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SEC. RUMSFELD: Tony, thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's a pleasure to be with you. I feel like I belong here. I've sold newspapers in Illinois, Washington state, Oregon, North Carolina and California over my career, which Tony left out. (Laughter.)
I want to offer some thoughts on our current situation in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in the global war on terror, and then as he suggested respond to questions. But first let me take a few moments to comment and offer a few reflections on the interaction between your business and your government over these past years.
Those of us in government need to keep in mind the daily miracle of what it is you do, the work you do. You do something that is rare in Washington: you actually produce something. (Laughter.) Consider what might happen in government were asked to put out a daily newspaper. Well, for starters, there would likely be flurry of meetings, leaked memos, and then I suspect leaked recommendations, followed by the adoption of a draft policy guideline and then a 90-day open comment period where interest groups would proceed to shred that guideline. Then we would need a request for a supplemental budget for sure, possibly even a recommendation for a new federal agency, to be followed by a congressional investigation on why we missed our deadline. (Laughter, applause.) Followed, of course, by an independent commission to study what the congressional investigation had already studied.
So your job is tough and decisions with impact I understand are made continuously, sometimes on the fly. You are criticized by many, certainly by readers as well as those you write about. But interestingly, my sense is that you're not regularly criticized by each other. That's unusual. I'm sure you do your best and then you go home each night and get up and do it again the next day.
So yours is important work. Our republic was founded on the notion that an unchecked government is a major obstacle to human freedom and to progress, and that our leaders need to be challenged, internally through the complex constitutional system of checks and balances, and externally by a free and energetic press. This is a notion I've supported throughout my adult life. As a matter of fact, as a young member of Congress back in the 1960s, still in my 30s, I was a co-sponsor of the Freedom of Information Act. Now we all recognize that that act causes government officials occasional pain, but in my view, it has been a valuable act in helping to get the facts to the American people.
As secretary of Defense this time, I believe and I certainly hope that our department has offered reporters and media as much or more access than possibly ever before. I'm told that I've held over 350 press briefings and press availabilities since I was confirmed in January of 2001. It's unbelievable. It's exhausting. (Laughter.) It's risky! (Laughter.) That's for sure. I've also granted hundreds of interviews, and at Torie Clarke's suggestion, we instituted an embedding program during the combat operations in Iraq, including some 500 journalists from some 250 outlets that we believe enriched the coverage and serve the public well. Even today, we have dozens of embeds with our forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq.
Our great political system needs information to be self-correcting. While excesses and imbalances will inevitably exist for a time, fortunately they tend not to last. Ultimately truth prevails. The American people seem to have inner gyroscopes that keep them centered and balanced.
Consider, for example, Harry Truman. I was recently in Key West visiting a military installation, and I visited the Truman "winter White House" down in Key West and was reminded of his truly impressive legacy: the United Nations, NATO, the Marshall Plan, racial integration in the armed services, elimination of racial discrimination in the federal government, and so many other important and lasting achievements.
But during his time as president and for many years thereafter, he was roundly criticized. Indeed, he was brutally ridiculed. But to my -- the amazement of many people he was reelected in 1948 notwithstanding the ridicule and the abuse, and today he has a deservedly proud place in American history. The sheep herd behavior by experts and pundits that led him to be so severely criticized prevailed for a while, but it did not last forever. The public seems to eventually find its way to the truth.
Today, in the global war on terror, there is often a non-trivial difference between what is reported and the facts on the ground. Al- Jazeera and Al-Arabiyah, with their broad coverage in the Middle East, are routinely telling the world lies about coalition actions. But I believe that that, too, will be corrected over time. Afghans and Iraqis are now free. After decades of being fed lies by dictatorial regimes and the controlled press, they are starting to thirst for the truth.
In Iraq, since liberation one year ago, more than 200 newspapers have popped up. Afghanistan now has more than 100 papers in Kabul alone, I'm told. Just a few years ago your contemporaries in Iraq and Afghanistan were jailed and tortured and killed if they had the courage to report the news as they saw it.
Just as Americans have, so too free Afghans and Iraqis will eventually develop their own sense of balance, their own inner gyroscopes, and an ability to absorb what they hear.
Today we're experiencing a decisive test of wills between the millions of Iraqis that are dedicated to freedom, and the murderers and the terrorists who oppose Iraqi progress to self-government. The remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime know they have no future in a free Iraq. Most of the 25 million Iraqi people oppose them. Their defeat is eventually assured, so long as the United States stays the course with its coalition partners.
So why are these enemies of freedom lashing out today? Undoubtedly because they know that they are fast approaching the moment when the Iraqis will reclaim their country. As al Qaeda associate Zarqawi warned his allies in a letter that was recently intercepted, he said democracy is coming, and there will be no excuse thereafter for their attacks on the Iraqi people.
To know the whole story about what's going on in Iraq today, America and other nations need to hear not just the truth that there are attacks and setbacks, which there certainly area, but also why these attacks are happening and why the terrorists and the regime remnants are lashing out. And this is where the print media can play a special role. You have the space to give context; to inform the public about things that don't make the sound bite on evening news. Terrorists and bomb-throwers get headlines, to be sure. The good people of Iraq and Afghanistan do not.
The courageous men and women who are deployed in those countries, uniform and civilian, are helping the people of those nations to get on a path to self-government and to self-reliance. They do not make headlines, but they are making a difference. The vast majority of the Iraqi people are not rioting, they're not looting, they're not shooting. For every bomb that goes off in Baghdad there are many bombs that are defused as a result of coalition soldiers acting on information they receive from Iraqi people. For every building that's damaged by mortar fire there are many schools and hospitals and clinics that are being built and repaired. And for every Iraqi soldier who was reluctant to fight in the past few weeks, there are tens of thousands of Iraqi security officials who are fighting every day for the Iraqi people, and there have been over 300 Iraqi security forces that have been killed in recent months. For the whole story on Iraq, Americans deserve to know about them as well. No doubt there are folks at your newspapers who get very little credit for what they do, but who offer essential contributions. If we were to tell your paper's story fully and fairly we would certainly have to include them, as I know you are aware.
In Iraq and Afghanistan today there are millions of people contributing to progress. They are building schools. They are providing electricity to villages and establishing constitutional government to guarantee unprecedented freedoms. For the first time in years, Afghan parents are able to send their daughters to schools and to see a doctor. Our people and the people of the world need to hear their story. As I understand it, a part of this organization's mission is to advance freedom of speech at home and around the world, and the Department of Defense believes in that mission.
On the field of battle at this hour, young men and women in uniform are risking their lives to defend our liberty, your liberty and your right to pursue the truth. You know the risks and the dangers that soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines face. I know you remember colleagues and friends who lost their lives on the battlefield defending the public's right to know. We remember them, too.
Our Pentagon briefing room is on what we call Correspondents' Corridor. The corridor has long had a memorial to those who died as war correspondents. Sadly, some new names will be added to that list. The corridor is named for a correspondent who said of the working Pentagon news bureaus -- he called them a wonderful crowd, and he's right. And he said, "I do hope that they remain as surly, suspicious, aggressive and thirsty as always." It seems to me that's about right.
So I thank you. I look forward to your questions, no matter how suspicious -- (laughter) -- or aggressive or surly. Thank you very much. (Laughter, applause.)
Now, how do we do this? Are there microphones? There's a microphone. There's a microphone. There's a hand. (Laughter.) Let's see if we can connect the hand to a microphone. (Laughter.) If folks have questions, they might want to stand up and go nearer one of those folks with a microphone so we can get more questions in.
Q Mr. Secretary, I'm J. Ford Huffman from USA Today. And I'm wondering if you have given consideration to an Associated Press report back in March that indicated that during the last year, the number of gay troops that have been discharged has been reduced since the level before the war in Iraq. If you have looked at that report, do you have a sense that you and the Pentagon might be looking at the don't ask, don't tell policy, and that there might be changes?
SEC. RUMSFELD: I don't know that I've seen the report you're referring to. But at the present time, the department is not reviewing the don't ask, don't tell policy.
Question? Yes?
Q Lou Ureneck from Boston University. Some experts have said that --
SEC. RUMSFELD: I thought this was for editors and publishers. (Laughter.)
Q Formerly of the Philadelphia Inquirer. (Laughter.) I teach journalism at Boston University.
SEC. RUMSFELD: Wellllll, that's close. (Laughter.) What do you think, folks? (Laughter.) (Applause.) You want to let him have it? All right.
What is it, Professor?
Q Hopefully, the students are listening. (Laughter.)
Some people say that the current insurrection in Iraq is traceable to the closure of a newspaper a couple of weeks ago by Mr. Bremer. I'd like to get your thinking and reasoning about that event and what it may have contributed to the events of the last week and a half or so.
SEC. RUMSFELD: I love the beginning of that question, "some people think." There is nothing that some people don't think. (Laughter, applause.) The idea that the conflict and the flare-ups and the shootings and the killings that are taking place in Iraq today are a result of the closing of that paper, I think, is, A, a stretch, and B, undoubtedly not provable, and, I would submit, not only not provable, but not accurate.
The paper was closed for 60 days, I'm told. It still is under way. The coalition determined that it was inciting Iraqi citizens to violence by deliberately reporting false stories, which is a violation of the law that prohibits inciting civil disorder in Iraq at the present time. More than a hundred papers have sprung up in Iraq. Most are covering events in a very responsible way.
Now let's get a REAL editor or publisher. (Laughs.) (Laughter.) I hope your students are not watching. (Laughter.)
Q I once taught at Ohio State, but I'm a working -- I'm a retired working newspaper man. I'll try to start my question a little better.
You have done an admirable job in changing our Army to fit present-day needs and circumstances. My question: How are you satisfied or not satisfied with the progress in the current war on terrorism and the needs to come?
SEC. RUMSFELD: Well, the Army is making significant progress, there is no question about it. It, over a period of years, has been attempting to look forward and transform itself and move from an army that was basically oriented towards static defense in the Cold War period to one that is more agile and quicker on its feet, lighter, and more readily deployable.
In terms of being satisfied, I guess I'm almost genetically impatient. I always like things to go faster. And we've got a terrific team of people working on these problems. They are moving mountains literally; they're doing so many different things at once.
Some people say how can you transform the services while you're simultaneously engaged in a global war on terror and battles in several countries? And in my view, it actually provides an impetus to the kind of transformation that's necessary because more people can see faster the urgent need for us to in fact fix this enormous system we've got and make sure it's oriented to the threats of the 21st century instead of the 20th century.
I look out at the kinds of capabilities we're facing, and they're substantial. If you think about it, our Department of Defense was organized, trained and equipped to fight big armies, big navies, and big air forces, and that's not what we're doing. We are required to deal with terrorist networks. We're required to try to cope with these large, ungoverned areas that increasingly exist in the world today. We are doing it where the great advantage goes to the attacker. A terrorist can attack anywhere at any moment using any technique, and there isn't any way in the world that it's possible for anybody or any collection of countries to defend everywhere at every moment using every technique. That means the only choice you have is to go after them where they are, and that is a tough, tough job. And it requires so much beyond the Department of Defense. It requires all elements of national power, and it requires that we deal with a terrorist threat that can take all of our technologies -- whatever it is, computers, laptops, e- mails, wire transfers -- anything that modern technology has afforded us they can take and use against us without a single dollar expended. It doesn't -- they didn't have to develop those things. The Western world has developed many of those things.
So it's a tough set of problems. We are all in the Department recognizing that we've got to get up every morning and know that our job is not to try to connect the dots after there is a terrible disaster; our job is to try to connect the dots before there's another terrible disaster or disasters, plural. And we can be absolutely certain that there are folks out there planning them as we meet here today.
Q Mr. Secretary?
SEC. RUMSFELD: Raise the hand for me. Great! I see you.
Q This is Derek Dunn-Rankin, the publisher of the Sun-Herald in Charlotte, Florida. We read some encouraging news about how democracy is beginning to work into some of the smaller communities in Iraq at the local level, working with our forces and with local political establishments, where the contest across religious and tribal lines is not so great. I don't get the same sense that we have an idea just how we're going to translate that to the national level, which is certainly a very complex job. Where do you see that leadership coming at the national level?
SEC. RUMSFELD: First, you're right; most of the people of Iraq are living under councils, whether it's at the provincial level or at the city level, all across the country. The overwhelming majority have councils that are presiding over their affairs.
The national level is, at the moment, clearly something that's in transition. The 25-member Governing Council was appointed. It has been functioning. It has produced a Transitional Administrative Law, which is kind of like an interim constitution -- which is a good one. It won't be the permanent one, but it is a good one. It protects the rights of all the people in that country. They've appointed ministers. So they've got some accomplishments.
Right now we're in a brief period of transition, between now and June 30th, where the United Nations representative, Mr. Brahimi, is working with Iraqis and with the Coalition Provisional Authority and the coalition countries to try to come up with a model or models, plural, that might be looked at as a receptacle, a vessel that we can transfer sovereignty to sometime between now and June 30th. Change is always -- creates uncertainties. And we're just in that difficult period.
I guess one hope I would express is that if you go back and look at Afghanistan, they had no experience with this type of thing either. They ended up with something called the loya jirga, which most of the people in the world never heard of. They produced out of nowhere a person named Karzai who became president, a transitional president of the country, and is doing a pretty darn good job. They have ministries. They have had a constitutional convention. They're pointing towards an election.
Now, will it all work out without bumps? No, I think there are going to be bumps in the road for both of those countries. It's a difficult thing for countries to go from a repressive dictatorship, where they're not allowed to think for themselves, not allowed to act for themselves, not allowed to engage in entrepreneurial activity on the economic side; basically were permitted to do only that which they were told to do, and now it's reversed, it's on its head. Today they can do anything they want, except what they're told they can't do under the law.
So they don't have experience with negotiations, particularly -- well, they do to some extent -- but compromise, a feeling of confidence that a piece of paper called a constitution can protect the rights of people who have fundamentally not agreed with each other, except at the end of a gun or a stick.
So it is -- I know what you're saying, it is a period of uncertainty. I can't tell you how it's going to sort through. But they've got some wonderful people working on this. No question Jerry Bremer's been terrific. Other countries have people there who are helping. The United Nations has people there that are helping. And the good Lord willing, they'll find their way through this difficult patch and end up with a government that can put the responsibilities for the country back in the hands of the Iraqi people. The one thing we know for sure, it will be an Iraqi solution, just as the Afghanistan constitution was an Afghanistan solution.
Q Secretary Rumsfeld, I'm Narda Zakeeno (ph) from the San Francisco Chronicle. And I'd like to ask you a question about the draft. I'd like to know if there are currently any Selective Service Personnel anywhere in the country who are working to possibly reinstitute the draft, if that's going to happen. And if your answer to that question is going to be no, I'd like to know what the plans are for replenishing our troops, especially if more members leave our coalition.
SEC. RUMSFELD: My answer is no; that I don't know anyone in the executive branch of the government who believes that it would be appropriate or necessary to reinstitute the draft.
We have a very large population. We have a relatively small military. We have been very successful in recruiting and retaining the people we need. There were a lot of difficulties with the draft, as people may recall. A few of you are old enough to remember that. If you remember, there was a draft, but a relatively small number of people of that -- males, I should say; no females were drafted -- a relatively small number of the male population in that age group was ever drafted. A large number were exempted because they were married or they were teachers or they were students or they were some other thing that the society decided to set aside and not draft.
The result of it was that we conscripted people and trained them, and then they had relatively short periods of service. And they did a great job. But the task of training that large volume of people relative to the relatively small number who actually stayed in the service for a sustained period, from a cost-benefit standpoint, was useful to do during a certain part of our history, but we believe is not useful to do at the present time.
And then the second part of your question was well, what are we going to do, how do we sustain a force we need to engage in the kinds of activities that our country's engaged in? I mean, you think about it, we've got close to 2,000 people in Haiti, and they'll be there probably another month until the U.N. force replaces them. We had some folks in Liberia, and we have people in Korea. We have people in Bosnia and Kosovo -- Bosnia's running down this year -- to say nothing of the ones that I've mentioned involved in the global war on terror and elsewhere in the world. So one can make the question, what do you do? How do you sustain what you need to sustain?
Let me put it this way. General Schoomaker, the chief of staff for the Army, says think of a water keg that's that high. And what we've got is we've got 1.4 million men and women in uniform on active duty, and if you add all the reserves -- the selective and the individual ready reserves -- it comes up over 2 million people. So in this universe of the water keg are 2 million-plus; 2.3 (million), 2.4 million people. All we're trying to do is sustain 135,000 in Iraq plus the other commitments I mentioned.
Now, if that's a stress on the force, that probably means you've got to do one of three things. You either have to increase the size of the water keg or you have to move the spigot down. At the present time we're only accessing a very small portion of the two-plus million men and women in the active force and the reserves in our current deployments. So the question is, why is that? And the answer is because the spigot's too high. We need to lower the spigot. We don't need to get a bigger barrel.
There isn't any reason in the world why we can't manage this force better with less stress on it, and it simply requires changing the rules, changing the requirements, changing the regulations in ways that we can manage that force considerably better. And that is the process that the Army's engaged in. They're doing an excellent job at it. The chief of staff for the Army is hopeful that he's going to be able to, for example, go from 33 brigades up to 43 or 48 brigades without a permanent increase in the size of the force, and that's by better utilizing the people we have. I don't know if he'll make it, but he's a terrific leader and he's working hard on it and he believes that's doable. Well, now, that's a significant increase in combat capability.
We have some 300,000, I'm told, men and women in uniform doing things that are tasks that need not be done by military personnel. Now why is that? The reason we have military personnel doing tasks that are not military -- necessarily need to be military tasks is because we have, I don't know, dozens and dozens of different personnel systems and we're not capable of managing our civil service in a way that is efficient.
So when a person in the Pentagon has a problem and they need someone to solve something, rather than reaching for a civil service person, they reach for a uniformed person because they can bring him on, they can send him away, they can deploy him, they can train him, and they can manage it in an efficient way. Or they reach for a contractor. They can sign a contract that fits the current needs, and they can stop the contract when they want it over. So we end up with three hundred -- we're not using our civil service the way we ought to. They're terrific people. There isn't any reason, with the right rules under this new national security personnel system we just got, there isn't any reason we can't manage them better and use them properly and end up with some fraction of that 300,000 people in uniform that are doing civilian jobs, some fraction of those moved out of civilian jobs back into military jobs so that we'll have them available to reduce stress on the force.
Q George Arwoody (sp). I'm a publisher out in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Yesterday we heard from General Dempsey over satellite, and he suggested that human nature is different around the world, and that we need to train our future officers to understand that. I wonder if you agree that people are really fundamentally different around the world. And if not, how do you explain the terrorists' behavior that so many of our readers find unfathomable?
SEC. RUMSFELD: Well, there's no question but that people are different. There are a lot of things that are similar, but there obviously are things that are different. Cultures are different. Histories are different. Perspectives are different. Fears are different, depending on experiences. And General Dempsey, of course, is correct. I think there are some things that are undoubtedly similar with all people. Most people -- I can't say that I know this, but certainly I think most people want to see their kids grow up and live. I think most people have some modest respect for human life. Not everybody, obviously. You can be trained to go out and kill innocent men, women and children. We know there are thousands of people that have been trained in schools to go out and kill people.
But General Dempsey's correct, the armed forces have got to simply do a better job of creating area specialists, people who spend a career knowing language, knowing cultures in different parts of the world, and are allowed to progress up the track and be rewarded for that competence and that knowledge rather than penalized because it seems to be kind of off of the normal flow of a military career. So he's right, we need more language speakers, we need more people who have invested years in understanding different parts of the globe because our world clearly has shrunk, with communications and transportation the way it is. We need to have people in our country, that cadre of people who have that background, that knowledge and that understanding.
Question. Yes?
Q Mr. Secretary, hi. I'm Marilyn Thompson, currently with The Washington Post, about to move to Lexington, Kentucky, to be editor of the Herald Leader.
SEC. RUMSFELD: Oh. I thought you were going to move The Post to Lexington. (Laughter.)
Q (Laughs.) No, I don't think so.
SEC. RUMSFELD: Oh. I got that mixed up there. (Laughter.) Is Don Graham here? Where is he? Just kidding. (Laughter.)
Q I have a question about the anthrax vaccine policy. Senator Bingaman has written to you asking you to review this policy in light of the absence of -- the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and in light of the disparate treatment of soldiers across the nation who have refused this. And I'm wondering what you're doing to review this policy, if anything, and if you feel that there should be a more uniform treatment of military personnel who refuse.
SEC. RUMSFELD: I take it the issue is that the armed forces had a procedure whereby people who were -- at least in the last three years -- people who were moving into combat zones where there was a concern about the use of chemical or biological weapons were required to have the anthrax shots. And I believe that the policy which existed, and which I endorsed, was the right policy. If you have a unit of people that are depending on each other and they have different skills, it puts everybody at risk to the extent you go into combat with some people having had the protection and other people not having that protection. So the logic of it seemed to me to be sound.
The concern that existed on the part of our armed forces about the use of chemical weapons was so great that our folks literally got into these protective suits every day in hot weather and performed their functions because they believed that that was the appropriate thing to do.
Second, we found, as I recall, several thousand sets of Iraqi protective suits south of Baghdad -- I've forgotten the name of the city -- which indicates that they had prepared their forces to function in a combat zone where chemical weapons would be used. We know they also used those weapons. So it would seem to me -- the anthrax policy and the protective equipment, it seemed to me to be a proper decision.
Q Herb Klein, American Enterprise Institute and a former newspaper manager, though, Mr. Secretary. I'd like to ask you about the future of training of our armed forces under the battles we now find themselves fighting. It appears to me that we did a great job of training to use modern weapons, and that was the reason why we conquered Iraq so quickly despite all the predictions of the other side. Now we're in a different type of situation, where we're really fighting guerrilla warfare in a modern age. What kind of training is necessary to get our armed forces ready for that type of war?
SEC. RUMSFELD: When I talk to the combatant commanders, they believe that this is a terribly tough type of conflict, this low- intensity conflict with spikes of a variety of techniques, whether it might be rocket-propelled grenades, it could be improvised explosive devices, it can be ambushes and the like, terrorist attacks, car bombs, that's a tough set of problems to cope with. They feel, however, that they are trained.
Now, not everyone is trained for everything in the military, but the combatant commanders that I talk to believe that -- for example, you take the Marines. They have been trained, they believe, for urban warfare and for the kind of problems that they're facing. It doesn't mean that you're going to be able to live through that in a perfect way without people being killed or without people being wounded, and the tragedy of the reality we live in is that that's happening. People are being killed and wounded, and God bless these wonderful young people.
But I don't think that it's possible to train -- A, number one, to train everyone to do everything; nor do I think that the world is static. What we're seeing is that terrorists are going to school on us, just as we're going to school on terrorists. I was the Middle East envoy for President Reagan back in the early 1980s, after 241 Marines were killed at the -- in their barracks at the Beirut airport. And it was a truck bomb that came in and exploded and killed 241 American Marines. So obviously, they started putting up these barricades like you see here in Washington around buildings, a perfectly responsible and logical thing do to. Well then, you know, six months later, you go down on the Corniche in Lebanon, in Beirut, and what do you see? You see people lobbing rocket-propelled grenades over the barricades. If the barricades are there, they can't get a truck by, so they lob them over the top. So you look and there's a building with a wire mesh hanging down on it to try to repel these rocket-propelled grenades so they couldn't blow up the building. Perfectly logical thing to do.
What happened next? The terrorists started to hit soft targets going to and from the embassy, or to and from places downtown.
So no matter what is done, a terrorist can always adjust their attack point and look for a vulnerability, look for a seam, which is -- which brings me back to what I mentioned earlier. The only way to deal with this problem is to find the terrorists, to find the terrorist networks, to deal with the countries that are harboring terrorists.
Because -- think of what you do every day. Everything you do is based on trust. It's based on your employees and your relationships. And you walk outside and you know you're not going to get shot, for the most part -- occasionally it happens in our country. But you have a lot of confidence in your ability to contract with other people. All of -- our whole amazingly productive system we have is based on trust. That makes us the most productive country on the face of the earth. It also makes us the most vulnerable. Because what is terrorism? Terrorism's purpose is to terrorize, it is to make you fearful to the point that you alter your behavior. And to the extent we think we can defend completely, I think we're wrong. To the extent we think that we can engage in a separate peace with terrorists, I think we're wrong.
It is going to require that we develop the skills to stop their financing, to make it difficult for them to raise money; to make it difficult for them to recruit, to find ways to persuade people that are being brought in this intake and trained to become terrorists and go out and kill innocent men, women and children, that we reduce the number of people going in that intake, that we find other ways for them to study something other than killing people -- language, mathematics, whatever; some way to provide for their families and make a living.
But it is -- it is a problem that is the 21st century problem. It is a problem that's not going to go away fast. It is a problem that we do not want to adjust to by giving up the thing that makes our country so special; that is to say the trust that we have in each other and in our society, and the freedoms we have. So we have to learn to live with this problem and develop the kinds of skills so that we can manage to find and deal with folks that are determined to terrorize us.
Q Mr. Secretary, I am not a correspondent for Al-Jazeera. That's the good news. I may sound like one. However, my situation is worse. I am Arabic -- (inaudible) -- journalist teaching journalism at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. My question is that in recent weeks, a couple of composers have come up with musical renditions of your speeches, classical and popular. Now that this talent of yours has been discovered, what do you plan do to do with it?
SEC. RUMSFELD: What was the last part of that?
Q What do you plan to do with this talent that has come out?
SEC. RUMSFELD: Are you talking about that silly compact disc that some opera singer sings my press conferences?
Q There is more than one. (Chuckles.)
SEC. RUMSFELD: Are there more than one? (Laughter.)
Someone gave me a copy of this thing, and here is this woman with a wonderful voice singing my press conference. (Laughter.) Now, if that doesn't tell you something about the state of the world! (Laughter.)
Thank you very much. (Applause.)


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text:
Press release from PR Newswire
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) Declares Dividend Of $0.085 Per Share
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) Declares Dividend Of $0.085 Per Share13:30 EST Thursday, January 24, 2013ST. LOUIS, Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of directors of Peabody Energy today declared a regular quarterly dividend on its common stock of $0.085 per share. The dividend is payable on Feb. 28, 2013, to holders of record on Feb. 7, 2013.Peabody Energy is the world's largest private-sector coal company and a global leader in sustainable mining and clean coal solutions. The company serves metallurgical and thermal coal customers in more than 25 countries on six continents. For further information, go to PeabodyEnergy.com and CoalCanDoThat.com.(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120724/CG44353LOGO) CONTACT:Vic Svec(314) 342-7768SOURCE Peabody Energy


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Unlicensed taxis
It is late, you have had a few drinks and it is a long walk home – there are no licensed taxis at the rank and a man offers you a lift (see Mick Brown's account). The fare seems reasonable but you could pay a much heavier price. The consequences can range from simple muggings to murder.
Tip: Never, however tempting, get in an unlicensed taxi in a foreign city that you don't know well, particularly if you are alone.


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2185 Citracado ParkwayEscondido, CA 92029442.281.5000
555 East Valley ParkwayEscondido, CA 92025760.739.3000
Outpatient Pavilion15611 Pomerado Rd. Poway, CA 92064858.613.4000
(adjacent to Pomerado Hospital)Poway, CA 92064858.613.4545
120 Craven RoadSan Marcos, CA 92078760.510.7330
EscondidoRancho PenasquitosTemeculaSan Elijo Hills (San Marcos)
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Director of Business and Physician Integration
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Comment Re:Huehuehuehue (Score 1) 251
Comment Re:Huehuehuehue (Score 4, Informative) 251
Comment Re:I don't give a Zuck! (Score 2) 290
Comment Re:none (Score 1) 423
Comment Re:Download/Demo here (Score 4, Insightful) 165
Comment Re:Because KDE 4 was terrible (Score 1) 818
Comment Re:what a noob! (Score 1) 818
Comment Re:Don't do this! (Score 1) 241
Comment Re:This still doesn't address fragmentation (Score 1) 206
Comment Re:to be competitive (Score 4, Insightful) 403
Comment Re:welp.... (Score 1) 220
Comment Re:Great Forum for Input Devices (Score 1) 310
I have been using one of those for about five years and love it. I switched to a track ball about 10 years ago when I started getting pain in the tendons on the back of my hand using a normal mouse.
I've also got a keyboard without a num pad meaning that I don't have to reach for the trackball - it sits where the num pad would normally be - and that stopped my right shoulder blade clicking which used to happen when I rotated my arm over the num pad for the trackball.
Comment Re:Few places... (Score 1) 243
You know, stuff that everyone else just doesn't understand.
Simple questions that they don't understand and don't like it when that fact is highlighted publicly.
Comment Re:This just in... (Score 5, Insightful) 279
On the flip side: Being a decent software engineer doesn't make you a good web developer. I've had to deal with a site built by decent software engineers who didn't understand the web and it fell seriously short in SEO, content management, analytics, degradation and a slack handful of other stuff that's second nature to a decent web developer.


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4-year-old boy's wish comes true with help of Make-A-Wish Foundation
Young cancer patient's wish: Ride elevator, punch buttons, count floors
SAN ANTONIO - A 4-year-old boy suffering from pelvic cancer had one wish that was to ride in an elevator, punch all the buttons and count all the floors.
On Thursday, Alan Sanders' wish came true at the Weston Centre in downtown San Antonio.
With the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and all 900 tenants in the building, Alan and his family were greeted on every floor to cheers, balloons, streamers, cookies, toys and even Sponge Bob Square Pants himself.
"We just wanted to ride an elevator and let him boss us around," said Alan's mother, Judy Sanders. "We were not expecting this! This is amazing!"
Alan's wish was what the Make-A-Wish Foundation calls a "rush wish," meaning it was put together in a matter of days rather than months.
"In some cases the doctor will call us and say this wish really needs to happen now," said Amy Hone with Make-A-Wish. "So that's what happened here. And we put it together in just a few days and it has turned out just fabulous."
Alan's entire life has been dictated by his disease. His wish was about letting him have at least an afternoon of control.
"Anytime we can do something he wants, if it means going to the 5th floor and pushing a button, that's what we will do," said Alan's mother.
According to Hone, Alan's wish might have had the most people participating out of any wish come true across the country.
Copyright 2012 by KSAT.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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David pops his cork over the issue of wine tasting.
David Mitchell, star of UK TV favourites Peep Show and That Mitchell and Webb Look, brings us his unique perspective on the issues facing men of the world today.
Discover the best in original web series.
© 2014 Blip Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Blip is part of Maker Studios


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David Filner on Classical Music
David Filner assumed the administrative leadership of the San Antonio Symphony in November, 2012. Led by Music Director Sebastian Lang-Lessing, the San Antonio Symphony is celebrating its 73rd year this season.
Posts filtered on Tag
Don't be afraid, The Lark is coming.
On Sunday, October 4 at 3:15 pm at Temple Beth-El the San Antonio Chamber Music Society opens its 66th season with a FASCINATING program by the Lark Chamber Artists. I'm so disappointed that I can not attend, but the Symphony is opening our Family Series at Trinity University that same afternoon. Maybe I can rush […] [Read More]


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'Mrs Brown's Boys' creator Brendan O'Carroll has told of his despair after he landed himself in £2.2 million worth of debt.
The writer and comedian says he hit rock bottom when a film project collapsed, after which he prayed to God to let him die.
"It was the first time I'd felt depression like that," he said. "I sat in my house with the curtains drawn for days, thinking, 'God, just take me now. I'm f****d.' I just could not see a way out of it. I was absolutely screwed.
"The thought of going back and starting from scratch after all that was devastating. I had no one to blame. I couldn't point the finger at anybody. I was out in a desert - but I hadn't been put there, I'd walked there myself."
O'Carroll had borrowed the money in 1998 to make a film in Dublin about a boxer, but was saddled with the debt when a film company pulled out of the production.
But he says that once he got back to writing again, his fortunes turned around.
"Mrs Brown saved me because coming up with a play about her helped me to start paying the money back. I finally paid my debts off last year," he said.
The BAFTA-winning BBC show has been a hit since it premiered in 2011, with nine million people tuning in to the Christmas Eve special. [The Sun]
Also in today's press
The 'Dancing On Ice' tour has been scrapped, according to reports. Celebs appearing on the show can usually rack up large pay cheques from the consequent touring show. A source told The Sun that 'this is a real blow to the celebrities'. [The Sun]
'Casualty' has had to axe a plot looking at the dangers of smoking because it can't show people lighting up indoors. The show is filmed in Wales, where there is a ban on indoor smoking which makes no exception for dramatic purposes, unlike in England. [Metro]
'Downton Abbey' star Hugh Bonneville has said that he hopes the show ends before it gets tired. "I am sure the money men would like it to go on for ever and ever because it does sell extremely well around the world," he said. "I hope Julian quits while he is ahead, but he is a wise soul." [Daily Mail]
Mrs Brown's Boys star tells of despair over £2.2m debt – Daily TV round-up
Brendan O'Carroll was saddled with the sum after a film project collapsedBy Ben Arnold | Yahoo! TV News – Wed, Jan 23, 2013 12:02 GMT
'Mrs Brown's Boys' creator Brendan O'Carroll has told of his despair after he landed himself in £2.2 million worth of debt.


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Life In New Zealand: Settlement Experiences of Skilled Migrants - Results from the 2005 Survey
To read the report in full download [pdf 92 pages, 890KB] or [Microsoft Word, 114 pages,1.4MB]
Executive Summary
The Settlement Experiences Feedback Survey (SEFS) gains feedback from migrants about their settlement experiences and outcomes in New Zealand (12 months after residence approval).
These migrants were approved for residence through the Skilled and Business Streams from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004. Therefore, these migrants were surveyed from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2005.
The SEFS survey captures a range of information relating to migrants' initial settlement in New Zealand such as employment and income, housing, children's schooling and satisfaction with New Zealand; their experiences interacting with Immigration New Zealand (INZ); and any areas they could have used additional settlement assistance.
This survey achieved a 42 percent response rate and was over-represented by migrants approved for residence onshore.
Key Findings
- 94 percent of principal and 67 percent of secondary applicants were working for pay or profit.[1]
- Of the principal applicants who applied for residence through the skilled migrant category, 98 percent from both UK/Ireland and Asia, and 96 percent from ESANA were working for pay or profit.
- 33 percent of principal and 24 percent of secondary applicants were classified as professionals.
- 25 percent of migrants were employed in health and community services.
- 85 percent of migrants had no difficulty in finding work in New Zealand.
- 78 percent of principal and 72 percent of secondary applicants were very satisfied/satisfied with their main job.
- 56 percent of principal and 16 percent of secondary applicants had an annual income of over $50,001.
- 65 percent of principal applicants from UK/Ireland had an income of over $50,001 from their main job, followed by 52 percent from ESANA, 24 percent from Other and 19 percent from Asia.[2]
- Conversely, 60 percent of principal applicants from Asia had an annual income of under $40,000, followed by 37 percent from Other, 25 percent from ESANA and 15 percent from UK/Ireland.
- 46 percent of migrants lived in the Auckland region.
- Of the migrants who lived in the Auckland region, 62 percent were from Asia, 49 percent from ESANA and 39 percent from UK/Ireland.
- 20 percent of migrants had difficulty finding suitable housing.
- 80 percent of migrants were very satisfied/satisfied with the quality of housing in New Zealand.
- 85 percent of migrants were very satisfied/satisfied with their children's school.
Further education and training
- 44 percent of migrants had taken up study or training since taking up residence in New Zealand.
- Of the migrants who had taken up study, 56 percent were from Asia, 42 percent from ESANA and 39 percent from UK/Ireland.
- 35 percent of principal applicants studied to get their qualification upgraded, and 43 percent of secondary applicants studied to get a job or a better job.
- A small proportion, 12 percent of principal and 19 percent of secondary applicants, studied to improve their English language skills.
Satisfaction with the immigration service in New Zealand
- 40 percent of migrants would have liked INZ to provide them with more detail on health services.
Access to services
- Migrants from all regions needed help with the tax system, getting a driver licence and finding a GP.
Living in New Zealand
- At the time of the obtained residence, 60 percent of migrants planned to live in New Zealand for at least 5 years.
- After 12 months, 71 percent of migrants planned to live in New Zealand for at least 5 years.
- The majority of migrants from UK/Ireland, ESANA and Asia liked New Zealand's climate or natural beauty and liked the friendly lifestyle or relaxed pace of life.
- Most migrants from UK/Ireland liked New Zealand because of the recreation and leisure activities and the ability to achieve a desired lifestyle.
- Migrants from ESANA liked New Zealand because of the safety from crime.
- Migrants from Asia liked New Zealand for its small population.
- Half of migrants from UK/Ireland, ESANA and Other disliked the distance of New Zealand from their home or family.
- About two-thirds of migrants from Asia disliked the high tax rates.
- 88 percent of migrants were very satisfied / satisfied with living in New Zealand.
- 89 percent would recommend New Zealand to others as place to come and live.
Overall, the settlement outcomes for skilled migrants are very good. Migrants are not a homogenous group. The SEFS survey shows that settlement experiences and needs differ by principal and secondary applicants, as well as by region of origin. Most principal applicants were employed at the time of the survey – a key determinant for positive settlement. Despite a few areas of dissatisfaction, skilled migrants were predominantly pleased with life in New Zealand and planned to live in New Zealand for at least five years or more.
ESANA includes countries from the following regions: Europe, South Africa and North America


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5-Hour Energy Featured Fan: Officer Chris Filippelli
It's been a bit since we put up a post about our Featured Fans, and now that we have just wrapped up another round of our VIP search, we thought it was customary to go ahead and shine the spotlight on someone other than our handsome 5-Hour Energy Guy.
5-Hour Energy Featured Fan Chris Filippelli is a police officer in Florida and says that there is no time when a 5-Hour Energy doesn't suit his daily routine. Chris shared with us his "middle shift crash" that hindered him before discovering 5-Hour Energy shots.
Aside from enforcing the long arm of the law, officer Filippelli is also a competitive billiards player and finds that 5-Hour Energy helps him bear down on those tough-to-make pool shots.
Since we give all of the past Featured Fans a short interview, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to have the Energy Guy interrogate this officer and check his mettle for being a 5-Hour Energy Featured Fan.
Energy Guy: Alright officer Filippelli, now it's time for you to be in the hot seat and this isn't some good-cop, bad-cop gaff. First question, how long have you been taking 5-Hour Energy shots?
Chris: I have been taking 5-hour energy Shots for about 3 and a half years and it's part of everything I do from working the beat to competing at the pool halls and working out.
Energy Guy: What made you start taking 5-Hour Energy shots?
Chris: I started taking 5-Hour Energy when I started working over night and needed to get through the end of my shift.
Energy Guy: Had you tried other energy products?
Chris: Yes of course, but there was too much sugar.
Energy Guy: When do you take 5-Hour Energy shots?
Chris: Wow!!, When don't I? I find myself taking the shots usually at 3 or 4 in the morning to help me get through my shift at work.
Energy Guy: In what ways have 5-Hour Energy shots improved your life?
Chris: 5-Hour Energy has improved my life in just about every way possible. I use your product during work, recreation and everything in between.
Labels: featured fan


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Art of Graeme Base
written by Julie Watts
Viking | ISBN 9780670074297
Paperback – 240 pages
Member's price: $44.96
Usually ships within 2–11 business days.
With more than 400 images, most in full colour and many never seen before, this book showcases the incredible talents of this much-loved children's writer and illustrator. Beginning with his own storybook childhood in England, we see how his imagination and artistic talents were fed by his family's love of music, literature and nature; how his life was further inspired and enriched by travel, by his teachers, by his older brother, who shared his love of inventing, by his friends and mentors in the publishing, music and film industries, and by his artist wife and their three children. From the earliest drawings, pop-up cards and home-made board games, through his surrealist years as a teenager and rock musician, and through a quarter century of published books, we learn of the artists, musicians, writers and humorists who have inspired him, and witness the development of his own particular brand of genius.


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The Tara arc floor lamp features an adjustable balance arm that allows you to position the lamp for reading or other tasks. The design comes in a warm tiger bronze finish and has an on/off floor switch for easy lighting control. At the end of the boom arm is an on-trend designer tan weave drum shade for a burst of style.
Shipping and Delivery Information - For item EUY4983-T7097 if ordered by 1 pm Pacific Time


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VILLANOVA, Pa. – Junior Morgan Thatcher (Brockton, Mass.) posted a match-high 13 kills to lead the University of New Hampshire volleyball team past Robert Morris, 3-0, in the first day of competition at the Villanova Classic Friday evening at the Nevin Field House. The set scores were 25-10, 25-13 and 25-11.
Thatcher also added six digs, four blocks and hit at a .542 clip. Freshman Victoria Forrest (Powder Springs, Ga.) added 11 kills and registered a .526 attack percentage. Sophomore Taylor Dunklau (Mukowonago, Wis.) led all players with 36 assists, while senior Jessie Schnepp (East Longmeadow, Mass.) recorded a match-high 13 digs.
UNH wasted no time in the opening set, jumping out to an 8-1 advantage after five unanswered points. The Wildcats maintained their lead at 13-6 and then rattled off six straight points, capped off by consecutive kills from Thatcher, Forrest and sophomore Delaney Dameron (Alpharetta, Ga.) for the 12-point advantage. Robert Morris managed to reach double-digits, but UNH ended with five straight for the 25-10 victory and 1-0 match lead. As a team, the Wildcats posted 17 kills in the set for a .486 attack percentage.
In the second set, the Wildcats picked up right where they left off in the first stanza by claiming the first four points for the early lead. Robert Morris fought back and pulled within two at 9-7, but the 'Cats reeled off a 6-1 run for the 15-9 advantage. The Colonials managed just three more points in the set as the Wildcats ended with four straight, including a pair of kills by junior Destiny Tolliver (Rochester, Mich.), for the 25-13 win and 2-0 lead.
Forrest led the way early in the third and final stanza as the rookie racked up three kills to help give her team a 7-0 lead and force a Robert Morris timeout. The Colonials pulled within five at 10-5 but could not get closer as the Wildcats closed out the set with seven unanswered points to take the stanza, 25-11, and complete the sweep.
The Wildcats wrap up play at the Villanova Classic on Saturday with a pair of matches against Maryland (3:30 p.m.) and host Villanova (8 p.m.).


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Oct 22, 2006
#Pregnancy#Weght Loss and Body Image
Ready for another shocker? I have body image issues. HOLY CRAP! Shut up, I know that's just another stop in the road to middle-class-america. Raise of hands of people who HAVE NOT had an eating disorder? Three of you? Well, you missed out. Trust me. (Don't)
I'm guessing it's no surprise I have issues about gaining weight when I'm pregnant. I actually stay up at night pondering how I can prevent the sixty pound weight gain (and only 55 pound weight loss) from last time around. But I'm up late, starving, eating (LIGHT) Laughing Cow Cheese and I know for a fact that if I don't eat, I'll hurl. And this time I'm not trying to.
There's a video I've seen going around the Internet. It's a good promotion about self esteem. I ache to think my pole-thin little girl will one day call her tiny legs fat. She'll want to starve herself because she can't wear a size 0 and she'll eat 400 calories a day and feel like shit. And yet, still to this day, I wish I could be one size smaller, my belly a little more flat, my arms a little more toned and why, JESUS, why can't I just look like her*? Or her? Or .. hell.. her? (For the record, I have a better shot looking like Evangeline Lily here. If I had a shot at all that is…)
The truth is, I'm trying to be realistic. Look, I had a maple strudel muffin last night, a chocolate chip cookie tonight (the big ones! From Barnes and Noble, of course) and .. wait.. make that two of those chocolate chip cookies this week. Crap.
I try to eat well. I've made choices like cottage cheese and pears for a snack instead of animal crackers. I'm trying to eat actual food instead of pringles and poptarts like last go-round. The She Child was grown on chocolate and pop tarts, my ass was grown on the same, incidentally.
It's not that I obsess about my weight every morning when I step on the scale (believe that, do ya? right.) or every day that I don't work out, or every damn magazine picture that makes my lumpy size 10/12 feel gooshy and heavy on my 155 pound frame. It's not that I've wanted to get back to 145 before I got pregnant again (my wedding weight) or at least zip up my jeans and be able to breathe at the same time. It's not that I know that morning sickness is best soothed with food and my belly is going to grow regardless of what I eat, it's my ass that I'm worried about.
And so far, the baby is the size of a pen prick but my ass? Is so so not.
I think it's a bit unfair that society makes me feel that my growing and changing body is a shame and not something lovely to be proud of. My body is a working body. It is real. It is mine. It has created life, it runs after a toddler, it sits in a chair to write and make web designs. It is sleep deprived, it survived Post Partum Depression, it survived the 80s and a seven year eating disorder in the 90s. It carries me up stairs and hiking trails and bike paths. It does not have a personal trainer, a nanny, a personal diet chef, a photo shoot. It walks in to the Gap and laughs at the "size 10" jeans made for a ten year old the size of my daughter. It is my body, it is real, it works hard.
I wish I could grow to love my body as it grows to love my baby. Maybe this pregnancy, I will.
Girl, I hear ya. I've thought I was fat since I was 8… looking back, what I really was was a sturdily built, athletic tomboy. But the comments from the stick-thin girls about me being fat have stuck with me and even today, I often look at pictures of myself and cringe.
The whole pregnancy weight gain thing was so hard for me last time… I weighed myself everyday, I totally obsessed about it. Granted, I couldn't DO anything about it beacuse my body was making me eat. (and eat and eat) This time, I've decided not to care. I've read that if you don't go crazy and eat icing out of the can every day (my aunt did this!), your weight gain is pretty much programmed and you'll gain about the same with each pregnancy. I also know now that it comes off after the baby is born.. slowly… but it DOES come off most fo the time. Hey, that's the one thing PPD is good for… you don't really feel much like eating!
In short, I feel your pain. Now let's go have a Starbucks cookie!
By Erin on 2006 10 23
Amen sister! Speaking as someone recovering from an eating disorder I applaud this post. I was never happy when I was underweight…and I made everyone around me miserable. I just wish I could find a way to not be miserable when I look in a mirror now.
By Jenny on 2006 10 23
Oh yeah… amen sistah. Now I KNOW you are my long lost twin. I struggled with eating disorders for 12 long years (hell, who am I kidding? I still struggle every single day). Gaining weight for my pregnancy was terrifying. I thought I'd be okay with it since it wasn't really "weight", but an actual HUMAN BEING growing inside of me, but my brain still only registered the fact that my already skewed image of myself was now rapidly expanding.
Then, just for fun, I also got gestational diabetes and had to be on a low carb, diabetes diet and monitor my food intake like a Nazi (like I didn't already do that?) and then I was on BED REST for two months and that just poked a stick at the old eating disorder beast even more.
It's a struggle, I know. And I hear the familiar tapes in my head from my therapist about my body being a wonderful thing that does amazing things everyday for me. But, it also betrays me when (like last night) I just HAVE to have queso for dinner and top it off with WAYYYYYYYY too much ice cream and I wake up feeling like two ton Tessie.
I guess I'm not helping much here, am I? I do know this: your body IS doing a wondrous, amazing thing right now. Can you believe an actual human being is growing inside you? And it really shouldn't work, you know, but it does. And amidst all of that your body is still moving and grooving and doing the other amazing things it does each day (like keep you alive)! Right now, this minute, weight is a gift to your baby. Right now, this minute, you are nurturing and protecting that little miracle. Right now, this minute, your baby thinks your body is the most awesome, cozy, loving place in the entire world. And it is right.
Hang in honey.
By Katie Kat on 2006 10 23
Have you seen this website:?
It's got pictures and stories of real women with real bodies - Like you and I.
By Jan on 2006 10 23
I think a lot of women feel this way pretty much all the time, and I don't know why. I have never seen you, of course, but I think that first picture is too thin. I know that doesn't go along with our societal views, but still, I think a woman should be a little round, soft looking…
All the same, I imagine the people in your life think of you looking completely differently than you see yourself.
By Heather on 2006 10 23
Same boat here, well almost. You know I've been trying to size down before getting pregnant again. I've been trying to not look at magazines anymore or to just read the articles. If you eat good and still treat yourself, you can be confident in knowing that you did everything you could and whether your body responds how you want it to or not, you and the new babe will be just fine and healthy and we all know that is the most important thing. Sorry for the blabbing. I'm just not into commenting right now but wanted you to know that I've been around and thinking good thoughts for you and this babe!
By Beckik on 2006 10 23
I've never had an eating disorder unless sticking to a high sugar/ high fat diet counts as one. Weight gain didn't bother me until after that first child, and then the second, and now? Well, there isn't a goddam scale in the house for a reason. I think that society as a whole is always going to segregate those that are 'acceptably pretty' from the the other 'undesirables' but those definitiions change like the tide. There is nothing we can do about it except to outlive all the skinnyassed bitches and to be happy about it. At least we don't have cocaine problems or meaningless sex? And the bottom line: we wind up with a brand new life to take care of and teach and love. Isn't that a hell of a lot more essential than the superficial exterior we get so hung up on? As I walk away please do not stare at my swaybacked enormous ass and ignore the varicose veins. thanks.
By texasbelle on 2006 10 23
Amen to TexasBelle!!!
I know I need to loose wieght but why does have to be so hard.
You are carrying a baby it's okay to indulge. Live it up!!!!! Workout later!!
By Amanda on 2006 10 23
I also think it is disgusting that pregnancy models have been getting thinner and more sexualized. I actually saw a topless maternity jean ad. She was cupping her bare breasts coyly—- uh, first, don't those puppies hurt? Second, do you really need to look all flirty right now?
Ugh…I wish our society celebrated the typical woman more.
Don't obsess too much. Enjoy the food. You have a genuine reason to EAT and nourish yourself and your pinpoint. Nourish away!
By SaraS-P on 2006 10 23
I had such a complex about my weight in grade school. I hit 5'10" by the time I was 12 and looking back I was a stick. When I was 15 I weighed 125. I remember in high school thinking if I ever weighed over 140 I would just DIE. But I an aspiring model so I was programmed to think I was fat not matter how tiny I was. I went in and got measured one day and they werent happy with my hip measurement (shocker) they told me to come back in 1 week and they expected to see a significant improvement.
My mom (now a Weight Watchers leader) looks back in the diets I went on, at the suggestion of my various agents, to try to lose the inches and wants to cry that she let me do that to myself. I lost 10 pounds in about a week once, my skin and hair was dull, my eyes looked sunken, and I was so weak I couldnt stand up straight, and at the same time I was so cracked out from the "supplements" I was on that I trembled constantly. SO much fun, let me tell ya.
By Sara on 2006 10 23
I don't have the heart or engery to properly discuss this topic, but I wanted to comment because IT IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT TOPIC. I hate what we do to each other. We as women fail miserably in this area. One of the worse moments in my life was sitting across from my boss, (another mental health proffessional) discussing eating disorders, (which I have battled more than half of my life now), and how to treat them, and she said, "real women just don't come in a size 4 and people need to understand that." I just sat there stunned. I wanted to sink into the carpert. I am a size 4. I have never thought it was good enough. I have always struggled to except myself and my natural weight, but now I was being told that THAT wasn't good enough either, by one of the top proffessionals in the field. People, what is it going to take for us to stop judging and comparing. We are all different. We need to be healthy, mentally and phsycially, and start excepting ourselves and each other.
Thank you for the excellent post Mrs. Flinger.
*stepping off her soap box now*
By erika on 2006 10 23
As someone who's weight hasn't ever really flucuated since high school, it was surprising how some of the pregnancy weight seemed to rearrange itself and take up permanent residence on my body.
Sounds like you're on the right track - eating healthy, but not denying yourself treats. Even as your body changes (and rearranges!), it sounds like you have a hubby that appreciates you and your body regardless!
p.s. it helps to have no scales in the house and avoid the Gap completely!
By AmyM on 2006 10 23
Flinger, I love your big ass and back fat and all the curves inbetween. Pregnancy is beautiful and so is all the "extra". I like to think that the fact that multiple body parts are no in an entirely different location than before four children, well, it's just a badge of honor of having healthy babies and it's a trade off I'm OK with most of the time.
We all have our body image days. Just remember how much your husband still thinks you're sexy and you'll forget the flab and the smile will come out!
By Sonia on 2006 10 23
Yeah, I feel you on the weight thing. My only suggestion is to put away the scale. Have the Mr. lock it up somewhere where you can't get to it. As for the Gap, well, I don't even bother looking at their website because my fat ass outgrew their clothing back in my high school days - even though when I graduated I was a size 9/10. I'm built like a football player (or farm wife, as that's my immediate heritage).
By Lanna on 2006 10 23
No one cares how big your ass is while you are pregnant. They are only lookin at the belly! I joke that I love my giant pregnancy belly because it draws the eye away from the caboose, and my boobs look well proportioned for a change.
I have found pregnancy to be the only time that society (and my family) has given me 100% permission to be exceedingly plump. And most of my weight problem has nothing to do with me being pregnant.
I was committed to attending Weight Watchers with a friend - I had reached my highest weight ever - when I found out I was pregnant, 2 days before the meeting. If nothing else, it has given me much motivation to lose weight and set a good example as soon as baby is born.
It has been a hard pregnancy, wishing I had gotten in gear earlier (and perhaps suffering fewer health problems along the way had I done that). BUT it has also been wonderful, because I can eat ice cream and no one gives me a second glance. None of those "she should NOT be eating that" stares that I usually get.
So enjoy these nine months and don't think another thought until after baby is born. Stay well, be healthy but also enjoy the fries & ice cream along the way!
By Monica on 2006 10 23
As a friend of mine wisely told me during my first pregnancy (I put on 40 pounds on my barely over 5 ft. 1 inch frame and actually had someone…a man of course…ask me if I was carrying twins at one point), you have the rest of your life to lose weight and get back in shape after having a baby.
Enjoy this pregnancy and try not to beat yourself up over munching on some goodies. Those celebutaunte bitches have an entire staff of people at their beck and call ...personal trainers, chefs, personal assistants, etc. You are a real woman, not some product of marketing or someone who can't afford to let themselves skip a Pilates class. And besides, baby needs chocolate.
By Jamie on 2006 10 23
You know, the best thing I did when I was pregnant was not weigh myself. I didn't have a scale at home, and I'd turn around at the doctor's office so that I wouldn't see how much I was gaining. There was only one time that I knew how much I weighed, and that was about 6 weeks before Brody was born.
By Kate on 2006 10 23
Ahh, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your stories. (Except Sonia who said I have backfat! DUDE! heh…) It's such a "non-topic" kind of a topic. I mean, look, the ass is gonna grow, yaknow? It's a fact. The belly will, too, and like Monica said, hopefully people will notice that instead (they will.)
As of tonight, I am officially not weighing myself until labor and delivery. Any other pregers wanna join my quest? (it's going to be hard, I won't lie to ya)
By Mrs. Flinger on 2006 10 23
Embrace the backfat!!! You can't have more than me anyway, who knew things got flabby that high up????
By Sonia on 2006 10 23
Welllllll….I'm kindof addicted to my scale, so it's going to be hard. But, for months and months I've been "good" and have eaten things low in calories/fat (or "points" if you will…i *heart* weight watchers), however since I found out Friday that I am preggers I have eaten WHATEVER I wanted to eat. Guess what? I've lost 2 lbs. GO FIGURE!!!
By Charla on 2006 10 23


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Gear Review
Gets the job done...looks good doing it
One chilly morning (35*) I went for a ride and after about 10 miles or so my toes felt like a block of ice; I could barely move my toes and could only muster 15 miles that day because the dogs were killing me. I even had a hard time shifting gears in my vehicle after the ride until my toes thawed.
So I was on a mission to eliminate the frozen toes. Since I am a fan of Gore products that's where I started the journey. I went to the local bike shop (LBS) and tried on several booties (Gore, Pearl Izumi, Louis Garneau and Bontrager) and I settled on the Gore; unfortunately the LBS did not have my size in stock. Although more expensive than others, unless you catch a deal on them, they definitely get the job done. I can't compare them to other booties since I have only used these and only plan to use these for years to come.
I went out on another ride in 34* weather and a bit windy, but this time with the Gore booties and my toes never came near being frozen; a night and day difference when compared to the ride without the booties. I was able to do 25 miles and never even thought about the feet or toes. A happy customer.
What I like about the Gore booties:
1. keep the toes and feet toasty
2. Look good doing the job
3. easy on, easy off
4. Very little branding on the booties (hate all that branding stuff)
5. Velcro full length of the booties (allows customization of fit for any size leg - tight, loose etc.)
6. lifetime guarantee
What I don't like: The cost of course
Note: the description talks about zippers. There are no zippers on these booties; the booties fasten with velcro at the back (see attached image).
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View More Details on Gore Bike Wear Road Thermo OverShoes


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Posts Tagged «micro atx»
Can you build a gaming PC better than the PS4 for $400? November 18, 2013 at 5:06 pm
As you probably know by now, the PS4 is essentially a $400 PC. It has an x86 PC CPU, a standard PC GPU, and the same kind of RAM that you'd find on a PC graphics card. There are a few custom chips on the PS4's motherboard, but for the most part it's just a normal PC with some custom software. This led me to wonder… could you actually build a comparable PC for $400? More importantly, given how Sony has crippled the PS4's home theatre functionality, is it possible to build a PC for $400 that is actually better for games and as a living room media box?


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Paulo Ayres Muselli de Mendonça, Porto Trombetas, Pará, Brazil
Paulo used AFV Club's 1/35 scale kit to depict an M1126 Stryker ICV of the 56th Stryker Brigade, 28th Infantry Division, in Operation Saber Strike, Estonia, June 2012.
Nice job, Paulo!! The oh-so-subtle weathering of the tires is perfect. I like what you've done to bring out the separate hull panels and hardware. Top shelf stuff !!
Thank you!
I tried to reproduce the weather conditions in June 2012 in Estonia, rainy weather there, but low rainfall compared to other theaters of operations.