text:
by Clark Groome
When Tony Braithwaite was a student at Washington's Georgetown University one of his classmates was Breck Eisner, Disney chief Michael Eisner's oldest son. Michael came to see a Georgetown production of Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" that Breck directed and in which Braithwaite played Octavius Caesar.
Braithwaite, one of Philadelphia's most talented and in demand actors who July 1 becomes Act II Playhouse's producing artistic director, had no idea, as a junior in college, just what he was going to do with his life. He was a religion major who had always loved performing, something he started formally at St. Joseph's Prep, from which he graduated in 1989.
After his performance in "Antony," Eisner sent word through his son that if Braithwaite would come to Los Angeles after graduation, he would help him get started. So that's what Braithwaite did.
He spent a year on the West Coast, and even though he got a lot of initial help from Eisner, "never landed anything," he said in a recent interview at Act II's Ambler home.
A year to the day after he moved to L.A., he returned to Philadelphia to help his parents move. He had been miserable in L.A. When he had the opportunity to teach religion and sex education part-time to freshmen at the Prep, he took it, beginning in the fall of 1994. "I always joked that they hired a stand-up comic from Los Angeles to teach sex-ed to freshmen."
Part time became full time, and ultimately he got involved with the school's drama group, the Cape and Sword, where he had performed as a student.
His first starring role as a student at St. Joe's was as Professor Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady," a show and role that would mark other critical times in his life.
During that first year teaching, "Two flukie things happened," he said. They were doing, you guessed it, "My Fair Lady," at the Twelve Caesars dinner theater on City Line Ave. He auditioned. "I was 23. I looked five. I thought that there was no way in hell I'm gonna get Henry Higgins, but I got it."
During his six-month run as Higgins, he met someone who knew someone at the Arden Theatre. "Things started spiraling in Philadelphia Theater."
His first role at Arden was as Bernard, a small role in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman." He garnered terrific reviews, and kept performing while maintaining a full time teaching load at St. Joe's.
"I balanced my time between teaching and acting. I had a very busy schedule, but I was young and had all the energy in the world."
Several years later he began to believe that he should pursue performing full time. So when he was required to take some courses for a master's degree, he took them but cut back on his teaching while becoming one of the area's busiest local actors.
He performed at Arden, 1812 Productions, the Montgomery Theatre, People's Light and Theatre, the Philadelphia Theatre Company and Act II. He also did stand-up comedy and served four times as host of the local theater community's Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre.
Along the way he won three Barrymores – as leading actor in a musical for Act II's "The Big Bang," and as part of the ensemble for Arden's "Baby Case" and Act II's "The Story of My Life." He was also nominated nine other times for his performances and, in 2006, as a finalist for the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist.
As his performing career continued to grow, he spent a lot of time performing at Act II. Some of the time he was in their regular season shows. At others he brought in his own creations: "Here's Tony" and "Look Mom, I'm Swell!"
His time at Act II made him, in producing artistic director Frank "Bud" Martin's words, "the darling of our audiences."
Martin – after four years volunteering at Act II and using his business background, producing experience and financial acumen to the institution – decided that the theatre needed a full time leader who was familiar to the theater's constituents and well known in the area.
When Martin assumed Act II's reins in 2008 the theater was facing some tough financial challenges. Those have since been overcome, allowing Martin to step back from overall management – he'll still remain on the board as treasurer – and turn over the leadership to Braithwaite.
When first approached about being an artistic associate a year or so ago, Braithwaite turned it down. As the last 12 months unfolded, the theater's financial position continued to improve, and Howie Brown, whom Braithwaite taught at St. Joe's Prep, was hired as managing director.
When the offer to be producing artistic director was made earlier this year, Braithwaite accepted.
"It wasn't something that I had envisioned early on, [but] it seemed like a natural fit. Given what Bud was saying [and] given the way the audiences tend to be loyal here, [I accepted]. I had become, through good fortune," Braithwaite says, "the face of the theater. It seemed like a natural extension of that."
While he is best known as a performer, he notes that "some of the skill set involved – budget stuff, casting, selecting a season, royalties, networking – was a lot of the stuff I'd done, arguably on a smaller scale, at St. Joe's. So it wasn't completely out of my wheelhouse."
In addition to planning the four-play seasons and engaging the special events that use the theater, he will try to engage members of the community and local businesses to become involved with Act II and to give their time, talent and treasure to the Playhouse.
Braithwaite, 40, lives in Rosemont and plans to involve many of the people with whom he has worked as actors and directors in Act II's future shows. Bud Martin and outgoing associate artistic director Harriet Power will both continue to direct in Ambler.
In addition, he says, "I am hoping to inaugurate, as soon as next year, theater specifically for kids."
While his new duties will require that he reduce his time as a performer, he will be still act in Act II shows where appropriate and occasionally take an outside gig when it doesn't interfere with what's going on at the Playhouse. He will also continue to direct St. Joe's Cape and Sword Drama Society.
His latest role on stage – here we go again – is as Henry Higgins in Act II's recent production of "My Fair Lady." He notes that some of the costumes he wore in that production are the same ones he wore at the Prep in 1986.
To sum up his enthusiasm about his new assignment, Braithwaite says, "There is a Higgins quote that I have always loved since I was a kid. 'Happy is the man whose profession is also his hobby.' I suspect that I will be saying that line, as a very happy man, long after Act II's 'My Fair Lady' closes."
For information about Act II Playhouse and its 2012-2013 season call 215-654-0200 or visit www.act2.org


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I'm sorry, I was streaming a movie while I was writing. And I wasn't writing. Cedric's grandmother's with us and that's fine but I had headphones in. (Trying to be quiet.) And I got caught up in Fire With Fire on Netflix.
I like Josh Duhamel -- he's nice on the eyes, isn't he?
And there was Bruce Willis who as good in it and especially Rosario Dawson. She was so incredible. I thought (spoiler) at the start that she had gotten killed. And I was really upset because she was so good and such a strong character (and such a strong actor) that I was thinking, "Damn, there's really no movie left now." But fortunately she wasn't dead.
If you like action films, you really need to stream it (or rent it) if you haven't seen it yet.
Here's the barest of plots. Duhamel's a fire fighter who is in witness protection because of a murder he saw. Rosario's assigned to protect him. Julian what's his name from Charmed and Nip and Tuck is a hit man who shows up to kill them. Can they be safe in witness relocation?
Or do they have to make another choice?
That's the first 15 to 20 minutes. I haven't given away anything.
Rosario really is great in this film.
And now, having wasted all my possible blogging time, I am going to bed.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, January 8, 2013. Chaos and violence continue, a dopey feature writer tries to argue that knowing in 2002 how the Iraq War would turn out nullifies a Congressional vote for the war, groupies of a disgraced British doctor insist that dead Iraqis be ignored and that he be allowed to practice medicine again, protests continue, Anbar provides aid to the protesters, Nouri's refusal to listen to the protesters results in a Cabinet walk-out, and more.
The plan in my head for this snapshot was we would start with women and end with women. Start with Iraqi women, end with American women. In between we'd do our usual sight seeing tour. That changed. That changed because we have to start with an idiot. And, the modern pattern in America demonstrates, when we're talking about big idiots in the US -- it's usally a man. Now maybe that's because they're more apt -- even now -- to be elevated to status for gender -- clearly, they did not get their on their minds.
Case in point, Esquire's chief idiot Charles P. Pierce. Pierce drips against his y-fronts as he moans for Chuck Hagel, the homophobic, rape-doesn't-result-in-pregnancy, War Hawk that US President Barack Obama has nominated to be the next Secretary of the Defense. (For those who didn't get their trading cards of Obama's Cabinet: Lots of Men and a Few Token Women, if confirmed by the Senate, Hagel would replace Leon Panetta.)
"I am going to do something I've never done before," Charles P. Pierce opens today -- sending a good portion of the public fleeing. It's okay, he's keeping his clothes on. He wants to quote Chuck in full in 2002 before Chuck voted for the Iraq War. But, hold on, before we get that, we need to stop for a cheesy Esquire profile. One Pierce did in 2007. I'm sorry, does Pierce honestly believe that the celebrity profiles Esquire does strikes anyone as journalism? The New York Times Sunday Magazine does journalism -- even in their profiles. Vanity Fair sometimes does journalism in their profiles. Esquire? As if to proove just how cheesy Esquire is, the excerpt Charles provides starts with Tom Hagel vouching for Chuck -- hard hitting journalism at it's finest.
Then it's endless monologue from Chuck. Charles seems to think that this responds to "one of the primary arguments made from the Left against" Chuck because he voted for the Iraq War in 2002.
Charles Pierce needs to retire. Esquire will never improve circulation with the very tired and very old Charles writing for it. Four decades at the magazine? He's never been Hunter S. Thompson. He's just someone who knows he can't get work elsewhere.
Part of the reason for that is because he's so very stupid.
We tried explaining this with the idiots who promoted Barack (falsely) as anti-war. In 2007 and 2008, as people pointed to that bad, small speech from 2002, we pointed to Barack's record when he got to the Senate. He voted exactly as Hillary did. In the primaries, he wanted special credit for being against the war (no, he really wasn't, it was a fairy tale, Bill Clinton was right) and claimed this proved sharper judgment than his contemporaries like Hillary and John Edwards and Joe Biden.
But here's the problem with that. If a five-year-old child burns their hand on the stove, you comfort the child, you treat the burn. But if the child's smart enough to know that touching the flames on the stove will burn your hand and that child burns his or her hand, you're dealing with a different issue, you're dealing with a child who knew better but chose to ignore the knowledge.
If Barack believed the words he offered in 2002 and then goes to the Senate and votes for the war over and over and over, that's worse than stupid Hillary, John and Joe who apparently were too dumb to grasp what would happen. (In fairness to Hillary and Joe, they didn't claim they voted for one thing only for it to turn out to be something else. John did and Elizabeth Edwards did for him in an interview with Ruth Conniff for The Progressive.)
So if Hagel stood and listed all these things that could go wrong before he voted? He looks even more empty, more craven and more like a War Hawk. If he could picture many awful things that ended up coming true, he has no defense for voting the war. He knew better.
To go to children again. If you are 8-years-old and playing frisbee in the front yard with your older and wiser brother Chuck and a window gets broken by the frisbee, your parents are going to let you slide. You're the child who wasn't old enough to know better. But Chuck? There's no slide for him. He has to be accountable for playing frisbee by the windows when he was old enough to know better and old enough to know something could get broken.
I hope -- I really, really hope -- that Charles P. Pierce just really wanted to plus his 2007 (bad) feature article on Hagel. I really hope that Pierce isn't so stupid that he thinks providing the over 2100 words Chuck Hagel spoke on the Senate floor about why war with Iraq was wrong doesn't excuse Hagel's vote and, in fact, damns Hagel because he knew better and still voted for the war. Again, hopefully Pierce just wanted to plug his own (universally ignored) 2007 feature. Hopefully, even Pierce isn't stupid enough to think that speech improves Hagel's image.
Let's move from an American idiot to a British one: Derek Keilloh. Keilloh was a doctor who 'treated' Baha Mousa. From the July 13, 2009 snapshot:
Moving over to England, Matthew Weaver (Guardian) notes that Iraqi Baha Mousa's death at the age of 26 while in British custody in September 2003 is the subject of a public inquiry in England which began today and that, "A central issue of the inquiry is why five 'conditioning techniques' -- hooding prisoners, putting them in stress positions, depriving them of sleep, depriving them of food and water, and playing white noise -- were used on Iraq detainees. The techniques, inflicted on IRA suspects, were banned in 1972 by then prime minister, Edward Heath." The Telegraph of London offers that Baha "was beaten to death" while in British custody, "sustaining 93 separate injuires, including fractured ribs and a broken nose." The Telegraph also notes that the inquiry was shown video of Corporal Donald Payne yelling and screaming, "shouting and swearing at the Iraqis as they are force to main painful 'stress position'."
Moving over to England, Matthew Weaver (Guardian) notes that Iraqi Baha Mousa's death at the age of 26 while in British custody in September 2003 is the subject of a public inquiry in England which began today and that, "A central issue of the inquiry is why five 'conditioning techniques' -- hooding prisoners, putting them in stress positions, depriving them of sleep, depriving them of food and water, and playing white noise -- were used on Iraq detainees. The techniques, inflicted on IRA suspects, were banned in 1972 by then prime minister, Edward Heath." The Telegraph of London offers that Baha "was beaten to death" while in British custody, "sustaining 93 separate injuires, including fractured ribs and a broken nose." The Telegraph also notes that the inquiry was shown video of Corporal Donald Payne yelling and screaming, "shouting and swearing at the Iraqis as they are force to main painful 'stress position'."
Today, Andrew Johnson (Belfast Telegraph) reports the latest, "A former British Army doctor has been found guilty of attempting to cover up the death of an Iraqi civilian who was fatally beaten by British troops in 2003, and of failing to protect other detainees." Peter Magill (Lancashire Telegraph) notes of the Baha Mousa inquiry, "Another detainee, Ahmed Al Matari, who had also been seen by Dr Keilloh at the detention centre after being kicked in the kidneys and legs, accused him of behaving like a 'criminal' during." Press TV adds, "Britain's Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service will now decide what penalty the British doctor will face." The editorial board of Scotland's Herald weighs in, "Army medics cannot afford to be squeamish but ignoring such brutality amounts to a betrayal of all the servicemen and women who behave decently and within the rules. It also acts as a recruiting sergeant for extremism and destroys at a stroke any goodwill built up with the local population. It is shameful that it has taken so long to uncover the truth. Though maltreatment of detainees may not have been routine, the fact that a number of other such inquiries are still crawling through the system suggests this was more than the work of a 'few bad apples'."
And the punishment? From the December 24th snapshot:
Yesterday, Ashleigh Barbour (Press and Journal) reported Dr. Derek Keilloh had been "struck off the medical register." The Yorkshire Post adds, "The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service announced its decision to ban Dr Keilloh from working as a doctor yesterday after finding him guilty of misconduct." The Herald Scotland explained, "The MPTS recognised Dr Keilloh, now a GP at Mayford House Surgery in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, never harmed Mr Mousa and did everything possible to save his life, in a setting that was 'highly charged, chaotic, tense and stressful'. But they ruled he must have seen the injuries and, especially as a doctor, had a duty to act." Mary Gearin (Australia's ABC) quotes MPTS Chair Brian Alderman telling Keilloh, "The panel determined that erasure is the only appropriate sanction in this case. Given the gravity and nature of the extent and context of your dishonesty, it considers that your misconduct is fundamentally incompatible with continued registration."
BBC News reports today that "about 300 people" are calling for him "to be reinstanted." They say that they know him and are his former patients and he's just wonderful. No, he's not. If he had any kind of character worth praising, he would have issued a statement saying, "Please stop calling for me to be reinstated." He failed to do his job. There are serious ethical issues here. Oh, he did a great job on your boo-boos? Well you're British. He's not accused of enabling the mistreatment of British citizens. It is an insult to the Iraqi people that so few have been punished for the murder of Baha. It was murder. He was an innocent. He is dead now.
Grasp that. Keilloh can do whatever he wants with the rest of his life. That option has been forever denied to Baha. Baha Mousa had a wife, he had children. He was a hotel clerk. He never should have been rounded up. Once rounded up, he shouldn't have been beaten. He was and others were as well. That's due to the fact that Keilloh didn't maintain professional standards, didn't follow basic ethics of medicine.
Baha Mousa is dead. The Telegraph of London has a photo of him with his wife Yasseh and each are holding a child -- their children, their sons Hussein and Hassan. Little boys who no longer have a father. Any suffering Keiloh may experience is not going to trump that. Two little children lost their father. A woman lost her husband. Not by chance, not by accident, but by the actions certain individuals took. Keiloh's professional embarrassment/set-back doesn't begin to compare with the world that was torn from Yasseh Hussein and her two sons. If Keiloh had character, he'd tell the people demanding he be re-instated to leave it alone.
Yasseh Hussein is only one of the many widows produced by the Iraq War. The International Committee of the Red Cross has posted a brief documentary on YouTube about Iraq's widows that the Arte network produced. Here's an excerpt.
ARTE: From above, Baghdad seems to be a city like any other, far removed from the violence of the past nine years. But sometimes the traces of war have a human face. On every street corner, you glimpse black silhouettes. These are the widows of Iraq. In a country haunted by war, no one takes notice of these living ghosts. There are more than a million widows in Iraq with 400,000 in Baghdad alone. Tradition dictates that these widows be taken in by their husband's family. Um Barak and her children live with 24 people in 50 square meters.
UM BAKAR: (gesturing around the small, single room): We use these blankets as a bed. We have a gas stove to keep warm and we eat here.
ARTE: In this time of conflict when people are already struggling to cope, a widow's often a burden on her husband's family. Left to fend for herself, Um Barak raises her children alone in this tiny room.
UM BARAK: Which is bigger, the earth or the sun?
CHILD: The sun.
UM BARAK: Okay. What about the stars? Are they bigger than the sun?
ARTE: What is it like, living here?
UM BARAK: What do you think? We live on top of each other. It's very hard for us. Ask them. They have no freedom. No one here is free -- not my husband's family, not us. We're suffocating.
ARTE: Power cuts and water shortages are a daily reality for Um Barak. Her husband was kidnapped and killed six years ago. Since then, she receives only $300 every two months. It seems there's no chance for a better life with barely enough to give her sons an occassional treat.
[At a market.]
UM BARAK: Do you want a fruit juice?
CHILD: No.
UM BARAK: You sure?
ARTE: Is state aid enough?
UM BARAK: $300 isn't enough for one month. It doesn't matter who you are. $300 wouldn't even be enough for a week even and I have to make it last for two months.
ARTE: In an attempt to find a solution to her problems, Um Barek regularly goes to the education center for widows. Around 30 women get together there every week. Today, this young woman from the center has handed out a questionairre about religious tolerance.
CENTER WORKER: Don't copy. Answer the questions yourself.
ARTE: But their attention soon returns to their daily lives.
WOMAN 1: All of this is the government's fault. The government has no respect for widows. What are we supposed to do with $300 every two months or if we get nothing like this lady here. How much do members of Parliament get? Do they think about what women have to endure in our society when they lose their husbands? These are mothers after all. It is up to you, humanitarian organizations, to find a solution for us widows.
CENTER WORKER: We're not from the government. We're a humanitarian association so you can speak freely.
ARTE: This center is one of the few places where these women can express themselves. It's a much needed outlet in a society where widows are often mistreated by their husband's families.
CENTER WORKER: Couldn't you make meat patties? Snacks? Kibobs? And sell them?
WOMAN 2: You really think I could do that? My husband's family would never allow it.
WOMAN 2: You really think I could do that? My husband's family would never allow it.
Such passes for life in Iraq. Iraq rakes in billions each year on oil. Where does the money go? It doesn't go into infrastructure -- potable water and reliable and constant electricity remain elusive dreams -- and it doesn't go into caring for Iraq's widows and orphans. Were it not for Moqtada al-Sadr and Iraqiya, Nouri would have ended the food-ration card system weeks ago as he planned to. Instead, people called out Nouri's decisions. It was noted that in poverty plagued Iraq, taking away the food staples guaranteed to each family by that card would force women and children further into poverty. That didn't trouble Nouri, he was still willing to go ahead with it. Moqtada and Iraqiya not only called out the decision but, with the support of the Iraqi people, were able to shame Nouri into backing off.
If you're not grasping how Nouri is failing the Iraqi people, refer to this graph at Niqash offering the government's annual budget. In 2003, it was only 6.1 billion dollars (US). Today? 118.4 billion dollars. And yet the Iraqi people continue to do without.
Iraqi females -- women and girls -- are also at the risk of torture and rape in Iraq's prisons and detention centers. Felicity Arbuthnot (Pravda) notes that and also notes:
In the light of the fact that it transpires that twenty-seven Foreign Office lawyers concluded unanimously that the Iraq invasion of Iraq was illegal, I write to draw your attention to just a few of the the chilling events currently taking place in Iraq under the US-UK's despotic, imposed, puppet Prime Minister.
Firstly, here is a list of prisons, detention facilities, interrogation centres and numbers of those held in each, as far as can be ascertained in the circumstances. As you will surely know, people are routinely arbitrarily detained for weeks, months, even years, often without trial, and with one, usually under a totally inadequate or corrupt legal system.
On the 3rd of January 2013, Nuri al-Maliki carried out the death sentence on Ahmed al-Samarrai and two other men from Mosul, on charges of his resisting the U.S. and Iran occupation. Resisting an unlawful occupation is, of course, a legal right. His body was not delivered to his family; a funeral will take place in his honor, in gatherings, in Anbar and elsewhere in Iraq. (Should you question the US occupation since they "pulled out" last December, just see the Vatican City size US embassy and its thousands of mercenaries, intelligence operators and nefarious other spooks and enforcers.)
Early this morning (the 4th of January), al-Maliki's forces - wearing all black clothing - entered Taji Prison and took one hundred prisoners from the western city of Ramadi to an unidentified place. Death squads come to mind - again.
Al-Maliki has also ordered an on sight shoot-to-kill policy toward protesters.
By August 31st, there had been ninety-six executions in 2012, with twenty-six people reportedly being executed on both the 27th and 29th of August. Few details of those executed or their identities were released. They are simply the disappeared in the tradition of all despots. Iraq: "... has a huge problem with torture and unfair trials ...", Human Rights Watch, who produced the report, pointed out.
Rightly or wrongly, Nouri is seen as using the death penalty to kill Sunnis while releasing Shi'ites who have murdered other Iraqis. He's seen as crowding the prisons with Sunnis via the mass arrests that target them. He's seen as hurrying to execute Sunnis out of fear that a (long promised but never delivered) amnesty law might allow some of them to be released. An amnesty law never makes it out of Parliament. September and October saw serious attempts at getting it passed into law; however, Nouri's State of Law opposed the bill.
September 27th saw a major attack on a Tikrit prison. From the next day's snapshot:
Dar Addustour reports that Thursday is supposed to see another vote on the proposed Amnesty Law. This has gone on for years. The amnesty was being discussed while Bully Boy Bush was still occupying the White House. You cannot end a war without an amnesty. Violence in 2012 appears to back that up.
Meanwhile AFP reports that Nouri's thugs and ass kissers rallied in Kut, Diwaniyah, Karbala and Samawa -- if all are added together "thousands" were in the street declaring their undying love for Nouri al-Maliki. If that seems like a large number, you haven't been paying attention. Ran Alaaldin (The National) notes that Friday saw 60,000 alone in Falluja.
The protests against Nouri continue in Iraq. All Iraq News reports that Nouri's advisor Amer Khuzaie took to the TV to proclaim that Nouri has responded to the protesters "legitimate" demands. They note there were no specifics given. Alsumaria notes that Iraqiya MP Hamid al-Mutlaq states that Nouri needs to grasp how serious these demonstrations are and that any attempt to suppress them would be devastating and cause a rift between the government on one side and the citizens on the other. He also objected to the use of the military to suppress the demonstrations and noted that these had been peaceful demonstrations.
Yesterday at the Mosul protests, the Iraqi military showed up and attacked the protesters. Kitabat notes that they fired guns and used batons injuring at least four and they review the demands of the protesters which include that those arrested who work for Minister of Finance Rafie al-Issawi be transferred to the Anbar Province's court system (Baghdad is seen as a kangaroo court controlled by Nouri), that Article IV be suspended (and with it the Justice and Accountability Commission), the release of detainees, holding security personnel accountable for rape and negligence of prisoners and detainees, stop the executions, pass an amnesty law, checks and balances on all the government institutions and the military, withdraw the Iraqi army from cities and end the operations in the governorates (reference to Tigris Operation Command which Nouri sent into the disputed areas), ensure that the judicial bodies are neutral from political interference, ban sectarianism from phrases and logos of the state institutions, and end the random night raids, speed up the professionalization of the Federal Supreme Court so that the judges do not belong to a political party or bloc.
Yesterday at the Mosul protests, the Iraqi military showed up and attacked the protesters. Kitabat notes that they fired guns and used batons injuring at least four and they review the demands of the protesters which include that those arrested who work for Minister of Finance Rafie al-Issawi be transferred to the Anbar Province's court system (Baghdad is seen as a kangaroo court controlled by Nouri), that Article IV be suspended (and with it the Justice and Accountability Commission), the release of detainees, holding security personnel accountable for rape and negligence of prisoners and detainees, stop the executions, pass an amnesty law, checks and balances on all the government institutions and the military, withdraw the Iraqi army from cities and end the operations in the governorates (reference to Tigris Operation Command which Nouri sent into the disputed areas), ensure that the judicial bodies are neutral from political interference, ban sectarianism from phrases and logos of the state institutions, and end the random night raids, speed up the professionalization of the Federal Supreme Court so that the judges do not belong to a political party or bloc.
Patrick Markey, Aseel Kami, Raheem Salman and Alistair Lyon (Reuters) report that "Iraqi Sunni Muslim and Kurdish ministers boycotted a cabinet sessions on Tuesday to show support for protests that threaten Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's fragile cross-sectarian government, lawmakers and a government source said." Karafillis Giannoulis (New Europe) adds, "A senior government source confirmed that the ministers had missed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Cabinet Session because the ministers did not see a governmental action to implement protesters' demands."
Kitatbat reports that in Anbar Province, the people are providing food and medical services to the protesters on a daily basis in a show of solidarity with those who have blocked the international highway that links Baghdad to Jordan and Syria. There is a food pavilion (photo with the article) that prepares food daily -- bread, rice, meat and soup -- and a tent has been set up with doctors, nurses and pharmacists. The tribal leaders see it as "an honor" and "a duty" to feed the protesters who have been protesting night and day.
All Iraq News notes that 50 MPs have signed on to question Nouri before Parliament. There are a number of things he could be questioned on. For example, October 9th, Nouri was strutting across the world stage as he inked a $4.2 billion weapons deal with Russia. In the time since, the deal has fallen apart amidst accusations of corruption with Nouri's former spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh having left his position and the country and stating that he is innocent but that there are attempts to blame him for the corruption. Nouri's son is also whispered to have benefited from an allegedly crooked deal. Last week, the Iraq Times noted it was Nouri who finger-pointed at Ali al-Dabbagh and that Iraqiya was stating he was attempting to obscure details and that the names of all involved needed to be made public. Dar Addustour reports that the Parliamentary committees investigating the deal (there are several including defense, integrity and security) have found that there were two prices. There was the negotiated price that the first delegation arrived at with the Russian government and then there was a different price when the second delegation negotiated. The difference between the two? Over 50%. The price agreed to in the first round somehow more than doubled. Mohammad Sabah (Al Mada) speaks with an unnamed member of the Integrity Committee who states the Committee will release their final report today.
Along with the reports that all three Committees are supposed to release and the move to question Nouri before Parliament, there was talk in the last days of a no-confidence vote in Nouri.
When there's talk of a possible no-confidence vote on Nouri, what does State of Law do? That's right they start saying they'll launch a no-confidence vote on Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi. Dar Addustour reports the latest whispered threats of that.
Through Monday, Iraq Body Count counts 75 people killed in violence in Iraq so far. In today's reported violence, All Iraq News notes a Mosul bombing hs claimed the life of 1 person. Alsumaria notes the corpse of 1 soldier was discovered in Kirkuk. Alsumaria also notes a Baquba car bombing which claimed 4 lives and left ten more people injured.

subset: commoncrawl


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Chicken stir-fry in 4 easy steps
Nutrition and extra info
- Easily halved
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal501
- fat5g
- saturates1g
- carbs76g
- sugars3g
- fibre2g
- protein42g
- salt1.02g
- 4 skinless boneless chicken breast fillets
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp cornflour, plus 1 tsp extra
- 350g fragrant Thai rice
- thumb sized knob of root ginger
- 1 red pepper
- 1 shallot
Related to the onion (as opposed to being a younger version of it), shallots grow in clusters at…
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 red chilli (optional)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
Fish sauce
A seasoning often used in Vietnamese and Thai cooking. In Vietnam it is usually made from shrimp…
- juice 1 lime
The same shape, but smaller than…
- handful basil leaves
Velveting the chicken: Slice the chicken into bite-size pieces. Beat together the egg white and 1 tbsp cornflour in a bowl. Tip in the chicken and coat with the mix (see Know-how, top right). Marinate for 15-30 mins (don't place in the fridge or the mix will harden). Now rinse the rice in a sieve under the cold tap until the water runs clear.
Making perfect rice: Drain the rice, tip into a pan with a lid and pour over 600ml water and a pinch of salt. Bring the water to the boil, then cook the rice uncovered for 10 mins or so until the water has almost boiled away and small craters appear. Cover with a lid, turn the heat down as low as it will go and cook for 10 mins more.
Getting the ingredients ready: Strip the ginger skin with a teaspoon and finely chop until you have 1 tbsp. Halve the pepper and trim off the stalk, inner pith and seeds. Cut into bite-size pieces. Peel the shallot and garlic clove, then thinly slice. Trim the ends off the chilli, if using, removing the seeds if you like it milder, and cut into thin slices. Remove the chicken from the egg marinade and pat dry with kitchen paper.
Foolproof stir-frying: Heat a wok and pour in 1 tbsp oil. Cook the chicken for 7-10 mins, tossing until just cooked. Set aside. Pour in some more oil if you need to. Add the pepper and cook for 1 min, then cook the ginger, shallot and garlic for 1-2 mins more. Combine the fish sauce, lime juice, 50ml water and 1 tsp cornflour. Tip into the wok, then add the chicken. Cook for 1 min, stir through the basil, then serve with the rice.
Recipe Tip
Try it with beefBeef with noodles: Try 'velveting' beef strips instead of chicken. Instead of rice, soak 200g thick rice noodles according to pack instructions, then stir into the wok along with the fish sauce mixture.
Recipe Tip
Try is with tofuTofu with sesame seeds: Use chopped tofu instead of chicken – there's no need to 'velvet' the tofu. Add mangetout along with the red pepper and sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve.
Recipe Tip
Troubleshooting: The stir-fry is greasyResist the temptation to add a lot of oil. Using a non-stick or well-seasoned wok and cooking over a really high heat should cut down on the amount of oil you need. If the mixture does start to stick or burn, add 1 tbsp of water instead of extra oil.
Recipe Tip
Know how - velvetingVelveting is a technique used in Asian cooking for protecting delicate meats like chicken or fish. The light marinade of egg white and cornflour provides a protective coating when cooked, stopping meat from drying out. The coating also gives it a soft, velvety texture, hence the name.


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Look for a Word in a Verse in Any Bible
The other day someone posted an interesting question on our user forums:
How would I find in which version of the Bible is "endurance" used in Hebrews 12:1?
In this age of multiple translations, this kind of question is becoming increasingly common. We may have heard a well-known verse in one translation growing up. Then we may attend a congregation which uses a different version of the Bible. We might also learn a worship song that sets that verse to music using yet another translation. The end result of all this is that we become unsure which Bible to consult for a particular wording of a familiar verse. We may even find that the wording we have in our heads is a conflation of two of more different translations.
So how can we search all our English Bibles to find the rendering of a familiar verse which matches the wording inside our heads?
We could enter a key word like "endurance" in the Search All field of the Toolbar, but that would search every verse of every Bible for the word endurance. How then can we narrow the search to a particular verse? Here's the solution a couple of our forum gurus came up with:
First, type the word "endurance" into the Search All field. Then choose the AND command from the Enter Command submenu of the Search menu (or use the keyboard shortcut shift-command-A). Next choose the RANGE command from the Enter Command submenu of the Search menu (or use the keyboard shortcut shift-command-R). Now, replace the selected question mark inside the Range command with Hebrews 12:1. Finally, click the magnifying glass icon inside the Search All field and choose [All Texts] from the menu that appears. This will limit the search to just your Bible texts so that your Tool modules are not searched.
When you hit Return, Accordance will find every Bible which uses the word "endurance" in Hebrews 12:1. These include the HCSB, ESV, NAS95, NKJV, and NLT. You can then compare all those versions to see which has the wording you had in mind.
Archived Comments
Angel Zumaeta
I will take advantage of this post to ask why is it that sometimes (many times actually) when I close a tab or a window, the whole software closes down or quits? I has happened many times and it is anoying because I have to start all over again looking for my workzones and my searches.
David Lang
Moises, if you're experiencing crashes, please post your problem to our user forums or contact our tech support directly. The last thing we want is for you to deal with repeatable problems like this, and we'll do whatever we can to solve the problem.
Once again thank you for a clear and easy to follow teaching.
Glad to be getting your posts again. I didn't realize that Mountian Lion did away with RSS in Mac Mail and I wasn't getting your feed! Using the email method now.
Thanks again for the great tips.


text:
Thursday, April 12, 2007
I just love it when some tech or nurse comes up to me, oh, at 3:00 a.m. in the middle of a hellish shift and says "look at the bright side, you only have 4 more hours". This is the equivalent to saying to someone "look at the bright side, I am only going to stick you with this HOT POKER for four more hours". I don't think that person would say "great!, I thought you were going to poke me for 5 hours".
A Haiku:
Only four hours left
Oh great, another jerk-off
Night shift, hot poker
ETOTHEIPI, could you send me one of your severed feet. The next time I kidnap someone I could use use to up the ante and show the family I mean business.
11 comments:
I would bet it's like when I am doing a triathlon, and people shout out unhelpful things like "only 5 more miles to run" which makes me want to put tape over their mouth or something because 5 miles left are a lot of miles left after all the swimming and the biking. Except at least for me, when I am done, I can choose when to do another triathlon, and don't have to do them day after day.ReplyDelete
Bright side for you: I suspect if you kidnap people and threaten the family with a severed foot, you will eventually be caught, thus ending your long hellish shifts.
- Anonymous9:18 AM, April 13, 2007
Yes! Another Tri fan! Actually, my favorite spectator comment ever was at mile 22 of a marathon. I had poorly trained and was suffering from not only full-body muscle seizures, but also bleeding nipples (never forgot the band-aids after that one). As I slowly dropped back in the pack, one of my friends, who was 'helping' me from a mtn. bike saw my agony and started chanting loudly over and over: "Nobody loves a loser!". Sweet.ReplyDelete
911doc: Foot in mail. Will advise.
- Anonymous9:28 AM, April 13, 2007
sorry, gotta jump in on the haikus (haiki?)ReplyDelete
Amputated foot
Will you fit up my rectum
I might as well try
OK, this is stolen from the master himself (S's. Cat). Please grace us, sir, with your poetic genius.
Just to clarify the jerk off in the poem is not a nurse or tech, it is the patient. And I don't do triathalons, but I did bowl for 3 1/2 hours 2 nights ago. I did not think I was going to make it, but with the encouragement of friends, I DID. Thanks to my Hammer Raw Toxic ball.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10:57 AM, April 13, 2007
SC. missed that the "Ode" was you.ReplyDelete
You've still got it.
I hope you were wearing a wrist guard...
some shifts there is just no "bright side", especially if you have to deliver the "granny/daddy/mommy/son/daughter died" news.ReplyDelete
the "bright side" people are the same ones who say the following...
"are we having fun yet?", and,
"looks like you've got a case of the mondays!"
but Cat, i wonder how long you have to bowl to burn 100 calories? since i imagine you were consuming adult malted beverages at the time i would guess that it's a deleterious activity, but one that is, no doubt, very good for the soul.
a haiku:
the bowling alley,
carnival of beer bellies,
thongs and adipose.
WOW. You summed it up 911. Seriously though, I love bowling. Mack has started bowling too. Don't take it up. It is as addictive as crack (at least that is what they say).ReplyDelete
- Anonymous11:52 AM, April 13, 2007
That was funny!ReplyDelete
Perhaps you could wear the foot around your neck on a chain?
- Anonymous2:08 PM, April 13, 2007
It's about time you got that ball drilled but 3 1/2 hours? I don't even bowl that much and I was genetically engineered for it... and you know what I'm sayin' brother-in-law. Did the soreness in your arm make you feel young and single again?ReplyDelete
- Anonymous3:42 PM, April 13, 2007
How much of that 3 1/2 hrs. of bowling was actually sittin' around chuggin' beer and nachos and BS'in around? At least that's what I do on bowling nights.ReplyDelete
I was wondering if I could get a foot also? I'd like to use it on the next person who pisses me off so, I can nonchalantly stateReplyDelete
"This is what's left of the last person who.... (you fill in the blank).
I think it's work wonders, I'll take peace over money any day.


text:
Has Access Consciousness changed your life? Would you like even more change? Would you like to empower others to know that they know?
Would you like to own your own business being an Access Consciousness® Certified Facilitator? What if this could be something you add to your life that creates more for you and everyone?
As a Certified Facilitator you will be able to facilitate Foundation Classes, Access Bars Classes, Access Tasters, Access Bars Gifting & Receiving and any classes you create on a specific subject with permission from Gary Douglas or Dr. Dain Heer.
As a Certified Facilitator you are stepping into being a contribution to more consciousness being available on this planet and to everyone who chooses it.
It is a huge gift to open up a greater possibility for the end of limitation, destruction and judgment on this planet – or at the very least to begin to change the world we live in now.
You're already a catalyst for change. Is now the time to BE this and BE the difference you are? We look forward to creating with you in the infinite possibilities of something greater for us all!
1. In order to become a Certified Facilitator for the first time you need to take these classes:
* Note: You can do one round of Access Bars and The Foundation classes, and then a second round. You don't have to take two Access Bars classes before taking The Foundation.
2. In addition you are required to purchase and listen to the following Telecall Series and Telecalls with Gary Douglas & Dr. Dain Heer:
3. In addition you are required to purchase and read the Access Reference Materials.
You can do this after you have completed the Choice of Possibilities Class (former Level 2&3).
4. In addition you are also required to purchase and read the book OR listen to the Telecall Series of:
5. Attend or purchase from the shop the most recent Global Foundation class.
Online replays, telecalls, teleseries and books are all there for you!
Then please register and attend the 5 day Access Facilitators Training class! This is offered three times a year; in August in Costa Rica, in December in Australia and in March in Europe.
Once you register, we will send you more information including the Annual Online Survey to complete.
How would you renew your Access Consciousness Certified Facilitator License?
Please note: These requirements can change at any time and there may be additional requirements. Access Consciousness changes all the time and we would like you to be at the creative edge of consciousness.
Welcome to a new reality!
Learn more and view the class calendar to register for required classes on your way to becoming a Certified Access Consciousness Facilitator.
Learn more and view the class calendar to register for a required facilitator training class on your way to becoming a Certified Access Consciousness Facilitator.


text: The craft brew industry is a prime example of a 21st century customer-brand dynamic. As you may know if you've been reading my blog, I am a bit obsessed with the philosophy of Gary Vaynerchuk and his views on what social media means to the present and future of branding. Microbrews and their cult-like support from many walks of life is a perfect example of the power of word of mouth in the 21st century. The village ecosystem of commerce is returning with the powerful viral capability of the passionate few.


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LITTLE ROCK — Republican gubernatorial candidate Curtis Coleman announced his education plan during a series of stops across the state Wednesday, including at the state Capitol.
LITTLE ROCK — Republican gubernatorial candidate Curtis Coleman announced his education plan during a series of stops across the state Wednesday, including at the state Capitol.
The plan includes repealing the state's school consolidation law and the Common Core Standards Initiative, and allowing school choice across the state.
"I'm convinced … that Arkansas can be one of the most prosperous states in the nation and that we have the capacities, we have the resources, we have the people to be a national leader in creating and attracting new businesses and new high-paying jobs in Arkansas," he said, adding that "education remains the most effective vehicle for financial and social mobility."
Under the plan, called "Arkansas at the head of the class," programs and standards required for teachers, including the Common Core Standards Initiative, would be eliminated so the teachers could have more time to teach, he said.
Legislation also would be filed to allow school choice across the state, so parents can choose where their children attend school, and repeal the state's school-consolidation law, which requires school districts face mandatory consolidation if they fall below 350 in average daily membership for two consecutive years.
Coleman said that since Act 60 of 2004, more than 118 school districts have been consolidated and more than 91 schools have been closed.
"Some of these schools have been the highest performing and best financially managed schools in the state, like the Weiner School District in northeast Arkansas," the report said.
Coleman discussed his education plan during Wednesday morning visit to Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. He was to address a crowd at the Western Sizzlin steak House in Jonesboro Wednesday night.
Thursday, he plans to discuss his proposal during stops in Texarkana, Magnolia and Monticello.


text:
Model #DVR-8602
|List Price:
|Our Price:
General Description
We're committed to exceeding your expectations:
- Found it for less? We'll match the price
- 25-Year or Limited Lifetime Warranty
Our customers come first — we guarantee it!
All the furniture your Science Lab needs, for less! These Adjustable Height Laboratory Tables are perfect for students of all sizes!
Wheelchair accessible - ADA compliant.
- Manufacturer:
Diversified Woodcrafts
From 1975, Diversified Woodcrafts has been developing an entire line of high quality, chemical-resistant science furniture. Their innovative products can be found in schools, laboratories and museums across the United States.
- Width:
- 24 in.
- Length:
- 60 in.
- Height:
- 27-42 in.
- Weight:
- 122 lbs.
- ADA Compliant:
- Yes
- Adjustable Height:
- Yes
- Adjusts by:
Ratchet System
The table legs adjust by moving up in 1-inch increments. The legs must go all the way up in order for them to go back down.
- Adjusts in:
- 1" Increments
- Folding:
- No
- Glides:
- Adjustable Glides
- Leg Finish:
Powder Coated
Powdercoated paint finish is applied through a dry finishing process which creates a scratch-resistant, rust-free, eco-friendly finish.
- Leg Specs:
- Steel, 2.4"dia
- Leg Style:
- 4 Straight Legs
- Seating Capacity:
- 2
- Tabletop Core Material:
Medium-density Fiberboard
Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is made from wood particles and resin fused together under pressure. It is cost-effective and durable.
- Tabletop Edge:
- Vinyl T-mold
- Tabletop Support:
- Solid-Wood Apron
- Tabletop Surface Material:
Chemical-Resistant Laminate
Laminate, which is made by bonding a printed sheet of paper to partical board by means of heat and resin, is resistant to most chemicals and stains, with limited resistance to high temperatures and severe chemicals.
- Tabletop
- 1.25"
- Tabletop Weight Capacity:
- 500 Lbs. Evenly Distributed
- Warranty:
- Limited Lifetime
- 1 1/4" chemical resistant ChemGuard desktop.
- Tables adjust easily - without tools - from 27" to 39" high (plus 3" by twisting the 3" spacer at the bottom of the legs).
- Great ADA Solution.
- Raise only one end for an incline table for physics.
- 500-lb. weight capacity.
- 4 1/2" high sold oak frame with exposed metal corner braces.
- Adjustable glides (standard) or locking casters (optional).
- Optional casters are 2.5" high and table with casters would start at 29.25" high.
- Wheelchair accessible - ADA compliant.
- Lifetime Coverage: Our Limited Lifetime Warranty guarantees many years of use and enjoyment.
NOTE: Now with a UV finish - more chemical resistant, extremely tough and smooth
This product is ADA compliant and wheelchair accessible.
This product has been certified by an independent tested laboratory to conform to SEFA 8 standards. SEFA 8 Standards were developed by The Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association (SEFA).
We're committed to exceeding your expectations:
- Found it for less? We'll match the price
- 15-Year or Limited Lifetime Warranty
Our customers come first — we guarantee it!
Shipping & Assembly
- Ships Via:
- Common Carrier
- Leaves Factory In:
- Approximately 7 days
- Assembly:
- Minimal
- Average Assembly Time:
- 5 Minutes
Diversified Adjustable Lab Table with ChemGuard Top
|List Price:
|Our Price:
Product Family
This product is a part of Adjustable Height Laboratory Tables
There are 8 products in the family


text:
Posters Printed for Disaster Risk Reduction
Investing in the human resources is the best investment and capacity building of different segments of the society can give very good results as there is tremendous potential to be exploited. SDS gives due importance to the capacity building of its own staff, community, government departments, local government representative, Community Based Organizations, (CBOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in different sectors of work.
After the devastating earthquake of October 2005 DRR and CBDRM is being given the due importance. SDS has been actively involved in relief and response activities and has carried out a number of interventions under DRR and CBDRM.
No society can progress unless due importance is given to education, especially female education. There is a need to work collectively to increase enrolment and attendance in the schools and decrease drop out ratio
Due to low literacy ratio and awareness level it is necessary to play an effective role in opinion building, attitudinal change, awareness raising and policy shift. Having strong roots in the community advocacy and lobbying has been an effective tool of SDS.
Livelihood is an important component of SDS programme areas. While designing the livelihood interventions emphasis is laid on serving the vulnerable segments of the society
Emergency Response to the Earthquake Affectees of District Shangla. SDS Distributed 1116 winterization kits among the affected families.
SDS Organized Training workshop on Action Research Skills for the Local and National Base Organizations.
SDS Organized a Consultation Meeting on How to Bridge Gap Between Police and Citizens at Peshawar.


text:
Indicative Rate * AU$410 to AU$860
Luxurious, contemporary and opulent are a just a few adjectives that describe Riviera Waters. Upon entering this gorgeous four bedroom home you immediately get a sense of its grandeur with its two storey foyered entrance, a large sweeping staircase and elegant decor. A chef would be proud to cook in the gourmet kitchen and for those hot Gold Coast days you have your very own swimming pool, outdoor Jacuzzi and private jetty. This luxury waterfront home is situated directly behind Jupiters Casino and the Gold Coast Convention Centre and is within walking distance of the best that Broadbeach has to offer: Pacific Fair shopping, Jupiters Casino, the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach's fabulous restaurant strip, and of course the Gold Coast's trademark golden beaches.
This stunning property is managed by Vogue Holiday Homes who specialise in offering a boutique collection of luxury waterfront homes on the Gold Coast. Their properties offer the full Gold Coast lifestyle experience, offering much more than your regular hotel or apartment stay. Their properties are maintained at a very high level and they offer exceptional service and advice to their valued guests from the first point of contact, during the stay and upon departure.
Luxurious and spacious four bedroom, four bathroom home. The oversized master bedroom suite is accompanied by a stylish en suite bathroom complete with double shower. The large alfresco areas ensure there is plenty of room to relax and enjoy the fabulous waterfront views. There are three flat screen televisions, XBox 360 with games, kayaks, fishing rods, mountain bikes, table tennis and free Foxtel.
Note: Information on listed products and services are provided by the operator and were correct at the time of publishing. Rates are indicative based on the minimum and maximum available prices of products and services. Please visit the operator's website for further information. All prices quoted are in Australian dollars (AUD).


text:
I enjoyed reading a post made yesterday by Jared Frederick in his blog, History Matters, about a recent lecture given by Gary Gallagher at West Virginia University. As Frederick summarizes the gist of Gallagher's remarks:
Gallagher's lecture was entitled "Wherever Our Army Has Been, There Remain No Slaves: The Union Army in the Equation of Emancipation." He delved into the Federals' varied roles in slave liberation. Gallagher urged his audience to view emancipation as a diverse process not necessarily revolving around a single person or event. As he noted, "The impact of the Union army should be central to any consideration of the process of emancipation. To leave it out–whether to emphasize the movement toward freedom of hundreds of thousands of African Americans, Abraham Lincoln's continuing importance, or some other factor–prevents true understanding of one of the transformative movements in American history." In other words, the notion of emancipation has been largely demilitarized in the consciousness of many historians, focusing instead on the broad political and social ramifications of escaped slaves, politicians, and President Lincoln.
This summary is fairly consistent with the thesis of Gary Gallagher's recent book, The Union War (2011). But if Jared Frederick is summarizing Gallagher correctly, I am heartened by his remark, "to view emancipation as a diverse process not necessarily revolving around a single person or event." This would suggest Gallagher has backed off a little from The Union War, when he states of the Union Army, "Their hard and costly service salvaged the Union and, more than any other factor, made possible emancipation" (3). No serious scholar would leave out the Union Army from the story of emancipation in the American Civil War. The arrival of Union forces undermined slave discipline by essentially nullifying slaveholders' ability to use force against their slaves. It reached the point later in the war, where even the prospect of the Union Army's arrival was enough to undermine slave discipline and force planters to renegotiate the terms of their slaves' work to keep them from abandoning plantations.
Yet it is not right to privilege the Union Army or another person or group of persons as the most important factor in emancipation. While the Union Army certainly made freedom for the slaves possible, it likely would have not become an agent of liberation had not the slaves forced the issue by seeking refuge with it. For example, in April 1861, Gen. Benjamin Butler offered the services of his troops to worried Maryland slaveholders, who believed a slave revolt was imminent. The following month, now in command of Fortress Monroe in Virginia, confronted with three slaves, escaped from building Confederate fortifications, seeking sanctuary in his lines, Butler gave them refuge. Indeed, the main reason the Union Army became an agent of liberation was its recognition of the military value of slaves to the Confederacy. Which would not have happened had not Confederate forces put slaves to work en mass in support of their military operations. So not only the slaves should receive credit for helping to liberate themselves, but white Southerners deserve backhanded credit as well for inadvertently giving Union forces a reason to undermine slavery by making use of their slaves for military purposes. And credit must be given to President Lincoln and Congress for their increasing support of emancipation over the course of the war. And the northern electorate for supporting emancipation at critical moments, when had the weight of opinion been different, Abraham Lincoln and other northern leaders might have backed away from emancipation. And the weight of international opinion that was increasingly against slavery and prevented the major European powers from supporting the Confederacy or actually intervening in the conflict, when otherwise it was in their geopolitical interest to do so.
So the moral here is that there is plenty of people and groups that are responsible for the American Civil War becoming a war that destroyed slavery. And the chain of cause and effect is sufficiently complex that it really is not useful trying to decide who or what was most important in emancipation. What we can be thankful for was that the interest and actions of these various people and groups converged in such a way that in the first half of the 1860s, they finally caused the end of a revolting institution that blotted the promise of the United States.


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What you need to know before you go
Italy has been at the heart of history for millennia but has grown into a country that blends the ancient and the modern. Florence's skyline brims with Renaissance monuments, Venice is a lagoon city that can spark romance in even the most lagging relationships, Milan is a world fashion capital and Bologna is a food lover's paradise. Italy's splendid natural landscapes span from the beautiful Alps to picture-postcard towns set against dramatic cliffs along the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian coasts. At the center of it all, Rome is one of the must-see capitals of the world for its pristine historical monuments, passionate locals, and so many more reasons.
Italy is more than its landscape, though. It's a place of astounding culture, from its grand operas to its world-famous cuisine. It continues to leave its mark in the worlds of arts, design, and fashion. Cherished by its warm and passionate people, Italy welcomes you to experience its rare beauty.


text: Hello, my name is nic, known as cinnic on yahoo. I am new to the site and what I need most is help, as we all do I guess?? I am trying to tease and free the people around me from their society nurtured shackles of greed and explotation and allow their pure hearts to rule their lives (yes I know I'm a bloody hippie). What I strive to achive is a marketing company web sie that facilitates and utilises people's greed as the catalist for its expansion useing the basis of pyramid selling for its structure(yeah yeah pyramids again) but the Profits minus turnover will go straight into a local community fund set up by the networking company. Here people can, chat, get ideas, get advice, find out where the best products are, buy products. Here the emphisis is not on discount but on developing the community to better it for all of us. A different kind of tax say based on need not necessity. So far I have a company which is trading and making profit, good preofit at that, but rather than use that money for myself I am donating it, so we will call my company client1, what I need is a web site that encompasses me offering the avove faciliities and many more, can you aid in any way? For example the first client (this is a real secured client1) is donating £100 per product sold to this marketing company. (I reckon that 1 in 15 people can become potential customers for just this particular product). The aim is then to become a marketing company for other companys products advertising their goods on the webpage that my company operates. Here's the tricky bit, the webpage needs to self generates like h2g2, with no boss at the top, in fact no bosses at all just internet voting and opinions. In fact, I am employed in a company happy being humble at the bottom of an engineering firm cleaning and making tea (I could be earning 40k!!). Companies coming into the site agree to give up a percentage of their profit from each customer who mentions the site when purchasing their product and this percentage is represented proportionately as advertising space or time. That way if they get no customers from the site they don't pay any money!! The public can then access the site to get the things they require eg, chat, gossip, public information. Example1 Tracy and her three collegues live 2 miles apart but work at the same building 10 miles away. They have tried car share schemes in the past but these have failed as Tracy who lives furthest away always ends up doing all the driving, whilst the other two chat and relax. In the pub one night they work out that combined they spend over £160 a week on fuel, due mainly to congestion induced traffic jams. They decide to post an e-mail requesting a taxi to pick them up and drive them to work and home again in the evening. The site then advertises for a driver and agrees payment from the fund. Tracy and her friends have agreed to donate £30 each per week (saving £10 each) Stan the main man in taxis has just seen the advert and replies that he can do that (he thinks that about £10 an hour!) The community then points out to Stan that if he converts his petrol taxi to dual fuel lpg, he can save 50% on his weekly fuel costs and reduce toxic emmissions over this trip by 90% from his taxi and that if he does this, the fund will pay him £15 per hour. Benefits to community:- Tracy and friends enjoy relaxed chauffered drive to and from work whilst saving £10 each per week. Congestion is reduced by 3 cars on their usual route to work so theoretically they get to work quicker! Toxic emissions are reduced by 4x100% toxic pollution cars being replaced by 1x10% emmission taxi Asthma rates fall slightly Parking around their workplace is freed up Tracy and friends no longer need to be two car families. Example2 Mrs Jones, single mother, ex drug user, unemployed wants to decorate her damp bed sit in time for her daughter's second birthday, she sends an e-mail for the request which goes to public net user vote (someone wanting something for free-eg of no benifit to the community would be voted for least) and is voted in or out according to the communities feelings. Bob the builder and decorater who has been out of work for three months sees the advert and replies stating he would only be too happy to do the job for £15 per hour. Example3 Tracy from example one is married to Bob the Builder and has a 2 year old son whom Bob used to look after three days a week before he started work again as a result of the commmunity scheme. She posts another advert asking for a child minder. Mrs Jones from example 2 has a NVQ3 in childcare but due to her history and circumstances finds she can not work but she replies anyway thinking-whats the point? The community suggests that she should be given a chance as we all need a second chance and anyway Bob's there to keep an eye on things as all builders do! She gets paid £15 per hour for the child minding. So from you I require some help with directing some people to design a site like h2g2 to set up a parallel site for this community scheme which could potentially merge in with h2g2 in the future. The site would eventually call for smart cards and replace cash and always be working always from the bottom up, empowering others to empower others. The potential is endless and scary which is why I can't run it alone for fear of personal greed!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!! For more info or to call me crazy please e-mail me at:- cinnicuk at yahoo.co.uk Thanks for your time xx --- Navin Dhanuka <navin_dhanuka at yahoo.com> wrote: > Hi, > > When I use IE the webpages I browse are located in > my C:\Documents and > Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary > Internet Files > When using Nestcape where are Cache/Temp Internet > files located > > Thanks in advance. > Navin Dhanuka > > > _________________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Get your free @yahoo.com address at > http://mail.yahoo.com > > > --------------------------------------- > For unsubscribe and other options, including > the Tip Harvester and archive of TheList go to: > http://lists.evolt.org Workers of the Web, evolt ! ____________________________________________________________ Nokia Game is on again. Go to http://uk.yahoo.com/nokiagame/ and join the new all media adventure before November 3rd.


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The innovative Emperor Gong Series captures the romance and splendor of the Far East with wonderful sounds and graceful designs. The elegant lines are classically beautiful, and blend equally well with contemporary or more traditional homes and gardens.
These gongs come with Natural Cherry finished ash wood or a Black finish and are available in three sizes from small to large. Note: not all sizes are available in both finishes.
Listen to the Emperor Gong Sounds
Small Emperor Gong
Regular Emperor Gong
Large Emperor Gong
Small Size
- Length from islet to the end of the windcatcher: 23 inches
- Gong Diameter: 6 inches
- Weight: 1 pound
- Available in Natural only
Regular Size - Includes Chi version
- Length from islet to the end of the windcatcher: 34 1/2 inches
- Gong Diameter: 10 inches
- Weight: 2.1 pounds
- Regular Size available in Black or Cherry
- Chi version is in Teak stained Ash wood
Large Size
- Length from islet to the end of the windcatcher: 50 inches
- Gong Diameter 13 3/4 inches
- Weight: 4 pounds
- Available in Black only
- Natural finish ash wood
- Black finish ash wood
- Hand-hammered brass gong


text:
Have you heard of Eric Proffitt and his idea about receiving a photo of your ancestor's home or a photo of the original birth certificate, or of the town's main street for $5.00?Eric is using Crowd Sourcing to raise the money to hire a firm to develop the software to make it happen. Sounds like a great idea.
Read about his proposal in a http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/crowd-sourcing-genealogy


text:
[Page 691]
Brisk D'Lita was greatly under the influence of its rabbi Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik. It had a great many yeshivas and synagogues, both Chassidic and Orthodox (Mitnagdim). Rich businessmen and merchants supported these institutions, large and small, and even such Mitzvas such as Hoshannas.
The Zionists were a majority in the city. They included most of the intelligentsia led by Colonel Dr. Shteinberg, who had full authorization from the Odessa Committee (The Zionist Headquarters in Russia). Leaders were C. Padua, M. Rabinovitch, Ben Zion Neumark, Leon Horoditche, and A. Pochachevski (from the first Chovevei Zion) they had participated in the first Zionist Congress.
After our successful annual collection of donations for settlements in Eretz Israel on the Eve of Yom Yippur in the synagogues, we decided to levy a special Keren Kayemet tax on all the Jews of Brest. Because of our opponents, we decided to keep this decision secret. After Yom Kippur we formed a special committee that would collect the Hoshannas. Three days before Hoshanna Raba we sent out people who stood in pairs the entire day and night on all the corners of the city, on the roads that led to the villages that supplied all the branches for the Hoshannas.
We tried to buy all their stock, but many of the village peasants refused to sell us their branches at our offered price they thought that they would get a better price in the city. This was a risk that would damage our whole plan; therefore our members, after arguing with the villagers, tore the leaves off the branches. The stripped branches were therefore rendered worthless. The peasants did not understand and stood all day in the city awaiting their fortune. Hundreds of Jews passed by and saw the damaged branches and would not touch them. A day before Hoshanna Raba there was disquiet in the city due to the lack of the Hoshanna branches at this stage the Zionists posted notice in all the central spots announcing that 'Kosher hoshannas' would be sold at certain locations. Every Jew that wanted to carry out the mitzvah of Hoshanna ran quickly to purchase them. Many became enraged when they discovered that it was a Zionist scheme, but they had no choice other than to purchase from us. The price was higher we earned a kopeck from each sale. All the money went to the Keren Kayemet.
There were some individuals who refused to buy from the Zionists. The Zionists decided to delay the prayers and sent special messengers to the villages to buy branches for them. The rabbi had to buy from us and willingly paid the tax. That particular Simcha Torah was characterized by especially joyous dancing.
Including: Zisman, Kvianovski, Lubelski, Koloditzki,
B.Z. Neumark, Markran, Henich, and Kviatkovski
[Page 695]
When he would visit a sick patient he would accept payment for his services, even on the Sabbath. When the rabbi, Chaim Soloveitchik, raised this matter with him, he replied: Rabbi, if the women know that I won't accept payment on the Sabbath, they'll all get sick on the Sabbath! It is written that the Sabbath is a day of rest what sort of rest would I get every Sabbath? Rabbi Chaim replied: you bow to the golden calf the entire week, at least on the Sabbath free your soul from the weekly work. You are a physician of the sick and a liberator of the oppressed. Are you then not duty bound?
He would charge ten kopecks a visit. Upon departing, he once heard a woman say: the doctor, came, took a tenner and departed! Hopefully he took the illness with him She thought that he was a Gentile, but he immediately replied to her in Yiddish: yes I took the tenner, but the illness is still with the patient, and it will be a miracle from heaven if he survives!
When there was an outbreak of cholera in the fortress, 28 Gentile and 8 Jewish soldiers were stricken, Dr. Shteinberg ordered that a huge pot of stew be cooked and given to the sick soldiers. All the Gentile soldiers recovered and the Jews died. When asked why he replied: from this we learn that Jews can't tolerate pork!
Brest was renowned as a bastion of the Mitnagdim. One of them, an educated young man married into a Chassidic family. His new father in law wanted him to become a Chassid and said: I don't care whether you go to the Gerrer or Kotzker Rebbe, as long as you are a Chassid, I don't mind . The young man replied: I don't believe in either the Gerrer or Kotzker rebbes, I only believe in what one says about the other!
Reb Shmuel Landau, a learned Jew, came to Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik on Purim and said: I wanted to send the rabbi the best wine as a Purim gift, but I could not find a suitably expensive container for such a good wine. I decided that the most expensive container is myself, so I drank the wine and then I came to you!
My grandfather Reb Meyer Ashkenazi was born in the old Brest (before they shifted the city) and died in the new Brest when he was aged 101. When he was ninety years of age, my grandfather fasted on Tisha B'Av. My grandmother, seeing that he was weakened, asked him to eat something - he took her by the hand and led her outside to the street. He showed her how the entire sky was lit by fire, and said: see how the synagogue is burning and you tell me to eat!
My grandmother died aged 100.
My father Reb Gershon Moshe, blessed be his name, died aged 98. He was never sick, never wore glasses and led the prayers at the lectern at the 'Hakodesh' synagogue on the High Holydays. When he turned 98, he was confined to his bed for 2 days and passed away peacefully without any suffering.
My mother, Bashe was born in Bialystok and died in Brest aged 96. She did a great deal for the poor and saw to it that no one would go hungry on the Sabbath.
From R-L top to bottom: Pesach Barkai (Burkowstein) Served in the Israeli Army
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
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Updated 18 Nov 2005 LA


text:
GreenPoint necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 123 diseños de 27 diseñadores freelance.
GreenPoint Partners ("GreenPoint") performs professional and financial services for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Principal business activities include consulting, sales, marketing, and finance.
We are the buyer's agency for commercial property stakeholders seeking to invest in green energy – distributed renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in order to lower operating costs and increase net operating income. Our company will:
• Serve as a trusted adviser to commercial property owners
• Provide credible and unbiased knowledge and experience to guide green energy investments
• Coordinate green energy information, processes, and vendors on a national scale – adapted to suit local market conditions, property types, and uses
GreenPoint exists to simplify green energy investments by helping companies navigate a complex landscape of technologies, subsidies, legislation, and financing options. We sell knowledge, unbiased advice, and dependable project management. Our approach is finance-driven, pragmatic, and results-oriented. In additional to professional services, GreenPoint will provide solutions for project finance –initially through referral partnerships, and later by originating loans. In the future, GreenPoint may also engage in franchise services.
The company serves real estate and energy stakeholders including: property owners and users, energy services companies (integrators), project financiers, product manufacturers, utilities, and governments.
We have fairly specific requirements about what we want, which are outlined in the attached brief:
1) "GreenPoint." text
2) Simplified compass or sundial logo
Please read the attached brief, and contact us for clarifying questions.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
There hasn't been all that much action in the Tampa Bay Rays stadium standoff of late — that's why they call them "standoffs" — but after today, it is on! This morning, commissioners in Hillsborough County voted to extend an offer to talk about building a stadium in Tampa for the Rays, after lawyers advised them that they were fine to do this since the team's lease clause prohibiting talks with other cities only applied to the team, not the other cities, since only the team is a signatory to the lease.
Still with me? Good. Because next thing, the Rays — who are a signatory to the lease, as you'll remember from last sentence — said okay, they'd agree to talk to Hillsborough County. And then St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster was all "Oh, I'm totally gonna sue you guys" and now everybody's going to have to go to court with lawyers and stuff and everything!
It looks like nothing's going to happen until after the season, which gives everybody plenty of time to marshal their lawyers and figure out whether the Rays are really prohibited from even talking to other cities while their St. Pete lease is in force, or whether just looking is okay. But it looks like if nothing else, both Hillsborough and the Rays have decided that it's time to test that in court, which means odds are there's gonna be a gumfight.


text:
I came home from a week away to a sizeable parcel…I'd not ordered anything…wasn't expecting anything…and it was addressed from EA..?
Oh, yeah! Without so much as a note or warning the Awesome Chaps at the big S-H had sent me out a little (BIG) parcel including a load of stickers, keyring and The Photo book of the year!
I'm guessing people with feature cars/ supported them at shows all got a copy! It's beautifully put together, full of stunning images and a nice way to spend a couple of hours with a coffee. I would say get a copy, but looking at the store I think they've all gone; make sure volume two is on your shopping list for next year though.


text:
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Your Selections:
Deena has always stored memorabilia in albums but has been "officially" scrapbooking for over 15 years. Her favorite scrapbooking subjects are her daughters, Niguel and Kylah. She loves to feature the many travel photos she and her husband have collected through the years. Deena also has a love of cardmaking and teaches monthly classes at a local store and online. When Deena's not scrapbooking, she's here to help you with inspiring new ways for using your die-cuts.


text:
NASA ground engineers and astronauts aboard the International Space Station are working together to fix an ammonia leak on the station.
The space agency reported late Thursday afternoon that space station crew members had reported seeing small, white flakes floating away from part of the space station's backbone earlier in the day.
NASA confirmed that the leak was ammonia and then noted that the rate of the leak is increasing.
The station's six crew members are not in danger and the orbiter continues to operate normally, officials said.
NASA reported that while crew members used handheld cameras, engineers at Mission Control used external television cameras to obtain additional imagery and pinpoint the location of the leak.
According to NASA's findings, the leak appears to be in the same area that was hit with a leak last fall. On Nov. 1, 2012, astronauts did a spacewalk to fix the leak.
While the leak appears to be from the same spot, NASA has not yet fully concluded that it's the same problem that occurred before.
Ammonia, a colorless gas made up of nitrogen and hydrogen, is used to cool the space station's power channels, which provide electricity to different systems. Each solar array, for instance, has its own independent cooling loop.
The leak is believed to be in one of the cooling loops coming from a solar array.
The leak could force the loop's shut down by Saturday.
The space agency noted that engineers are coming up with a plan to reroute power channels away from this one solar array, taking some pressure off that loop and hopefully maintaining full operation of all the systems that have been dependent on that one loop.
Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin, or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com.
Read more about government/industries in Computerworld's Government/Industries Topic Center.


text:
Scott Meyers brauchte ein neues Anderes Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 30 Designs von 7 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
Keynote (MAC) and PowerPoint template I am the nation's foremost authority on Investing in Self Storage Facilities. I give approximately 100 speeches per year from Stage, and another 100 + webinars. I am reworking my presentations, and I have had a Mac for approximately 6 months, and figured it's time to begin using keynote. Please visit http://www.SelfStorageInvesting.com to find out more about myself, as well as our brand, products, services, etc.
Keynote (MAC) and Powerpoint template: My target audience is made up of primarily real estate investors and small business opportunity seekers interested in learning about self storage. I also speak at the Industry trade shows to existing self storage facility business owners.
Keynote (Mac) and powerpoint template: Please create a new presentation template (2 actually) 1 for both Keynote (Mac) and Powerpoint (Microsoft). I'll pick 1 design, it just needs to be formatted for both operating systems/software. I have attached my old background in red, but studies have shown that red means stop, so I'm open to changing this. Blue seems neutral, green means go, and Gold has a wealth aspect, but i'll let you play with colors. I did see a presentation last week where the slide design was all white, with the speakers logo/brand in a small column on the left hand side of the page running from top to bottom. At the end of the day, i'd like it to be edgy, yet professional, and makes people want to buy or join me - if that makes sense.
It also needs to have the copyright info listed at the bottom, and room/abiltiy to add pictures more easily than the current slides. for that reason, I'd rather the borders be more open than the existing template, which is why I like the example of having my logo only on the left side.


text:
Home of the blues
The South Side of Chicago is where the genre blossomed. We tour some clubs where great music happens, and despair and hope, sorrow and laughter live side by side
So this is where the legend lives? In this simple, wooden two-story next to Papa Joe's Pizza and Dice Dojo Software, on a major road, and across from the gaping levels of a parking garage? How disappointing. But who cares? Certainly not the crowds flocking on foot, behind walkers, and on skateboards toward the wailing of an electric guitar and the rhythmic beat of a drum kit here at 2120 South Michigan Avenue on the South Side of Chicago. It's an address so famous even The Rolling Stones used it for a song title. From here, a certain sound spread through the city and the country and then right across the world. Without it, Led Zeppelin and The Beach Boys, The Black Keys and The White Stripes, and solo artists Kanye West and Dr. Dre – in fact, almost every musician in the past sixty years – would have been unthinkable. It was the sound of the Chicago blues.
Everyone knows that the blues originated in the Deep South, on the vast cotton plantations of Louisiana and Mississippi. But when, starting in the 1920s, the poor, rural blacks embarked on a mass exodus to the industrial north – New York, Detroit and Chicago – they took with them not only their hopes for a little prosperity, but also their culture and their songs.
Today, Chicago is the third-largest U.S. city and a major business and culture center, but back then, Al Capone's dark legacy clung to the steel mills and slaughterhouses where many of the newcomers labored long and hard. Those who could, earned their dollars on the city's myriad blues stages – not the healthier option thanks to the whiskey, but an easier one.
The city's best blues musicians pressed their songs of betrayal, love and loneliness on vinyl at the Chess brothers' studio at 2120 South Michigan Avenue. Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Koko Taylor were just three such bluesmen whose records have been captivating white middle-class kids around the world since the 1950s, segregation and racism notwithstanding. Even today, countless famous musicians and bands owe much to these giants of the genre. Even if its venerable halls look more like a museum today and the recording studio has long been a non-profit institution, the pathos of the songs recorded at the Blues Heaven Foundation overlays the patina. Its mission shines out as a neon-blue guitarist in the windows on the upper floor: "Keeping the Blues alive." And the music is kept alive by being played and felt. That's why bands regularly perform on the plain wooden stage in the back courtyard, as they are doing this particular Thursday night. Even really big names pay tribute to this little stage when they come to Chicago. Not long ago, The Rolling Stones played a couple of songs in the garden out back; on other days, Alicia Keys sits shyly in the audience.
The blues tells you things you don't want to hear
Keith Dixon-Nelson, 25, short hair, soft features, is confident "the blues will never die." He shakes hands with each of the nearly 80 visitors as they enter the garden. A band from Louisiana is expected and there's a sense of family reunion in the air. This is intended, Dixon-Nelson explains. "We stage these sessions mainly for locals – for free. It's a poor neighborhood."
Our host not only organizes gigs and cultivates good neighborly relations, he also gives tours of the museum and explains the history of the blues, taking visitors past devotional objects, like B.B. King's Fender and Stratocaster guitars, and first single pressings behind glass. More than anything, he is an anecdote machine. After all, he is the grandson of Chess Records' legendary songwriter Willie Dixon, who immortalized himself in more than 4000 tracks, including "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "I Just Want To Make Love To You." Colleagues became friends and regularly visited the Dixons. "I know all of my grandfather's stories that didn't go into a book about the blues." Nelson even learned some painful wisdoms from his grandfather: "The blues tells you things you don't want to, but need to, hear," explains Nelson. "You're broke, you have to get up early, and your woman is gone." Not pleasant things. "But hell, that's life …" The opening bars of "Sweet Home Chicago" swallow his final syllables.
Sitting in front of the stage on a plastic chair is David "Chainsaw" Dupont. Chainsaw is one of the best-known blues guitarists in the city. He plays chords in fast succession, like a chainsaw, hence his nickname. Today, he's here to listen. He has a straw hat shading his eyes, and over his denim shirt, a heavy silver chain dangling a mask of King Tutankhamen, the Egyptian pharaoh. New times call for new gods, though, and the 59-year-old believes they created their new, musical kingdom in Chicago.
Chainsaw didn't find the blues, it was the other way around – the blues found him. They croaked at him from big brown wooden radios, hissed and crackled on his neighbors' gramophones deep down in Mississippi. And sometimes the blues came straight into his home, brought along by the musicians who visited his parents. As a 6-year-old boy, David would listen, entranced, to the deep voices and the chords, and he threw himself into the music's arms. He was given his first guitar when he was 10, and taught himself to play.
"We worked in the sugarcane fields, my parents, my brothers, and I. None of us went to school. We never had enough to eat, just sat together, hungry, and turned on the radio," says Chainsaw. They listened to the blues, of course. When David turned 14, the music said to him: Come on, boy, let's go. There's nothing down here for you. So David went, taking his guitar and a suitcase more than 1000 kilometers north. His destination: the South Side of Chicago. He knew that was where the epicenter of black culture lay, where the "Blues District" covered entire blocks on 47th Street. North Chicago, on the other hand, remained the preserve of the white population. In fact, these two separate worlds barely mix even today, and a good 97 percent of Chicago's South Side is black.
Like so many others, Chainsaw jumped off the train at Central Station in Chicago, and earned a few dollars for the night playing at Maxwell Market. He reckons there are still more than 1000 musicians playing the blues in Chicago. And it's still a tough scene. Many become famous, but only very few become rich. Not even Chainsaw, for all his fame: His Fender guitar is in the pawnshop yet again. And his many gigs and months-long tours have taken their toll: He hasn't seen his son for years because "the blues came first," and his wife regularly left him and came back again. On the other hand: If you want to play good blues, you have to be hungry. And Chainsaw plays very good blues.
Now he's tired of traveling and only performs in Chicago. He plays in North Chicago, in the downtown clubs, at the Blue Chicago and Buddy Guy's Legends, in the shadow of towering skyscrapers, where stretch limos full of squealing women glide from traffic light to traffic light, or stop in trendy neigborhoods like Logan Square or Wicker Park. The musicians are good and the programs are good, but the clubs charge high prices. Tourists pay between 12 and 25 dollars to get in, enjoy some decent music and perfectly good drinks before leaving again with a souvenir T-shirt. Musicians like Chainsaw play these clubs for dollars. But on the South Side, they play from the heart.
The bars there lie tucked away between simple, narrow houses with picket fences, or in remote spots on main thoroughfares, where the lights of downtown Chicago twinkle like stars on the horizon. Dark streets, tough areas – industrial wasteland. People from North Chicago seldom stray here because for them, the South is still a no-go area. Yet this is where the heart of the Chicago blues truly beats – at clubs like The Waterhole, Linda's Place and Good Times, which charge no admission and sell no souvenirs. A faded neon sign in the window of Linda's Place advertising Miller Beer is the only indication that there's a bar behind the rickety door. The lettering over the mirror behind the bar warns: "If you want to stay in this place, you need a drink in your face."
Gene's Playmate Lounge (Gene Payton's place) has also barely changed in over thirty years. It's like a trip into the past: red tinsel on a stained ceiling, red faux leather benches in front of a low, mirror-backed stage, and naturally, a jukebox. Every Saturday night, the blues bar stages live music for the neighborhood. Anyone who wants to is welcome to perform. Payton, now 73, has been putting on these gigs since the 1980s. The men turn up in white or wine-red suits, some of the women in black dresses, and apart from the bass player, everyone here is black. Some evenings, the line stretches out onto the street. That way you know it's the beginning of the month.
It's the hidden clubs, like Gene's and Linda's Place, that keep the blues alive. When a song starts up, people almost immediately begin to dance. The first line is often met with calls from the audience, like: "Yeah, sister, he did you wrong." It's a party, a celebration of the blues. Even when Gene's left hand starts shaking due to Parkinson's, and Carolyn, his partner, says she could easily imagine taking things a little easier – a wish, a hope remains: that the high wailing of a guitar may continue to be heard at the end of the street from the blues bars on the South Side of Chicago, and that "Everyday I Have The Blues" – the favorite song of countless bands – will still be played for a very long time.


text:
Frank zappa (lead guitar, vocals)
Ray white (rhythm guitar, vocals)
Eddie jobson (keyboards, violin, vocals)
Patrick ohearn (bass, vocals)
Terry bozzio (drums, vocals)
Ruth underwood (percussion, synthesizer)
Don pardo (vocals)
David samuels (vibes)
Randy brecker (trumpet)
Mike brecker (tenor saxophone, flute)
Lou marini (alto saxophone, flute)
Ronnie cuber (baritone saxophone, clarinet)
Tom malone (trombone, trumpet, piccolo)
John bergamo (percussion over-dub)
Ed mann (percussion over-dub)
Louanne neil (osmotic harp over-dub)
It was the blackest night
There was no moon in sight
You know the stars aint shinin
Cause the skys too tight
I heard the scarey wind
I seen some ugly trees
There was a werewolf honkin
Long the side of me
I'm mean n I'm bad, yknow I aint no sissy
Got a big-titty girly by the name of chrissy
Talkin about her n my bike n me...
N this ride up the mountain of mystery, mystery
I noticed even the crickets
Was actin weird up here
And so I figured I might
Just drink a little beer
I said, gimme summa that what yer suckin on...
But there was no reply
Cause she was gone...
Wheres those titties that I like so well
N my goddamn beer!
Is what I started to yell, then I heard this noise
Like a crunchin twig, n up jumped the devil... Hes about this big...
He had a red suit on
An a widows peak
An then a pointed tail
N like a sulphur reek
Yes, it was him awright
I sweared I knowed it was
He had some human flesh
Stuck underneath his claws
You know it looked to me
Like it was titty skin
I said, you sonofabitch!
Cause I was mad at him,
Well he just got out his floss
N started cleanin his fang
So I shot him with my shooter
Said: bang bang bang
Then the sucker just laughed n said, put it away...
You know, I ate her all up... Now what you
Gonna say?
You ate my chrissy? Titties n all!
Well, what about the beer then, boy? Were the cans
This tall?
Even her boots? Would I lie to you?
Shit, you musta been hungry! Yes, this is true.
Well don't they pay you good for the
Stuff that you do?
Well, you know, I can't complain when the checks come through...
Well I want my chrissy, n I want my beer
So you just barf it back up now, devil,
Do you hear?
Blow it out your ass, motorcycle man! I mean, I am the devil,
Do you understand? Just what will you give me
For your
Titties and beer? I suppose you noticed this little
Contract here... Yer goddam right, you son-of-a-whore,
Don't call me that
That's about the only reason
... Gimme that paper... Bet yer ass I'll sign...
Cause I need a beer, n it's titty-squeezin time
Man, you can't fool me... You aint that bad...
I mean you shoulda seen some of the souls I had...
Why there was milhous nixon n agnew, too...
N both of those suckers was worse n you...
Well, lets make a deal if you think that's true
I mean, you're the devil, so whatcha gonna do?
(improvised dialog)
Wait a minute... A tinge of doubt crosses my mind... When you say...
That you want to make a deal with me...
That's very, very true
I'm only interested in two things
See if you can guess what they are
I would think... Uh... Lets see, maybe stravinsky...
Ill give you two clues. Let go of your pickle
Let go of your pickle!
I'm not holding my pickle
Well, whos holding your pickle then?
I don't know... Shes out in the audience...
Hey dale, would you like to come up here and hold
My pickle to satisfy this weird man out on the stage?
I'm only interested in two things, and that's
Titties and beer
You know what I mean?
Titties and beer
Titties and beer
Titties and beer
Titties and beer
Titties and beer
Titties and beer
Titties and beer!
Titties and beer!
I don't know if you're the right guy?
Titties and beer!
Titties and beer!
No! Don't sign it! Give me time to think...
I mean hold on a second boy, cause that's magic ink!
And then the devil let go of his pickle
And out come my girl, there was her titties
Flop-floppin... All around the world
She said I got me three beers and a fistful of downs
And I'm gonna get ripped, so fuck, you clowns!
Then she gave us the finger, it was rigid and stiff
That's when the devil, he farted
And she went right over the cliff!
The devil was mad, I took off to my pad
I swear I do declare, how did she get back there?
I swear I do declare, how did she get back there?
I swear I do declare, how did she get back there?
I swear I do declare, how did she get back there?
I swear I do declare, how did she get back there?