text:
Commentary Author
Jon is the elected Vice Chairman, South of the California Republican Party.
Get free daily email updates
What They Are Saying
Send FlashReport to a Friend
Today's Commentary on the News
Federal spending up 33% since GOP took Congress in 1994
by Jon Fleischman - Publisher (bio) (email)
This morning, in the wee hours, I read a column from Sacramento Area Congressman Dan Lungren, in which he feels that there should be a new election for all of the GOP leadership, from Speaker on down. But from reading the first paragraph of his column, I'm not sure he wants to do this for the right reasons. You see, the second sentence says it all:
Lungren, who is 'back' in Congress, re-elected after being out of the House for over a decade, should have an outsider's perspective - I guess not.
Let me help, if we are going to 'clean House' as he says, let's do it for one reason alone - the Republican majority in Congress has failed in its only core mission. It receives a failing grade in the only criteria that should matter. Under a decade of Republican leadership, has the House of Representatives substantially reduced the size and scope of the federal government? No. Have they reduced the size of government at all? No. Is the federal government larger today than at any time in the history of our democratic republic? The numbers are staggering, and I will share them in a minute.
Lungren is not alone in drinking the proverbial cool-aid. I recently read a column from Congressman Roy Blunt in the Wall Street Journal. Blunt is in a three-way battle to replace Tom DeLay as Majority Leader. His piece was called, "Party of Limited Government: Our record of accomplishment speaks for itself."
Blunt goes on to say:
You know, I hear the words. But they are just words given the failure of Congress to stop the growth of our national government.
One of Blunt's opponents, Arizona Congressman John Shadegg, is a breath of fresh air. He is running on the truth, not on a lie. He said in his own opinion piece in the WSJ:
And there is the brutal truth. FEDERAL SPENDING HAS GROWN BY 33% SINCE 1995.
I've attached a study from the Heritage Foundation with all kinds of cool color charts and graphs that you can read or print. But here are a few highlights that show that the debate in Congress shouldn't be about lobbyists, but about the steel of a Republican Congress to do what they say, instead of growing government.
Total spending: $1,516
Total revenue: $1,352
Total spending: $2,470
Total revenue: $2,154
Approximately $18,500
Approximately $22,000
- Federal spending has increased twice as fast under President Bush as it had under President Clinton!
~$650 billion.
~$975 billion
~$790 billion
~$1,325 billion
This one is truly amazing:
~$10 billion
~$27 billion
The attached report goes into much more detail, and includes some ugly predictions on future budgets if Congress doesn't reverse this course.
I am not trying to sound dire. We have a great nation, and it has a vibrant economy.
I am just aghast that Republicans in Congress have adopted some sort 'turn a blind eye' strategy. We have a majority of Republicans, and there have to be a few conservatives out there. It's time to have the real votes on stopping this madness. If our Republican majority can't literally STOP the growth in the federal government, we probably don't deserve to run the institution. If the government is going to grow so much, what was the point of taking 'control' of the House?
There is an opportunity to have a sea-change -- and that is with the election of John Shadegg. He is considered by many to be a 'dark-horse' -- but he is right on, and understands that our Republican Congress has failed by the ONLY measure that matters. As a member of the Republican Study Committee, he is ready to lead a charge to change that... Go Shadegg!
Have a great day!
Care to read comments, or make your own about today's Daily Commentary?
Just click here to go to the FR Weblog, where this Commentary has its own blog post, and where you can read and make comments.
Heritage Study on Growth in Federal Government


text:
Anthem admonition
The lyrics of our national anthem end with the phrase "the land of the brave."
Having spent more than 50 years working in the Defense Department, I always understood that being brave is not a convenient action. To be brave, one must face circumstances that appear dangerous, situations that require us to protect what we value, specially in the face of adversity.
Therefore I wonder where the fear, often stoked by politicians, comes from and why it is so successful. From my perspective, we either are brave or we are not. Some associate fear with wisdom, but could it be associated with cowardice?

subset: commoncrawl


text:
StringEncrypt page allows you to encrypt strings and files using randomly generated algorithm, generating a ... was created to assist users in creating encrypted strings for their favourite programming languages, currently we support C / C++, C# Sharp, Delphi / Pascal, Java, .... Free download of StringEncrypt 1.0
Lightweight component that provides strong encryption for your applications. It provides supports for most ... TripleDES Blowfish Cast RC2 RC4 RC5 for symmetric encryption and decryption, RSA DSA for making and verifying ... Blob is our object that can read files, string variables and bytes array, and provide the same ... well. In that case most probably no other encryption tool will be able to access (directly) your .... Free download of wodCrypt 2.2.3
Encrypt Adobe pdf files with Pdf encryption software, compatible with Windows & supports latest advance encryption security (AES) 128-bit protection. Add pdf open password ... have option to select RC4 128-bit or 40-bit encryption level. Restrictions are optional, select if you wish ... & pdf conversion. This features rich application supports encryption of bulk pdf files in a single batch .... Free download of Encrypt Adobe pdf 1.3
... DLLs. ZipForge features include SFX archives support, repair, encryption, unicode filenames support, Zip64, string AES encryption splitting and multi-spanning support. Full source code is ... and multiple disk spanning support - Strong AES encryption with 128, 192 and 256 bit keys, compatible .... Free download of Delphi ZIP Component ZipForge 6.30
... your intellectual pdf document using AWinware watermark & encryption. Tool quickly draws specified text watermarking over selected pages of each imported bulk pdf files. It enables users to stamp copyright, registered & trademark logo on pdf. AWinware pdf watermarking application is advanced Windows utility to generate watermark on batch pdf. .... Free download of Draw Watermarking on PDF 126.96.36.199
... Flash CS5.5 and ActionScript 3. Identifier Renaming(Identifier Obfuscation), Strings Encryption, Encrypted Domain Locking, Obscuring ActionScripts. FSO lets you reduce SWF file size by optimizing/compressing most parts of SWF file. FSO provides you a simple .... Free download of Flash Secure Optimizer 2.4.11
... Support Flash CS5.5 and ActionScript 3. Obscuring ActionScripts, Strings Encryption, Encrypted Domain Locking. SWF Defender provides you a simple custom user interface you have only some clicks to protect your SWF files. Working with .... Free download of SWF Defender 1.3.19
... the unix's C crypt() function for encrypting a string using a salt. This salt will indicate the ... algorithm that will be used to encrypt such string. Since neither mono nor the .NET framework provide ... different Linux/Unix distributions and have ported the following encryption algorithms based on salt: LM (No salt .... Free download of CryptAPI 3.0
... instant messaging (IM) applications with data compression, strong encryption and advanced networking technologies. MsgCommunicator supports both client/server ... allows sending and receiving binary buffers, streams, and string messages to any network client even it is ... ratio with data of any type. MsgCommunicator supports encryption of the network traffic using any of 12 .... Free download of AidAim MsgCommunicator 6.00
... file checksum (MD5/SHA Hash) of any file or string. It can also be useful to check if ... file checksum (MD5/SHA1/SHA256/SHA384/SHA512) Generate MD5/SHA1/SHA256/SHA384/SHA512 hash of a string Scan folders with wildcard and recursive Very user-friendly GUI .... Free download of MD5 Checksum Tool 3.1
AWinware pdf encryption software is robust program build to secure bulk ... to make it secure from unauthorized access. PDF encryption software has two password boxes to lock document ... Acrobat pdf password security software supports strong AES encryption of 128 bit long encryption key. AWinware pdf encryption software is easy to install and access utility .... Free download of Acrobat Pdf Password Security 126.96.36.199
Java Antidecompiler is based on encryption technology that allows you to protect your java ... tries to make your code unreadable. It is encryption on binary level. This means that not only variables, string constants, and workflow are changed but your code ... of the BIS Guard approach is that the encryption is keyless. This means that it is impossible .... Free download of Java Antidecompiler 7.5
... and page extractions. Tool permitted to use such encryption method like 128 bits and 40 bits. You ... action in batch mode. * You can use encryption method like 128 bits and 40 bits. * You can set sub-string with resultant file name for creating effective file name. * You can .... Free download of Apex PDF eBook Security Remover 220.127.116.11
... others to see, and hoping to find an encryption and decryption tool.After encryption, These files can not be readable if without ... result will be a text file or a string, which have the ability of easy transfer, and ... anywhere. ? How UnReader Works? UnReader complete the encryption need three steps, they are: The first step: .... Free download of UnReader 1.2
... features advanced obfuscation techniques such as: name mangling, string encryption, assemblies merging, cross assembly obfuscation and much more. Rich user interface application will make possible to configure every symbols in your aplication if .... Free download of Orange Heap 1.3 B29
... that this free version will stamp a watermark string on pages and shows first two pages only. User must register the tool to use limitations free. PDF security removal utility is devised to remove pdf owner password and pdf user password both but user password (open password) must be provided .... Free download of Unlock Acrobat PDF Security 22.214.171.124
... with and, or and not operators + Various encryption methods for your data including Blowfish and Rijndael ... extensive user interface for database management + Fast string sorting through specialized string index structure + Ability to spread database files .... Free download of TurboDB for VCL 6
... the decompiled source code more difficult to understand String Encryption. String constants and literal strings in your .NET source code appear unmodified in ... then called at runtime to return the original string values Main features of .NET Obfuscator Professional Prohibits ... Processes any .NET application, executable or assembly Encrypts string constants Compatible with any .NET framework (1.0 through .... Free download of .NET Obfuscator Professional 7.0.7
Pdf encryption software password secures and encrypts batch pdf files ... It supports RC4 and AES 128/256 bit long encryption key. Axommsoft pdf encryption software is easy to use and advanced desktop utility support encryption of large size pdf documents as well. Its ... like alphabetic, numeric, special characters and lower/upper case string. An evaluation version download is available for free .... Free download of Pdf Security tool for batch pdf 1.4
... or in another location. Zip compression with AES encryption and Unicode file names, including option to store ... prompt for password, directory, file name or text string at runtime using variables. It is possible to pass parameters to variables, for example when reading from registry you can pass default value that .... Free download of Copiaris 2.3.4
... to work with 128 bits and 40 bits encryption level. Features: * PDF Password Remover recognize and support both option like add PDF password and page restriction as well as remove PDF password and page restriction. * You can set user and owner password, using user password only open PDF .... Free download of Apex PDF Security Remover 220.127.116.11
... with batch mode technique. * You can release encryption level like 128 bits and 40 bits. * You can work with batch mode. * You can save resultant file as user define location by using save as button. * You can add sub-string with resultant file name by using suffix .... Free download of Apex PDF Restriction Remover 188.8.131.52
... but also: * PutData and GetData to copy string variable to/from remote file, * MakeDir and RemoveDir to create and delete directories, * DeleteFile to delete file on the server, * ListItems event to list files in some directory on remote server, * GetAttributes and SetAttributes to retrieve and set .... Free download of wodSFTP 3.8.0
... The base jar, POJava, provides common functions for string and binary conversions, such as compression, encryption, and encoding, and other tools for accessing, validating, and altering data such as date manipulation, reflection, external process invocation, and language binding. A .... Free download of POJava 2.9.0
... removable disk. Tool allows to can add sub string at the starting of output or end of ... user password instantly. * You can work with encryption level like 32 bits and 40 bits. * You can add sub-string with resultant file name by using suffix and prefix options. * It .... Free download of Apex PDF Security Removal 184.108.40.206


text:
TV & Movie Costumes » Gilligan's Island Costumes
build a hut out of bamboo and make a phone from coconuts and string
Jump off the S.S. Minnow and join Gillian, the Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the professor, and of course Mary Ann as your Halloween sets sail to hilarity! These Gilligan Island costumes make a great group costume theme that garners instant notoriety. Whatever character fits you and your friends best, be it the patient Skipper, the sweet Mary Ann, or in a bumbling Gilligan costume, you'll be building coconut radios in no time! So make this a Gilligan's Island Halloween and continue to wonder if a rescue will set them free? Tune in next week, and then you will see!
Featured in this category: Authentic Gilligan Costume, Gilligans Island Halloween Costume & Ginger Costumes
click to Listen:"Hi my name is Samantha Konkus. I'm calling from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. I found your website when I searched through Google. The website is very good and I'm buying a Goldilocks costume for Halloween."
Samantha Konkus - Pittsburgh, PA
See all our Customer Testimonials and how to record your own!


text:
On the eve of the grand final of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009, FIFA.com caught up for an exclusive chat with the coaches of both hopeful sides. Switzerland's ace tactician Dany Ryser and Nigerian boss John Obuh were both up for talking tactics, big crowds and motivation ahead of Sunday's showdown in Abuja.
FIFA.com: Can you talk a little about what the expectations were before the tournament, and how you've performed since arriving here at the finals?
Dany Ryser (SUI): Our expectations before the tournament have been exceeded beyond what we could have imagined. Drawn into such a tough group with Brazil, Japan and Mexico we all thought a place in the Round of 16 alone would be a great achievement. No one back home thought we could do it, but my players believed. Their passion saw them through.
John Obuh (NGA): I was appointed late as coach and the amount of time I had to prepare the team was not as long as I would have hoped. Plus, we had to change a lot of players because of the MRI age tests, but I believed in the team and I knew that if they put in the work and listened to me, we would be OK. People in Nigeria were in a panic, but I never panicked. They said we were in the group of death, but I saw it as the group of life.
Now, facing the final, do you do anything differently as a coach to motivate your team before such a big match?
Dany Ryser (SUI): I don't need to motivate them anymore; they are as focussed as they can be. We'll prepare for the final as we would any other match here at the tournament in Nigeria. Being in the final is already enough motivation for them. My team is ready!
John Obuh (NGA): Really, there is no different approach for us as such. We just need to keep doing what we've been doing with every match: getting a little tighter, finishing better, keeping the ball better. The progression must remain the same.
What would you say is the main reason your team has reached the final?
Dany Ryser (SUI): The main reason, I would say, is the nature of the team itself. They achieved all of this here by playing as a strong collective unit that sticks together in every situation. This has been the secret of our success.
John Obuh (NGA): Determination, hard work, and a sense of purpose – these have all been crucial to this team. My players have played every game as if it was the last of their careers, with total intensity. God has been with us too, and you can't underestimate that.
The crowd is bound to be huge, and largely pro-Nigeria. How do you feel about that?
Dany Ryser (SUI): We are well-aware that the crowd will of course support the home side, no matter what. But I told my players to enjoy it because this will be an experience that they are not going to face every day. This is going to be a very unique atmosphere and a great moment for any footballer, especially a young one.
John Obuh (NGA): These fans are a source of inspiration for my team. You saw it in the semi-final in Lagos, how passionate they were. Even after the game, they followed the bus with us all the way to the hotel just to give their support and love. They will give us great motivation.
What does it mean for you personally to be in the final here in Abuja?
Dany Ryser (SUI): For me personally there is a sense of great satisfaction! As a coach, I am happy that my ideas and my philosophy were right and helped the team to reach the final. Also, it shows that Swiss football is moving in the right direction.
John Obuh (NGA): I am just beginning as a coach and it is important to be humble. Just like with the team, it is important for a coach to get better with every new challenge, to confirm previous achievements. I refuse to let any of this go to my head, but I feel proud about what these boys have done so far.


text:
Performance golf ball fitting focuses on finding the best ball for your game and lowering your score.
Be the first to hear about product introductions, surveys, promotions, and sweepstakes. Through Team Titleist News we will provide exclusive communication not available in any other forum.
Titleist offers the most precise club fitting experience in the game.
The full-set Titleist Golf Club Trial program provides golfers with an easy way to experience Titleist products on either the course or practice tee to help determine the right equipment for their game.
Track your stats. Get video tips. Set goals for your golf game.
Started by :
Cody D
Last year
Last year
I just got my new AP2's 1 month ago and I could be happier with the decision. The performance and quality is exactly what I expected from a Titleist club. My bag is now complete. Thanks Titleist
Cody sounds great! Congrats!
Welcome to the fans of the 714s....awesome clubs....congratulations......picked up the AP2s when the came out in November......
They are great irons. I've been playing mine for two months and absolutely love them.
Gordon, keep watch, and I'll bet the closer we get to Nov. the bigger the sweet beads will get on your SLDR. You may have trouble holding on to it from all the moisture. Good luck with your game, and I know you'll like your new Titleist clubs even more the more you play them.


text:
Our friends over at ChrisCrossMedia made this vastly popular Jurassic Park 4 trailer. It is by no means an actual trailer for the movie and should not be viewed as one. As of now there is no official plot or details about the movie but this trailer is still a lot of fun to watch. Read On
How Will Crichton's Death Impact Jurassic Park 4
Before Jurassic Park became a box office success and n American classic movie, it was a novel. Originally written by best-selling novelist Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park introduced readers to a world that had always existed in our imaginations but not been formatted into media form. Bringing dinosaurs back to life in a world of adventure, tourism and danger put readers on the edge of their seats and caught the attention of the heavy weights in the film industry. After the first film's success he was approached to write a second novel to continue the story and offer script writers another way to bring fans to the theaters. Titled... Read On
What is Jurassic Park Canon?
Ideally we could exist in a world where the official Jurassic Park canon was based on Michael Crichton's intentions and the only two official stories in the franchise thus far was the original Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Crichton was a realistic person though and he understood that there was a large difference between what can be done in a book and what could be done in a movie. As a result the books and movies had some plot differences. In the end both offerings on screen were large box office successes and they continued the storyline appropriately. Years later Jurassic Park 3 hit theaters. While it... Read On
Feathers or Not?
Jurassic Park is a movie and its sole purpose is to entertain the viewers, but does that mean some scientific credibility should be sacrificed? The original classic featured a brachiosaurus that stood up on its hind legs, something that would likely kill an animal of that size as its bones collapse upon its own weight. Despite this inaccurate portrayal of a now extinct animal, movie goers quite frankly did not care. Jurassic Park offered a journey into our imagination, tested the limits of our thinking of what could be possible and what should be done, and terrified and amazed us. Since the original Jurassic Park movie has come... Read On
Jurassic Park IV – Impending Dino Damage
Jurassic Park IV – Impending Dino Damage My mind still holds on to memories of the first movie I ever saw in a theater. It was 1993 and my pops decided to take me out to THE dinosaur movie, Jurassic Park. Of course, being an 8-year-old boy at the time, dinosaurs were the coolest thing in the universe and any movie filled with realistic looking ones in every scene, proved to be a dream come true. Nearly two decades and two sequels later, the Jurassic Park movies still rekindle a little bit of that child-like fascination with the prehistoric creatures that I had as a kid and with Jurassic... Read On


text:
Trailer For Kick-Ass Now Online
I dunno, this can go either way (instant classic or colossal waste of time), but I am intrigued to see the silver screen translation of Mark Millar's (Marvel 1985, Wanted, Ultimate X-Men) comic of teen vigilantes pretending to be superheroes.
A trade paperback edition will be published by Marvel next month (9780785132615 $19.99). Single issues of this comic cost a pretty penny, so expect some interest in this once this trailer picks up some buzz (the film isn't going to be released until April 2010).
Bonus points for both using Joan Jett's Bad Reputation on the trailer, and casting Superbad's McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) as Red Mist.
- Leave a comment... Comments Off


text:
Hamlet. Bell Shakespeare Company. Playhouse, Sydney Opera House, March 14, 2003. Sydney season ends April 17. Then Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart and regional centres.
For comment on Bell Shakespeare's 2008 production of Hamlet, click here.
John Bell's production of Hamlet is a revelation. Yet it is one of the simplest, most literal takes on this play of infinite variety.
Instead of portraying Hamlet as some mincing boy incapable of 'manly' action, Bell does something almost shockingly obvious. He demands that we consider things from Hamlet's perspective.
The young man has seen the ghost of his dead father, old king Hamlet, who demands that the boy "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder." The ghost accuses Claudius, the dead king's brother, of that murder. Claudius, in the meantime, has seized the throne from young Hamlet (the rightful heir) and married the widowed Gertrude, his own sister-in-law and Prince Hamlet's mother.
In John Bell's production, the prince wants proof of his uncle's guilt -- proof that the ghost is not some malevolent spirit tricking him into committing an evil deed -- before he murders a king.
If Hamlet were a ballet, Mats Ek would give us Hamlet the schizophrenic: I killed my uncle because the voices told me to. John Bell's version is backed up by several dormant passages of the play. It is -- no more and no less -- a close and intelligent reading of what is written.
So why does it feel so modern? So revolutionary? Perhaps it's like Samuel Johnson's Rasselas. It breaks convention. Once we're in a ghost story, once we have accepted the rules of engagement, having the sanity of those who see an apparition questioned is a shocking spoiler. And still is.
Yet, here, it is liberating. Here, it breaks the convention that Hamlet is a wuss. Intriguingly, we are still left with the "objective correlative" problem that TS Eliot characterised as the "artistic failure" of Hamlet the play. Put simply, Eliot argued that young Hamlet is "dominated by an emotion which is inexpressible because it is in excess of the facts as they appear."
And Bell's production doesn't dodge this. When we first see Hamlet, played by Leon Ford, he is seized up with emotion; catatonic with conflicting feelings; "blasted with ecstasy".
This is a brave move, theatrically, as it looks to audiences that the role is simply beyond the young actor. Even "to be or not to be", is sacrificed to the paralysis. Yet there is a hint in the mechanically chewed consonants of "too too solid flesh" in the first soliloquy that betrays the actor's technique and an overarching strategy.
By the time Ford gets to the "what a piece of work is man" speech, he has the glittering intensity of man suffering from an illness which is resolving itself into a mania.
He's definitely not insane as he accuses himself of unpacking his heart with words, like a whore. He's bitterly self-mocking. Likewise, his attack on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is scintillating and acute.
To make this a fair fight, and a satisfyingly complex ethical battle, Bell presents Claudius (Christopher Stollery) as a worthy king. A powerful usurper. A decisive and charismatic man. In the English court, say, he would be the rightful and unchallenged king. Why shouldn't he rob the crown and the still-desirable queen (Linda Cropper) from his whingeing brother and the eternal student son of his? Any Richard worth his lion heart would.
Neither is Polonius presented as a complete buffoon. Robert Alexander has an impressive and endearing gravity as the lord chamberlain whom Johnson characterised as "confident of his knowledge, proud of his eloquence and declining into dotage."
Anna Torv is an interesting choice as Ophelia. She is an actor thrillingly capable of conveying complex and shifting emotional states. Her Ophelia is a woman new to womanhood. A girl whose greenness is constantly belied by the assertiveness of her speech. And, when it comes to the crunch, in the "O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown" speech, she is as disconnected and unfeeling as the prince in his opening scenes. But, here, it rings decidedly false.
Blemishes in this production are few. And rarely more than negligible. Apart from the mechanical flickering accompanying the first appearance of the ghost, lighting is magnificent. Laurence Eastwood and Peter Neufeldis create swathes and cubes and landscapes of light. Eastwood's set, too, is compact and effective. Alan John outdoes Michael Nyman in his tactful but compelling incidental music.
Here is a production to rival the very best Hamlets seen in Australia in a generation. It's up there with Armfield's for Belvoir (Roxburgh, Blanchett, Wenham, Rush) and Wherrett's for Nimrod with John Bell himself. Idea for idea, if not word for word, it eclipses the Old Vic's Hamlet (Derek Jacobi) and other significant touring productions.
This review was published in the Australian Financial Review on March 22, 2003.
Friday, March 14, 2003
Bell Shakespeare Company: Hamlet (Sydney, 2003)
Posted by Chris Boyd at 9:26 a.m.
Labels: Bell Shakespeare Company, Hamlet, John Bell


text:
First Look At Green Lantern #24: The Start Of Lights Out
DC made quite a splash when they announced the next Green Lantern event would be called Lights Out. The event caused a commotion because the event gets its name from one of the seven Lantern Corps' power battery being completely destroyed. While we don't know whether it's the Green, Red, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Indigo, or Star Sapphire Corps that cease to exit, we know one of the seven will fall. DC has released a preview of Billy Tan's interior art for Green Lantern #24 which kicks off event. Green Lantern writer Robert Venditti commented on the story:
For reasons none of the Lanterns are sure of, the rings have been malfunctioning lately. Enter Relic, a remnant of the universe before ours, who thinks he knows what's wrong with the rings and has a solution. Unfortunately, ridding the universe of every last Lantern is part of that solution.
The way I describe the story is, it'll tie together every Lantern of every Corps who has ever appeared in any comic book – ever. It's an ambitious story, and our editors have been great about letting us take substantial risks with these characters. We're holding nothing back
Lights Out starts this October. Will you be checking out the next be Green Lantern event? Which Corps do you think gets axed?
All ComicBookTherapy contributors must agree and abide by our Site User Agreement. ComicBookTherapy.com is protected from liability under "OCILLA" (Online Copyright Infringement Liablity Limitation Act) and will actively enforce said provisions. If you represent an individual or company and feel as though this article has infringed on any of our terms or any existing copyrights, please contact us for a speedy removal.
Source : DC


text:
- Filed Under
For some people the 2012 election has boiled down to protecting women's reproductive rights. Seriously? Is that all we are dealing with here?
At the Democratic National Convention, women's rights activist Sandra Fluke spewed out a bunch of nonsense about the threat of women's reproductive rights being on the line. That's a bunch of fear-mongering hooey. No president can make abortion illegal, and Congress and the Supreme Court won't.
We have had four years of money pouring into extremist social issues, and what do we have to show for it? A runaway deficit, a depressed economy, foreclosures ...


text:
Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash poses with the "Sesame Street" muppet.
- Filed Under
Sheldon Stephens, the first of four men to have accused Sesame Street's former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of sexual abuse, filed a lawsuit late Monday.
In the suit, Stephens alleges Clash used crystal meth and "poppers" before engaging in sexual contact with him when he was 16 years old.
According to the complaint, Sheldon met Clash in 2004 at a social networking event for models and actors, and shortly after they met, Clash told Stephens he would help him advance his career. The complaint alleges Clash began having sexual intercourse with Stephens when he was 16. ...


text:
RedBus, the Bangalore-based company that serves as India's one-stop shop for bus tickets, has moved into the travel accommodation space with the beta launch of a hotel booking service.
According to NextBigWhat, inventory for the new service will come from Goibibo, the in-house hotel booking and management service from ibiboGroup. That company, which owns a range of ecommerce related services ranging from payments to car classifieds, purchased RedBus last year for an estimated (but still not confirmed) US $130 million.
(See: Why Sell to Ibibo? And Why Now? Redbus CEO Phanindra Sama Explains)
The move should come as no surprise: asking "Would you like a hotel room with that bus ticket?" ought to be the travel industry's "Would you like fries with that Big Mac?" But Ashish Kashyap, CEO at ibiboGroup, told NextBigWhat that the the company has an even deeper strategic interest in forming an overlap between the two ventures:
From a demand side, Goibibo.com and redBus have very low overlapping transacting audience. Goibibo.com reaches out metro centric audiences, while redBus has deep penetration beyond metros. From a supply point of view, inGoibibo.com is the core system which is used by both Goibibo.com and redBus.in. At the end of the day this drives liquidity for the hotel owners.
In other words, RedBus customers who don't use Goibibo can now do so more easily, and vice versa.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, India's travel and tourism industry (including offline sales) generated approximately RS 6.63 trillion (about US $110 billion) in 2013, and that figure is set to grow 7.3 percent this year.
(Source: NextBigWhat)


text:
Search thousands of Centerville car dealers across the nation online at Autobytel.com. Find your prospective new or used vehicle by brand, year, price, or category. Browse our giant catalogue of Centerville car dealerships; which have their entire supply of new and used automobiles listed at Autobytel.com. We will help with your automobile shopping experience every step of the way. View up-to-date values of automobiles, study vehicle stats, browse photos, research extensive analysis of the cars, and find prices pertaining to the Centerville car dealership.
Times have changed and the need for visiting Centerville car dealerships has been rendered obsolete. With the advent of the internet; Centerville car dealers can now list their entire inventory online at numerous locations like Autobytel.com. There is an increasingly greater number of shoppers that use the web to explore all the vehicle choices available on the market today. After a consumer has narrowed down their choices of new or used cars; they will begin to search the local listings of Centerville car dealers. It will not be long till they come to an authorative car site like Autobytel.com. At our website you can get a free price quote from a number of Centerville car dealers.
Finding one Centerville car dealership that is trustworthy can be a huge burden off your shoulders. Its commonly believed that the only time you'll step foot on a Centerville car dealer lot is to purchase your vehicle. There is a good chance that since Centerville car dealers offer much more than new or used car sales; you will do business there again. Respectable Centerville car dealerships have much more to offer the customer than just new and used car sales; there should also be: a body shop, a service department, a parts center, and a financing office. The possibility is very high that you will again go back to the Centerville car dealer establishment if you ever need anything for your vehicle. That's why it is a good idea to form a close bond with the Centerville car dealership in the event that you need to use one of their multiple services.
Browse the Centerville car dealerships catalogue at Autobytel.com to get information and an assessment on a perspective dealer. Peruse accounts given by shoppers of Centerville car dealers to find out valuable details. These appraisals of Centerville car dealerships can be an effective way to figure out which dealership you should choose.


text:
Yes, you read that correctly! Hewlett-Packard has introduced a new line of high-end inkjet printers for the business market called Edgeline, only there's a catch: you can't buy one. Apparantly these multi-function printers crank out black and white prints at 60 pages a minute and color at 50 pages a minute.
What makes it all possible is a print head that runs the actual width of the paper that applies a coat of bonding agent just before the ink is applied. This makes for instantaneous drying and dramatically cuts down the amount of ink used on each copy. If you want to read more about the bells and whistles, I suggest turning to the blog of Michael Turner, HP Marketing Director of the Edgeline division.
Knowing that HP, like all printer manufacturers, makes its real money in replacement ink and toner cartridges, you have to ask; is this the Peter Principle in action?
Nope! Two words: service contract. You can only rent the printers. Maintenence contracts start at four year committments. Even so, Hewlett-Packard swears your company will still save 30% in total operating costs compared to the costs of other printers.


text:
Friday, November 27, 2015
Alternate title: The 11th Hour, Hanssen
When John le Carré appropriated a nursery rhyme for his 1974 book about spies and spy-catchers, he borrowed just three words, "tinker, tailor, soldier," then sexed up the whole thing by adding a fourth word, "spy." The new film "Breach," about the F.B.I. counterintelligence agent Robert Philip Hanssen, who sold secrets to the Soviet Union and later Russia for more than two decades, suggests that it's time to dust off the rest of that same rhyme: "rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief." Now in prison, where he's serving a life sentence, Mr. Hanssen was a little of each; he was also greedy, pathetic, malevolent — a creep's creep. One of the strengths of "Breach," a thriller that manages to excite and unnerve despite our knowing the ending, is how well it captures the utter banality of this man and his world. — Manohla Dargis


text:
Our online process saves time and allows you to pre-register at your convenience.
Our concierge can help reduce demands and stresses during your hospital stay.
For your convenience you can pay your hospital bills online and manage your account.
Take a virtual tour and experience CRH in an exciting new way.
Join a progressive, quality-focused medical staff in a favorable malpractice state.
The key to an allergy-free diet is to avoid all foods or products containing the food to which you are allergic. If you are allergic to shellfish, you will need to avoid foods that contain shellfish. To do this, it is necessary to read food labels.
Be sure to avoid foods that contain any of the following ingredients:
Clams, such as cherrystone, littleneck, pismo, and quahog
Crawfish, crayfish, ecrevisse
Lobster, langouste, langoustine, scampi, coral, tomalley
Squid, snail
Shrimp, prawns, crevette
These foods may contain shellfish:
Cuttlefish ink
Fish stock
Seafood flavoring
It is important to remember:
In restaurant, any food may be cross-contaminated with fish or shellfish.
Stay away from steam tables or buffets with seafood to avoid the cooking vapors.
Some allergic individuals will react to cooking odors or from touching fish or shellfish.
Always carry self-injecting epinephrine Oor an Epi-pen), Make sure you and those close to you know how to use it.
Wear a medical alert bracelet or necklace with your allergy information.
If you don't have self-injecting epinephrine, make sure you talk with your health care provider.


text:
Neath singer Katherine Jenkins shines at London's St James' Christmas lights switch-on
Posted: November 22, 2012|
Comments (0)
KATHERINE Jenkins provided her own festive spirit when she helped turn on London's St James' Christmas lights.
The Mezza-soprano star stunned the crowds at St James's with a floor-length red dress when she turned on the lights in the capital.
The star from Neath tweeted: "Have just turned on the Christmas lights in Jermyn Street."
The star is about to jet off to San Jose for her first date of atour with opera star Andrea Bocelli.


text:
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The director of the Nevada Department of Transportation says one way to curb traffic deaths is to enact a tougher seat belt law.
NDOT director Rudy Malfabon says in Clark County alone, 88 people have been killed in traffic accidents this year, an increase of 54 percent from 2011. There have been 37 pedestrian deaths in the county, up 37 percent from a year ago
The Las Vegas Sun reports Malfabon told the state Board of Transportation on Monday that the agency will ask the 2013 Legislature to enact a primary seat belt law allowing police to pull over a driver for not wearing a safety belt.
Under existing law an officer can only cite a driver for a seat belt violation if stopped for another infraction.
Information from: Las Vegas Sun, http://www.lasvegassun.com
Copyright 2015 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


text:
Meeting Index
- Society Members
- Newsletter No.XXXI
- Annual Meeting Papers 2013
- Annual Meeting Papers 2012
- Annual Meeting Papers 2011
- Annual Meeting Papers 2010
- Annual Meeting Papers 2009
- Annual Meeting Papers 2008
- Annual Meeting Papers 2007
- Annual Meeting Papers 2006
- Annual Meeting Papers 2005
- Annual Meeting Papers 2004
- Annual Meeting Papers 2003
- Annual Meeting Papers 2002
- Annual Meeting Papers 2001
- Annual Meeting Papers 2000
- Annual Meeting Papers since 1985
Eric Voegelin Society Meeting 2007
concepts, discourses, and lifestyles
Copyright 2007 HUANG Kuan-Min
It is a kind of magic word in popular Chinese language: the West. Yet the meaning is ambiguous. In the Taoist mythology, the symbol of the motherhood is called "Mother-King in the WestФ (Hsi-Wang-Mu), which refers to a dominance of pure happiness, a gift of immortality. The term "returning to the WestФ means then a returning to the serenity, i.e. the death. A similar symbol, which is "the Pure LandФ or "the world of Ultimate HappinessФ, synonym of paradise, refers to Buddhism imported from the West of the ancient China (i.e. India). Apart from the symbolic West in religion, the destiny of modern China is dominated by the geographical West. The split of the West and the East, of the Occidental and the Oriental also dominates the diverse forms of discourse and life. It is also thematic in a reflective analysis of this linguistic and conceptual discourse, as of the orientalism in the colonial discourse. Moreover the West means a historical dimension that endows the geographical distribution with an intensity of power. It is the power from the West of the world, from the world named the West, from a world full of economic, military, and cultural power. It is surely a problem of political power in general. Under the old symbol of the West, the modern consciousness about the vivid experience of this power is attractive as a road to happiness and also cruel as a painful confrontation with the death.
Ever since, the westernization is far from a transition or a shift from the original place of Chinese and Asian culture to another place, it means further more a new and different paradigm in political form, in cultural value, in thinking and belief, and in the search for identity, in short, it is a new way of life. In recurring to the historical process, this new life form is complicated with many trivial details and passions. For the Chinese, including the people living in Mainland China, in Formosa Taiwan, in other oversea Chinese communities, the traditional resources are generally threatened, due to the forcing transplantation brought by the westernization. To evaluate the impact of the West as to concern the discourse of westernization, it is not possible to isolate a political factor from other factors, neither is it an event historically finished in so far as we can review it as another event situated in a precise duration. The process is still ongoing, to reflect on this phenomenon of westernization means to activate a concrete consciousness of what is going on in the present time.
To continue the questioning of the westernization can lead us to a matrix of two components: historical and geographical. Geographically and symbolically, the westernization presupposes a stable and fixed position named the West, in contrast to the position where the non-Westerns occupy. Additional to former presupposition, there is a historical factor which defines a "WesternФ tradition, from ancient Greece, Rome, Europe to the descendants of this heritage (which make this definition vague in including Australia, New Zealand, and South America). Relatively to this tradition, the non-Western traditions including the Chinese one of which we are conscious are the subject under threat; they become a target to move or to protect in the idea of westernization. But these two presuppositions are dubious, since the frontiers are now fussier to distinguish. To make sense of the concept of the westernization runs the risk to reestablish the frontier between the East and the West. It is then the consciousness of the frontier that is to be questioned. Under these conditions, a reflective analysis is required in both sides: is the westernization an alternative in historical and geographical sense? Is the resistance to the westernization another trap to fall in?
historical dimension
There is a slogan "the Chinese learning as principle, the Western Learning as applicationФ (or rendered more conceptually, "the Chinese Doctrine as principle, the Western Science as applicationФ) typically used to designate the combination of the two-world view in politics by a late Ching-Dynasty politician Chang Chih-tung in nineteen century. The conceptual pair principle/application (ti/yong, essence/function) is a Buddhist term adopted as a usual language correspondent to the old terminology root/leaf, origin/descendant (本/末). Even this slogan is cast for over one hundred years, it keeps to be convenient and effective in a vast realm of cultural encounter. The idea is quite simple: to take advantage of the Western knowledges (sciences, inventions) without losing the original identity of Chinese. In fact, a fundamental linguistic sense is immanent in the term of "Chinese learningФ, it is the centrality that was cared in the original meaning of "ChinaФ (the Central country, the city of the center). The implied ideology refers to a privilege of the center over the other side, the West. But the paradox lies in a possible reversal: it is the power of the West invading in the center. Following the logic of this symbolism of principle/application, the slogan expresses an incredible reversal Ц the illegal but actual power of the West over the center.
In face with this contrast of the Chinese with the West, the slogan shows a strategic attitude for the combination of two different kinds of learning. It suits the pride of the people and retains the national identity in education and in almost everything. More importantly, it marks the frontier as a substantial division between the Central and the West, between the here/we and the there/outsider. The history after the establishment of modern republican China continues this road of combination. Democracy and Science are taken as two major achievements of Western civilization. They are imported as two institutional necessities to assure the new Republic. In the mean time, with these two ideological items, a kind of cultural revolution symbolized in the Movement of May Fourth (before the Cultural Revolution in the late sixties) swings to a claim of total westernization. Its result is the expansion of the oral Chinese to replace the old official Chinese used mainly for writing. In this stage, the imitations of the Western literature Ц novels, poems, proses in the literary invention Ц enter into the combat with the old-fashion writings. Together with the political practice, the Chinese learn a way to criticize the traditional belief and value. The imperial period is terminated by the democratic period, it is gone forever. This new stage signifies more than a replacement of the old order by a new order. For some Chinese, it means a catastrophe in value. For some other, it means a totally new possibility of order, a real order, an Order in itself. This later belief considered the imperial era as an irrational order, an order without a solid basis, on the contrary, a new order with a legal constitution is based on the rationality. In this sense, the westernization means rationalization. >From this division, there are many similar comparisons in attributing to the Western civilization rationality and to Chinese or Asian Civilization sensibility or intuitive knowledge. In whatever difference, there is an obsessive fixation: either we consent a higher value of rationality, then the westernization is necessary, or the sensible or irrational thinking is higher, then we must resist to the westernization. The price to pay is the deprivation of reason in the Chinese civilization.
After World War II and the Chinese civil war between the communist and the nationalist, the westernization took another radical form in the new Communist China. Governing ideology found a new paradigm in Marxism which took over the two previous ideologies (science and democracy). The target is the traditional Chinese civilization, the most apparent of this hostility results in the Cultural Revolution. As a form of the political westernization, the communist government resists to the political form of democracy in the name of nationalism and keeps the socialist polity in the name of the authenticity of communism incarnated in China. These two extremes meet also the on-going combination of the socialist control and the free-market economy. On the other side of the Strait, Formosa shows solidarity with the liberalism, in order to assure the support of the free world, esp. of United States. But in form of mutual exclusion and inscribed in the Cold War period, the nationalist republican government shared at first with the communist government a common form of authoritative ruling. Only in the middle of eighties, the republican China ceased its martial law and began a real democracy. This short description aims just on the involuntary situation of the westernization. Politically speaking, early from the Ching-Dynasty, China was forced to encounter with the Western civilization, with which the war of opium leaves a profound memory. But the expansion of European imperialism pushed the Chinese to develop a new way of life diametrically different from its own tradition. The international politics engaged the Chinese politics in a tension composed by multiples factors: different economic profits triggering the conflicts of European, American and Japanese powers, counter-balance of each other to refrain from a monopoly of one country, an exploitation of rich sources in China and East Asia, etc. The inner politics in China (including the division into two governments after 1949) is intertwined with outer politics. In this sense, to think about the westernization means also to remember the big moments in modern Chinese history. But it is not to locate the sequential events according to the historiographic order. It reveals, according to the formulation of Eric Voegelin, some reflective experiences "culminating in a symbolism as responses to the encounterФ (Voegelin, 1990:13), to the encounter or involvement with the events. The ideas of Voegelin is to ground the history on the experience of an encounter with the transcendence. The logic of this kind of historical understanding is expressed in the following way:
"The remembrance of things past indeed presupposes a present of existence where man, involved with events, senses his passion and action as memorable. To this sphere where man is involved with events, to the disturbances in being where man becomes part of events and the events part of human existence, to the units of mutual participation where there is yet no subject or object, where a present is constituted as a past to be remembered in the future, we shall refer as the sphere of involvement or encounter. In this primary sphere of encounter originate the experiences that may pass through various phases of reflective clarification before they culminate in an act of historiography.Ф (1990:10)
A writing of history, on history, and also in history, expresses a present attitude; it calls into play the "primary sphere of encounterФ. Further more, the encounter or involvement "is couched in the same language as the earlier description of an experience of transcendenceФ (ibid.), related to "a disturbance in beingФ.
By way of the conceptualization of history in Voegelin, we may treat the concept and discourse of the westernization as having double meaning: as a historical phenomenon, it is an event causing encounter (without using a physical causality), but as a concept, it refers to a historical consciousness, to "a disturbance in beingФ. The westernization is less and less a pro-and-con issue, but rather requires a deeper reflection through the historical consciousness.
Another mixture appears in the confusion of westernization with the modernization (Rozman, 1981:5). It follows the same usage of reason in the modernity. It is said that the Western civilization brings the modern culture to the oriental lands. The origin of modernity, be it origin in respect to science or to capitalism, is thought to be rooted in the Western culture. So it seems necessary to introduce the Western factor to welcome the modern life. The most evident consequence can be seen in the division of pre-modern, modern, and post-modern discourse. Sometimes there is a kind of discourses claiming that the Chinese cultural circle is staying in the pre-modern era, even if the form of democracy is transplanted in Taiwan but the political behaviors are quite pre-modern. According to this view, the modernity is still to come, and what is elliptical here is the pushing power of modernity from the West. Sometimes there is another critique of the postmodern culture which sees the over-dominance of the modern reason, to escape the trap of the modernity is to avoid the wave of Western style. According to this perspective, there is a resistance of westernization; but the logic and the condition of the post-modern also come from the Western modernization. The remedy for the evil of the West repeats the same model of the old slogan.
It remains a topic to discuss in the now prevailing context of globalization. Economically and politically, the global phenomena are more and more evident. But if the globalization means only a tendency or a fashion, there is still space for interpretation. Underlying this phenomena, there are discourses and experiences about the world, esp. about Chinese civilization or Chinese culture in the world. They demand a position. For the topological effect, we will discuss it later. For the moment, we can see an avatar of issue focusing on the idea of westernization. To think it in a historical perspective, the diverse forms to confront the westernization may be seen as a response to an encounter with the West. This encounter in the term of Voegelin have its baseline in a "response to the encounterФ, for the Chinese, this encounter is more tragic, since the challenge of the West invokes a face-to-face encounter. Meanwhile it appears as an experience of the world: not only the West is as a part of the world of which the East partake, but also the West symbolizes a call of the world itself. An idea of westernization is assimilated to a response to the call of the world; to encounter the West sometimes signifies to confront the whole world. This is not as easy as to consider this attitude as a fallacy of taking the part as the whole. The old Chinese people regard themselves as people under the heaven (the term "under the heavenФ 天下designating also the world); as Voegelin distinguishes it clearly between theomorphic and anthropomorphic conception of man:
"Chinese society had never developed a polytheism of the Homeric type; on the contrary, the divine force ordering the ritual ecumene, which seems to have had a personal past, had at an early date assumed the impersonal form expressed by the symbol t'ien.Ф (1990:28)
Voegelin explains the distance with the experience of transcendence in ancient China and its consequence :
"the lack of Сuntrue' polytheism as an antagonist may have been one of the reasons why the Сtrue' of the transcendent personal divinity Ц and, correspondingly, the existence of a theomorphic man under God Ц has never sprung forth from the Chinese experience of transcendence. The Chinese experience (Е) never culminated in an act of transcendence.Ф (ibid.)
But the following judgment relating this lack of experience of transcendence to an acceptation of communism in modern China seems too hasty and dubious:
"To this day, the faith in an impersonal source of order has remained a determinant in the resistance of cultivated Chinese to religions with personal gods because of their inferior rationality, while the same faith seems to have affinities, if not with the ethos of communism, at least with its impersonal law of dialectics.Ф (ibid.)
To this judgment of Voegelin, we may respond that even if we accept a historical origin of accepting the communism in the popular faith in the heaven (t'ien), the fate of the modern China under imperial invasion would be more determinant than that faith in the impersonal dialectics. Another doubt about Voegelin's idea is raised on the protection of political religion under transcendence against the communism, which we can't enter deeper discussion in this occasion.
the change of attitude in the concept of "people under the heavenФ occurs
in the above-mentioned "response to the challenge of the worldФ. It is a
new experience of the world, other than an experience of the world;
the world may be modified to the multitude of the world, or shortly, of the
worlds. At least, the Chinese world is not so actually symbolic of the world,
if not in face with the Western world. What changes in this attitude is not
just a serious attitude to regard another world out of China, because there
are always other territories out of the Chinese community under the symbol of
Han or Tang. The radical meaning immanent in the new consciousness resides on
the self-identity going through the demand of westernization. This problem of
identity implies a double meaning: on the one hand, it appears difficult for a
Chinese to identify himself immediately as one that his ancestors would think
to be in the particular tradition, for he is consciously modern carrying a
sense of rupture with his tradition; on the other hand, he maybe radicalizes
his Chinese identity in sensing the context of his situation even totally
westernized, i.e, he is forced to be a Chinese in front of the
perpetual label of the West. Now the experience of globalization runs the risk
of repeating this process of double meaning.
Through the short discussion of different attitudes in regard to the concept of westernization, I don't follow a chronological order of the discourses of westernization, corresponding exactly to the historical process in recent centuries. I only try to dissect the formation of diverse ideologies around the discourses of westernization that take place in history. This historical dimension is not in the sense of historiographic writing, but rather touching on the historical consciousness. The historical consciousness demarcates more on the up to date context of the discourse on the westernization. In fact, another word "modernizationФ is nowadays more apparent in the discourse on the historical situation in Chinese circle. But this concept of the "modernФ or the "modernityФ is intertwined with a contemporary reflection on the crisis of modernity issued from the Western world. The modernity is seen almost as an imperative for any possible, present and future, development of Chinese civilization. Radically speaking, if there is a future China, it will be at first a modern China. The modernity is the common fate that China shares with the whole world, especially with the West in the global age. For a historical consciousness to reflect is this attitude of promising a future in modernity. It seems necessary for the Chinese to appropriate the modernity to survive their historical crisis. To keep contemporary with the Western world is determined to be a historical task. In this way, the position in history is pre-determined, but one should also pose the problem of position, of a position to take, to appropriate oneself.
2. A topological
In using the term "topologicalФ, I may firstly mean a geographic sense in contrast to the historical one. But to clarify my considerations of the problem of westernization, I would like to designate a "topologicalФ effect implicit in the experience of frontier and of rupture in the encounter of Chinese civilization with the Western civilization. This usage doesn't presuppose an objective distinction offered in the geography. Rather it is for me a reflective usage as "topologicalФ involved in the position of the West.
In a first glance, a Chinese would have no difficulties in saying that the terms East and West are just relative, and they are nothing substantial. There can be a dialectic or relativistic reading of Lao-Tzu in response to the more or less fixed division in East/West usage. From this perspective, the difference may depend on where and how the enunciator takes his position to differentiate the orientations. In this stage, it is in a level of common sense. But if the orientation indicates the way of thinking, the case of westernization would mean often for the Chinese to go toward the West, to assimilate themselves to Westerners, to regard the Western civilization as the afterward paradigm of development. But where is exactly the West? The West will be Europe in the first sight, then the America, especially the United States in the past century. The nomination is itself a vague action, ignoring the diversity in European nations and the relatively short history of United States of America. Although trapped in the ambiguity, the topological effect occurs however in a centrifugal movement in China. The most apparent action is the wave of studying abroad (including the students sent by government), the institution of universities in place of the traditional way of selecting the intellectuals, and the various types of knowledge treating human life. The experience of learning abroad is important in modern China, since the students coming back from the area where they spent their youth usually try to copy or to transplant their own experiences into the father's land. Viewed from this angle, the modern Chinese history is an area of experimentation, combining various types of conflicts.
The metaphor of transplantation is significant in that the local and traditional experiences are sometimes oppressed. The sense of homelessness and the sense of being uprooted are quite symptomatic in Chinese modern age. An expression of this "being uprootedФ (literally as "roaming expansion of flowers and fruitsФ, Hwa-Guo-Piao-Ling) formulated by modern Confucian philosopher Tang Chun-I (1975:2) is a typical one. Tang also expresses his ideal of recovery of Chinese culture by defining a certain "self-planting of spiritual rootФ (Ling-Gen-Tsi-Tze) (Tang Chun-I, 1975:28). Aside from the metaphorical thinking in this philosophical nationalism, we may follow the couple of root and earth in this expression. The anxiety demarcates explicitly the foreign territory and the original territory. The locality is considered as co-original as the historicity of the traditional Chinese culture, furthermore, this locality provides a foundation for the historicity. The attack upon the consequence as losing the root in confronting the Western culture reveals this feeling of oppression of locality. A topological effect goes further in Tang's idea of requiring the Chinese people as guardian of the tradition and the cultural territory. The same problem of cultural identity can be approached in this metaphor of root.
Another topological effect resides in the experience of rupture in relation to the heritage. The tradition (traditio, ▄berlieferung) refers to a tight connection of the present time with its past. But the Western way of studies and researches brings into the Chinese land some other contexts. The problem with one's own tradition and one's own land is the bastard mingling of tradition. The Christianity is one of the problem happening in the domain of belief, with which the event of Tai-Ping-Tien-Guo (Heavenly Country of Eternal Peace) remains a symbol in the cultural and political memory. Even tracing back to Sung-Dynasty, the main religious debate vividly irritating the cultural and philosophical circle was that between Confucianism and Buddhism, while the later was transmitted in China since over one thousand years. The feeling of rupture, of discontinuity prevailing in modern China reveals a stratum of cultural memory alien to the traditional one and being inserted in the formation of modern life. One best consequence of this rupture may be a nostalgia of things past, the worse of it is an abandon of one's own identity. But could there be a different version concering the metaphor of the root and its relation to the earth?
To take a set of concepts used by Gilles Deleuze Ц deterritorialization, reterritorialization Ц, we may have another image of these experience of rupture and of being rootless. The problem of cultural frontier can be seen as a series of "creating territoriesФ, of "abandoning or leaving themФ, and of "re-creating territoryФ(Deleuze, 1991:66; 1994:67). For Deleuze, these terms signify a movement and a becoming animated by the thinking, constituting an approach of Geophilosophy. The movement through and out of the territory involves also the concept of earth. Deleuze defines the relation as following:
Movements of deterritorialization are inseparable from territories that open onto an elsewhere; and the process of reterritorialization in inseparable from the earth, which restores territories. Territory and earth are two components with two zones of indiscernibility Ц deterritorialization (from territory to the earth) and reterritorialization (from earth to territory) (Deleuze, 1991:82; 1994:85-86).
Different from the negative meaning of frontier in the feeling of being rootless, there is an open area designated as "elsewhereФ. Leaving a territory is connected to an empty place, to an elsewhere carrying other possibilities. Deleuze classifies the state and the city in the domain of deterritorialization, because the former "juxtaposes and compares agricultural territories by relating them to a higher arithmetical UnityФ, and the latter "adapts the territory to a geometrical extensiveness that can be continued in commercial circuitsФ (Deleuze, 1991:83; 1994:86). He distinguishes these two further by way of the a pair of transcendence/immanence :
In imperial states deterritorialization takes place through transcendence: it tends to develop vertically from on high, according to a celestial component of the earth. The territory has become desert earth, but a celestial Stranger arrives to reestablish the territory or reterritorialize the earth. In the city, by contrast, deterritorialization takes place through immanence: it frees an Autochthon, that is to say, a power of the earth that follows a maritime component that goes under the sea to reestablish the territory (the Euechtheum, temple of Athena and Poseidon) (Deleuze, 1991:83; 1994:86).
This distinction responds to a condition of philosophy within the plane of immanence. Ancient Greek state offers three conditions of philosophy: a pure sociability as milieu of immanence, a certain pleasure in forming association (friendship), and a taste for opinion, for conversation (Deleuze, 1991:84-85; 1994:87-88). On the contrary, the imperial type of deterritorialization is assimilated to "a projection of the transcendent on the plane of immanenceФ, this element of transcendence only produces the figures, in stead of concepts. For Deleuze, the distinction is philosophical: since the philosophy consists in thinking through concepts, the transcendent manner is therefore not philosophical. The following judgment is critical: "Chinese hexagrams, Hindu mandalas, Jewish sephiroth, Islamic Сimaginals', and Christian icons can be considered together: thinking through figuresФ (Deleuze, 1991:86; 1994, 89). The traits of the figure are, according to Deleuze, paradigmatic, projective, hierarchical, and referential, while that of the concept are syntagmatic, connective, linking (vicinal), and consistent (Deleuze, 1991:87; 1994:91). What is essential to philosophy is the creation and the usage of concepts, but the emergence of philosophy is just contingent (encounter and conjunction); Deleuze contends himself only with the contingent conditions, but not necessity. Still, the difference between concept and figure is essential; thinking through the figures as the yin/yang (diagrammatic movements on the plane) and the hexagrams (sections of the plane) implies an ineffaceable frontier between philosophy and non-philosophy. The explanation of the Chinese thinking as non-philosophical or pre-philosophical by Deleuze rests on the transcendence of the figure Ц "figures are projections on the plane, which implies something vertical or transcendentФ (Deleuze, 1991:88; 1994:91). For Deleuze, the contingent emergence of philosophy in Greek cities finds its modern version in the coincidence of capitalism, of democracy, and of Europe. Even in the interior of Europe, there is still a differentiation according to the possession of concepts (Germany, France, and England) Ц "The present form is expressed thus: we have concepts! The Greeks, however, did not yet Сhave' them and contemplated them from afar, or senses them (Е)Ф(Deleuze, 1991:99; 1994:103). This discourse on the difference of philosophy and non-philosophy is topological in our understanding. The status of Chinese thinking is used as a mark of differentiation. The territory of philosophy assigned to those who possess the concepts refuses the Chinese way of philosophizing; it is of significance if we take into consideration the political consequence of this topological differentiation. In a creative sense, this territory awaits for the Chinese to enter as a land of stranger. A problem of alterity is to be considered in a reciprocal way between the foreigner and the territory, between the native and the stranger.
Together with this metaphor of root and the sense of rupture, one thing to compare is the critique of eurocentrism. To take it in parallel, a type of sinocentrism is also under attack, especially in the political conflict between free China and Communist China. One of the examples that we borrow is the critique of Jacques Derrida concerning the concepts and discourses of Europe.
Using the French word cap in an ambiguity, Derrida introduces a semantic multiplicity: "the word Сcap' (caput, captis) refers (Е) to the head or the extremity of the extreme, the aim and the end, the ultimate, the last, the final moment or last legs, the eschaton in general. It here assigns to navigation the pole, the end, the telos of an oriented, calculated, deliberate, voluntary, ordered movement: ordered most often by the man in charge (quelqu'un).Ф (italics in the original text; Derrida, 1991: 19-20; 1992:13-14) Besides this semantic multiplicity, he opens his question of "the other headingФ of Europe with an alternative on the role of the other: "beyond our heading, it is necessary to recall ourselves not only to the other heading, and especially to the heading of the other, but also perhaps to the other of the heading (Е).Ф (Derrida, 1991: 21; 1992:15) The status of the other requires a philosophical reflection on the political and economic constitution of Europe, in its orientation, command, etc. Thus Derrida's formulation on this other/heading is as following:
"I will deduce the form of all my propositions from a grammar and syntax of the heading, of the cap, from a difference in kind and gender [genre], that is, from capital (du capital) and capitale (de la capitale). How can a СEuropean cultural identity' respond, and in a responsible wayЦresponsible for itself, for the other, and before the other--to the double question of le capital, and of la capitale, of the capital?Ф (Derrida, 1991: 21; 1992:16)
To connect Europe to the problem of the capital/capitale means to take responsibility of exploiting the other in the colonial history and of commanding the other of the world in a capitalist system. To our question of the westernization, Derrida shows his consciousness of the formation of European identity. By gathering the monetary and intellectual capital, Europe becomes a geographical and political capital of the world. It is situated in the West, but commands nevertheless the other of the world. The consciousness in question is expressed thus:
"It is always in the figure of the Western heading and of the final headland or point that Europe determines and cultivates itself; it is in this figure that Europe identifies itself, identifies with itself, and thus identifies its own cultural identity, in the being-for-itself of what is most proper to it, in its own difference as difference with itself, difference to itself that remains with itself, close to itself.Ф (Derrida, 1991: 30; 1992:25)
The context of this analysis is based on the definition of "the crisis of spiritФ as the crisis of Europe by Paul Valщry, with the similar judgment of the "crisis of European sciencesФ or the "crisis of European humanityФ by Husserl or the "Entmachtung of spiritФ by Heidegger (Derrida, 1991: 36-37; 1992:33-34). It is a crisis in the sense of "a moment of decisionФ touching "the ends and confines, the finitude of EuropeФ (Derrida, 1991: 35; 1992:32). What is in danger is the double sense of the cap--"the capital point [pointe] of advanced democraciesФ and "the cutting edge of progressФ (Derrida, 1991: 36; 1992:33). Anyone who responds to the crisis of Europe in this type will be itself inscribed in the same "crisisФ--the critical moment, the moment of decision. Derrida offers a further consideration on the problem of responsibility in regard to the center (the capital), be it symbolic or geographical.
With a double injunction : "neither monopoly nor dispersionФ, Derrida remarks on the double bind of the European cultural identity: "if it is necessary to make sure that a centralizing hegemony (the capital) not be reconstituted, it is also necessary, for all that, not to multiply the borders, i.e. the movement and marginsФ (Derrida, 1991: 45; 1992:44). And if there is a responsibility (of Europe), it will consist "in responding to two contradictory injunctionsФ (ibid.). He recognizes this responsibility to be the "experience and experiment of the impossibleФ and relates it to an "other topologyФ, to "the question of the place for a capital of European cultureФ (Derrida, 1991: 47; 1992:46). Europe is to be seen as a symbolic place: a place "neither strictly political (Е) nor the center of economic or administrative decision making, nor a city chosen for its geographical locationФ(Derrida, 1991: 47-48; 1992:46). In fact, this is a kind of eurocentrism taking responsibility of the progress and occupying the position of avant-garde. To take the responsibility assigned, for example, by Husserl, is to guide the world, to make progress the humanity. Why should there be such a responsibility? Derrida explains it ironically: "what is proper to Europe would be to advance itself as a heading for the universal essence of humanityФ (Derrida, 1991: 49; 1992:48). The idiom of "progressФ is not just a residue of the Enlightenemnt, it expresses rather a self-determination of Europe. Influenced in this context of sharing the similar destiny or determination, we find that, in the discourse of Chinese modernization, the same metaphor of "advanceФ and "progressФ is very often used to push the Chinese culture to go closer to the West (to advance itself to the West).
Following Derrida's analysis of the "crisis of EuropeФ, we find his emphasis on the effect of the "capitalizingФ ("the logic of this Сcapitalistic'Ф rendered by Derrida) in this expression "to advance oneselfФ, under the metaphor of the heading (cap). A form of the eurocentrism consists in the paradoxical combination of nationalism and cosmopolitanism. The capitalistic view of Europe is then a responsibility to universalize the European culture, to take charge of the representative function. Derrida proposes by his analysis an duty "to open itself (Europe) onto the other shore of another headingФ (Derrida, 1991: 74; 1992:76). Attentive to exempt from the arrogance, a real responsibility is to respond to this critique of the eurocentrism, to a call from the future, from the other heading. It is more urgent to assume a duty to respond, to "respond to the call of European memoryФ, to "re-identify EuropeФ(Derrida, 1991: 75; 1992:76). He considers this duty as "opening EuropeФ--"opening it onto that which is not, never was, and never will be EuropeФ (Derrida, 1991: 75; 1992:77). Here is a different concept of hospitality (that he develops later as a major term in his ethico-political reflections)--a hospitality other than integration, but akin to opening, in order to "recognize and accept their (the foreigners) alterityФ.
We can compare this critical view of Europe in regard to the position of China. As we have said in the beginning, the direction to the West is mystic and imaginative. But it indicates a topological contrast: as referring to the West, the Chinese count themselves as oriental, together with the Japanese, classified in the geographical category as East Asian. Although the contrast between the East and the West is quite reasonable, it does not fit into the original imagination of the Chinese as the people in the middle country. The magic word for the Chinese identity is neither Han nor Tang, still far away from Ch'in (the word China/Chinese come from this phonetic stem), but rather the middle, the center (chung). What we designate as sinocentrism is somewhat redundant if expressed in Chinese language: a self-centered attitude of the center, of the middle country. The position of center can be bestowed an importance, aligning with an axial experience connected to the heaven, which is, to use the term of Voegelin, an experience of the transcendence. In contrast to the European identity as an example of the West, the Chinese take themselves as people under the heaven, while the Chinese emperor having a synonym as Son of Heaven. The excellence of Chinese culture as occupying the center comes from the typical "harmony between Heaven and humanityФ (unification of t'ien and ren, of heaven and man). This self-understanding of the national position, a position imposed by the name the Chinese call themselves, resides at least on an unconscious level. The "harmonyФ (ho) is closely related to the center in the term chung-ho (harmony in keeping the middle way), seen in the a fundamental Confucian text Chung-yung ("ordinary usage of the middle, of the centerФ). The idea of westernization would then a movement away from the center, and away from harmony. To advance to the West would then not be a natural process such as the Sun moves from the East to the West, or as Hegel put it, a development of consciousness toward maturity. For the Chinese, it is unnatural in the sense that the shift of center from the East to the West does not just mean a geographical shift of the economic capital; it means even a loss of center, a deprivation of the axial position, and an annihilation of existential milieu.
example that we encounter in the image of being uprooted expresses a
fundamental anxiety of this annihilation. It is symptomatic in the alienation
of losing one's self-identity, in the pure deterritorialization without
giving any earth. In the idea of Deleuze, a deterritorialization is
accompanied with a reterritorialization, at least an elsewhere is opened; but
for many generations of modern Chinese intellectuals, the anxiety of
abandoning territories overwhelms the hope for regaining territory. The proper
of Chinese identity in encountering the West is more an expropriation than a
reappropriation. An elsewhere would be just reduced to nostalgia for the lost
land. Viewed from this angle, the conflict between communist China and liberal
Taiwan is distributed along this surface of discourse. Both in a nationalistic
way, the two regimes claim themselves to be a kind of center for their own
people, and try to alienate the other side as out of the center. For the
identity of CHINA if there is One, the two forces are opposite to each other,
but contribute to the same decentralizing orientation. If there is a crisis of
China in modern times, since than two centuries or more, it will be a
shivering of the dominance of the center, at least of the imaginary center.
order with multiplicity
>From the two dimensions considered above, I will advance to give some concluding remarks on this idea of westernization inscribed in a complicated context.
The historical dimension and the topological dimension are just two components for me to consider the discursive constitution of the westernization. The position or place (topos) is to be understood in the historical context. But the historical consciousness incarnated in the historiography finds it often important to take a position to write, to review things past. Anamnesis and topology are mutually implied. But there is not just one discourse of the westernization in the historical context in China (facing on the division of the identity, of dominion, and of heritage). Analogously, there is more than one sole position to take in urging the westernization or in resisting to it. One will also likely say that the future of China, if it is promising, will be irreducible to one future.
Among the sentiments or the requisites for survival, the anxiety of the
modern Chinese minds is still salient. However, either positive or negative,
the West is already there. The westernization has taken place and has changed
the economic, political, and cultural conditions, in so far as the modern
Chinese can live no more a way of life as Lao-Tzu or Confucius. The exchange
in different languages and in a foreign country can attest a need up to date,
which will force the Chinese to admit the position of the other, of the
stranger: they are in a sense stranger to their heritage, to their ancestors,
and to their lands; they are accepting the strangers from other lands.
Adopting the idea of Deleuze, one can assume a positive meaning in the expropriation of the native land as deterritorialization, which may justify the encounter and confrontation of the Chinese culture with the other culture. But this experience happens without a lamentation for the loss of the center. At the same time, the reterritorialization will not regain a territory to colonize it, to appropriate it, and to exploit it; one should turn the nowhere into the now-here (Erewhon used by Samuel Butler, cited by Deleuze, 1991:96; 1994:100). There is an elsewhere to be reterritorialized. In the conflict between the communist China and Taiwan, both sides are conscious of a shift from the tradition. A now-here which surpasses the status quo in the political authority makes the Chinese in Formosa more attentive to the decentralization; a significant power could be nevertheless immanent in this marginal position of. Today a Chinese should be sensitive to the delicate cultural discrepancy leading to delimit any frontier in form of political and economical capital. Strategically speaking, a marginal position can be liable to create the differential sensitivity toward the otherness that the westernization brings about. It would be a future to be remembered, a position on the other side of ideology.
Gilles Deleuze et Felix Guattari. 1991. Qu'est-ce que la Philosophie ? Paris : Minuit.
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. 1994. What is Philosophy? Translated by Hugh Tomlinson and Graham Burchell. New York: Columbia University Press.
Jacques Derrida. 1991. L'autre cap. Paris: Minuit.
Jacques Derrida.
1992. The Other Heading. Translated by Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael
B. Naas. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Gilbert Rozman
(editor). 1981. The Modernization of China. New York: The Free Press.
Tang Chun-I. 1975. Chinese
Humanity and Contemporary World. Taipei : Student Book Company.
Eric Voegelin. 1978. Anamnesis. Translated and edited by Gerhart Niemeyer. London: University of Notre Dame Press.
Eric Voegelin.
1990. The Collected Works of Eric Voegelin, Vol. 28. What is History? and
Other Late Unpublished Writings. Edtied Thomas A. Hollweck and Paul
Caringella. Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State Unoversity Press.


text:
Rich in vitamin C, strawberries and blueberries are a great boost to your immune system and perk up the traditional parfait recipe.
- 1 cup strawberries or blueberries
- 2 tbsp coconut butter
- 1/4 tsp non-alcoholic vanilla extract or fresh vanilla from a pod
- 1/4 cup roasted nuts, chopped
Place the fruit, coconut butter and vanilla in food processor and puree for about 1 minute or until smooth.
Pour into an individual dessert cup and top with crushed nuts. Enjoy!


text:
jGuru Forums
Posted By:
Posted On:
Tuesday, January 3, 2006 07:56 PM
i'm declaring a Class object like this:
Class type[]= {java/lang/String, java/lang/Float};
and when i compile, the BlueJ enlight all the line and sends me an error that says :
"Cannot find Symbol"
how it suppoused to be declared this type of variables???
Help please!!! thanks Sincerily
Re: Error at Compilation
Posted By:
Posted On:
Wednesday, January 18, 2006 11:35 AM
public class ClassCode { Class type[]=null; public ClassCode() { try { type[0] = Class.forName("java/lang/String"); type[1] = Class.forName("java/lang/Float"); } catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) { ex.printStackTrace(); } }}


text:
Customer Reviews
1 Item(s)
per page
- excellent cake highly recommend! Review by sorella
Quality Price Value
Fantastic! ordered for a party of 14 people we all were thrilled! many raves from all, also ordered a chocolate which was good, the lemon took the RAVES hands down !
Highly recommend it! serve it with berries and whipped cream as well
(Posted on 6/17/13)
1 Item(s)
per page


text:
Selena Gomez Fansite
by mega on June 30, 2014
in Instagram, jojo, Pictures, selena gomez, stevie mackey
@translucentbrownsugar: Precious Pumpkinzzz @ericcanson @steviemackey @selenagomez @emmakayfox
{ 0 comments… add one now }
Leave a Comment
Name *
E-mail *
Previous post: @steviemackey: Ayyyeee! @selenagomez
Next post: @theabbeyweho: "We were ready so she came and got it! Hi @selenagomez !! #wehonights…."
Selena Gomez Zone.com |Terms & Privacy.
Copyright © 2008–2014


text:
- Filed Under
Transactions are from June 3 to 6.
? Pleasantville Marathon, 6475 Lancaster-Thornville Road, Pleasantville, June 3. Violations - In the men's restroom, there is a buildup of stains on the walls, the urinal is not working, and the inside of the cabinets have an accumulation of dust and debris. The ice cream scoop is stored in a plastic bag.
? Circle K, 1299 N. Memorial Drive, Lancaster, June 4. Violations - The hand sink and three-compartment sink have items in them. Prepackaged sandwiches were not date-marked.
? Trader's Cafe, 416 N. Columbus St., Lancaster, June 4. Violations - Renovation is in progress; finish the bead board, getting new carpet. Tile is chipped in the kitchen.
? Subway, 2785 Columbus-Lancaster Road, Lancaster, June 4. No violations.
? Wendy's, 7851 Refugee Road NW, Pickerington, June 4. Violations - A buildup of dust was observed on the fans in the walk-in cooler. Food particles were observed on the floor in the walk-in freezer, making the floor sticky.
? La Petite Academy, 12968 Stonecreek Drive NW, Pickerington, June 4. No violations.
? Kindercare Learning Center, 12910 Stonecreek Drive, Pickerington, June 4. Violations - A buildup of food particles was observed in the microwave. Grease was observed around the knobs of the oven.
? Fat Cat Pizza East, 1415 Sheridan Drive, Lancaster, June 5. Violations - The floor is missing many tiles and there are large dents in areas where the tile is missing. The grease trap is overflowing when the water is on. The equipment outside that is not being used needs removed. There is buildup on the inside of the prep cooler. Note: There will be a return visit in 30 days to see that the repairs are being made.
? Sheridan One Stop Carry Out, 1510 Sheridan Drive, Lancaster, June 5. Violations - The ice cream and pop cooler have a buildup of debris. The cappuccino shelf is missing coving.
? Cristy's Pizza East, 1436 Tiki Lane, Lancaster, June 5. No violations.
? Hometown Hotdogs, 12031 Lancaster St., Millersport, June 5. No violations. A complaint was received of an employee handling raw meat and then handling ready-to-eat foods without washing hands and applying single-use gloves when switching tasks. Employees were observed properly handling food at the time of the inspection.
? West After School, 620 Garfield Ave., Lancaster, June 6. No violations.
? Pink Cricket Restaurant, Inc., 929 E. Main St., Lancaster, June 6. Violations - The ham in the reach-in cooler next to the sink in the kitchen is date-marked May 28. Potentially hazardous foods must be date-marked with the throw-away date being the seventh day from being prepared. Sliced cheese and sliced tomatoes in the kitchen refrigerator as well as pizza sauce and sliced mushrooms in the prep cooler are uncovered. Ready-to-eat foods must be covered to prevent potential contamination. The reach-in freezer and pizza ovens by the fryer have a buildup of dust and dirt. A buildup of mold was observed in the ice machine at the end of the bar. A buildup of several inches of water was observed in the basement. The downspout outside the back door is leaking large amounts of water, allowing the water to flow into the basement. It is suggested to fix the downspout to work properly and build the area up around the back door so water cannot freely flow into the basement. In two weeks, there will be a return visit on the next rain day to ensure the facility has taken care of the problem. Personal storage of cigarettes and an employee drinking glass were observed in the bar area. A buildup of dust and dirt was observed on the ceiling and walls by the fryers and pizza oven. Dirt and mold were observed on the floor around the toilet in the downstairs restroom.


text:
- Age / Gender:
- n/a, Male
- Location:
- Location not disclosed
- Joined:
- 10/6/03
- All Stats >
User Statshot
- Community Stats
Level 20 Blank Slate
Normal Whistle
Ranked as Police Lieutenant
Contact Info / Websites
Recent Game Medals
Bloody Bobo 10 Points 00F - Watch abobo get sawed to death on continue screen Medal Stats.
Slowpoke 10 Points 04 - Get turned into a snail Medal Stats.
Die Dragon Die 25 Points 04 - Kill Aquamentus Medal Stats.
SECRET MEDAL 25 Points Unlock this medal to see it's details. Medal Stats.
No Fatty Pop 25 Points 04 - Survive after being inflated by Dig Dug Medal Stats.
Blocktorock 10 Points 04 - Block an Octorock's projectile rock with your shield Medal Stats.
Bad Call 5 Points 02 - Choose any incorrect option with Annie the Mermaid Medal Stats.
Rocky Rage 10 Points 01 - Use Rage move on level 1 Medal Stats.
Grab Bag 5 Points Grab the bag! Medal Stats.
Free 100 Points Get the 'Free' ending. According to SWFStats only 11% of population get this ending. Do you want to be that special? Medal Stats.
Total Medals Earned: 556 (From 31 different games.)
Favorite Audio
|The Valley - WaS
|Ambient Song
Favorite Movies
LUCKY DAY FOREVER Rated 4.4821 Stars Win your happiness! Drama The Girl on TV Rated 4.4838 Stars I'm in love with the girl on TV.... Music Video Starbarians - Episode 2 Rated 4.4839 Stars A new Starbarian adventure begins.... Comedy - Original Starbarians - Episode 1 Rated 4.4641 Stars The Starbarians have landed... Comedy - Original
Favorite Games
Knightmare Tower Rated 4.5275 Stars Rescue princesses as you cut your way to the top of the Knightmare Tower! Action - Other One Chance Rated 4.1325 Stars You have six days left on earth. What choices will you make? Adventure - Other Abobo's Big Adventure Rated 4.4281 Stars The Ultimate Tribute to the NES! Play as the angriest 8-bit character in the universe! Action - Other Upgrade Complete 2 Rated 4.4425 Stars An upgrade to the previous game about upgrades. Upgraded in various upgradeable ways! Action - Shooter - Vertical Flight


text:
Contact us at
For our premiere partners, Tourism Toronto is pleased to offer an exclusive set of marketing and communications tools to help you drive attendance and make your Toronto meeting even more successful.
For information on how to sign up for the program, please contact our Client Services Team.
Complimentary Attendance-Building Toolkit and Marketing Tools
Tourism Toronto led the way by being the first convention and visitor bureau to offer an exclusive set of marketing and communications tools, including electronic newsletters, postcards and mapping features to help drive attendance and make your Toronto meeting even more successful. The templates offer both print and electronic communication tools to enable you to connect with attendees with a tailored message and your call to action in a visually compelling and cost-effective manner.
Create colourful customizable 4 x6 and 5x7 postcards with a variety of messages and images.
A variety of "sections" are available to create customized one-page newsletters, either as an independent piece or as part of a larger publication. In addition to providing updates and a call-to-action, the newsletters can offer appealing destination information to further create awareness and excitement for the upcoming convention.
Email template:
Email template: a flexible email template that can be used as a follow up communication piece, highlighting the destination attributes including ease of access, arts and Toronto's cultural diversity with hyperlinks to our regular delegate site.
Banner Ads:
Add a captivating banner ad to your email signature and/or hyperlink from your registration site to the Tourism Toronto delegate site.
Print Ads:
Take advantage of a variety of customizable ads to place in your monthly newsletter, member update or publication in reaching out to a broader audience.
Tourism Toronto offers a delegate-specific website with downloadable coupons and without extraneous hotel information regularly available on our regular consumer site, to encourage delegates to book within your block. Our objective is to enhance the destination appeal by providing valuable information about taxes, dining and attractions (as an example) while providing value-added savings through downloadable savings coupons in the special deals section.
Get us working for you. Submit your Request for Proposal today.
More »
The Skinny on Carbon Offsetting.
More »
Stay up to date on the hottest shows and events going on in Toronto. Plus be the first to find out about new travel offers.
Privacy Policy Legal Employees copyright © 2013 The Toronto Convention and Visitors Association. All rights reserved.


text:
Special Foursomeon June 30, 2012 at 10:25 am
Posted In: Foursome
Foursome: Lock two horny girls and two horny guys in a mansion for 24 hours. Somebody's hooking up — and you'll see it all.
This is not just any website — this is a full-on TV experience with the best HD video available online. Watch full HD episodes, get access to tons of exclusive shows, browse the Playboy TV archives and see hot Playboy girls playing, partying and getting wild. Members get hours of video to watch anywhere, anytime, on any device…even your iPad or Android.


text:
National Ocean Service (NOS), a unit in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the Department of Commerce. It provides information for the safe navigation of ships and aircraft Other data are used by engineers and scientists in research, in developing natural resources, and for other commercial and industrial needs. The agency's main functions are:
- Surveying and charting United States coastlines.
- Making geodetic surveys (surveys of portions of the earth's surface).
- Observing tides and currents and publishing annual tables.
- Studying and organizing data on the earth's magnetic field.
- Providing data on earthquakes.
- Producing aeronautical charts.
- Operating national marine and estuarine sanctuaries.
The National Ocean Service had its origin in the Coast Survey, established in 1807 and redesignated Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878. In 1970 the agency became a part of NOAA and was renamed National' Ocean Survey. It was reorganized as the National Ocean Service in 1982.


text:
- Filed Under
Five people have died and 35 have developed a rare fungal meningitis in a widening U.S. outbreak caused by contaminated vials of injectable steroid medications, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
The 35 reported cases so far have been in six states. Tennessee has been the hardest hit, with 25 cases and three deaths. Others are in Virginia, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina and Indiana.
Vials of the medications were shipped to 23 states, including Ohio. ...