CTO and short-lived CEO Brendan Eich, brings continuity to the nonprofit organization's top techie job.
Thunderbolt 3 is coming with a smaller connector -- but not for a while. It's tied to Intel's Skylake chips, and those aren't due until 2015.
Miss a few stories this week? We'll bring you up to speed with this rundown of all the tech news.
The upcoming USB cable design is reversible, has no right-side-up or upside-down problems, and will click when you plug it in. Expect the new design on the market as soon as this year.
McLaren's first road car in decades has a tough job to do - it's got to take on Ferrari, Lamborghini and co. Does it have what it takes?