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I Will (Motivation Monday)
Join the discussion 8 Comments
This post is very motivating, just what I needed at the moment!
Absolutely! It is sometimes hard to get back into doing things once you've gotten out of the habit! You just have to keep pushing yourself and tell yourself you can do it! It's even harder when you have a busy lifestyle, but most people do these days! Thanks!
Very well written.. Thank you so much for sharing your schedule. It really does help to see it written down. Something I need to work on.. Thanks for the kick in the pants;) especially about the scripture reading/studying, that is something I am working on as well.. Awesome email
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Bigelow 12 Flavor Tea Assortment Variety Pack (72 ct., 4.53 oz.)
- Free Pickup
About this itemBigelow® 12 Flavor Tea Assortment Variety Pack is available in Green & Black or Herbal assortments.
Bigelow® 12 Flavor Tea Assortment Variety Pack's tea bags are individually wrapped in foil pouches. Freshness stays in. Air and moisture stays out.
Green & Black Assortment includes: Constant Comment, Earl Gray, English Teatime, Spiced Chai, Vanilla Chai, Decaffeinated Spiced Chai, Jasmine Green Tea, Classic Green Tea, Decaffeinated Classic Green Tea, Green Tea with Lemon, Green Tea with Pomegranate, and Green Tea with Wild Blueberry & Acai
Herbal Assortment Includes: Sweet Dreams, Mind Medley, Peppermint, Pomegranate Pizzazz, Perfect Peach, I Love Lemon, Cranberry Apple, Wild Blueberry with Acai, Red Raspberry, Cozy Chamomile, Chamomile Mango, and Chamomile Mint.
For Click 'n' Pull orders, please specify in the comment box upon checkout which Bigelow® Assorted Teas you prefer. Availability limited to selection on hand for clubs.
- Bigelow® 12 Flavor Tea Assortment Variety Pack
- 4-18 ct. boxes
- Kosher
- Available in Herbal or Green & Black assortments
- Pack Dimensions: 5.234"H x 10.992"W x 3.135"D
Assembled Country
Component Country

subset: commoncrawl


text:
User:Piotr Przanowski
From OpenWetWare
Revision as of 14:32, 6 April 2012 by Piotr Przanowski (Talk | contribs)
Contact Info
- Piotr Przanowski
- University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology
- Poland
- Email me through OpenWetWare
General Info about me
I work in the Institute of Microbiology at University of Warsaw. I learned about OpenWetWare form other members of my team, and I've joined because I'm the member of the Warsaw University iGEM 2008 team.
- 2007, BS, Institute of Microbiology


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LOS ANGELES | The U.S. Labor Department has ordered Wells Fargo &Co. to reinstate another former employee who alleged she was fired after reporting part of the widespread fraud that engulfed the bank in a major scandal.
Trump cutting hundreds of planned regulationsFri, 07/21/2017 - 05:55
WASHINGTON | The Trump administration has withdrawn or delayed 860 proposed regulations in its first five months, the beginnings of a regulatory overhaul meant to bolster economic growth.
Hunting for growth, McDonald's takes on fast food's dead zoneThu, 07/20/2017 - 10:31
To lure more mid-afternoon customers, McDonald's is rejecting its recent health-food kick and rolling out the sweets: croissants, muffin tops and a new sundae-topping station for ice cream lovers.
U.S. housing starts jump 8.3 percent to fastest pace in 4 monthsWed, 07/19/2017 - 09:50
WASHINGTON — Homebuilders ramped up construction in June to the fastest pace in four months, led by surges in the Northeast and Midwest.
Video: Embassy Suites celebrates its progress on St. Augustine Beach hotelWed, 07/19/2017 - 08:53
While it's still just a skeleton, the beachfront Embassy Suites at A1A Beach Boulevard is far enough along to see its great potential in one of the most scenic spots in the entire county.
Hotel stats show St. Johns County remains popular July 4 destinationTue, 07/18/2017 - 06:46
St. Augustine has apparently retained its status as a top draw on Independence Day, according to statistics released by the St. Johns County visitors and convention bureau (VCB).
New owner cites tremendous potential of Shops at World Golf VillageSun, 07/16/2017 - 06:25
Whether it was timing, strategy, location or something else, the Shops at World Golf Village is a venture that just hasn't lived up its billing.
Swillerbees creator a star in Flagler Beach, preparing to bring doughnut artistry to St. AugustineSun, 07/16/2017 - 06:31
Shannon Willer knows how to create two things: delicious doughnuts and a sensation.
JPMorgan CEO shifts topic to politics from financial resultsSat, 07/15/2017 - 06:32
NEW YORK | After JPMorgan Chase posted a record $7 billion quarterly profit, the last thing a contentious Jamie Dimon wanted to talk about Friday was his company's earnings.


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UN nuclear inspectors arrive in Iran
UN inspectors arrived in Tehran Saturday, a day after the UN nuclear watchdog claimed Iran had failed to respect its nuclear safeguards agreement. Tehran has rejected the charge by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), insisting that it could provide "answers" to all the agency's concerns.
"We have done nothing which would violate our commitments regarding the NPT," (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said Friday, according to AFP.
Among the things it cited, the IAEA report claimed that were unreported importation of uranium in 1991 and its transfer for processing.
On Sunday, Iran's atomic energy chief, Gholam Rez Aghazadeh, and its foreign minister, Kamal Kharazi, are set to brief parliament's national security and foreign affairs committee on the country's nuclear policy and the latest developments. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)


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[Date Index]
[Thread Index]
[Author Index]
sieving out selected multiples
What is the simplest way to delete -- i.e., remove -- the multiples an
integer from a list?
And what is the simplest way to delete, simultaneously, the multiples from
more than one selected integer from a list?
I couldn't find a simple Mathematica function for this.


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Best Of :: Arts & Entertainment
We have to admit to feeling some skepticism when Art Miami director Nick Korniloff announced a new stand-alone fair this past February so quickly on the tails of Art Basel. After all, the economy is stale, and who else besides the one-percenters can afford to buy art? But to everyone's surprise, when Art Wynwood opened on Presidents' Day weekend in midtown Miami during one of the busiest weeks of the season, the gambit paid off. Korniloff, who has steered the once-fading Art Miami back to relevancy during December art week, saw an opportunity in Wynwood. He believed he could create an international fair with homegrown appeal and persuaded local cultural leaders and institutions to back him. The inaugural edition of Art Wynwood featured 50 galleries from 13 countries, with nearly a quarter of the roster culled from Wynwood spaces. Decidedly edgier than its more sedate progenitor Art Miami, Art Wynwood boasted photography, painting, sculpture, video, installation, urban street art, and every conceivable contemporary genre by more than 500 international artists. It was held at Art Miami's sprawling 100,000-square-foot tent pavilion, where a crowd of about 5,000 collectors and culture vultures attended the event's VIP preview. More impressive, Coral Gables' Cernuda Arte reported $400,000 in sales during the five-day confab, while New York-based Westwood Gallery and London's Waterhouse & Dodd each saw their coffers enriched by transactions exceeding six figures. Not only did most of the participant local galleries boast windfall sales for undisclosed amounts, but also nearly every gallery and artist's studio in the neighborhood was overrun by close to 24,000 attendees. While some might scoff at Korniloff's assertion that Wynwood is challenging New York, local dealers' spiking sales at non-Basel fairs can only leave observers feeling optimistic about Miami's art future.
Click here for all Arts & Entertainment winners.
Best Art Gallery: Dorsch Gallery
Best Art-House Cinema: O Cinema
Best Bar, Central: Ricochet Bar & Lounge
Best Bar, Miami Beach: Chalk
Best Bar, South: Bougainvillea's
Best Bar, West: Blue Martini
Best Blog: Antisteez.com
Best Band: PALO!
Best Dance Club: LIV
Best DJ: Pinchadiscos 305
Best Gay Bar: Twist South Beach
Best Festival: Ultra
Best Movie Theater: Regal Cinemas South Beach
Best Museum: Miami Art Museum
Best Radio Station: Power 96 (96.5 FM)
Best Theater for Drama: GableStage at the Biltmore
Best TV News Anchor: Belkys Nerey
Best Twitter Feed: Pepe Billete (@PepeBillete)
Women. You know you can't live without them. But it sure helps if the one you're living with can carry on a conversation without using words like irregardless, high-larious, and — our personal favorite — anyways. Where can you find such a woman without having to scour comic-book conventions and Scrabble meetups? You want brains, but you could do without dressing up like Pikachu and engaging in cutthroat board-game play. Enter the SWAN Spoken Soul Festival, a celebration of women artists that climaxes with the Spoken Soul Showcase, an event featuring artists, singer/songwriters, photographers, and spoken-word artists — all of whom are female. In honor of International SWAN (Supporting Women Artists Now) Day, organizer, actress, and spoken-word artist Deborah Magdalena created an event that — wait for it — brings together the most talented, bright, creative, and (dare we say it?) beautiful women in Miami. Besides knowing who Mondrian is, female artists got swag. They're easy on the eyes — and that helps soothe the pain when they're laying the smackdown on you in a game of Words With Friends. If you're a dude looking for a brainy chick, your best bet is the Spoken Soul Showcase. If you're a chick looking for a brainy female, attend the Sunday brunch, which is ladies only. It's like shooting female Mensa fish in a barrel.
Face it: Spending your weekends at South Beach clubs hasn't helped your search for the perfect man. You want someone funny, handsome, and smart, but the majority of men bobbing their heads to the DJ's uhntz-uhntz are about as interesting as that recycled Madonna beat. Don't despair — the answer to your prayers is located right around the corner on Ocean Drive. In the middle of the art deco district, you'll find Effusion Gallery. Not only will you get a taste of Miami's culture through local artists' works, but also you just might find the man of your dreams. Sure, you'll occasionally encounter a hipster who overanalyzes every piece while wearing pants that are tighter than yours. But no doubt there will be at least one attractive smarty-pants checking out the scene. Replace that EDM with pop art; your ears and your love life will thank you.
It's 4 a.m. and you still haven't found a special lady with whom you can have a semi-inebriated conversation. You are thinking of calling it a night — but slow down there, buddy. There is a watering hole in downtown Miami perfect for meeting women who aren't ready to call it a night. Appropriately named the Corner — because it sits on the corner of NE 11th Street and North Miami Avenue — the bar takes its cues from places such as the Room in Miami Beach's South of Fifth neighborhood and Living Room at the W South Beach in that it offers the carefully crafted cocktails of the latter with the craft beers and cheap pints of PBR of the former. The women who frequent the Corner are of the hipster variety, so their ears will perk up if you complain how gentrified Wynwood has become. If you really want to impress her, skip the cheap beer and order her a Falerno ($14). Served in a small goblet, the cocktail combines Diplomático rum, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, candied ginger, and citrus. Notes of clove and allspice dance on the palate, giving it a sexy mouth-feel without being called something silly like Sex on the Beach. And we haven't even told you the best part. If you arrive at 4 in the morning, take your time in wooing your future girlfriend. Last call at the Corner is nonexistent, as long as there are willing patrons. The establishment is the only bar in the 305 with a 24-hour liquor license — not counting nearby megaclubs like Space and Mekka — thanks to its location in the Miami Entertainment District.
Granted, the guys who regularly hang at Hooters to suck down pitchers might not be moneyed, but they obviously dig chicks — and not only the ones with wings. Heck, they congregate at a place known for exposing so much of its staff's cleavage that the servers don't even expect patrons to look them in the eye. According to general manager Peter Gonzalez, peak man hours are Fridays at lunchtime (understandably, because the restaurant offers a slew of menu items for under $7) and Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at dinnertime. Unfortunately the city put the kibosh on the eatery's motorcycle meetups — perhaps the sight of all those choppers and their leather-clad bosses put the Coral Gables ne'er-do-wells on red alert — but loads of dudes can still be found there on a regular basis. Like the Latin look, ladies? Stop by during pay-per-view boxing matches. Want variety? Head over when the Heat plays. And here's more advice: Don't try to compete with the Hooters girls. The guys already know that most of those gals are out of their league. Instead, be yourself, dress as you normally would, and don't seem so interested in what's on TV that you can't be engaged in conversation. Oh, and if you go for the first time and don't find anyone who gets your loins warm, at least you can order a plate of 3-Mile Island wings and fire up your face. See? It's a win-win.


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Once again Russia brandishes the threat of a gas cutoff to squeeze Kiev and coerce Europe.
A fellow justice also accused McCaffery of attempting to coerce him into opposing Castille.
First, the U.S. does not have the power to coerce China, absent measures that would also do severe damage to the American economy.
Religious liberty, Jefferson argued, denies the majority any right to coerce a dissenting minority, even one hostile to religion.
His decision to coerce Netanyahu into imposing a 10-month settlement freeze was also a colossal misjudgment.
Hume, though we have found him censuring the conduct of Franklin, was opposed to any attempt to coerce America.
Electric influences guide and coerce fish in a wonderful manner.
The North in trying to coerce the South was contradicting its own principle.
"Most certainly, doctor; I'd never seek to coerce you," said Cashel, smiling.
But I do not think that the modern parent desires to coerce as much as did his forbear.
mid-15c., cohercen, from Middle French cohercer, from Latin coercere "to control, restrain, shut up together," from com- "together" (see co-) + arcere "to enclose, confine, contain, ward off," from PIE *ark- "to hold, contain, guard" (see arcane). Related: Coerced; coercing. No record of the word between late 15c. and mid-17c.; its reappearance 1650s is perhaps a back-formation from coercion.


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After one month, the COSMO CONSULT employees have already covered a total distance that corresponds to twice the earth's circumference. If they keep this pace up, the teams will have gone around the world six times by the end of the challenge!
The Internet of Things (IoT) combines software, machines, tools and parts into a highly efficient, maximally flexible overall system. Sensors, web pages and the systems of customers permanently supply information
The solution unifies classic ERP and CRM tasks with modern business intelligence functionalities, Office 365 integration and optional applications for specific business and industry requirements.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV (formerly Navision) was designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses with industry-specific requirements.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition (formerly Microsoft Dynamics AX) is modern, highly scalable and high-performance business software for larger, more global companies and organisations.
The international implementation and support of ERP, CRM and Business Intelligence systems are some of the core competencies of the COSMO CONSULT Group. In addition we support our customers in the implementation of their international IT strategies with passion and commitment.
If companies want to be internationally active it is essential to minimize the risk by implementing a suitable IT structure. COSMO CONSULT supports you throughout the implementation phase starting with the definition of your requirements.
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For ease and flexibility, we also offer all of our business solutions from the cloud.
As an ERP industry expert for the manufacturing industry as well as the service industry COSMO CONSULT provides an extensive range of business solutions for Microsoft Dynamics and QlikView.


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"From David to Goliath: How Entrepreneurs Overcome the Challenges of Company Growth," a report released by Credit Suisse and Dr. Helena Yli-Renko, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Southern California, provides an intimate look at the challenges and triumphs of 13 successful entrepreneurs across the US and Latin America. The report highlights these high-growth entrepreneurs and traces the trajectories of their respective companies—which have created jobs, introduced innovations and transformed entire industries. It also examines entrepreneurs' responses to common business issues.
The report categorizes enterprises into two camps: David and Goliaths, depending on their size.
Entrepreneurs, the authors found, have common challenges that they must address: people, financial resources, business networks and environment jolts.
High-growth entrepreneurs have shared approaches to meeting these challenges:
- People: The popular conception of entrepreneurs is that they are lone wolves — fiercely independent individuals seeking to forge their own paths. In reality, successful entrepreneurs tend to be collaborative and humble, skilled in communicating their vision and in getting other people to help them. High-growth entrepreneurs are persistent, but not bull-headed. They are highly responsive and adaptive ("There is No 'I' in Team" Principle).
- Financial Resources: High-growth entrepreneurs are extremely resourceful when it comes to capitalizing their growth– often through unconventional means ("Bird in Hand" Principle).
- Business Networks: Entrepreneurs' networks are multidimensional—they include friends, family advisors, customers, suppliers and even competitors. These diverse networks provide checks and balances for entrepreneurs to adjust their personal approach, their business model or both ("It Takes a Village" Principle).
- Environmental Jolts: High-growth entrepreneurs have a "little engine that could" mindset. They have little fear of failure. Persistence is their most defining trait. Experienced entrepreneurs excel in turning the unexpected into the profitable ("The Lemonade" Principle).
However, the most surprising finding of this research, according to the authors, is that smaller companies failed to perceive larger, more established companies as threats—but rather as motivating forces.
According to co-author Yli-Renko, "The key lies in viewing entrepreneurship and company growth as a learning process where entrepreneurs continually hone their ability to make decisions in rapidly changing, uncertain environments. Entrepreneurs should be viewed as problem-solvers and improvisers, making use of whatever resources they have."
Please click here for a copy of "From David to Goliath: How Entrepreneurs Overcome the Challenges of Company Growth."


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[Date Index]
[Thread Index]
[Author Index]
Evaluating expression: help
I need to evaluate expressions like the following
Sum (from n = -5 to +5) q^(6*(n + 1/3)^2)*y^(12*(n + 1/3))
Is it possible to do this from Mathematica? If not,
which other programs can be used?
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.


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Here we go again with crazy Android tablet pricing. The 4G T-Mobile G-Slate launches today. This is basically a branded version of the LG Optimus Pad. There are a couple of features that differentiate the G-Slate from the other Android tablets we've been talking about. First, the G-Slate offers passive glasses-based 3D and has dual cameras that allow capturing photos and video in 3D. Honestly this sounds like a gimmick. I was expecting a glasses-free 3D experience with this thing and now I have to wear clunky red/blue glasses?
Second is the screen size. This is the first 8.9" device (that I'm aware of) to hit the market. Engadget posted its review of the G-Slate yesterday and said that they didn't miss that inch of screen size (when compared to the Xoom or the other 10" Android devices) but that the higher pixel density gave the screen "a sharper, crisper look." Combined with a plastic back it also meant the G-Slate is lighter than the Xoom, at 1.3 lbs.
So the tablet itself seems pretty solid. Same Tegra chip we see in so many other tablets, 32GB of storage, a nice screen, and of course it's a 4G device. That's the good news. The bad news? The price. $750 off contract. With a contract it's $630 though there's a $100 rebate offer at launch. (No WiFi only version is being offered at this time.)
Yes, these prices compare favorably with those of Apple's iPad 2. It doesn't matter. These unknown Android devices just aren't going to sell in big numbers as long as they're priced comparably to the iPad.
In a month or so you'll see pundits pointing to low sales of the G-Slate as more evidence that Android tablets don't sell. And the pundits will be correct, as long as companies keep asking premium prices for first generation products when there's a second generation competitor with a huge amount of support behind it offered at the same price.


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A Guide to the Goldbeck (E. L.) Photograph Collection, 1954, 1956
Creator Sketch
San Antonio photographer E. L. Goldbeck was the son of photographer E. O. Goldbeck. The younger Goldbeck photographed Texas School groups from the 1940s to the 1970s. A collection of more than 16,000 of his negatives is housed at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin. The Ransom Center retains copyright to E. L. Goldbeck's negatives.
Scope and Contents
Photographs of the McCallum High School ( Austin, Texas) band and orchestra and the Stephen F. Austin High School ( Austin, Texas) graduating class of 1956.
Unrestricted access.
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Goldbeck (E. L.) Photograph Collection, 1954, 1956, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.
Detailed Description of the Collection


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The role of experts in the public assessment of England´s trade crisis of the early 1620´s
Economic pamphleteering in England during the early 17th century has often been described as an attempt to influence the course of public policy with the aim of either protecting vested interests or else promoting in earnest the adoption of a few mercantilist doctrines. However, these judgments pass over a more basic question: to what extent, if any, could members of the English business community influence public opinion and the policy decision-making process? Special consultations over pressing economic issues offered an opportunity for their voices to be heard, but the growing financial difficulties which the English crown faced at that time opened the main path available for their active engagement with public administration. Lionel Cranfield was by far the most successful of such cases during the period at hand, playing a leading role throughout the public debates which surrounded the trade crisis of the early 1620's – over which the pamphlet literature, in contrast, seems to have exerted a much more limited impact.
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|Date of creation:
|May 2011
|Contact details of provider:
| Postal: Cedeplar-FACE-UFMG Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627 Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901 Brazil
Phone: 55-31-3409-7100
Fax: +55 31 3201-3657
Web page: http://www.cedeplar.ufmg.br
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Congressman Jerry McNerney is the clear choice to represent the constituents of Congressional District 9. With his tenured experience in Congress, knowledge of District 9's critical needs and commitment to represent us, we don't need to change horses in the middle of the stream. He has a firm grasp of the issues facing our district. He has represented most of us well as representative of District 11. Due to redistricting he will now represent us well in District 9.
As he stated in the Stockton Record, his three signature issues are the economy — creating jobs nationally and locally — veterans' needs and protecting the Delta. Other critical issues to him are education and reducing crime in our district.
He is a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. He has brought a new veterans' medical clinic to our community, passed legislation to help veterans with PTSD, and helped them navigate the mired obstacles to getting their needs met. He is a strong defender of Medicare and Social Security.
His opponent is a young man who just turned old enough to run for Congress. He has had no real job experience, has never run for public office and is just recently out of college. He may be a very nice young man, but it appears he, his family and the "Teapublican" party is trying to pull a Meg Whitman on the constituents of District 9 and buy the office. The Manteca Bulletin called Ricky Gill a 25-year-old upstart.
We deserve better than this. Please vote for Congressman McNerney for District 9.
Byron Robers


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Students in Baquba opposed the scheme, backed by outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, because they identify Saturday with the Jewish Sabbath.
Much of the world, including several Arab nations, observes a secular day of rest on Saturday.
Iraqis rest only on Friday, a Muslim holy day. Protesters said the weekend should be extended to include Thursday.
Muslim rejection
"We organised this demonstration in protest at considering Saturday a holiday," said high school student Mohammed Abbas, 17.
"We prefer it to be Thursday. Saturday is a holiday for Jews and we are Muslims and reject that decision."
Protesters waved Iraqi flags and denounced the proposals as "the start of Zionist plans in Iraq".
Outgoing interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced earlier this month that weekend leisure time would double with the inclusion of Saturday as a holiday.
Public sector employees would have to work longer hours during the week to compensate for the new day of rest.


text:
Security experts have warned that electronic voting systems are decades away from being secure, and to prove it a team from the University of Michigan successfully got the foul-mouthed, drunken Futurama robot Bender elected to head of a school board.
In 2010 the Washington DC election board announced it had set up an e-voting system for absentee ballots and was planning to use it in an election. However, to test the system, it invited the security community and members of the public to try and hack it three weeks before the election.


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A map from The Weather Network showing lightning strikes near Kejimkujik National Park.
A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for Queens County according to Environment Canada.
Conditions are favourable for the development of dangerous thunderstorms that may be capable of producing torrential rain.
At 11.30 a.n. radar detected several areas of heavy rain over Queens. High rainfall rates could lead to amounts in the 25 to 50mm range over a period of one to two hours.
According to the website The Weather Network (www.weather.ca), several lightning strikes have already been reported in North Queens and in near Kejimkujik National Park.
At around 11:30 a.m. the Region of Queens announced that swimming lessons are canceled at the North Queens Aquatic Centre. Anyone with questions regarding the cancellation can phone 682-2009.


text: New Uses for Things in Your Closet Facebook Pinterest Twitter Print Mail Save Left Arrow Right Arrow Photo by Levi Brown Left Arrow Right Arrow 3 of 27 Grid View See All Shoe Boxes as Drawer Dividers Time for your lingerie drawer to step into line. Cut shoe boxes in half, along the length or width, and fill the resulting compartments with folded briefs, socks, or stacked bras. Start


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Given the amount of rain we get, we are excessively bad at finding ways to be in the garden during a downpour. The Japanese build tea houses and little shelters from which to appreciate their damper moments, but we peer through windows at the garden in a dejected manner when it rains, and venture out only when it's stopped.
This was one of the thoughts that led me to build a veranda: a deck with a polycarbonate roof to keep out the rain. My veranda is a funny halfway point, not quite house, not quite garden – and maybe it takes some of its magic from this twilight status. And it is magic. It is my favourite place to be. It has a privacy the rest of the garden lacks – being screened from neighbouring upstairs windows – and there's nothing quite like sitting out there with a cup of tea as soft, warm summer rain falls.
Here is where I grow plants that need a little extra love and can't cope with the neglect dished out to those at the far (all of 15m away) end of the garden. In sight is in mind. Here I remember to nurture my pretty splashes of colour, such as pelargoniums and tender salvias, with comfrey feed to push them on to greater glories, and they're treated to the luxury of non-sporadic watering. It's also the place for those crops I want near at hand for my own sake, rather than theirs. All the herbs live here, so I don't ever have to put on my wellies to fetch a bunch of parsley or a small handful of basil. Even in winter I can call on the hardy herbs sage and rosemary without trudging through wind and rain, as each lives in a pot of gravelly, well-drained soil up here out of the cold.
As it's a small space, I use the veranda for high-flavour, low-bulk crops, such as baby leaf salads and micro leaf of herbs such as fennel, rocket and coriander. You certainly don't need a covered area to do this – a good plan for any small garden. Picked when tiny and full of flavour, micros can be ready within a few days of sowing, and therefore are ideal for a spot that is naturally closely monitored by people taking procrastinating work breaks with cups of tea. I sow them into whatever attractive and shallow containers I have to hand, since they don't need a great deal of soil. A wooden crate from my veg box delivery occasionally gets requisitioned for this purpose. Sow thickly across the surface, water in and harvest when the shoots are about an inch tall to sprinkle on to salads moments before eating.
Certain vegetables lend themselves to container growing more than others, and over the years I have focused on those that produce again and again from the same plant – chillies, tomatoes, courgettes and cucumbers are particular favourites.
All this applies to gardening in any small patch, but there are some crops that fare particularly well under a cover. It suits my fan-trained peach – splayed out across a warm west-facing wall – and my dwarf nectarines in pots particularly well. Both fruits suffer from the debilitating rain-borne fungus peach leaf curl early in the year if the young leaves are exposed to rain. The fungus contorts and colours the leaves, rendering them unable to provide the energy that the plant needs. Keep the worst of the rain off and they miss this moment of jeopardy and thrive.
Tomatoes have similar rain issues, hit by the fruit-blackening tomato blight late in the season as they are starting to ripen. Keep them out of the rain and you may avoid the evil spores. The grape vine that climbs along the rafters of the veranda roof does spectacularly well here. If vines get wet as they are flowering the flowers can develop a cap that makes pollination impossible, and leads to terrible fruit set. Although mine flowers early in spring because of the extra warmth, the flowers will not be wet at this critical time.
There are a few drawbacks to building a veranda and to gardening under one. Though some local planning departments consider such structures "permitted development", in other areas you will need permission, so find out before you start building. The other worry is watering and rain runoff: by covering a chunk of garden you remove an area of ground where rain would naturally drain slowly away, increasing the likelihood of flooding, plus you create an area of planting that receives no natural rain at all. My solution has been to capture as much of the veranda-roof's rain as possible in big water butts, and therefore use that same rain that would naturally have fallen here to water my cosseted veranda dwellers.
It's been worth these little extra hassles for me. I have a beautiful place to grow things I couldn't otherwise, to keep herbs and other crops in perfect condition and near at hand, or even just to stand and whoop during a thunderstorm.


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Ms. Liana offers kids an affection for nature
The Nature Circle
What: Ms. Liana guides pre-school children into the Nature Circle as they explore the natural world with story time, hands-on activities and crafts.
When: 10 a.m. Mondays though May 31
Where: Audio-visual room at the Long Hunter State Park office, 2910 Hobson Pike (South Mt. Juliet Road), 7½ miles south of I-40
More info: Call or email for reservations: 885-2422, email@example.com
Lessons coming up: Feb. 1: Groundhog greetings, Feb. 8: A snowy day, Feb. 15: Healthy hearts, Feb. 22: Something fishy hereNature Buddies invade Long Hunter State Park on Mondays
By KEN BECKSpecial to The Wilson Post
Liana Dranes is no earth mother nor is she Mother Earth.
But the Mt. Juliet aquatic biologist, known as Ms. Liana, is as equally in touch with children as she is with nature. For the past year-and-a-half she has nurtured a nature program for pre-schoolers on Monday mornings at Long Hunter State Park that leaves children and their parents thirsting for more.
Ms. Liana and her young protégés, aka Nature Buddies, study everything from the water cycle and rainbows to such flora and fauna as wildflowers, trees, butterflies, rabbits, frogs, bats and dragonflies. She is able to teach the youngsters with a style that creates immediate interaction, and her friendliness beams like sunshine from her face. Before class begins, during craft time and after class she has a one-on-one conversation with each child.
"I love my job, but I guess I was craving some sort of a creative outlet," said Ms. Liana about how she conceived the Nature Circle. "I also love spending time with my three children hiking and hanging out at Long Hunter State Park. With the boys those bonding moments don't come as often now that they are becoming teenagers. But when we're out on the trail and hiking together, we talk about random things, funny things and memories.
"I thought that if I could come up with something to teach children about science and nature, then I could give back in a way something I am passionate about and something kids could learn from."
Her efforts prove impossible to miss for those who see the dynamo in action.
"Ms. Liana is the ultimate volunteer. She is a member of the Friends of Long Hunter, and her children and she take part in our programming here, and as a result she created the Nature Circle. It has proven to be the most popular program we have ever had at Long Hunter," said Park Manager Thurman Mullins. "She is selfless and donates her time and that includes her family. She is a remarkable young lady. We're blessed to have her."
Working for ESC Lab Sciences, formerly Environmental Science Corporation, in Mt. Juliet for the past 19 years, Ms. Liana, 43, and her husband of 17 years, Billy Dranes, who manages the wastewater plant in Lebanon, have three children: Seth, 14; Jake, 12; and Anamaree, 7. Born in Poplar Bluff, Mo., Ms. Liana spent her teenage years in Loudon, Tenn., and earned her biology degree at Middle Tennessee State University.
The volunteer teacher prepared her program specifically with pre-school age children in mind.
"Children are like little sponges. They are so bright and so eager. If they could grab hold of a love of science and nature, they can carry that on into their school lives and adult lives," she said. "So we do things to help reinforce that throughout the year.
"We will study environmental science. The kids are just hungry for this. I've shown them litter such as cigarette butts and plastic bags and how they pollute the creeks. We talk about the food chain. They see it come alive," Ms. Liana said.
Her Nature Buddies flock to the park from such places as Lebanon, Mt. Juliet, Murfreesboro, Old Hickory and Antioch. A parent or grandparent must attend the session. Most of the adults are moms, but there are a hand full of dads and one grandfather on this Monday as more than two dozen youngsters sit in the middle of the room on a large colorful rug adorned with lots of critters. (Guess who found the rug and donated it?)
The children place silver stars beside their name on a roll on the wall, and each wears a name tag. Placed on tables shaped like a giant "U" are glue, construction paper, Crayons and yarn -- enough ingredients for 30 children to make a craft project.
"Each Monday the kids already know what the theme is going to be. We open with share time where the children bring something related to the theme so they feel like they are bringing a part of themselves to the group. This is the first time a lot of these children have been in a group setting. They might bring a stuffed animal or a picture they drew. They get up and stand by me. We have discussion and then we read our first book, a non-fiction book," Ms. Liana said.
"We usually have an activity like a hands-on or demonstration to help them understand a concept. Then we break away for our craft activity. We always have a craft related to the theme. Some learn better from story telling and listening, some learn from the activity and others learn from hands-on. Then they come back to the rug and we all sit crisscross-applesauce and do our story time. We usually close with a fiction book that brings out something about themselves, and there will be some questions to help develop their critical thinking."
Today, the subject is snakes, and a ranger from Radnor State Park has brought three live snakes for the children to observe. To kick things off the kid share books with illustrations of snakes or show off toy-stuffed snakes or rubber snakes.
"Snakes are reptiles," Ms. Liana says. "Can you say reptiles?"
"Reptiles!" echo the children who are all eyes and ears.
As she talks about snakes, she proceeds to teach about vertebrates and uses a book about snakes to teach about the backbone in a human. "Snakes have scaly skin and are cold-blooded," she informs them.
Later the ranger takes a corn snake out of its cage and allows the children to touch it if they wish. Most of them do touch.
Mt. Juliet's Jeff Knop has brought his daughter Chloe, 6, and son, Giles, 4.
"Chloe has been to eight Nature Circles. She comes every time school is out. Giles has only missed once this year," Knop said. "I think Ms. Liana is just excellent at teaching the children on their own level things about nature. They talk about it at home and every week they ask to come back. She's absolutely terrific and relates to the kids. Every time I come, I learn something, too."
Amy Scruggs of Old Hickory joins daughter Katherine, 5, for their second year of attendance. "She has so much knowledge and experience and is able to communicate with kids," Scruggs said of the teacher. "I find Katherine retains so much of what she learns here. We love Ms. Liana. She's wonderful."
"It's about nature," said young Katherine of the Nature Circle. "It's fun with Ms. Liana. Some snakes have rattles, some don't."
"It's fun because we get to do a lot of neat stuff," said Hunter Williams, 6, of Gladeville. "Ms. Liana is my friend. I like Ms. Liana. I like learning about nature."
The gifted instructor occasionally uses puppets named Rocco the Raccoon and Olivia the Otter.
"I am a stuffed animal lover, and I know that for a lot of young children a puppet helps draw them in. If I see one of the children is kind of shy or one of the children is crying, I can come over with Olivia and say, 'Would you like to pet Olivia?' and try to get their mind off what is troubling them. Or I can say something like, 'Rocco was shy too when he first came here,' and they will start petting him.' So they can identify with them."
Ms. Liana has a sort of selfish motive for her passion of teaching nature to youngsters. She wants her children to observe that their mother walks what she talks.
"I want my own children to see, 'Hey, Mom believes in something enough that she wants to make a difference.' To me and my family the Nature Circle has become our outreach for nature and what we believe in. They are directly involved in selecting the nature books and crafts.
"I enjoy the fact that my daughter can look at me and see me like I'm her hero. With the nature and science she sees something that I do and believe in. She has a strong figure and can say, 'Wow, my mom does this.' When it comes to Nature Circle, she says to her friends, 'This is my mom. She does the Nature Circle.' I love the fact that my boys can see how it started, and how you can continue on with something. They see that when they see these young children learn when they come visit.
"It's wonderful being with the children and seeing their enthusiasm and how excited they get about coming and learning about nature and knowing they are going to carry that with them. I believe nature doesn't give up. It has an incredible capacity to heal and change in response to things that happen. And when we learn about the animals, we can say what does this teach us about ourselves not to give up? And their parents come with them and stay, so seeing the parents and grandparents that attend with their children, it's neat to see them working together on something.
"I always tell the children, take what you learn and share with your brothers and sisters and friends. They are nature lovers at this early an age. They say to me, 'I'm a Nature Buddy.' They'll carry that with them for a long time," said Ms. Liana, one of Mother Nature's chief promoters.
Ken Beck may be contacted at email@example.com.


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What the
Book of Mormon
says about ...
Second Printing now available!
What the Bible says about Family Values
Genesis 19:8
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes.
Genesis 19:32-36
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
Genesis 22:2,10
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and ... offer him there for a burnt offering.... And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
1 Samuel 15:2-3
Thus saith the LORD of hosts ... Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Psalm 137:9
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
Luke 14:26
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children,and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Dwindling in Unbelief
Who is the best father in the Bible?
Lot, the just and righteous
The Brick Testament
The Seduction of Lot
God Tests Abraham
See also the Family Values
Revised 2nd Edition
With killings from the Apocrypha


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Rider 3, Pennsylvania 0
College Field Hockey
Rider University 3, University of Pennsylvania 0
PHILADELPHIA, PA- During the Revolutionary War, Ben Franklin, the founder of the University of Pennsylvania, enlisted the Spanish to provide financial aid to the Americans.
The Rider Broncs enlisted their own Spanish warrior, junior Sandra Penas (Barcelona, Spain), to provide aid in defeating Penn at Franklin Field Wednesday night.
Penas scored two goals to lead Rider to a fourth straight victory.
Penas gave Rider (4-1) a 1-0 lead just 2:49 into the game with a backhand goal after senior Marlaine Schneider (Feasterville, Pa./Neshaminy) cleared the ball up the field.
Penas scored another backhanded goal at the 12:47 mark for a 2-0 lead.
"The backhand is her preferred shot," said Rider head coach Lori Hussong. "She is very proficient at it. Most players don't shoot that. She's left-handed so that is her natural inclination."
All field hockey sticks are made to shoot right-handed. "She's darn good at that backhanded shot," Hussong said. "It surprises the goalie and she hits it hard."
"I think it can be an advantage because the goalie does not expect it," Penas said with her strong Spanish accent. "They are used to seeing the shots come from the right side."
Penas now has 37 career goals, seventh most ever at Rider. Her 91 career points is now eighth most in program history.
Senior Gabby Burgo (Collingswood) scored with less than 9:00 left on an assist by Schneider to give Rider a 3-0 lead. It was the team-high third goal of the season (tied with Penas) and the 10th of her career.
"Marlaine did not get credit for an assist on the first goal of the game but she set it up with a beautiful long pass to Sandra," Hussong said. "She was a real workhorse the entire game. She was all over the field."
Freshman goalkeeper Alicia Carthan (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) made two saves for the shutout, including a save on a penalty stroke in the final minutes of the game. "That's not very common that a stroke is saved," Hussong said. "That's a big deal for Alicia."
Rider out-shot Penn (3-2) 13-5. Rider had 10 penalty corners to Penn's two. "It was harder than the score," Hussong said. "Our kids stood up to the challenge."
Penn's 3-1 start was its best since 1997. Penn entered the game 2-0 at home this year. "Penn is so much improved over the last two years," Hussong said.
The Broncs defeated the Quakers 7-1 at Rider last season and 8-3 here in Philly in 2010 in the only other meetings between these two teams.
Ben Franklin was a true polymath, that is, a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas.
Franklin might have been disappointed at his institution's loss Wednesday night, but would have been proud of Penas, a true Renaissance woman. "Without (graduated All-American) Virginia (Egusquiza), teams are collapsing their defenses on Sandra," Hussong said. "They are putting three defenders on her. She's learning a new role as a complimentary player. She does it all and is now enjoying creating opportunities for others, but tonight she was able to get her offense going with a breakout game."
A Renaissance woman is one who excels in a wide variety of subjects or fields. On Wednesday night Penas proved she is a true Renaissance woman, at least on the field hockey field.
"As a junior I feel I have more responsibility on the team," Penas said. "I just do whatever Coach asks me to do."
Franklin would have been proud.


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A Lancaster University Resource for Students and Staff
Educational institutions have been obliged by law (SENDA) since September 2002 to make their websites accessible to disabled users - yet how many of us are giving our websites sufficient consideration?
Apart from the legal aspect - no one wants to get sued - the moral argument for us as educators is compelling. Whilst a simple solution may be to take advantage of the loophole in SENDA i.e. to provide access in an alternative format, by doing so we are actually compounding the discrimination against the disabled as this could oblige them to make special arrangements. Further information on creating accessible websites can be found at: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fss/resources/access
If you follow the simple rules outlined on the "Essentials" page, your websites can be brought up to standard with very little effort.
If you take the time to learn how to write accessible pages now, you will be able to ensure that any future pages you create are compliant. Compliant pages not only benefit disabled users, but will also perform better in a wide range of non-standard and poor quality browsers, work on new technologies and provide you with a higher degree of "future-proofing" as new technologies and browsers are developed.
The material presented on this website is for guidance and resource information purposes only. It is intended that the material be used to assist web authors with regards to appropriate and reasonable practice but should not be taken as a comprehensive or definitive guide. As such, neither the University, nor the individual author of this site, accepts legal responsibility for the information provided here.


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But Hinduism does
not say that God is unknowable in this sense. On the other hand, it teaches that God is
not only infinitely higher than we are, but also infinitely near to ourselves. He is
nearer to us than our hands and feet. For He is the soul of our souls. He lives in our
heart. He is the canvas on which we shine as painted pictures. He is the very ground of
our being. But for His presence at the centre of our souls, no know ledge of any kind
would be possible. Accordingly in
we have a two - fold conception of God as (I) Saguna Brahman or Iswara endowed
with all the good and glorious qualities that we could think of raised to the degree of
infinity and (ii) Nirguna Brahman, the unqualified Godhead, which can only be described in
negatives. Take, for instance, the following passage from the Gita: -
"He seems to possess the faculties of all senses, and yet
He is devoid of the senses. He is unattached and yet He sustains all things. He is free
from all qualities and yet He possesses them. He is without and within all beings. He has
no movement and yet He moves. He is too subtle to be known. He is far away, and yet He is
near. He is undivided, and yet He is, as it were, divided among beings. He devours He
generates. The Light of all lights, He is said to be above darkness. And as know ledge and
the object and aim of knowledge He is set firm in the hearts of all."


text:
Get an overview of this hotelBeach hotel near Venice Beach
Popular property highlights
Offering direct access to the beach, this Nokomis hotel is within a 15-minute walk of Nokomis Beach and North Jetty Beach. Venetian Waterway Park and Centennial Park are also within 3 mi (5 km).
Hotel Features
Guests at this beach hotel will appreciate convenient onsite amenities such as barbecue grills and a picnic area.
Room Amenities
All 26 individually decorated rooms feature free WiFi and pillowtop beds. Guests will find kitchenettes with refrigerators, stovetops, and microwaves.
Guest Highlights
- Good location
- Beach
- Pool
- Helpful staff
- Clean guestrooms
- Comfy beds and nice bathrooms
A Beach Retreat
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
A Beach Retreat features an outdoor pool, barbecue grills, and a picnic area. Public areas are equipped with complimentary wireless Internet access. This beach hotel also offers laundry facilities and a television in a common area. Complimentary self parking is available on site.
- Beach sun loungers
- Number of buildings/towers - 4
- Front desk (limited hours)
- Barbecue grill(s)
- Laundry facilities
- Number of floors - 2
- Total number of rooms - 26
- Picnic area
- Free self parking
- Outdoor pool
- Television in common areas
- Wedding services
- Free WiFi
Family Friendly Amenities
- Outdoor pool
- Free Wi-Fi
- Kitchenette
- Laundry facilities
- Refrigerator
- Microwave
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Free self parking
Room Amenities
- Free WiFi
- Premium bedding
- Balcony or patio
- Access via exterior corridors
- Air conditioning
- Ceiling fan
- Coffee/tea maker
- Cookware, dishware, and utensils
- Free toiletries
- Hair dryer (on request)
- Pillowtop mattress
- Television
- Iron/ironing board (on request)
- Kitchenette
- Stovetop
- Cable TV service
- Microwave
- Private bathroom
- Refrigerator
- Shower only
- Individually furnished
- Individually decorated
- Rollaway/extra beds (free)
Nearby Things to Do
Recreational amenities at the hotel include an outdoor pool.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
- Golfing nearby
- Snorkeling nearby
- Surfing/boogie boarding nearby
- Rafting nearby
- Kayaking nearby
- Sailing nearby
- Scuba diving nearby
- Water skiing nearby
- Windsurfing nearby
- Personal motorized watercraft on site
- Scooter/moped rentals nearby
- Bicycle rentals nearby
- Parasailing nearby
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please note them at check-out when you book your room.
Hotel Policies
Check-in time ends at 5 PM
Check-in time starts at 3 PM
Special check-in instructions:
Check-out time is 11 AM
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Free rollaway/extra beds!
- Cribs (infant beds) are not available.
- Pets not allowed
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
No cribs (infant beds) available
Hotel Name
- Beach Retreat Hotel
- Beach Retreat Hotel Nokomis
- Beach Retreat Nokomis
- a Beach Retreat Hotel Nokomis
- a Beach Retreat Nokomis


text:
Claire Messud's new novel, The Burning Girl, feels somehow different from anything she's done before...
Condition: Standard
All Product Details
Making the transition from the nine-to-five grind to an eternity of nocturnal prowlings is going to take some doing, however, and that's where C. Thomas Flood fits in. A would-be Kerouac from Incontinence, Indiana, Tommy (to his friends) is biding his time night-clerking and frozen-turkey bowling in a San Francisco Safeway. But all that changes when a beautiful undead redhead walks through the door...and proceeds to rock Tommy's life — and afterlife — in ways he never thought possible.
1. Everyone has been exposed to Vampire lore, either through books, movies, or television. How does Jody's transformation into a vampire differ from how you always thought someone became a vampire? In what ways is it similar?
2. Jody and Tommy's relationship moves at a rather alarming pace, and within a week of meeting each other, they are in love. Is love at first sight possible? Or in their case, at first bite? Why do they connect so instantly?
3. The book is filled with religious connotations, whether intentional or not -- from the mention of "the pyramid" (The TransAmerica Tower), to the use of crosses to ward off vampires, to the Animals being referred to as "Crusaders." How intentional do you think this was on the part of the author? What do these add to the story?
4. The book touches upon the idea of euthanasia -- the practice of ending the life of a terminally ill person in a painless or minimally painful way in order to limit suffering -- in that Elijah Ben Sapir, the vampire who creates Jody, only kills those who are about to die or whose lives are limited in some way. What are your feelings about "mercy killings"? Do vampires have an ethical standard?
5. When Simon threatens Jody after she refuses to turn him into a vampire, she ends up killing him in the front of his truck. Jody then blames the killing on Elijah, however, and never confesses it to Tommy. Why not admit to it when Elijah has been restrained?
6. Why are Jody and Tommy "set up" as the culprits in the recent crimes? What would it mean if they were caught? Why do these crimes need to be pinned on anyone? Couldn't the criminals cover up the crimes in another way?
7. By the end of the novel, both detectives -- Cavuto and Rivera -- begin to believe in the supernatural and that vampires could exist. To what extent do you believe in the supernatural, either vampires, ghosts, or even just that some people may or may not have psychic ability?
8. Tommy uses Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat, which of course is fiction, as his "Owner's Manual" for learning about Jody and her new powers. Discuss the author's use of fiction within fiction in order to tell a story. Have any members of your group read The Vampire Lestat? How do the two books compare?
9. Once Jody becomes a vampire, she finds that she has many new and different abilities, including superstrength, heightened senses, and superspeed. Which do you think is her most needed new superability?
10. Though Jody finds herself immortal, she also retains many of her normal human characteristics and failings, including vanity, fear, anger, and disgust. Discuss how even though she has become immortal, and can protect herself from many of the regular dangers of everyday life, she is still unable to disassociate herself from normal human emotion.
11. At the end of the book, the reader is left with the impression that Jody is about to turn Tommy into a vampire. If she does change him into a vampire, how do you imagine their story continues? How would it continue if she does not?
Enhancing Your Bookclub
1. Would you be willing to give up your normal life -- being able to go out in the daylight, not being immortal -- in order to become a vampire? You'd be able to live forever, have superstrength and -speed, among many other different gifts. Would it be worth it? Why? Why not?
2. To read more about vampires, take a look at the following titles: The Society of S by Susan Hubbard, Vamped by David Sosnowski, The Book of Renfield: A Gospel of Dracula by Tim Lucas, and Happy Hour at Casa Dracula by Marta Costa.
3. Learn more about vampires: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampires.


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We have a problem. No doubt about it. Women were raped in Cologne, Germany and the police tried to sweep it under the rug. It's the same problem we've been having forever, in the colleges, in the military, and in society at large. Now we're paying attention to it because the rapists are foreigners. When men of a different race or different religion act the same way our men act, suddenly it's a problem. Because the violence wasn't hidden in a fraternity house, because the violence wasn't facilitated by quaaludes, suddenly it's a problem. Not to go all feminist on y'all, but I warned you about this.
Tag Archives: terrorism
Right-wing domestic terrorists have carte blanche
It's good to be a white domestic terrorist in the United States.
Armed self-proclaimed "militia members" have seized control of the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon. Gun-toting individuals from a dozen or more states have been showing up in the small town since November, when two convicted arsonists had their too-lenient sentences revoked in favor of federally-mandated longer minimums.
patriots terrorists, whose leaders include Ryan and Ammon Bundy, sons of scofflaw Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, and internet media producer Pete Santilli, claim to have 100-150 followers (although that number is heavily disputed and may be only 10% of what is claimed). Continue reading
Je suis Paris: the terrorists lose
There is no place on earth where the darkness can overcome the light. Do not be afraid. #todossomosparis
Mes frères et soeurs,
They attack us because they fear our strength. We are far stronger than they. Their fortress is only shadows and confusion. Our stronghold is reason, the will of a free people. We will withstand this assault and every assault they attempt. They already know this. That is why they hide, and why they prefer to kill themselves rather than to stand before us and face the light of justice.
I must make a most difficult request of you tonight. Forgive them. They are already condemned to carry the burden of their crimes forever. Every God-fearing person with a rational mind is praying for their souls already, and for peace, because these killers have done great damage both to their own humanity and to the hope for a lasting peace among all mankind, which is our common goal. They have chosen the path of destruction. We must not follow them down that path.
The only thing that can overcome terror is love. Like a soldier who runs toward a suicide bomber to save his brothers and sisters, we must run toward this danger with open arms, embracing our enemy, dooming his strategy and his ideology, eliminating the perceived distance between himself and us. We must hold each other close, every free person, every Christian, every Muslim, all of France, all of America. We must prove them wrong about us. God has given us reason. No one can steal it from us. If we do not surrender it, the terrorists lose.
Yes we killed Jihadi John. He was a war criminal luring innocent Muslim children to their deaths or to slavery. He created the state of war in which he was killed. Who lives by the sword dies by the sword. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. These killers in Paris are war criminals. Their accomplices are war criminals. They will share Jihadi John's fate. They will not be allowed to turn us aside from the straight and narrow path of reason. We will never surrender. Continue reading
Even you like hip-hop
volume ten
Lowkey – Terrorist?
So, we must ask ourselves
What is the dictionary definition of "Terrorism"? Continue reading
Racism: death of a nation
White people: Don't get defensive. I was brought up in the South. I know what it's like. A bunch of grown men, pillars of the community, get together around the grill, maybe at the volunteer fire station, maybe at church. These are your neighbors, people you know and respect. You want them to like you. Then one of them tells a racist joke and they all laugh. So you laugh too. What's the matter, boy, can't you take a joke?
My public elementary school was 100% white. The Baptist Church where I was baptized was 99.9% white. One time a local boy married a negress (CRINGE) and it was a big scandal. They don't come around much anymore. Everyone is happier this way I suppose, although his folks are a mite touchy about it, so it's best if you don't mention it. They can't help what their boy did I reckon. Kids these days got no moral fiber. Continue reading
Media silence on the NAACP bombing in Colorado
A bomb, broadcast silence, and a very confused FBI
From ThinkProgress: A Bomb Went Off At A Colorado NAACP. Where Is The 24-Hour News Cycle?
Two thoughts. First, along with many others, I wonder why this doesn't get the television coverage it deserves.
Second: "although the FBI is investigating the motives behind the bombing and says domestic terrorism is still a possible motive [emphasis added]."
"Possible motive?!" WTH. Continue reading
Free France: join the maquisards
"Their prophet is Satan. There is no connection between the Islamic faith and this minority." -Hassan Chalghoumi, an imam of the Paris suburb of Drancy
"Zeal, in religion, is a pure and enlightened attachment to worship of the Divinity and its maintenance and progress; but when it grows blind and false and takes to persecution, it becomes the greatest scourge of humanity." – Voltaire, Questions on the Encyclopedia
Mon Chéris,
I am crying as I type this, listening to La Marseillaise over and over in the headphones. The beauty of the Republic of France, which even we Americans envy, is your resolve. While American revolutionaries stopped with a new system of government, the people of France devoted decades to reforming the very fabric of society. We shook hands as fellow citizens. You embraced as brothers. We shook off the physical shackles of tyranny. You rooted it out in your hearts and minds, looking where we dared not, holding a mirror before the entire human condition, willing the change that only comes from within. Continue reading
NYPD: Heroism is a choice
Detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were victims of a terror attack. I remember the World Trade Center attack like my grandfather remembers the buzzbomb that knocked him off his bicycle. I have the piece of shrapnel that he saved, right next to my Chinatown painting of two airships closing in on the towers. I remember the smell of burning asbestos, human bodies, and desktop knick knacks, that drifted uptown for days. Continue reading
War Crimes: prosecute or the terrorists win
Killing children is the new scare tactic. The Taliban of Pakistan have resorted to killing children. It's like September 11, 2001 except only a weak echo. The death toll is 1/20th, and the fear factor is slightly less in light of current events.
It's terrorism. It's fear. It's only fear. The thing that the terrorists hate most about us is that we are still not afraid. They cannot break us. We know the law, letter and spirit, and we believe in the spirit. If you know the law, no one can use it against you. Continue reading
Aren't crippling sanctions and regime change what we seek against enemies?
Seriously. If one searches on the terms effect of crippling sanctions, one finds over 800,000 results at Google. A quick review of the first great many confirms, at the very least, that Iran, an enemy (so-called), is the primary subject. Debate rages as to whether sanctions are effective for accomplishing their intended goals, but there seems to be a fair amount of detailed information that they are certainly effective at damaging the enemy's middle class.
This just in! Partisan radicals have stormed buildings nationwide and are holding hostages at gunpoint. If their demands are not met, they will kill as many hostages as they need to until the Obama administration backs down on the Affordable Care Act.
Here we are, the 21st Century barely warming up, and a select band of partisan radicals famous for co-opting an unholy trinity of political party, fake philosophy, and extremist religion are proposing just such crippling sanctions that would certainly do more to harm the middle class than they would to meet stated objectives. The problem is, those partisans are right here in America, the regime they seek to change is our own, and the net result is that they are treating America as the enemy.
Terrorism is the application of violence or threat of violence to attain political goals. Repeal of the ACA is the obstructionist GOP contingent's stated political goal. That the threat of government shutdown almost certainly results in the death of greater than 0% of those affected is, of necessity, a threat of violence in the same way that this particular politically partisan contingent construes taxation to be violence. Ergo, GOP obstructionist radicals are, like Al Nusra Front, terrorists actively engaged not only in threats of violence against the American people for their political goals, but in the undermining of national security. Adding insult to injury, their assault on the American people won't even accomplish their goal if they start executing hostages.
Taxation as theft
Mr. Boehner said the dispute with Democrats amounted to a question of "how much more money do we want to steal from the American people to fund more government."
Clearly, we are dealing with folks that believe that the apparently non-violent is, by extension, actually violence. For them, the abstract is concrete. I believe I fairly make their case when I put it thusly:
The government sends you a polite letter notifying you that taxes are due and payable. You send a polite letter back indicating that you will not relinquish your funds upon their polite request. The government proceeds to shuffle about other seemingly polite pieces of paper such that you are required to appear in court. Not wishing to appear ungracious, you make your appearance. The judge informs you, ever so politely, that payment is not optional. It is mandatory. You politely decline. The government proceeds to shuffle about more seemingly polite pieces of paper. At some point, gentlemen armed with guns and authority arrive at your home or place of employment, presenting polite pieces of paper indicating seizure of a variety of your assets. Followed through to its logical fruition, the peaceful and noncompliant citizen is eventually faced with drawn weapons. Violence!
The use of violence or the threat of violence, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political goals.
Simplified rendering of the latest GOP legislative tactic: Repeal Obamacare (political goal) or we will shut down the government.
Fox News: Capitol Hill report warns shutdown could pose risks to national security
"We had victory today," House Speaker John Boehner said after the vote. "The House has listened to the American people. Now it's time for the U.S. Senate to listen."
Yes, because taking America hostage and issuing a credible threat of indiscrimate death to achieve your political goals is a victory. Added bonus, you actually jeopardize American national security. We see what you did there.
With that bit of preamble out of the way, let's take a look at a slice of America as an example of the potential effects of a government shutdown, shall we?
America Under Siege
What a government shutdown would look like in Nevada
The current threats, however, may be more plausible than earlier occasions when Congress sounded an alarm. For the first time, there's a solid faction of the Republican Party openly angling for a shutdown and for lawmakers to vote to prove how much they really hate Obamacare.
And it's not like Democrats are about to wave a white flag in surrender just days before the health care exchanges are scheduled for their national debut.
So if a government shutdown is on the horizon, what would it look like for Nevada? Here's a list of what and where to expect the local effects.
For the sake of simplicity, however illusory, let's assume that while the numbers presented in the Sun's article will differ from region to region, the effect of a government shutdown as experienced elsewhere in the country will essentially mirror the effect in Nevada.
Number, numbers everywhere, and not a drop of blood to drink. Pity that, because we only seem to understand blood. Allow me to reframe issue a touch. We're not just dealing with clowns in clown cars here. We're dealing with clowns like this:
Hold on, what? Blood? Clowns? Bloodthirsty clowns? What the hell?
Simple. Numbers are the crunchy outside. Blood is what makes numbers gooey in the middle. These clownish bloodthirsty freaks holding America hostage talk numbers, numbers without calling attention to the fact that it's actual American blood they'll gladly spill in pursuit of their agenda. Hell, even if they actually believe that they're preventing a greater harm, Obamacare, with its fictitious death panels, that's just not going to wash. Destroying the village to save it wasn't good enough for My Lai. It's not good enough for us here. And it doesn't change the fact that threatening violence in pursuit of a political goal is a form of terrorism.
This is one arena where GOP & Co. have Team Blue at a severe disadvantage. These clown-headed redshirts (therein lies our sole cause for optimism where they are concerned) are content to use their croupier's rakes to push little plastic political soldiers around on maps and to hell with the short-term consequences, except when that means they get to gorge on blood-filled numbers that fall out of their cracked and broken toys. It makes great political theater, after all. Pass the popcorn!
Team Blue, on the other hand (provided I leave my cynicism at the door for a moment), positions itself as those who see those little plastic figures as representing very real people, so short-term consequences are as important as the long ones. If the Blues can't outnumber these Clown Patrol at the polls in deep red territory, at some point Team Blue needs to be willing to make the painful sacrifices necessary to meet bloodthirsty clowns in the abstract.
"Hyperbole!" you say. "Hogwash," I reply.
For that matter, at the end of this post, I suggest how to concretely drub them about the head and shoulders with their own abstractions. Far be if from me to show up with a bucket of bitching and not have a solution to offer.
A Dash of Legalese
"But for" – In the law, a proximate cause is an event sufficiently related to a legally recognizable injury to be held to be the cause of that injury. There are two types of causation in the law: cause-in-fact, and proximate (or legal) cause. Cause-in-fact is determined by the "but for" test: But for the action, the result would not have happened. For example, but for running the red light, the collision would not have occurred. For an act to cause a harm, both tests must be met; proximate cause is a legal limitation on cause-in-fact.
Proximate Cause @ Wikipedia
A Look at Those Tasty, Crunchy Numbers and Their Gooey, Bloody Filling
God always punishes us for what we can't imagine.
Stephen King, Duma Key
The article at the Las Vegas Sun highlights a great many consequences that, but for GOP terrorist hostage-taking, would not occur.
Approximately 11,000 civilian federal workers in Nevada may be furloughed or asked to work, temporarily, without pay. Does this mean their bills stop? That a bank will kindly waive mortgage payments? That they cease needing food, clothing, healthcare, fuel, automotive insurance, or a host of other necessities? Of course not. Is it really that much of a stretch of the imagination to believe that at least one of these workers or their family members may actually die as a result of such deprivations as may be caused by the GOP's act of terror? To wit, I posit that some percentage greater than 0% of affected workers and/or their family members face a threat of death that, but for GOP hostage-taking, they would not face.
Active duty service members should not expect to be paid until after the shutdown is ended. I posit that some percentage greater than 0% of active duty service members, distracted by a financial crisis imposed on them by GOP terrorists, and perhaps other service members and/or civilians that rely upon the effective discharge of their duties, will die. Is it really too much to imagine that an interruption of soldiers' allotments to their families back home be would weigh heavily and distractingly on their hearts? That worries about keeping the lights on and mortgages paid back home would add to the already inordinate burdens they bear in the name of patriotism and service to country? Do we not have enough active duty military suicides already? But for GOP terrorism, this additional risk would not exist.
What about the risk of death faced by military contractors and their families? Is it too much to think that even one might die for no other reason than hardships caused by GOP terrorism?
Some in the country, depending on the ability of their state to bridge the gap between unemployment benefits due and funds available from the federal government, might suddenly find themselves even farther up shit creek without a paddle. Again, I don't think it's a stretch of the imagination to suggest that greater than 0% of the people already struggling to survive will experience the slashing of their unemployment benefits in the form of death that, but for GOP terrorism, would not occur.
Social Security benefits for existing recipients may be safe, for some value of the word "safe," but new applicants and those awaiting adjudication won't be so lucky. Will every single one of those unfortunates be able to bridge the gap between existing resources and the start of their benefits? That's yet another risk the GOP is willing to take with American lives.
The same goes for new applicants for VA benefits. Once again, when it comes to fully supporting our troops, the men and women who put themselves in harm's way for the good of our nation, the GOP sees no problem with putting this incredibly at-risk population under the gun. Think that active duty suicide rate was jaw dropping? Can anyone believe that a government shutdown will do anything to improve on the suicide rate among veterans? Yet again, but for GOP terrorism, some percentage greater than 0% of veterans will likely die.
Surely none of this affects civilians who work in the home construction market, right? Wrong. FHA won't be processing loans under a shutdown. No loans, no purchases. No purchases, less work for contractors, less sales for home improvement businesses and suppliers. Take everything you know about trickle-down economics and apply it to loss instead. If someone, due to a political hit on an already struggling recovery, should lose their job, how much luck are they going to have, as a new applicant, in getting unemployment benefits from strapped state coffers? Don't get weary of my repetition just yet. Death is death, after all, each one a tragedy, each one a mere speck of collateral damage the GOP is willing to embrace as part of its political machinations. But for GOP terrorism, some percentage greater than 0% of workers in the construction and allied trades will die.
Are the good folks in the private sector working to address our renewable energy issues immune? Nope. As indicated in the article, programs expecting payments at the beginning of the fiscal year might just have to wait. Sometimes waiting is not an option. If those concerns cannot find a way to stay operational while funds are pending, doors get closed, sometimes permanently. Not only is that bad for our energy independence and bad for the environment, that's bad for workers who, like construction industry workers, could end up competing for limited assistance resources. Yet again, but for GOP terrorism, some percentage greater than 0% of workers in the renewable energy industry will die.
Think the latest attempt at slashing $40 billion from food stamps was extreme? Heaven help you if you rely on that or similar public assistance if your state draws the short straw when it comes to timing. Yet again, but for GOP terrorism, some percentage greater than 0% of public assistance recipients will die.
Even vacationers, but more importantly, those who depend upon them, would feel the bite. With visa and passport processing being delayed, a great many, tens of thousands if history is a sufficient guide, will have to cancel plans. Those counting on tourism revenue will surely be adversely affected. Remember, all it takes is one layoff, one desperate soul pushed beyond despair. That's a life and death risk the GOP is willing to take. Yet again, but for GOP terrorism, some percentage greater than 0% of tourism and hospitality workers will die.
All of that, all of those possible indiscriminate deaths that, but for GOP terrorism wouldn't even be up for discussion, and their hostage-taking goal won't even stop Obamacare thanks to the fact that the money that needs to be spent for the next stage in the rollout has already been spent. As pointed out in the article, at least this time we don't have to worry about critical emergency services. We'll just have to wait for America's own Al Nusra Front as embodied in the current obstructionist GOP contingent to pull out their guns again when the next debt ceiling debacle comes into play.
Now, I realize that the temptation will be great to rebut with the claim that death is an unfortunate possible unintended consequence of even the most well-intended policies. I submit that the difference here is quite stark and simple. Faced with a failure to prevail in the election booth, terrorists hiding behind the GOP front are overtly threatening to harm our nation if their demands are not met. As for my seemingly strident cry, again and again, that greater than 0% of affected populations will die, let me as you this. What is more likely to be true, an absolute assertion that nobody will die as a result of this GOP threat (100% will survive), or that even one will will perish? How does this differ from a madman pointing a scary rifle into a crowd and letting off ten rounds if he doesn't get his way? Would it even matter if all ten rounds miss? The threat is all too horribly real.
To recapitulate, nearly verbatim, from the beginning of this post, terrorism is the application of violence or threat of violence to attain political goals. Repeal of the ACA is the obstructionist GOP contingent's stated political goal. The threat of government shutdown which, as suggested above, almost certainly results in the death of greater than 0% of those affected, is, of necessity, a threat of violence in at least the same way that this particular politically partisan contingent construes taxation to be violence, although I contend that my claim is far more grounded in reality. GOP obstructionist radicals are, like Al Nusra Front, terrorists actively engaged, not only in threats of indiscriminate violence, in this case directly against the American people, for the attainment of political goals, but also in compromising America's national security. Perhaps its time we start treating them as terrorists.
To the extent that their efforts undermine national security, I would also argue that the GOP terrorist contingent lends aid and support to the enemy and should, as such, be charged and tried for treason.
Image credits:
Al Nusra Front Executions. Image, as released by Al Nusra Front, posted at Threat Matrix.
Dice. Photo by John Morgan @ flikr.com. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Scary Clown Face by Spider.Dog @ flikr.com. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Taxation is Force. Posted at thinksquad, unattributed.
SzepToon: Remembering Marathon Monday
Boston Marathon bombing: can we at least speculate logically?
The speculation began before the smoke cleared: who was responsible for Monday's terror attack at the Boston Marathon? What was their motive?
Not only is it human to speculate, it's just about impossible for us not to. We're inherently theoretical animals, constantly seeking more informed and reliable ways of understanding and explaining (and predicting) how the world works. (Well, most of us are like this, anyway. Highly dogmatic types have their theories locked in and have no interest in refining them.) So the speculation was natural, if not always helpful.
As you'd expect, a significant portion of the population leapt pretty quickly to the conclusion that it was foreign – and specifically Muslim – terrorists who were to blame. al Qaeda, perhaps. Maybe the Taliban. Could even be some new group we haven't heard of before. In the absence of any data, any evidence, any context at all, this might be, at the least, a fair question to ask. After all, the US has been attacked before, multiple times, by extreme Islamist factions.
As my colleague Alex Palombo noted yesterday, this is precisely what happened. The New York Post, the Drudge Report, Erik Rush – you know, the guy you've seen on FOX News – even MSNBC, which, if they were as liberal as everyone accuses them of being, ought to know better, all of them were responsible for content that cast a suspicious eye toward Mecca. And of course, the general population gave us plenty of anti-Arab braying to ponder.
But, back to my criteria above: in the absence of data, evidence, context. That doesn't really describe Monday's events at all, does it? Consider:
- Monday was Patriots' Day, which annually commemorates the April 19, 1775 battles at Lexington and Concord, the first of the Revolutionary War.
- Boston is, not to put too fine a point on it, the home of the original Tea Party. Significant swaths of the political right have seized upon the anti-tax symbolism of this event (although their grasp of the finer details surrounding the revolt often lacks a certain sophistication).
- While we're on the subject of April 19, the bombing occurred in close proximity to the anniversary of the Branch Davidian standoff's tragic climax.
- And April 19 is also the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.
- Let's see – what else was Monday? Oh, right. April 15: Tax Day.
Any one of these items is a coincidence. Taken together, they begin to imply a possible pattern. They perhaps suggest a direction in which we might look as we speculate, since we know from long experience that terrorists love symbolism. Place, date – where you strike and when you strike delivers a message that's often linked to your ideology, to the narrative you're advancing.
Let me offer an example. Say you were an Iraqi driven to terrorist madness when American bombs dropped during Gulf War 2 killed members of your family. And you were going to bomb an American facility of some sort in retaliation. When would you do it? Well, you might do it on the anniversary of the bombing that killed your loved ones. Or maybe you'd do it on the anniversary of Saddam's hanging. There are certainly other possibilities, but time and again, we see that people act symbolically, especially when making grand statements.
I'm not offering any of this as evidence of what you should be speculating. Far from it. We're all better off reserving judgment until we have hard evidence to work with. Still, I admit to having some ideas of my own and I'll be honest – if this turns out to be the work of Islamists I'll be very, very surprised. Another colleague, Russ Wellen, raises the possibility that Islamists could have picked Patriots' Day to cover their tracks, but that strikes me as unlikely. That breed of terrorist has a history of wanting credit for their actions.
My point, instead, is to question the pig-headedness of those who assume the attackers were Muslims. We're not dealing with a situation in which there's no symbolic context. On the contrary, there's plenty of symbolic context and it all points directly away from foreign agents.
If there are thoughtful, insightful reasons to suspect Muslim extremists, I'd be interested in hearing them. But I'm not holding my breath.
Reckoning with a solidly right-wing America
A week ago, Glenn Greenwald performed an excellent dissection on a New York Times article about President Obama's secretive anti-terrorist "death panels." When Greenwald finished peeling back the skin, he aptly pinned a great many horrible hidden things with descriptive tags to help us see the inner blood and guts more clearly.
There is more pull-quote material, each quote more galling than the last, in the Greenwald article than one can shake a scalpel at. Just read it.
When the right wing of our fake political spectrum feels that Romney isn't far enough to the right;
When the current Commander-in-Chief earns praise from his far-right predecessors for continuing their bloodiest policies; Continue reading
Bin Laden grows a conscience
As you've no doubt heard by now, the Director of National Intelligence released a tiny sample of the documents that U.S. Special Operations Forces captured at Osama Bin Laden's compound to the Combating Terrorist Center (CTC) at West Point for it to analyze. Still reading Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Ladin Sidelined?, we'll single out one Focal Point™.
In contrast to Bin Ladin's public statements that focused on the injustice of those he believed to be the "enemies" (a`da') of Muslims, namely corrupt "apostate" Muslim rulers and their Western "overseers," the focus of his private letters is Muslims' suffering at the hands of his jihadi "brothers" (ikhwa). He was at pains advising [the latter] to abort domestic attacks that cause Muslim civilian casualties and instead focus on the United States, "our desired goal." Continue reading
Nature publishes instructions on how to make a Frankenstein monster
My doctoral dissertation addressed what I called the "Frankenstein Complex." So guess why this story bothers me.
Today, a scientific journal published a study that some people thought might never be made public at all.
The paper describes experiments that suggest just a few genetic changes could potentially make a bird flu virus capable of becoming contagious in humans, and causing a dangerous pandemic. Continue reading
"Don't retreat, reload": vigilantes at large
By Robert Becker
Is there a more incendiary, compact, unapologetic cover for domestic vigilantes than "Don't Retreat, Reload"? Though domestic terrorism occurred before and after Palin's pandering war cry, her loaded gun imagery decoying as political rhetoric, gave itchy-fingered zealots free passes when "feeling endangered." Overall, what the Bush Doctrine distilled into unilateral pre-emptive perfidy, executed by Rumsfeld's dire "shock and awe," then justified by Cheney's One Per Cent Doctrine, was domesticated by this in-your-face mandate from a presumptive national leader.
With the Christian right playing the chorus, what our rogue government sustained endlessly "over there" has come home to roost, with literal vengeance, a slaughter of innocents. Continue reading
What if Arbabsiar was all about the drugs, not terror?
The extent of the skepticism with which the Iran assassination plot has been met from many different quarters may be unprecedented. It parallels the serious coverage by the mainstream media that the Occupy Wall Street movement is being accorded. (If only those who knew that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction were accorded the same respect.) Continue reading
Nota Bene #121: Birds of an Ancient Feather
"Television is an invention whereby you can be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your house." Who said it? The answer is at the end of this post. Now on to the links! Continue reading
Did the U.S. capitalize on the murder of Pakistani journalist Shahzad?
Not everyone found the reporting of the late Pakistani investigative journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad one hundred percent credible. But that may have just been a function of how incredulous they were at the extent to which he was able to insinuate himself with al Qaeda and the Taliban.
One of his most impressive contacts was long-time militant Ilyas Kashmiri, who fought in the Kashmir until President Musharraf wound down fighting there. Kashmiri then moved to Pakistan's tribal areas and turned on the state, once trying to assassinate Musharraf and later named as a mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
In a thought-provoking — to put it mildly — article on Shahzad's murder for the New Yorker, Dexter Filkins writes: "Muhammad Faizan, Shahzad's colleague, said, 'The militants used to call him, not the other way around." Continue reading
Nota Bene #120: Crazy Ivan
"If you can make a woman laugh, you're seeing the most beautiful thing on God's earth." Who said it? Continue reading


text: In a message dated 1/19/2012 3:12:36 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, jlawrence at kc.rr.com writes: of course there were not. They had been refused. They had NOT been refused. The Army stationed various units all around the West and the Army high command had years before had opted to deploy the Buffalo Soldiers in the Southwest primarily. Custer had nothing to do with that decision, being simply a lieutenant-colonel of a single (white) regiment. Bruce Trinque Amston, CT