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The Woodinville Winers visit Lachini Vineyards
- Written by by Mike McClure and Terry Morse
As the number of tasting rooms and wineries in Woodinville continues to grow, a few wineries from outside of the state are starting to realize that Woodinville is the place to be for their tasting rooms. One of these is Lachini Vineyards (www.lachinivineyards.com), which specializes in Pinot Noir grown in Oregon.
Ron and Marianne Lachini have a 45-acre vineyard just outside of Newberg, Oregon where they grow and make premium Pinot Noir. In 1997, they moved to Oregon from Northern California where they bought their vineyard. Their passion then, as it is today, is to grow the grapes on their estate to make premium Pinot Noir. In 2001 they had their first limited vintage.
Caryn Wheat, their tasting room enthusiast, poured us several vintages of their Pinot. She was very helpful in explaining all the wines she poured while giving us a brief background of the winery and vineyard. The different Pinots we tried highlighted the different clones of grapes from the Oregon estate, with some being more feminine and some more masculine in character, as Caryn explained.
The 2007 Lachini Family Estate Pinot was exceptional, with hints of smoke, earthy tones and spice. This particular Pinot received 93 points from Wine Enthusiast. After tasting several Cabs that day (yes, we know we should try the Pinots before the Cab) this Pinot was actually refreshing to try as one can easily tell the difference of the light side of a Pinot from the big fruit of the heavier Cabs. Caryn told us some funny stories of Washington wine enthusiasts claiming not to like Pinots, who after trying those from Lachini ended up buying multiple bottles.
We also had a chance to try the 2010 Family Estate Pinot which was every bit as enjoyable as the 2007. They also poured a 2010 La Cruz Vineyard Pinot. They contracted those grapes from that vineyard near Petaluma, California. Needless to say everything we tasted made it worth the stop. What was a first for us was trying a Pinot Noir Port, which we normally find too sweet and syrupy. This one was neither and was so good we ended up buying a bottle of this perfect dessert wine. Guess we are also a couple of Washington wine enthusiasts who continue to be proven wrong with our wine stereotypes.
The tasting room is located in the Hollywood Vineyards Center near the main roundabout in the tourist district at 14455 'A' Woodinvill- Redmond Road, Woodinville. It features roll- up garage doors, concrete floors and two levels of tasting room luxury, decorated with wood trim and a very unique wooden bar. It is a great place for an event – which Ron and Marianne occasionally host onsite. We heard stories of the most recent event, featuring Pinot, Pigs, and Poker. We think we might have to attend that one next year.
Tasting room hours are Thursday 2-6:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday noon - 7:30 p.m. and Sunday noon -5:30 p.m. Their wines run mostly in the $40-$60 range with the Port at $32.


text: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 NIH 'Biggest Loser' Study: Exercise Is Key in Reducing Body Fat While Preserving Muscle Exercise and healthy eating reduce body fat and preserve muscle in adults better than diet alone, according to a study funded and conducted by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIDDK senior investigator Kevin Hall, PhD, analyzed the individual effects of daily strenuous exercise and a restricted diet by examining data from 11 participants from the reality television program "The Biggest Loser." Researchers measured body fat, total energy expenditure, and resting metabolic rate 3 times: at the start of the program, at week 6, and at week 30, which was at least 17 weeks after participants returned home. Participation in the program led to an average weight loss of 128 pounds, with about 82% of that coming from body fat, and the rest from lean tissue. Hall used a mathematical computer model of human metabolism to calculate the diet and exercise changes underlying the observed body weight loss. Because the TV program was not designed to directly address how the exercise and diet interventions each contributed to the weight loss, the computer model simulated the results of diet alone and exercise alone to estimate their relative contributions. At the competition's end, diet alone was calculated to be responsible for more weight loss than exercise, with 65% of the weight loss consisting of body fat and 35% consisting of lean mass such as muscle. In contrast, the model calculated that exercise alone resulted in participants losing only fat, and no muscle. The simulation of exercise alone also estimated a small increase in lean mass despite overall weight loss. The simulations also suggest that the participants could sustain their weight loss and avoid weight regain by adopting more moderate lifestyle changes, such as 20 minutes of daily vigorous exercise and a 20% calorie restriction, than those demonstrated on the television program. Comments What type of statistics were used for this study? Posted by Renee Hill, P.T. on 10/22/2012 1:25 PM I find it hard to believe that their lean body mass is so well-preserved. Based on what we know about aerobic exercise reducing lean body mass, and the amount done by the contestants this study is contrary to prior studies' finding. Posted by Sean on 10/26/2012 1:54 PM

subset: commoncrawl


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quetiapine pharmacodynamics (mechanisms/methods of action). What Seroquel does and how it does it.
Jerod Poore
Author Information Copyright, Citing and License information Published online 25 January, 2011
Mentally Interesting
Medicated For Your Protection
I Forgot Why I Cake Topamax
Depression Sucks!
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Return to the Seroquel Page
Table of Contents (hide)
1. Working Theory
When you read about the mechanism of action, or how it works, in Seroquel's PI sheet, it's almost as vague as how likely it will work. Pretty much every beginning paragraph of the mechanism of action section for every crazy med (and many other non-crazy meds) is a variation on "We don't know exactly how Panacea, or other drugs like it, works to treat whatever you take it for. In various studies, mostly on rats and other animals, we've determined that it does the following…" What you read in the PI sheet is often, but not always the original theorized mechanism of action, or what they thought it does when they started testing the drug for whatever it is now used for1.
After researchers who aren't being paid by the manufacturer get their hands on med it's just one study after another, in humans and animals, that supports the original theory. Or determines a precise area in the brain where stuff takes place. Or finds an additional thing the med does. Or finds that it doesn't do something they originally thought it did. Or finds out that everyone was completely wrong in the first place and the method of action is radically different. That last one does happen. Neurontin (gabapentin) was originally thought to be a synthetic form of GABA that could cross the blood-brain barrier. Turns out that it's just like every other anticonvulsant and works on voltage channels. Except that it's unique in that it affects a part of your brain that nothing else touches. Except for Lyrica (pregablin), and a few meds under development (e.g. PD-210714). Still, some people are calling those parts of your brain some people are calling those "gabapentin receptors", along the lines of benzodiazepine receptors. There supposedly were citalopram receptors as well, but that turned out to be a myth. Ironically gabapentin doesn't directly affect GABA.
Every day a new peer-reviewed journal is published somewhere adding to our knowledge about how a particular med works, or making us crazier with more contradictory data.
It would be nice if we could break things down into neat parameters like we can with pharmacokinetics, but we can't. The best we can do is tell you what they originally thought it did, let you know if there are any meds with similar mechanisms / methods (the terms are interchangeable) of action, and give you our best guess as to what it really does based upon more recent research.
2. How Seroquel (quetiapine) Works
2.1 What the PI Sheet Says
2.2 What Seroquel (quetiapine) Really Does
as far as we can tell
In a way Seroquel is a kind of off-beat third generation antipsychotic (TGA). By definition TGAs (e.g. Abilify) are both dopamine receptor antagonists and partial agonists. Seroquel is a partial serotonin agonist at 5HT2. Which is mildly ironic, as the name Seroquel probably derives from Serotonin Quelling.
3. Functional Equivalence
No two medications will have the exact same mechanisms / methods of action. Sometimes a drug that is developed from the active metabolite of another, essentially inert med e.g. Invega (paliperidone) is a predigested form of Risperdal (risperidone) and is basically the same thing. However there is no good conversion of dosages between the two like there is for Tegretol (carbamazepine) and Trileptal (oxacarbazeine). Like Invega and Risperdal, Pristiq (desvenlafaxine) is the active metabolite of Effexor (venlafaxine), but Pristiq has a somewhat different mechanism of action than Effexor. Mainly it kicks Effexor's ass when it comes to how potent its inhibition of norepinephrine reuptake is.
All SSRIs are essentially interchangeable, making it possible to work out equivalent dosages so you don't need to wait until you've cleared one drug to start another. But Celexa (citalopram) and Lexapro (escitalopram) are vastly more selective than Prozac (fluoxetine), and so the side effect profiles, and pretty much everything else, are very different when you compare Celexa or Lexapro with other SSRIs, but practically identical when compared with each other. While most people couldn't tell the difference between Lexapro and Celexa,2 because Lexapro is a derivative of Celexa, a few people will respond differently to the two.
3.1 Drugs with Similar Methods of Action as/That Work Like Seroquel (quetiapine)
- Clozapine
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4. References
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1 Unlike Lamictal, which was originally thought to be be such a potent folate antagonist that it would work well as a treatment for malaria and similar parasites that took up residence in your brain. Or Topamax, which was originally thought to be an awesome drug for type 2 diabetes, as it looked like it would both control weight and blood sugar.
2 The one real difference used to be cost. Now that Lexapro is available as a generic in the US that difference isn't as great as it once was.
If you have any questions not answered here, please see the Crazymeds Seroquel discussion board. We welcome criticisms of the articles, notifications of bad links, site problems, consumer experiences with medications, etc. I'm not always able to write back. Hence I never answer questions about meds via e-mail that are answered by this or other articles. Especially if they have been repeatedly asked on the forum. That's why we write these damn things. Questions about which meds are best for your condition should also be asked on the forum; because this is a free site, so the price of admission is making things easier for somebody else searching for the same answer. We don't deal with children on the forum or in private because after doing this for ten years I don't have the emotional stamina to deal with kids who have brain cooties. How to contact Crazymeds. — Jerod Poore, CME, Publisher Crazymeds (crazymeds.net)
|Last modified on Monday, 23 September, 2013 at 11:08:21 by JerodPoore
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|"Seroquel (quetiapine): a Review for the Educated Consumer." by Jerod Poore is copyright © Jerod Poore
|Published online 2011/01/25
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Seroquel, and all other drug names on this page and used throughout the site, are a trademark of someone else. Seroquel's PI Sheet will probably have the name of the manufacturer and trademark owner (they're not always the same company) at or near the very bottom. Or ask Google who the owner is. The way pharmaceutical companies buy each other and swap products like Monopoly™ real estate, the ownership of the trademark may have changed without my noticing. It may of changed hands by the time you finished reading this article.
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Almost all of the material on this site is by Jerod Poore and is copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 Jerod Poore. Except, of course, the PI sheets - those are the property of the drug companies who developed the drugs the sheets are about - and any documents that are written by other people which may be posted to this site will remain the property of the original authors. You cannot reproduce this page or any other material on this site outside of the boundaries of fair use copying without the express permission of the copyright holder. That's usually me, so just ask first. That means if want to print out a few pages to take to your doctor, therapist, counselor, support group, non-understanding family members or something like that - then that's OK to just do. Go for it! Please. As long as you include this copyright notice and something along the lines of following disclaimer, I'm usually cool with it.
All rights reserved. No warranty is expressed or implied in this information. Consult one or more doctors and/or pharmacists before taking, or changing how you take any neurological and/or psychiatric medication. Your mileage may vary. What happened to us won't necessarily happen to you. If you still have questions about a medication or condition that were not answered on any of the pages you read, please ask them on Crazy Talk: the Crazymeds Forum.
The information on Crazymeds pertains to and is intended for adults. While some information about children and adolescents is occasionally presented (e.g. US FDA approvals), pediatric-specific data such as dosages, side effects, off-label applications, etc. are rarely included in the articles on drugs or discussed on the forum. If you are looking for information regarding meds for children you'll have to go somewhere else. Plus we are big pottymouths and talk about S-E-X a lot.
Know your sources!
Nobody on this site is a doctor, a therapist, or a pharmacist. We don't portray them either here or on TV. Only doctors can diagnose and treat an illness. While it's not as bad as it used to be, some doctors still get pissed off by patients who know too much about medications, so tread lightly when and where appropriate. Diagnosing yourself from a website is like defending yourself in court, you suddenly have a fool for a doctor. Don't be a cyberchondriac, thinking you have every disease you see a website about, or that you'll get every side effect from every medication1. Self-prescribing is as dangerous as buying meds from fraudulent online pharmacies that promise you medications without prescriptions.
All information on this site has been obtained from the medications' product information / summary of product characteristic (PI/SPC) sheets and/or medication guides - which is all you get from sites like WebMD, RxList,
NAMBLA NAMI, etc., the sources that are referenced throughout the site, our personal experience and the experiences family, friends, and what people have reported on various reputable sites all over teh intergoogles. As such the information presented here is not intended as a substitute for real medical advice from your real doctor, just a compliment to it. You should never, ever, replace what a real doctor tells you with something from a website on the Internet. The farthest you should ever take it is getting a second opinion from another real doctor. Educate yourself - always read the PI/SPC sheet or medication guide/patient information leaflet (PIL) that comes with your medications and never ever throw them away. OK, you can throw away duplicate copies, but keep at least one, as that's your proof of purchase of having taken a med in case a doctor doubts your medical history. Plus they take up less space than a bottle, although keeping one inside of a pill bottle is even better.
Crazymeds is not responsible for the content of sites we provide links to. We like them, or they're paid advertisements, or they're something else we think you should read to help you make an informed decision about a particular med. Sometimes they're more than one of those things. But what's on those sites is their business, not ours.
Very little information about visitors to this site is collected or saved. From time to time I look at search terms used and which pages they bring up in an effort to make the information I present more relevant. And the country of origin, just because I'm geeky like that. That's about it. Depending on how you feel about Schrodinger, our privacy policy should either assuage or exacerbate your paranoia.
Crazymeds is optimized for ridiculously large screens and browsers that don't block ads. I use Firefox and Chrome, running under Windows 72. On a computer that sits on top of my desk. With a 23 inch monitor. Hey, at least you can make the text larger or smaller by clicking on the + or - buttons in the upper right hand corner. If you have Java enabled. Like 99% of the websites on the planet, Crazymeds is hosted on domain running an open source operating system with a variety of open source applications, including the software used to display what you've been reading. As such Crazymeds is not responsible for whatever weird shit your browser does or does not do when you read this site3.
No neurologists, psychiatrists, therapists or pharmacists were harmed in the production of this website. Use only as directed. Void where prohibited. Contains nuts. Certain restrictions may apply. All data are subject to availability. Not available on all mobile devices, in the 12 Galaxies Guiltied to a Zegnatronic Rocket Society, or in all dimensions of reality. Hail Xenu!
'Everything is true, nothing is permitted.' - Jerod Poore
1 While there are plenty of books to help you with hypochondria, for some reason there's not much in the way of websites. Then again, staying off of the Internet is a large part of curing/managing the disorder.
2 Remember kids, Microsloth operating systems are like TOS Star Trek movies with in that every other one sucks way, way more. With TOS Star Trek movies you don't want to bother watching the odd-numbered ones. With Microsloth OS you don't want to buy and install the even-numbered ones. Anyone who remembers ME and Vista knows what I mean.
3 Have I mentioned how open source operating systems for commercial applications is one of the dumbest ideas in the history of dumb ideas?* I don't even need my big-ass rant any more. Heartbleed has made my case for me. And that's just the one that got all the media attention. The very nature of an open source operating system makes security as much of an illusion as anonymity on teh Intergoogles. Before you flip out too much: the domain Crazymeds is hosted on uses a version of SSL that is not affected by the Heartbleed bug. That's one of the many reasons why I pay a lot of money and keep this site on Lunarpages.
* Yes, I know I'm using open source browsers. I also test the site using the now-defunct IE and Safari browsers. Their popularity - and superiority - killed IE and Safari, so that's why I rely on the open source browsers. It's like brand vs. generic meds. Sometimes the generic is better than the brand.


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The sixth annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine Event ran from April 4-7, 2013 at California's iconic Pebble Beach Resorts. Presented by Food & Wine Magazine, the event featured more than 100 prominent chefs, over 250 wineries from around the globe, and over 300 volunteers - in one of the most beautiful locations in the world. Over 8,000 fashionable people attended to feed on sole, feed their soul, and stretch their soles. The opening night reception was held at the Inn at Spanish Bay. It included culinary masters of food and exclusive wine vendors, along with some of the best networking and people-watching in California.
Some of this year's highlights from Opening Night included the chance to sample elite tastings of private vintage wines like Garrus, a Provence rosé from Château d'Escalans near St Tropez in France. Grown on an 80-year-old vine, it's the most exclusive rosés in the world with only 10 barrels produced each year. It was like liquid cashmere!
Other highlights of the Opening Night included meeting the hard-working incredible chefs and trying their mouth-watering creations. Some of our favorites were Jeremy Tummel or Stillwater Bar & Grill (the Lodge at Pebble Beach); Rick Tramonto from the famed Restaurant R'evolution in New Oreleans, who has participated in the event since the first year; plus David Werly, Executive Chef of the triple Five Star Madarin Oriental in Las Vegas.
Pebble Beach Food & Wine continues the tradition of partnering with local charities to donate a portion of the proceeds back to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County, Voices for Children, and the Pebble Beach Company Foundation – which provides grants to local schools and organizations.
For more information, photos, and tickets visit:


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Five years?
August 24, 2016
Huh. Five years. My last post was over five years ago, and it's been kind of strange and irksome for me lately going through past posts of mine, written from my younger and way, way, way less editorially experienced hands. And brain—I mean, I hate to throw blame where it isn't due. I suppose my hands did most of the heavy lifting for Brain, who was the true culprit of those inexperienced-sounding posts (and all the inexperienced-sounding posts to follow from here on out, you lucky bastards). Good lord, I even had to smack some of the most wretched past entries out of the clutches of WordPress because they were either pointless enough or divergent enough from my present life views to be truly offensive to me (and likely to many others, if one can allow that I may have attracted readers with taste better than my own—a thing not terribly difficult to accomplish). So, here we are.
Five years of things happening, and the world goes round. My perspective has changed a lot, as it is wont to do when you've traveled the world as much as I have in that time (I haven't traveled the world). To catch you up (both of you), I had initially taken my blog down because I started work as a counselor and didn't want the truly weird and tacky things I had written being picked up by clients, undoing all the work we had done in sessions (see previous paragraph for explanation of what could have undone all the work we had done in sessions).
And in the meantime, I finished grad school, married my darling male companion, have covered like a third of my body in brightly colored ink, bought a house, adopted three ungrateful cats, became the aunt of the most adorable baby Gerber never met, co-self-published one book with a talented-as-hell dear friend (and a second book to follow), stopped eating all dairy and egg, switched jobs a few times, stole a sentient mannequin, dug to China, founded a cult, became the Sausage King of Chicago, hijacked a Shriner car, grew hair snakes, and began chasing men around my island with the intent of turning their stupid, lying faces to stone. And then drove tiny, mocking circles in my Shriner car around them, cackling and snacking on sausage. With my mannequin. And a… gong. Surrounded by disciples in robes.* And most of that is true! Pretty sure at least some of it is true.
*My lawyers tell me very little of that is true.
So, I'd like to come back here again and express both sanity and insanity with the Interwebs on a pseudo-regular basis. It helps me clear my own head, and really, I'm pretty sure it's good for your digestion just to read it.*
Oh, and I make you this vow, my word being my bond—no more poetry here, at least not when sober. For reasons of my being a total infant about posting ones I'm actually happy with, I seem to historically only post ones I care very little about. I took a few down because they were so awful I considered dousing my eyes with pesticides to banish them from my sight (before remembering I could just delete them), and I left the few less artistically offensive ones up as my own cautionary tale. But! I cannot make the same promise about really horrifying art projects I create. No doubt a few of those will make their way here, and for that I do apologize in advance.
Although not enough to leave them out. Bwahaha.
Kardashian Mudslinging and Gay Marriage
November 3, 2011
I have to say, I'm really sort of sick to death of the statements going around waving Kim Kardashian's name and face at us regarding…well, anything. But most recently, regarding why gay marriage should be legal. Actually, I was sick of it the first time I read it somewhere.
And this is absolutely not because I don't support legalizing gay marriage 110%. And if you in any way question this, please refer to the article I wrote previously: https://gomersasquatch.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/proposition-8-protects-people-from-marrying-unicorns/ .
Furthermore, I agree that the sanctity of marriage has been compromised since probably its inception, and that upstanding right-wing politicians who yell the loudest about it often have several failed marriages under their belts, at least. Or extramarital affairs. Or hookers. Or extramarital hooker affairs involving belts. And often with a touch of gay-as-Christmas scandal to finish it on up. Not that any of these are bad, per se, but these are the sorts of things those politicians hypocritically pose to rally against, and that's what's bad. Clearly.
And I can see how drawing attention to their hypocrisy only strengthens our pro-gay marriage equality arguments. The people advocating hardest for a "sacred union" often have a completely unfounded argument when it comes to the way they live their own lives. Let us silence them one by one by holding them up to the mirror.
Who the hell gives a good goddamn about Kim Kardashian's failed marriage? So, she got married in a highly public fashion—some have argued entirely for this publicity to promote her television show. Maybe. Sure, why not? Although I don't know too many details about her life and celebrity past snippets here and there, I can still say I find it very plausible. Sooooo, that would put her in league with Gene Simmons this last season of his show. Fine. Trashy, but fine. And following that, Kardashian filed for divorce some 70-something days later. This seems on par for a celebrity marriage.
But then—oh goodness—everyone just went ape shit for a week. Normal, otherwise good-natured people are standing in (a metaphorical Facebook) line to throw the fact that Kardashian couldn't maintain a successful marriage back at her. Ha ha! One for gay marriage! …wait. What did we win here?
I mean, let's remove from this discussion the people who went ape shit because they're actually interested in her life. Because, dear god, why even try to reason with them? You people—you go over to Perez. I'm sure he has something for you.
The remaining people—those whose Schadenfreude leapt from their hearts directly into their wagging fingers at the first chance to go, "AHA! Straight people sometimes get divorced hastily! Why can't we get married?" Those are the people to whom I refer. But please let me explain.
I guess I just don't understand the sentiment. To step through it: okay—I can totally see saying this if she had ever been actively against marriage equality or was in any way raving about the sanctity of marriage as she sees it. From what I can find (and if I'm wrong, please point it out; I don't follow the woman's "career"), she has never said anything against gay marriage to begin with. In fact, I painfully sat through this video of her stating that she is, in fact, for gay marriage. Nothing political about this video, really. She's asked a question and seems to summon up a fairly neutral, if not slightly airy answer.
But the point is, the only thing I could find linking her to speaking out about gay marriage is actually a statement supporting gay marriage. And if she has ever been against it but I just haven't stumbled across it yet, let me be first in line to dance on the grave of her diamond-encrusted schmaltz package she called a marriage, now that it's been put out of its misery.
But considering I can't find anything of the sort on her…why is her failed marriage pivotal? In her being unrelated to politics or sanctity of marriage issues, this mudslinging seems…I don't know…mean spirited, I guess? Or misdirected? Or straight-up irrelevant.
Seriously, couples in Hollywood get divorced all the time. Well, for that matter, so do regular people. And if allowed the right to marry, so will gay couples. Not all love lasts forever, and not all love equals longevity in life-partnering. I realize this is an unpopular thought for both camps, but hey, it's just the truth. Divorce is a right we are afforded when love turns cold, or expectations aren't met, or someone is unfaithful, or cruel, or sneaking off to have relations with our livestock, or what have you. It seems to me that by offering Kim as a sacrificial lamb on the altar of marriage sanctity, you are either saying one of two things.
1.) "Look, her marriage was a sham, so clearly marriage isn't a serious institution," which totally undercuts the message that gay marriage is in fact a serious institution. Or this argument even encompasses the idea that Kardashian's marriage proves that marriage isn't sacred or holy, when it actually still is to many gay or lesbian couples, as well.
2.) "If I—an honest, loving person who has been in a committed relationship with the same person can't get married, why should someone like she be able to get married?" And is that really a comparison one would like to make? It cuts at marriage as a whole (when clearly marriage is a concept that's important to all camps here), almost suggesting the argument that Kardashian shouldn't have been able to get married if everyone else can't get married because she's such a poor model of marriage. Or that committed gay couples have more right to get married than people like Kardashian who don't take marriage seriously.
And that's backward. My problem with this issue is that nothing about it states, "She has the right to marriage and we have the right to marriage because we are all equal and deserve equal rights provided to us and to our would-be spouses/families." The point of the marriage equality argument is that everyone deserves that right—committed gay and lesbian couples, committed straight couples, and unfortunately, people who do it for money or reputation or dowry. (Because anyone of breeding of course still has a dowry.) Everyone deserves it. We're all people and we all should get to choose how, when, and why we marry (within obvious reason). And that "everyone" is very important to the equal marriage rights agenda.
My gauge is that (and I could be wrong) the sentiment underlying this "Why should a marriage like that be allowed to exist when a marriage like mine is/would be real?" argument is that because straight marriage rights are already given, it's gay marriage rights that need the media attention and public outrage on their behalf. So very, very true. But if we want to make comparisons to marriages that so offensively fail the sanctity of marriage test, let's maybe pick a target that's relevant and where the failed marriage actually proves to uncover the hypocrisy. Where our completely justifiable anger isn't just spilling out all over the place but is actually focused where it needs to be in order to make the country pay attention and get the point.
And I feel like well-intentioned people are forgetting this in the excitement of the media hate-fest right now. (Well, this particular media hate-fest.) Instead, what's been going on in reaction looks to me like useless mudslinging at someone who is just going through a divorce. And whether or not this divorce is painful for Kardashian, the mudslinging still lacks tact and precision.
I'm quite dumbfounded that this woman is the one that everyone has been so ready to jump on, when divorces of Hollywood and celebrity tend to line the drugstore magazine racks pretty much constantly. Um, can someone please explain to me why Kim Kardashian should be a model of the sanctity of marriage to begin with? Why anyone who needs to have their mind changed about gay marriage would have cared one way or another about whether her marriage had been meant to last? Were we all expecting that this marriage was going to be successful? Were we even really caring?
I realize some of you care because you're fans of hers, and you would probably do well to go read someone else's blog. Because that's just silliness. She's a non-celebrity celebrity. Call me old fashioned, but in my day, you had to possess some sort of talent to be…you know what? Sorry. Tangent. I get worked up. About back in my day. When you had to have SOME kind of TALENT—nope. Stopping now.
But who was really thinking she would be a great person to make an example of? No one seemed surprised that this arrangement didn't work out (possibly least of all Kardashian's publicist). So why is everyone all, "Look! Look at your straight marriage, everyone! It fails too!" It's petty, it's redundant, it's flawed logic, and I feel like it takes away from the serious, ardent message of people who want and unquestionably must have the right to marry the person of their choosing—whatever sex and/or gender that may be. I don't know. That's just my opinion on this topic. This whole particular media blitz is strange to me.
August 12, 2011
I saw you today for the first time since I've come of age
and grown into my own colored
and darkly spotted sanity—
Garments that used to outsize me
and have recently become a finished delicacy I can't remove.
I stalked you, unseen portals to your expression,
Unseen petals on your brow,
To an unknown country you no doubt make
crisp, smoky, sun-burnt, like autumn.
Deeply affecting, lusty like a Bordeaux.
Sensuous as oil dragged wet across a canvas.
Long traveled past how many clear and painted bottles,
and my heavy shoulders now bare,
I stalked you to kiss a ghost.
You were older, not as lean,
and still the distance between us was no more than when
you used to stand over me, dearest, collecting my oxygen.
When I had breathed you in instead,
had sustained upon your closeness,
As I had worshiped every curl of your pen and
the way your words used to tip across your lips and spill out
to my breast, an endless well.
I stalked you out today
but rather
discovered instead my unspoiled spleen—
and the last bits that shrieked in ecstasy and bled violet—
right where I had left them,
In your delicate, passing hands.
A Hole in Pandora's Box
August 12, 2011
So, the joy of technology (and trust me, I find few joys in technology beyond simple convenience and the comfort of warm face, warm hands, warm feet) is being able to find totally new hobbies that would have never existed before. Like customized radio.
I love Pandora. Pandora, if you're unaware, is a Web site where you can make a radio station customized around a certain band or song you start with. Enter a band, singer, or song, and you have a whole list of songs playing for you that are (arguably) in some way related. Usually. Sometimes it strays. Like how I got from Otis Redding to the Dixie Cups once, I'll never know. There are some kinks. Like how I got from The Kinks to Linda Ronstadt. But generally, it's a pleasurable experience. Additionally, you can add variety to a station by adding the name of another band or singer you wish to incorporate, so Pandora can find songs that work between their two styles and smooge them into one Frankenstation.
And this morning, in order to keep myself occupied, I've been playing with my newfound hobby–seeing how long it can take Pandora to get from Tony Orlando/Dawn to the band Hole. Which, you know, just makes me giggle.
So far (and I'm writing this as I listen, so it's like a play-by-play. Be excited, gentle reader. This is breaking news.), I'm still waiting for how they're going to bridge that gap. I've had Tony Orlando's Bless You, I suppose as my punishment for placing such a silly request in the first place. Then Roy Orbison's Only the Lonely, followed by Sam Cooke's Wonderful World, a darling song about the quest of a non-intellectual attempting the fair heart of the elusive smart chick. Sort of a "pre-Lloyd Dobler" Lloyd Dobler anthem.
And Sam Cooke is always marvelous. Let us not toss that aside.
Then It Never Rains in Southern California by Albert Hammond. Waaa, waaaaa, waaaa. This is also punishment for my silly request. Is it too much to ask for a simple Tie a Yellow Ribbon? Can I get a Knock Three Times? Anything? Throw me a Tony bone, here, Pandora.
…pretty sure there's a better way to phrase that.
Holy hell—it just leapt from Albert Hammond in a rather jarring transition to Hole's Celebrity Skin. Ha! Oh, please play Candida next. This is brilliant.
Okay, so we have Dumb by Nirvana following Hole, and then a little Key Largo by Bertie Higgins. Wow. The disturbing aspect of it was somehow unforeseen. Not gonna lie; it's swiftly approaching "oh god, make it stop." Ripping my mood back and forth between the two worlds. There really needs to be a dramatic record scratch sound in transition each time.
See? Hobby. This will amuse me for hours. It actually hurts. And some pain, you gorgeous people, is good pain.
July 28, 2011
Beer Me That Job
July 25, 2011
There are just so, so many things that bother me about the job search process.
For instance: why is it that nowadays, if you want to send in a resume to a job that's located on a site that isn't Craigslist, often they make you register with a multi-step process for their own stupid site, which then begins to send you more spam than exists in the entire state of Hawaii? News flash: If I'm looking for a job, I need to be checking my email account for serious job inquiries or, like, videos of kittens happily attacking watermelons sent from friends who want me to be less depressed about the dejecting work of job applications. I do not need it bulked up with requests for me to apply to jobs for which I would never apply and so, you know…I didn't.
"Job available in your field: Prison Barber" Is it? Is it?
Or bulked up with ads directed at me, the job seeker. Alleged head-hunting agencies that—if really scammy—want you to pay to play, or—if merely sleazy, useless, and opportunistic—desire for you to go to their advertisement-marinated web page that no one actually uses to find jobs. Hey, glad that while I can't find a job, you're able to make lazy cash off advertisements springing up in my face like so many unwanted joke nut can snakes.
Don't believe me that they're not there for you to apply to jobs? Actually attempt to apply to a job on one of those sites some time. More often than not, you can't submit what you need to, it's unnecessarily convoluted to the point that you end up just not applying, or you have to sign up for more advertisement abuse in order to submit a resume.
Departed are the days of sending in an application directly to the company via email or in a very simple one- or two-step process. Dead and buried are the days of just going over the building and handing the resume in.
(Yeah, try this some time. Then as you leave, hide and watch the receptionist unenthusiastically use it as a great big wrapper for stale gum.) Just, really. In a vast majority of careers, the physical resume is all but obsolete in the eyes of an employer.
Which is fine. All I wanted to do was to email the damn thing in anyway. But it's just never that simple.
There are other things I loathe about the job application process, too. For example, feeling like the worst sort of corporate whore, having to sell yourself on your cover letter to please the sadistic evil hiring machine of the non-desperate, already-job-havin' HR dementors while they muse over your life's accomplishments in the most trivial of manners and make capricious decisions about the fate of your life.
Or that's at least what it feels like. I know and love a few hiring managers—family members and friends. That's really not dementors. …that we know of… But I'm fairly certain that all the hiring managers who've gone over my resume and cover letter have been exactly like this. Evil suckers of hope and identity.
But most of all, what I cannot handle about the job search process is the interview. The terrible, horrible, stinking interview.
Very possibly it's just that I've always been as inept with interviews as I have been with auditions or, say, blind dates. I lose all semblance of personality (or even what a human is and how it normally functions) when faced with the daunting task of "BE CHARMING AND SAY ONLY THE RIGHT THINGS." What the hell? It's like someone telling you, "Be funny." Or, "Be interesting." Or, "Be sexy." Uhhhhhh. Ummmmm. Buuuuuuuh. *blink, blink, rub eye, blink*
You can't put someone on the spot like that and expect them to perform well. Least of all me. It's like I completely lose the ability to comprehend the fundamental makeup of humor or normal speech patterns at that moment and instead sit thinking totally functional and moderately intelligent thoughts with a horrified expression on my face, unable to make them come out of my mouth. It's amazing—another person's power to abduct attributes you might otherwise rock when not having to try at them. In these situations, rather than funny, interesting, or sexy, I instead break down into a grotesque amalgamation of the antonyms of all three—a character I think of as Abused Meg.
Abused Meg has had handed to her some of the most ghastly, miserable experiences known to man or woman and is therefore now no longer able to talk with the usual shape or wetness of her former mouth, cannot consider numbers or manifest emotions with certainty, can't find an appropriate volume at which to express her monosyllabic sentiments, has never seen the sun nor heard loud noises, is constantly on the verge of tears or hiding in her own arm crevice like a sad baby Dracula, and otherwise behaves just as an abused, neglected dog might. At best, she has no personality at all; at worst she's strange and alienating with the ability to rob anyone else in the room of a sense of normalcy. I am not good at interviews.
And the thing with interviews is, you just can't ask the freaking questions you want. Mainly—how much will I get paid, and what are my benefits? I don't get why this is such a taboo. You're not supposed to ask that until right before you get the job. Why are we all wasting so much time?!
I understand that employers want a person who is right for the job and dedicated to the work. I get that. That makes for a more pleasant work experience for all and a more dedicated worker. But here's a thought that is applicable for every single person I've ever met—unless there's something truly horrific about my current job, I am leaving my job to look for either comparable pay or a vertical move of some sort, like more pay and better benefits. If money weren't important with regards to the job, I wouldn't be working in the first place. I'd spend my time … I don't know … rowing a fucking boat or painting pictures of me rowing fucking boats. I wouldn't be sitting in a cubicle taking orders from people. Right? And you—the job dangler—are remarkably stupid in not acknowledging that out in the open and right away.
So why can't I ask on the first interview—or hell, before I go take off work to waste my time and the potential new employer's time—what the pay is going to be? Then let's see if I'm a good fit. Because I tell you what—even if I really love a potential job, I—like most everyone else—do not live in a career utopia fantasy. I have rent and bills to pay. I have to eat. I have a life outside of work I'd like to continue living in a similar fashion or better. I need to find a new job that's going to pay me what I need to make in order to do all these lovely lifey things. And nearly everything beyond that is a minor deciding factor. The order of importance has to be: 1.) Do I vaguely want to perform this job/am I qualified? 2.)Does it pay what I need/want to make? 3.) Literally anything else that might be a point of interest. It doesn't matter.
Number 1 is taken care of when I apply. I got the job description, I'm interested so far. Number 2 should be next. Number 2 should always be next. There is no point proceeding if number 2 is a deal-breaker. PEOPLE—NUMBER 2!! Come on.
So, yeah. This is the aspect of our job culture that I think I find most aggravating and wasteful of everyone's time and energy. And so does Abused Meg. As she shambles off into the shadows, totally freaking out all who exist there with her wide-eyed weirdness.
**I should note that this is not about a current job search I'm doing. In fact, I'm on the brink of going down to part-time work in a month so I can start full-time grad school (Yaaaaaay!). But being around others who are currently looking for jobs, it brings me right back to that same old rant in my head. Why the senselessness? Why the time-suckage? You know what? Let's all just quit our jobs and join a commune.
Or go back to grad school.
Origin of the Phrase "Nose to the Grindstone"
July 24, 2011
Oh dear god, I've finally reached the end of these old blog posts (the ones I wished to actually keep). Here you have it–post number six of six that I have pulled from the murky depths of my former blog, washed off, and set here.
This one is from 2006. Pause with me to see if you can remember it. Back before our hovercrafts and our robot nannies. Back when we still lived on the ground. Before our food was given to us in the form of small, flavored pills. Ah, 2006. How I faintly remember what a tree looked like.
Okay, moving on. Here's my final post of yesteryear, a snippet of me in 2006. I give you Origin of the Phrase "Nose to the Grindstone":
The phrase "put your nose to the grindstone" is commonly used today to mean "get to work." Its origin has been traced back 5,000 years (by the etymological research department of UCLA) to when humanity relied on grindstones to sharpen all their tools, teeth, and household items. Carpenters of yore had made a startling finding about the sedimentary stone sandstone, and thus began using it solely to make the grindstones that sharpened their tools and other items.
The properties of sandstone were first discovered by renowned carpenter and gymnast William Van Metermeyer, who unearthed the fact that the stone, when grinding against something else, gave off a surprisingly invigorating lavender aroma (for which the stone is now best known). Carpenters began using it to build grindstones, because they found that it helped them to better focus and to stay more alert. When they would begin to feel fatigued, they would simply put their noses close to the grindstone and inhale the scent of the stone for energy, and then get back to work (hence the phrase).
As a related side note, this was also the birth of the popular new age practice of aromatherapy.
…this is all true.


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Fishing permits for Trollhättan-Öresjö FVOF
You can buy a fishing license from us on iFiske! All fishing license we sell are digital and a receipt is provided to you by eMail and as a normal text message just before fishing license to take effect. The organisation 'Trollhättan-Öresjö FVOF' is subject to Swedish VAT (MOMS) and the prices are shown in SEK including 25% VAT.
SMS short


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Andrea Kac-Chezca Side Table
At Design Interviews
Interview with Andrea Kac : Frank Scott: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?. Andrea Kac : The main idea was to create a simple product that could solve all the issues from working from home in a small apartment. A product that would work as a hub to connect and gather all the small objects and devices that normally have no real space in the home. .Frank Scott: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?. Andrea Kac : I wanted to achieve a fun to use product that was simply produced. Firstly because I fin it important to surround oneself with fun objects that become a living part of your home. It was very important the product speaked for itself and that it could be affordable. .Frank Scott: What are your future plans for this award winning design?. Andrea Kac : My plan is to work towards production and see it come to life. .Frank Scott: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?. Andrea Kac : The idea for this product has been going in my head for some years now but it was not so long ago that the real inspiration for the shape and its playfulness came to me. It has been some three months since then and still working on it. .Frank Scott: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?. Andrea Kac : I pursuited an inspiration. I had been wanting to design a small side table with great functionality for some time now. .Frank Scott: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?. Andrea Kac : I intend to lease or sell the product rights so Chezca can be produced and in the market. .Frank Scott: What made you design this particular type of work?. Andrea Kac : I find it interesting designing objects that solve new needs and current situations but in a whimsy and simple way. So this product sums up all of these. .Frank Scott: Who is the target customer for his design?. Andrea Kac : The targeted customer would be young people living in small places and often working or studying long hours in these. .Frank Scott: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?. Andrea Kac : I believe it is set apart because it gathers many useful and simple functions that not many side tables have but with a great side of funky to it making the piece fun to use and have. .Frank Scott: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?. Andrea Kac : Chezca was the name of my family dog. She used to have a very strong bark and everytime we took her for a walk she would be be pulling us around, walking us instead of us walking her. .Frank Scott: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?. Andrea Kac : Corel Draw, Autocad, 3ds Max, Photoshop. .Frank Scott: What is the most unique aspect of your design?. Andrea Kac : How it solves many daily issues in one product but in a very simple way. If you look at the table you would not say it is a multifunctional object yet it is. .Frank Scott: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?. Andrea Kac : No, I worked on my own for this project. .Frank Scott: What is the role of technology in this particular design?. Andrea Kac : I tried to use the most simple technology and the most simple process for production. I find amusing designing a product that doesn't need super modern technology, but supports itself from a well studied shape and function. .Frank Scott: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?. Andrea Kac : Mainly studying which were the basic problems or issues of working or studying from a small home, especially regarding the extensive use of electronic devices. .Frank Scott: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?. Andrea Kac : I have been participating from South American design competitions for two years now and decided it was time to try my chances with a more international one. .
Andrea Kac-Chezca Side Table Images:
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County lifeguard swim test
The Aquatics Examination for Allegheny County Parks lifeguards will be held Saturday, March 30, at 9 a.m. North Allegheny Senior High School, 10375 Perry Highway, Wexford, PA 15090.
The Parks Department is seeking qualified applicants who are 16 years of age and older to fill lifeguard positions at Boyce, North, South, and Settler's Cabin Parks for the 2013 swimming season beginning June 1. For these positions, the Aquatics Examination is required.
Prior to participating in the exam, applicants must have a physical examination, a completed Employment Application form, and a minimum of four references on the back of the application. No test will be given without doctor's certification on the physical examination form.
Candidates must also present, prior to May 27, a current Lifeguard Training certification, current First Aid certification, and current adult, child, and infant CPR certification.
The Parks Department will pay lifeguards on the following scale: $8.25 per hour for junior lifeguards; $9.25 per hour for first-year lifeguards; and $9.50 per hour for senior lifeguards (two or more seasons).
For additional information, including obtaining forms and driving directions, call the Central Park Office at 412-350-2478 or visit the Parks Department Home Page at http://www.alleghenycounty.us/parks.


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Title text: This is a story all about how I started drinking.
A Bel-Air is an internet meme where a poster on a message board starts a post on a serious topic, but partway through the post switches to repeating the lyrics to the opening theme song of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a 1990s sitcom starring Will Smith (previously known in his rapping career as the "Fresh Prince") as a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who has been sent to live with his affluent and stuffy Aunt and Uncle in Bel Air, Los Angeles by his mother as a consequence of a single altercation with a couple of no-good guys who were making trouble in his previous neighbourhood.
Megan in the comic reverses the traditional arrangement by starting the conversation with a recitation of the lyrics to said theme song, and then switching partway through to a very serious discussion of the status of their relationship culminating in a break up.
The lyrics go like this:
- Now this is the story all about how
- My life got flipped, turned upside down
- And I'd like to take a minute just sit right there
- I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-air
The title RBA is an initialism for Reverse Bel-Air.
The title text is a play with the usual meaning of someone becoming an alcoholic (in this case because of the breakup), but in this case refers to the actual fact that Cueball had just started drinking (a glass of water) when Megan started talking to him.
A similar (though less serious) play on the Bel-Air meme was later used in 1059: Bel-Air.
- [Megan walks up to Cueball pouring himself a drink.]
- Megan: Now, this is a story all about how
- Megan: My life got flipped turned upside down
- Megan: And I'd like to take a minute
- Megan: Just sit right there
- Megan: I'll tell you how I became uncertain about our relationship. I think you just like having a girlfriend, it doesn't matter who.
- Megan: I think we should break up.
- The reverse Bel-Air only works once, so make it something unforgettable.
- [Cut to dropped glass, drink spilled on ground.]
- Cueball: ...wait, seriously?
- Megan: Yeah.
add a comment! ⋅ add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ refresh comments!
I can't find any reference for the title "RBA". What does it mean?--Dgbrt (talk) 16:32, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
- Reverse Bel-Air 188.8.131.52 22:00, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
Please enter discussions here.--Dgbrt (talk) 21:06, 8 December 2013 (UTC)
OK, but why have they disappeared off stage? And why is the cup dropped? -- Psb777 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
Hm, I'm not sure that's water. It looks like he poured it out of a bottle of some sort in the first panel. Maybe it's juice?220.127.116.11 17:42, 26 May 2020 (UTC)


text: On Sunday, July 15, the National Aquarium Animal Rescue team was alerted to a live stranded dolphin at the northern-most end of Assateague Island National Seashore. The body condition of the animal appeared normal, but the animal's behavior indicated it was stressed. The animal was identified as an Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis), strandings of which have been rarely documented in Maryland. Atlantic spotted dolphins are different from Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, but share similar habitat off the coast of Maryland during the summer months. Spotted dolphins are typically a darker purplish-gray and have variable spots that develop with age, and are often found in groups of 20 or more individuals. When an individual animal of a social species strands, it can be an indicator that the animal separated from a group due to reasons such as health or social issues. Trained first responders arrived on the scene and acted quickly to provide triage and coordinate a plan to move the animal off the island. Unfortunately, the condition of the animal deteriorated during transport and the animal was humanely euthanized by Aquarium veterinarians to relieve suffering. While this outcome is unfortunate, there is still a great deal that we can learn from the experience and from all stranded animals. For every animal that does not survive, we perform a complete necropsy (an animal autopsy). In this case, we worked closely with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Final necropsy results are still pending, but there was one surprising find – an intact nitrile-coated glove was found in the stomach of the animal. This was likely a contributing factor to the cause for stranding. Sadly, our Animal Rescue team sees this sort of case all too often. Many animals mistake trash for food and ingest all sorts of manmade, toxic items. To an endangered leatherback sea turtle, a plastic bag floating in the water looks like a tasty jellyfish—its primary prey. Trash and contaminants in the water pose health threats to humans, as well. Whether we live along the shore or hundreds of miles inland, our lives are all intimately connected to the ocean. We caused this problem, and it's up to us to fix it. We need to work together in international camaraderie to prevent items from reaching the water in the first place. A member of the National Aquarium Conservation Team (ACT!) cleans up garbage at Ft. McHenry There are a number of ways you can help! Be mindful of safely disposing of all your trash, especially while on the beach or out on the water. What washes up on our shores is only a fraction of the garbage that ends up in the ocean. Sign up for a conservation event like the International Coastal Cleanup (happening September 15, 2012). Help out with one of the Aquarium's conservation projects around the Chesapeake Bay or the Atlantic coast. Tags: altantic-spotted-dolphins, animal-strandings, beach-strandings, Animals, marine-debris, Animal Rescue, thoughtful-thursdays Categories: Animal Rescue, Animals, Conservation, News Previous Post Next Post


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"There is no God but Allah," read the black flag with a full moon fluttering atop the key government building, which served as the rebel regime's headquarters throughout much of the eight-month civil war. The first media outlet to publicize the banner also noted that Islamists could be seen throughout the city flying the al Qaeda flag and shouting Muslim slogans.
When a photographer with Vice.com approached the courthouse to take pictures of the flag, a guard came out and warned him to stop. "Whomever speaks ill of this flag, we will cut off his tongue," the camouflaged security officer said. "I recommend that you don't publish these. You will bring trouble to yourself."
The Libyan revolutionary also insisted the flag on the courthouse was dark black, while al Qaeda's flag was charcoal black. Locals urged the photographer to leave too, saying Islamist fighters could be watching him.
Despite assurances by Western leaders that the NATO-backed revolution would result in "democracy," Sharia law is already being harshly enforced in cities across the nation, according to news reports. As The New American has been reporting for months, senior Islamic extremists — many of whom are associated with al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group — are in top positions within the emerging new regime.
Even the members of the National Transitional Council (NTC) who are not affiliated with Islamic militancy — mostly former Gadhafi officials — are backing the nation's shift toward strict Islamism. And it's now official.
"We take the Islamic religion as the core of our new government," noted ex-Gadhafi "Justice" Minister and NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil during a recent celebration of the late tyrant's execution. "The constitution will be based on our Islamic religion." Any laws that conflict with Islam, such as Gadhafi's ban on polygamy, are "null and void legally," Jalil explained.
Meanwhile, chaos and bloodshed are rampant. Militias are still terrorizing remaining residents of areas thought to have supported the Gadhafi regime. Whole towns like Tawergha, populated largely by black Libyans who supported the regime, have already been wiped off the map. And Human Rights Watch warned in a recent report that former residents of the town are still being hunted down.
The revolutionary militia fighters are shooting it out amongst themselves, too. According to the U.K. Telegraph, hundreds of armed revolutionaries were battling each other on Monday outside a Tripoli hospital.
Loyalist fighters are also still staging attacks on revolutionary forces as anger over atrocities committed by both sides during the civil war boils over. Even neutral parties who suffered at the hands of rebel fighters have taken up arms against the new regime, according to media accounts.
Gadhafi and the remnants of his regime are thought to have distributed vast stockpiles of weapons and wealth so anti-revolutionary forces could wage what the despot promised would be a long-lasting insurgency. Many of those fighters fled to the desert and are staging surprise attacks on roaming bands of militiamen.
The ongoing battles have sparked widespread speculation that the bloody conflicts will continue to rage far into the future. And as the NTC tries to disarm the population, not even revolutionaries have agreed to disarm, much less opponents of the new government or loyalists fearful of revenge attacks.
Advanced weaponry including anti-aircraft missiles has also fallen into the hands of known terrorist organizations. The deadly stockpiles are turning up all over the region, but it remains unclear how much firepower has been smuggled out of the country so far.
But the Obama administration, which offered repeated assurances that backing the rebels was the best course of action, is not surprised. "I'm not aware of anything that has been reported that has surprised us out of Libya," White House spokesman Jay Carney told a press briefing Monday as reports of the unfolding chaos were dominating the headlines.
Related articles:
Analysts Hint at New Civil War in "Liberated" Libya
U.S. Officials Celebrate Killing of Former Ally Gadhafi
UN Human Rights Council Calls for Investigation of Gadhafi's Death
Libyan Despot Gadhafi Killed in Final Stand
Former Guantanamo Prisoner Now U.S. Ally in Libya
UN, Obama Fighting Alongside Al-Qaeda in Libya
Brutal Gadhafi Regime Fights On in Western Libya
Gadhafi's Libya, Agent of the Soviet Menace
China Offered Gadhafi Arms Despite Libya Embargo
FBI "On Guard" for Libyan Terror Retaliation
Libya War: Lies and Dueling Psy-Ops
The Bloody Aftermath of NATO's Libya War
Exiled Libyan Jew Barred From Restoring Tripoli Synagogue
Sharia Enshrined in Libyan Draft Constitution
NATO, Rebels Accused of War Crimes in Libya
Libyan Rebels Accused of "Ethnic Cleansing," Black Genocide
Al-Qaeda and NATO's Islamic Extremists Taking Over Libya
"Libyan Rebels" Create Central Bank, Oil Company
Fed Showered Money On Foreign Banks
Bin Laden & Al-Qaeda: U.S. Govt. Creations
U.S. Role Unclear in Planned UN Libya Mission
Obama, Clinton, and Biden Agree: War on Libya Is Unconstitutional
Photos: Top: the al Qaeda flag; bottom: The Ottoman flag is raised during Mawlid celebrations in Benghazi in 1896.


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From Hey u Guys:
The ground beneath the Vue Westfield in West London trembled under the weight of Robert Pattinson fans as his latest film, Water for Elephants, had its UK premiere on Tuesday night.
Pattinson stars with Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz in this circus bound tale of love, loss and elephantine hosing.
Our excellent friends at Upbeat were on hand to capture the spirit of the event and interviewed the stars as they walked the red carpet and as you'll see Pattinson and Witherspoon put on quite a show.


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Gameloft is back with a brand new shooter, and it's called Blitz Brigade. Actually, the full title is Blitz Brigade – Online multiplayer shooting action!, because Gameloft has forgotten what subtlety is. A freemium, primarily online multiplayer game, this is Gameloft's long awaited take on Team Fortress 2, with all the fun classes and unlockables you'd expect to find within. While it's a great looking game, with colorful visuals, and smooth, refined gunplay, the primary component, as of this writing, is pretty much broken. The server stability is seriously lacking, and actually playing online is very hard to do.
When the game works, it works great. Even with only the two starting classes (the rest are hiding behind a level grind, though you can always opt to buy them instead) there is plenty of fun to be had. The maps are well designed, and the three vehicle types are all extremely empowering, yet not too overpowered. You can take tanks and helicopters down Rambo-style assuming you can get close. As you play, you'll earn coins and unlock a hundred different weapons and items to purchase. Of course, this can also lead to 'pay to win' silliness, but people still go down easily enough if you get the drop on them.
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Celebrate Memorial Day and summer while reading from a list of great magazines, thanks to Zinio's recent Guest Post.
There is a single player mode, consisting of short missions or mini-games, each with puzzle pieces to unlock for more rewards. Unfortunately, each level pack after the first will cost 20 gems to unlock, and you aren't given many gems at all. Gems are the freemium currency, of course. The missions are very samey and not all that interesting, but they're a fun distraction. Unfortunately, with the online components being so broken, they seem even worse. It wouldn't be such a big deal for the game to have server issues if they had an epic Modern Combat or N.O.V.A. length campaign to play as well, but they do not.
To reiterate, the game looks and plays great, and is overflowing with potential. The freemium elements aren't even all that bad, considering. But coupled with poor server stability that makes it extremely hard to even get into one of the very fun online matches, this one is best avoided until a fix is implemented. You could always just download it and keep it in your back pocket for later.
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Most of you by now have probably heard tale of Specialized Bicycle's play against a small, independent bike shop in Canada. While I've yet to hear anything from Specialized themselves on the matter, I like many found this story disgusting. The conflict arises over the use of the word 'Roubaix' – which of course adorns a line of Specialized bikes as well and is a registered trademark of Specialized.
Me being me I was all ready to rip Specialized (verbally) apart here. But, given that the last time I went after someone here on JustAotherCyclist it went a little wrong (read the comments to this) I've actually decided on a different path.
I found a very reasonable, educated and balanced Open Letter to Mike Sinyard (Founder of Specialized Bikes) posted on the blog Riding Against the Grain. Here the author says, among other things:
If you choose to analyze things from a purely business perspective, look at what's happening. Even if there was some impact on your business (there isn't), and even if you could quantify it (you can't), it would be miniscule. Compare that minuscule economic impact to the incredibly damaging effect that this news is having upon your company. The core of people who are really dedicated bikers are seeing this news nonstop. All of their friends are using social media to talk about it. It's everywhere–in the worst possible way. The cost analysis on this particular intellectual property squabble weighs heavily against pursuing it.
Seriously – go read the blog post. There would be no value in me adding my particular brand of snark to this conversation.
If you decide you want to get involved and help Cafe Roubaix Bicycle Studio you can check out their company website, purchase products from their online store, or continue to let @iamspecialized know your thoughts on the matter. There is an indiegogo campaign that has been started purportedly to support the shop's legal defense, but that campaign appears to be run by a person or group out of Australia and not the shops native Canada – so do your homework when donating.


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Is Saint-Andre answer to French prayers?
Ian Moriarty
March 27, 2012
Wesley Fofana was one of few positives for France during the Six Nations © Getty Images
One of the more interesting things about French rugby is the manner in which the supporters tend to incubate themselves from poor results at international level.
Championship wins come and go, as they did with quite frightening regularity in the early part of this century, but there has always been a feeling in the Midi - the heartland of French rugby - that unlike club rugby, supporters can take or leave the XV de France with the shrug of their shoulders.
There's been no shortage of shoulder-shrugging over the last couple of weeks since France's last Six Nations game against Wales. On the face of it, the 2012 Six Nations will not be a tournament that will go down as fondly remembered in Philippe Saint-André's household. The France coach, in his first season in charge, managed to outdo the universally pitied (some would say despised) Marc Lièvremont and guide France to fourth place - their worst Championship finish since 2001. Saint-André did it by selecting the oldest and most experienced side in the Six Nations and then topped it off by getting them to play rugby that rivalled Italy in terms of attractiveness. Quite the feat don't you think?
The French have never been an easy bunch to read but the abject nature of their performances was genuinely puzzling. Here were players that had come so close to winning a World Cup, with a new coach, yet there was no sparkle in the eye, no arrogant posturing and certainly no cock crowing. Instead we got selection mistakes, tactical naivety and a bunch of players who looked like they had just met for the first time.
This is no time to panic however. Yes, the results and performances have been disappointing, and with so many seasoned France internationals close to retirement (seven of the pack against Wales were over the age of 30) or over the hill in terms of performance, Saint-André has the opportunity to begin moulding his own team - a task that should feel easier given the results of England and Wales this season.
A two-test trip to Argentina could never be described as the easiest place in which to blood new players but Saint-André is a pragmatic man and will realise it's the ideal window if he gets the blend of youth and experience right. In particular need of overhaul is the front five, with particular focus on hooker. William Servat has been a wonderful servant of Toulouse and France in recent years but his time is at an end, while inconsistency has plagued Dimitri Szarzewski's career. Saint-André will hope that Perpignan's Guillaume Guirado can work on his darts as the cupboard is looking pretty bare for France at hooker.
Saint-André will also be praying that Clermont loose-head Thomas Domingo can find a way back to fitness before too long. The 26-year-old has missed most of the last year with two serious injuries but was the best young loose-head prop in Europe before his injury. Meanwhile expect Nicolas Mas to continue on the tight-head side for the foreseeable future, despite him being 'rested' against Wales. Saint-André is under slightly less pressure at lock, having successfully blooded Yoann Maestri as a replacement for the retired Lionel Nallet while we can expect Maestri's Toulouse partner Romain Millo-Chluski alongside him in the second row for club and country.
Fused with the Anglo-Saxon attitude of needing to have a game manager at outside half, Saint-André toyed with the option of Lionel Beauxis during the Six Nations but his disappointing performances should see Francois Trinh-Duc re-claim the No.10 jersey. It's quite remarkable how a rugby country the size of France has gone so long without a top class flyhalf but Warren Gatland proved to Saint-André during the Six Nations that you can win games without a strong game-manager at flyhalf.
By far the brightest moment of the Six Nations from Saint-André's point of view was the emergence of Clermont Auvergne's Wesley Fofana at international level. A centre blessed with the ability of scoring tries is a valuable asset in any team and Fofana's knack of running the right line could cause havoc in years to come if he has the right partner. Aurelien Rougerie is another whose time on the international stage is coming to an end so Saint-André must look towards Yann David at Toulouse.
With the Top 14 heating up and the Heineken Cup quarter finals only around the corner, Saint-André has the added frustration as France coach of watching his already jaded players pressed into further action. Guy Noves of Toulouse and Vern Cotter of Clermont Auvergne will share his pain, but they have other things to worry about than another poorly organised end of season jaunt to the southern hemisphere.
Welcome to international rugby Philippe, it doesn't get any easier. Just ask Marc Lièvremont.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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Don't miss it: the special "worksession" Tuesday, November 27th, 5:30 pm at the City Council Chambers (Martin Luther King at Center) where the Measure S losers weep together over Telegraph Avenue. You'll enjoy the "Options and Opportunities" report with the usual; wifi and sparkling lights for shoppers, crackdowns on panhandlers, and the usual remake of People's Park.
Karma's a bitch, said a friend last night who anticipated just this kind of excessive focus not on the city commercial districts in the most economic distress (according to the most recent city reports), but on Telegraph Avenue because, well, the biggest bear at the town picnic is always UC Berkeley, and that bear gets what it wants at the Berkeley City Council.
What my friend meant was the bombed-out devastation at three corners of Haste and Telegraph was avoidable, even predictable. Cody's Bookstore thrived under Fred and Pat Cody until acquired and mismanaged by Andy Ross, who thought expanding to 4th Street and a store in San Francisco was a great idea in the middle of the crisis in book and newspaper publishing and who turned the easements the Cody's had deliberately created for street life into war zones.
Across the intersection, the former Berkeley Inn's residents in one wing were informed that the building would be torched the night before it happened – the arsonists wanted to avoid loss of life if at all possible. To this day no one has been prosecuted for the deliberate arson. Ken Sarachan, who bought the now-vacant lot, has tried repeatedly to build replacement housing and retail on the lot which previous city councils turned down. The current council is now suing him instead of working constructively with one of the few merchants on Telegraph who had the integrity to take a stand against the lunacy of making sitting down a crime.
And then there's the other corner, where any previous tenant can tell you tales of the mold, the electrical wiring and habitability issues that could have cost lives. The city of Berkeley had ample opportunity to insist that there were enough code and safety violations to warrant serious intervention, but somehow didn't find the time.
But they're taking time next week, right before Christmas, to listen to the anti-sitting law promoters whine that they need a $100,000 grant, some of which comes from the City of Berkeley, to address their crying need for more profits. Don't miss it! It's the best show in town.


text: Seller: w.s.antiques (1,607) 100%, Location: Ipswich, QLD, Ships to: Worldwide, Item: 323859546313 ~ Welcome to William Sharpe Antiques ~ Here today for your consideration we have this superb antique original tube-lined fireplace/washstand tile. The tile is in good used condition with no cracks or repairs. There is a large chip to one corner and some fine crazing throughout, as per the photos. Please study the photos carefully, as the tile pictured will be the one you receive. A stunning and original tile perfect for the collection. I have dozens of tiles the same and similar, so be sure to view my other listings. The tile measures in at 6 inches square (just over 15cm) being 9mm thick. Unpacked, it weighs in at 368gms. FREE AUSTRALIAN POSTAGE AND 30 DAY RETURN POLICY! Don't miss out! Click here to see my other items! Thanks for looking! If you would like to view this item or any other, please don't hesitate to contact me. Inspections are available seven days a week, with flexible timing. Please note that items listed (unless otherwise advertised) are antiques and are not brand new. As such, evidence of use should be expected and returns will not be accepted on the basis of typical age-related wear and tear that can be seen within the above photos, which form part of the item description. Items are dispatched within 24 hours of receiving cleared payment (excluding weekends). Please note, that the Australia Post Air Mail Parcel postage service does not include tracking. If you require tracking, please select the AU Post Express option at checkout. Insurance is NOT included in standard or express postage but can be added to all parcels at buyer's request. Please message me for an updated invoice if you require insurance. Material: Ceramic, Original/Reproduction: Original, Product Type: Tiles, Originating Region: Europe


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By Matt Gardner
The Appling County Pirate football season will start Friday, August 19 with a scrimmage against neighboring Jeff Davis County Yellow Jackets at Jimmy Swain Stadium with the game scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. The Pirates and the Yellow Jackets scrimmaged each other to start the 2010 season playing to a 7-7 tie over three quarters, the junior varsity teams played the third quarter with no scoring.
The Pirates are coming off a 4-7 season overall and 3-4 in Region 2AA. The Pirates were able to make it to the playoffs as the fourth seed as a result of tiebreakers due to a tie in the region standings with Brantley and Toombs County. In the playoffs the Pirates traveled to Eatonton to take on the Putnam County War Eagles and came up just short losing 14-20.
Pictured above is the Pirate Offense and Defence during a recent practice.
Pirates to start 2011 season against Jeff Davis
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Wow, I feel your pain. So annoying.Carrisa wrote:One time, not too long ago, in Environmental class I was talking to a girl I sit with and her friend (who's a guy). I was reading Vampire Diaries and I was trying to hide it since people always seem to embarrass me or poke fun at me for the stuff I read. I sat it down on the table at the same time for this really talkative girl in my class came up to the table and picked it up. I was like, "No! Just what I've been avoiding!" And she started to read the back out loud and I thought I was going to die because everyone I was with was just staring at me. When she got to a part about blood she said, "Ew! That's scary! How could you read that?" I was pretty much frozen and all I could say was "I like vampires," in a somewhat of a hoarse voice. It was quiet before the guy said, "She's obviously never read Stephen King." I was so relieved. Neither of the two I was talking to held it against me, but I think the other girl was scared of me at that point. I still feel mortified, though. I'm going to have to hide my books better.
I was listening to Metallica one day. This chick comes up to me and is like "What are you listening to?" So I gave her an ear piece.
No joke - she squealed, and said "Ewwww, gross. Emo music!!" And ran away.
Was she for real or what? =/
But it sucked because then I got labeled the "emo" girl. Yes, with my hair pulled back neatly and in my school DRESS.
*shakes head*


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Anyone else noticed that transmissions from "new" UKRescue centre at NMOC Fareham not as good or as strong as those that used to emanate from Kinloss? Not sure if maybe HMCG at Fareham (1) don't have access to all/same transmitters that Kinloss had, (or 2) HMCG are cutting back on their HF network. Just that Kinloss transmissions used to boom out but over the last couple of months the Fareham transmissions are often weak readable and I'm located Portsmouth. Years ago when I was in the RAF the ARCC Kinloss (and before them Pitreive Castle) had remote control of VHF & UHF distress Txs & Rxs (243 & 121.5) at many RAF/RN bases and also several HF Tx/Rx at various military HF Tx/Rx sites (eg RAF:Greatworth Txs & Bampton Castle Rxs and RN at Forest Moor) so I guess their available network for 5680kHz (nights: 4718kHz) was extensive. Often past month or so I've heard SAR helos calling up on 5680 and not getting an answer from NMOC Fareham so maybe the receiver network isn't as good either. Good job they've got airwaves & Channel zero comms (lol). Maybe 5680 only being transmitted/received from their own coastguard radio sites/stations now and no longer access to military sites, and with CG stations being cut-back/reduced I wonder if that's depleting their radio capacity aswell. #JustWondering. On a side point been getting some good/readable stuff on 5680 from Belgium SARcontrol last month or so, certainly was busy when that Belgium trawler went down December 28th off Kent coast. aye david
[David_cl5p Portsmouth CL5P RAF Bomber/Strike Command V-Force control call-sign circa 1968]