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Deal Extends Top-Rated, Critically Acclaimed Comedy Series through the 2013-2014 Season
CBS Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television have reached a multi-year broadcast agreement for the top-rated, critically acclaimed comedy, THE BIG BANG THEORY, it was announced today by Nina Tassler, President, CBS Entertainment, and Peter Roth, President, Warner Bros. Television.
The agreement renews THE BIG BANG THEORY for an additional three years, extending it through the 2013-2014 season.
"It doesn't take a theoretical physicist to see why this show is a BIG part of our comedy future," said Nina Tassler. "From ratings to critical acclaim to pop culture buzz, it's struck a chord on all levels. The creative genius of Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady and the on-camera talents of an amazing young ensemble have created a comedy that will entertain viewers for a long time. We're proud to partner with Warner Bros. on another highly successful, long-running comedy."
"We are delighted and grateful that CBS has once again rewarded THE BIG BANG THEORY with a multiyear renewal," said Peter Roth. "This is a testament to the inspired and brilliant work of the show's entire creative team, and we look forward to continuing this highly successful partnership."
THE BIG BANG THEORY, which premiered in September 2007, had been part of CBS's top-rated Monday comedy block for the past three seasons. It finished 2009-2010 as primetime's #1 scripted series in adults 18-49 and the #2 comedy among viewers.
Currently in its fourth season, THE BIG BANG THEORY has successfully transitioned to its new Thursday time period (8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT), emerging as the night's dominant comedy in viewers and adults 18-49. It has also helped launch a second night of comedy for the Network.
THE BIG BANG THEORY is averaging 13.89 million viewers (+7% versus the year ago time period), 4.7/14 in adults 18-49 (+15%) and 5.9/16 in adults 25-54 (+16%).
In addition to being a ratings success, THE BIG BANG THEORY has also earned critical acclaim and award recognition. It won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" for star Jim Parsons (2010), a People's Choice Award for "Favorite TV Comedy" (2010) and was the recipient of two Television Critics Association Awards in 2009 for "Outstanding Achievement in Comedy" as well as "Individual Achievement in Comedy" for Parsons.
This year, the series is nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, which will be announced on Sunday, for "Best Television Series � Comedy or Musical" and "Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series � Comedy or Musical."
THE BIG BANG THEORY stars Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar. Chuck Lorre & Bill Prady created the series and also serve as executive producers with Lee Aronsohn. The series is from Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc., in association with Warner Bros. Television.


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Construction at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina is on standby while the Energy Department considers other options. | Flickr/Savannah River Site
Fourteen years after Russia and the United States agreed to each get rid of 34 metric tons of surplus weapons plutonium, the projected cost of building and operating a plant in South Carolina to turn the surplus U.S. plutonium into reactor fuel has increased to at least $31 billion, according to a recent U.S. Department of Energy report.
A cheaper alternative, the report says, is a method called downblending and disposal, which was the subject of a 4 June panel discussion organized by the AAAS Center for Science, Technology and Security Policy (CSTSP).
In downblending, the plutonium would be mixed with a chemically inert material, called an inhibitor, and buried in deep salt caverns in New Mexico at the federal government's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The Energy Department report estimated that the downblending approach would cost $8.78 billion in new spending.
"This is a pretty live political issue right now."
Miles Pomper, Monterey Institute of International Studies
Miles Pomper | AAAS/Earl Lane
But the method faces substantial regulatory and political hurdles, according to Miles Pomper, a senior research associate at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. The United States would need Russian approval for any changes in their agreement, signed in 2000, on disposal of surplus weapons plutonium.
Moreover, the plant in South Carolina is more than half complete and both the Senate and House authorization bills for the Energy Department budget include funding for continued construction. South Carolina has filed a lawsuit seeking to force the federal government to complete the plant, which was put on "cold standby" when the costs escalated and the Energy Department decided to consider other options.
"This is a pretty live political issue right now," Pomper said.
There also are questions about the availability of WIPP, which opened in 1999 as a deep geologic repository for radioactive wastes generated during the research and manufacture of nuclear weapons. The facility was shut down in February after a release of radioactivity was vented into the atmosphere. A drum of nuclear waste heated up and leaked, possibly because some chemically incompatible materials in the drum (including an absorbent similar to kitty litter) interacted to cause combustion within the drum.
More than $31 billion
the estimated cost of finishing and operating the plant to convert weapons plutonium into reactor fuel
More than $16 billion
the estimated total cost of the downblending and disposal option
Assuming the WIPP eventually reopens, the 29 April Energy Department study on plutonium disposal options noted that a federal statute will have to be amended to accommodate the additional volume of waste represented by the 34 metric tons of surplus weapons plutonium at the site.
Edwin S. Lyman, senior scientist at the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, questioned that conclusion. He told the AAAS gathering that a new disposal package has been designed that could nearly double the amount of plutonium to be packed into each waste drum. The criticality control overpack, as it is called, would allow disposal of up to 44 metric tons of plutonium at WIPP, Lyman said.
Under the agreement with Russia in 2000, the United States initially undertook a two-track approach to dispose of it surplus weapons plutonium. The bulk of it was to be converted to a nuclear fuel called MOX — a mixture of oxides of plutonium and uranium — that could be burned in civilian power reactors. The rest, about 25% of the total, was considered too impure for use in MOX and, instead, was to be immobilized in glass and buried in cannisters along with highly radioactive waste (to discourage any efforts in the future to recover it).
"Watching this unfold like a slow-motion train wreck has been a very disappointing experience for me."
Edwin S. Lyman, Union of Concerned Scientists
Edwin Lyman | AAAS/Earl Lane
In 2002, the Bush administration cancelled the immobilization option and decided to pursue only the MOX option at the Energy Department's Savannah River site in South Carolina. But processing the impure plutonium for MOX use added to the cost of the fuel fabrication facility under construction. At the same time, the Energy Department has been unable to find any electric utilities willing to purchase MOX fuel for use in existing or planned commercial power reactors.
Lyman, who has long opposed the construction of a large-scale plutonium processing facility because of safety and security concerns, said the escalating costs of the South Carolina plant were predictable. "Watching this unfold like a slow-motion train wreck has been a very disappointing experience for me," he said.
The Energy Department, faced with rising costs and a tough budget environment, commissioned the April study to assess the cost of finishing and operating the uncompleted MOX plant as well as the cost of other plutonium disposal options. The total cost of the MOX plant was estimated at more than $31 billion when "sunk" costs such as those related to the WIPP facility are included, with a start date of plutonium disposition in 2028. The study also looked at:
- Building specially purposed "fast" reactors for burning the MOX fuel, at an estimated total cost of at least $58 billion, with disposition to begin in 2033.
- Immobilizing all the plutonium and burying it with high-level nuclear waste, at a cost of more than $36 billion, with disposition to begin in 2039.
- Placing cannisters of plutonium in three-mile deep boreholes, with disposition to begin in 2048 (and not enough data available to allow a long-term costs estimate).
- Downblending and disposing of the plutonium, with disposition to begin in 2019 at an estimated $8.78 billion in new costs and a total of more than $16 billion if "sunk" costs are included.
The report concluded that downblending was the cheapest of the options studied and the easiest to accomplish with existing technology in a timely fashion.
Both Lyman and Pierce Corden, visiting scholar at CSTSP, noted that "downblending" is a bit of a misnomer when applied to plutonium rather than highly enriched uranium (HEU), another fissile material used in nuclear warheads. HEU typically contains at least 85% of the fissile uranium-235 isotope. To be rendered unusable in warheads, highly enriched material can be downblended with other isotopes of uranium, such as U-238, to bring its percentage of U-235 to less than 5%.
Lyman said that all isotopes of plutonium (with the exception of nearly pure Pu-238) have the potential for use in warheads, however. A plutonium warhead cannot be truly downblended. But it can be mixed with a special chemical inhibitor. The Energy Department has developed a classified substance called "stardust" that is described in one unclassified document as "a mixture of cementing, gelling, thickening and foaming agents" that make it "more difficult and complex to recover, concentrate and purify the plutonium."
Pierce Corden | AAAS/Earl Lane
Pomper and Corden said the debate over how best to dispose of surplus weapons plutonium should be set in a broader context, given that large amounts of plutonium are produced in the civilian sector (in nuclear power reactors) as well as in the defense sector. More than 500 metric tons of the material has been reprocessed globally from spent fuel of power reactors and is kept in a separated form.
"Bear in mind that every time you turn on a reactor, you create plutonium," Corden said. An additional 70 tons of plutonium is created globally each year in the civilian sector, he said. In the wrong hands, only about 18 pounds of the stuff could be used to make a nuclear weapon.
Proper handling and disposition of plutonium is a challenge for many nations, not just Russia and the United States. Corden noted the parties to the Nuclear Security Summit 2014, attended by more than 50 world leaders in March at The Hague in the Netherlands, recognized that all nuclear materials must be covered by effective nuclear security systems. The communique from the summit said "that highly enriched uranium (HEU) and separated plutonium require special precautions and that it is of great importance that they are appropriately secured, consolidated and accounted for." It added, "We encourage States to minimize their stocks of HEU and to keep their stockpile of separated plutonium to the minimum level, both as consistent with national requirements."
National interests continue to complicate the worldwide handling and disposition of plutonium, however. Pomper noted long-standing differences between Russia and the United States on the uses of plutonium. The Russians see separated plutonium as a resource to be used both as a fuel in conventional reactors and as a fuel for fast reactors that can create more plutonium than they consume. They consider efforts to immobilize, dilute, and bury plutonium as akin to "flushing gold down the toilet," Pomper said.
In 2010, the Obama administration agreed that the Russians should be allowed to burn their surplus weapons plutonium in two demonstration fast reactors, the BN-600 reactor which has been in operation since 1980 and the nearly completed BN-800. The agreement also committed the United States to turning its surplus weapons plutonium into MOX fuel rather than disposing of it through burial or other means. The agreement with the Russians would have to be modified if the United States were to undertake a downblending and disposal option.
Pomper said there is some optimism that such an accommodation could be reached. Even with the current Ukraine crisis, he said, Russia has agreed to talk about possible changes to the U.S. disposition plan. He noted that a "Megatons to Megawatts" agreement between Russia and the United States was completed in the early 1990s during the Yugoslavia crisis. Under that agreement, Russia agreed to supply the United States with low-enriched uranium (LEU), obtained from downblending of high-enriched uranium left over from the former Soviet Union's defense program. The United States agreed to purchase the low-enriched uranium fuel for use in civilian power reactors, and the last shipment of the material occurred late last year.

subset: commoncrawl


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Virginia City, Montana - Step back in time and relive the Montana frontier gold rush experience of the mid-to-late 1800s. Today, through various serendipitous twists of fate, the Virginia City of old survives in a uniquely engaging relationship with the present. A small, friendly community nestled amongst the renowned gold-laden hills and gulches of Alder Gulch. Virginia City remains a true historical treasure. Recognized in 1961 as a National Historic Landmark, the town has seen every form of boom-and-bust cycle imaginable. Frantically founded in 1863 in the midst of yet another western gold rush, the town and surrounding areas quickly became home to several thousand feverish fortune hunters. Virginia City because of its convenient location in the midst of the gold fields rapidly grew to become the territorial capital and 'Social City' of the Montana frontier. This combination of abundant economic wealth, growing political power, and limited civilizing restraints created ripe conditions for excessive behaviors amongst the early residents of this 'wide-open town'. In this lonely, isolated and lawless town the demand for brothels, saloon, dance halls, and gambling parlors greatly exceeded the call for churches, schools, and civilized concepts of justice. Until finally in a desperate attempt to stem this tide of unrestrained lawlessness, 'upstanding' members of the community united in response to a particularly brutal string of robberies and murders to form the Vigilantes. According to historical accounts the Vigilantes were responsible for administering a particularly effective form of frontier justice, wherein twenty-four men suspected of being road agents (outlaws) were hunted down and executed over a brief four-month period. No one was beyond suspicion, as evidenced by the fact that one of the early recipients of the Vigilante's juggernaut of justice was Henry Plummer, the local sheriff. He was hung along with his deputies from his own gallows in the nearby community of Bannack for his reported involvement as the ringleader of the gang of road agents. Five other 'convicted' road agents were captured and hung in Virginia City. Their remains are interred in the Boot Hill Cemetery above Virginia City. After this intense period of social unrest the Vigilantes disbanded as quickly as they formed, melting back into the day-to-day fabric of this now more civilized community. During this early period the community experienced impressive growth and cultural refinement, as the crudely constructed log cabins of the early prospectors gave way to the more deliberately and tastefully designed houses and stores of businessmen and established miners. However, as is often the case with gold rush communities, within a few years of it's founding, the 'easy' gold played out and most of the initially large population moved on to the latest new strike. By the early - 1870s, Virginia City's status as the territorial capital was being seriously contested, until finally in 1875 the political might of the rival community of Helena and the developing gold fields of Last Chance Gulch, succeeded in finally 'stealing' away the claim to the capital. The town continued stubbornly onward, retaining its position as the county seat for Madison County, but its spirit had been broken and by the late 19th-century was but a shadow of its former glory. So began Virginia City's slow painful slide into obscurity. If not for the advent of new mining technology known as dredge boats - large floating mining factories that revolutionized the placer gold mining industry around 1900 and allowed further exploitation of Alder Gulch's riches, the town's colorful history would have come to a abrupt close. These large-scaled industrialized mining activities enabled deeply buried gold deposits to be profitably developed and kept the community alive until the 1940s - marking an amazing long 80-year period of active gold mining in this area. However, the advent of WW-II effectively spelled the end to Virginia City's long run as a major mining center. The mid-1940s found Virginia City in a depressed economic and social state, the mines were closed by federal mandate as nonessential to the war effort, and the local population of able-bodied workers, both men and women, were either drafted or relocated to work in war-related industries. Virginia City was almost a ghost town. Its population was reduced to less than 100 persons, comprised mostly of elder residents waiting out the war. Then once again fate stepped in to breath new life and purpose into the old buildings of the town. Charlie and Sue Bovey, avid history buffs and antique collectors, visited Virginia City in the early 1940s and saw in the old, mostly abandoned buildings, not worthless junk, but a priceless collection of Western American history dating back almost 100 years to the very beginning of Montana's development. Since the 1940s, thanks to the preservation efforts of the Bovey family, Virginia City has experienced yet another period of steadily growing prosperity as a major heritage tourism destination. Located only 85-miles northwest of Yellowstone National Park the town enjoys a stable population of 150 year round residents. That number effectively doubles during the active summertime period (May-September) when thousands of curious daily visitors explore the boardwalks and back streets of the town. In spite of almost 50 years of active tourism, the town still retains a compelling sense of authenticity that thrills even the most demanding modern visitor. The historic buildings and landscape of the town act as a colorful backdrop for the many engaging activities available to the inquisitive visitor. A few such examples include two professional theaters, several tour groups, steam train rides, and live demonstrations of heritage trades, i.e. blacksmithing, gold-panning, etc. Today, most of the properties and artifacts once owned and interpreted by the Bovey family have been purchased by the State of Montana to ensure their long-term care and protection. The essence of the Virginia City experience is a casual, inviting setting that lends itself to a relaxing family outing or fun-filled weekend retreat from the typical hustle and bustle of modern life.
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The night started off with a celebrity motorcade…
Last night at the premiere of The American Idol Experience, Disney gave away the first ever 'Dream Ticket', which allows one lucky park guest a 'fast pass' to the front of the audition line for a future season of American Idol, and feted the attraction and the TV show the way only Disney can with tons of magical moments and great experiences for Idols, guests, and fans alike.
…and ended with all seven previous Idol winners on stage together with their new 'Idol Awards' that were presented tonight (and Seacrest too).
I want to tell you all about it, but unfortunately, I only have a few minutes today. So here's a quick summary and a few of my favorite photos from the night. I promise there will be much more later.
In between there were tons of screaming fans…
With the largest-ever gathering of "American Idol" winners joining in the celebration, Walt Disney World Resort Thursday night raised the curtain on "The American Idol Experience," a new attraction capturing the energy and excitement of the hit TV show.
…including one 'Grumpy' fan of Simon Cowell (who alas, wasn't present).
Thursday's grand premiere, at Disney's Hollywood Studios, was attended by all seven winners of the series, from season-one winner Kelly Clarkson to season-seven champion David Cook. Joining Cook and Clarkson were Jordin Sparks (season six), Taylor Hicks (five), Carrie Underwood (four), Fantasia Barrino (three) and Ruben Studdard (two).
There were lots of great 'Blue Carpet' moments, including this one with Carrie Underwood.
More than two dozen Idol stars – winners and finalists from the first seven seasons – plus judge Paula Abdul and TV show host Ryan Seacrest arrived by celebrity motorcade, rolling down Hollywood Boulevard to the cheers, applause and snapping cameras of Disney's Hollywood Studios guests. Thursday's gala had all the glamour of a Hollywood opening. Cook treated the supercharged audience with a performance of his popular hit, "Light On," and after Underwood performed her hit, "All-American Girl," the pair brought down the house by teaming up for a first-ever duet, singing "Go Your Own Way," the Fleetwood Mac hit. The premiere even had a "red carpet" – except the carpet was appropriately blue in celebration of the "American Idol" color scheme.
Paula Abdul and Ryan Seacrest took part in a 'finale show' with actual Guests as performers on stage.
That color scheme and, in fact, the look of the attraction is similar to the actual TV show set. "The American Idol Experience" was developed by Walt Disney Imagineering in conjunction with FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) and 19 TV Ltd. and is based on the smash-hit television show "American Idol." The 1,000-seat indoor theater features twirling neon signs and a multi-layered backdrop inspired by the actual "American Idol" set in California.
Before the 'Dream Ticket' was awarded, David Cook and his band performed…
The attraction is designed to immerse park guests in the authentic feel of a live television production, with some guests 14 or older auditioning to take the spotlight onstage, while fellow guests cheer them on from the audience and vote for their favorite singer with instant results. Audition slots are limited and interested guests are encouraged to arrive early.
…as well as Carrie Underwood (I like Carrie's jewel encrusted microphone).
Performers with the highest votes during preliminary shows return for a high-energy grand finale show that same evening. After their encore performances, one is voted the day's top singer.
Then David Cook and Carrie Underwood sang a duet. Their first together.
In addition to their new-found theme park fame, the top vote-getter at the finale show receives "The American Idol Experience" Dream Ticket, which allows an eligible holder to schedule a front-of-the-line audition to a future regional audition for the "American Idol" television show. Feb. 14 is the grand opening of the attraction.
Finally, they announced the 'Dream Ticket' winner and he joined all seven previous real American Idols on stage (which must have been a heady moment).
About the Dream Ticket:
Dream Ticket recipients must satisfy AMERICAN IDOL* TV program requirements in effect at time of use, such as age and residency (Season 8 – only ages 16-28 and U.S. citizens or legal permanent U.S. residents eligible to work full-time in U.S.). Dream Ticket does not include travel, meals, lodging or other expenses.
At the end of the night, I couldn't resist taking a souvenir photo on the same giant icon the stars posed on earlier.
About the Audition:
Guests 14 or older inside Disney's Hollywood Studios may audition to sing that day at the attraction, subject to guidelines in Frequently Asked Questions at Disneyworld.com/idol. Audition openings are limited and will likely close early in the day. Only a few singers will be chosen to sing onstage. A limited number of assigned audition times may be available in advance from time to time.
Complete attraction guidelines are described in the Frequently Asked Questions referenced above, which are subject to change without notice.


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After an eight year legal struggle led by NIF grantee Adalah, the Be'er Sheva District Court upheld a 2011 ruling cancelling 51 demolition orders in the Negev village of Alsira. This case is an important legal precedent for all unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, and means that the 350 Bedouin citizens of the village will remain in their homes.
Judge Tali Haimovich wrote in her decision: "The appeal revolved around a village that was built before the establishment of the state, and has existed since [then] without any problems…there would need to be a strong and genuine public interest to justify the need for uprooting 350 people from their homes and displacing them."
The villages of Atir and Umm al-Hieran, home to 1,000 people, are also facing demolition orders. Adalah attorney Suhah Bishara said that she hopes the Alsira decision "will guide the courts to issue similar decisions to cancel the demolition and eviction orders in those villages, which have existed for more than 50 years."


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For media, Web and strategy firm Farmhouse, 2013 has proven to be a breakout year.
That's according to Ben Fant, who started the marketing agency in 2007 out of his home, in – where else – an 1800s-era former farmhouse. The firm recently moved into a larger space Downtown at 97 S. Front St. to make room for more staff, and recent projects it has taken on include work for restaurateur Taylor Berger's new enterprise Tamp and Tap and the Cooper-Young restaurant Ink.
That higher profile work, the growing volume of work and the move to a new space to accommodate extra staff means Fant's role is changing. When he started the firm, he'd previously worked as a photographer who made what in hindsight probably seems like a natural progression into his own agency work.
"That kind of thing lends itself to a little design and layout work," Fant said. "And then that lent itself to the Web."
That was the starting progression for what would become Farmhouse, the early days of which saw Fant working out of his home.
The firm's newest additions include a creative director and an intern. In total, Farmhouse – which specializes in brand development, sales generation and Web design – has five employees on its roster.
The company's logo is a rooster silhouette. And its website beckons clients with the opportunity inherent in the notion that "in business, every sunrise brings both new challenges and new opportunities."
Because of recent developments surrounding his firm, Fant said he can feel himself growing into more of a manager than operating as the one-man show that had been the norm for a few years now.
"This has grown because I've always tried to find a way to say 'yes' to my clients," he said. "That was advice I got way back. I also want to keep my client roster low. I'm not looking to do lots of plug-and-play requests. We're small – no account executives. I'm it. And I want to grow with clients long-term.
"People come to us for things like branding and websites. We do everything except videography in-house."
At the moment, the firm's clients include mostly small businesses, some nonprofits and businesses in the hospitality industry.
For client Evelyn & Olive, a Downtown Memphis restaurant, the business had two things to deal with when working with Farmhouse and before opening its doors. It was near another successful lunch spot, and the original storefront was lacking curb appeal. With Farmhouse's help, the business painted its façade and window graphics different colors, so that the contrast would stand out more, and a sidewalk sign was included with a sign facing the street to cover all angles.
Farmhouse also has created a design for the Memphis Food Truckers Alliance. And Farmhouse turned to the T.S. Eliot poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" as the inspiration for Tamp & Tap's brand identity design.
There's a line in the poem that mentions measuring out "my life with coffee spoons," so the firm focused on a turn-of-the-century design while keeping a current branding to emulate a coffeehouse from Eliot's era.
Other clients have included SRVS, Grant & Co., Belz Inc., the town of Collierville and The Barnett Group.


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In a story that seems to have garnered very little attention, the Wall Street Journal's Jennifer Graham reported last Thursday that in the carnage following the Boston Marathon bombings, first responders did not include area clergy. This was, however, no accident. Graham writes:
The heart-wrenching photographs taken in the moments after the Boston Marathon bombings show the blue-and-yellow jackets of volunteers, police officers, fire fighters, emergency medical technicians, even a three-foot-high blue M&M. Conspicuously absent are any clerical collars or images of pastoral care.
This was not for lack of proximity. Close to the bombing site are Trinity Episcopal Church, Old South Church and St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine, all on Boylston Street. When the priests at St. Clement's, three blocks away, heard the explosions, they gathered sacramental oils and hurried to the scene in hopes of anointing the injured and, if necessary, administering last rites, the final of seven Catholic sacraments. But the priests, who belong to the order Oblates of the Virgin Mary, weren't allowed at the scene.
The Rev. John Wykes, director of the St. Francis Chapel at Boston's soaring Prudential Center, and the Rev. Tom Carzon, rector of Our Lady of Grace Seminary, were among the priests who were turned away right after the bombings. It was jarring for Father Wykes, who, as a hospital chaplain in Illinois a decade ago, was never denied access to crime or accident scenes.
"I was allowed to go anywhere. In Boston, I don't have that access," he says.
Since the Boston Police Department has refused to comment on the story, the reasons why clergy were barred from entering the scene remain shrouded in speculation. One credible theory is that because a terrorist could enter the scene masquerading as clergy and do further damage, they locked down the scene.
I find such a theory questionable, however, insofar as there were so many people on the scene from the start, many of them volunteers with no credentials who merely happened to be on location when the bombing occurred. These were not asked to leave the scene, and in many of the news photos of the initial aftermath these non-uniformed citizen helpers are shown tending to the wounded and helping to get the most seriously injured to medical transport.
Would it truly have been such a risk to allow local clergy to assist the bombing victims, especially those in danger of death? Doesn't it seem likely that at least some of the local police attending the event would have known these individuals, since their churches were close at hand? And perhaps most importantly, is this the kind of nation we are creating, one that refuses admission to those carrying hope, spiritual consolation, and sacraments for the dying on the off chance that they might be bad guys? Graham points out that:
…it is a poignant irony that Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who died on Boylston Street, was a Catholic who had received his first Communion just last year. As Martin lay dying, priests were only yards away, beyond the police tape, unable to reach him to administer last rites—a sacrament that, to Catholics, bears enormous significance.
If that were my son, I would be furious. Bad enough to lose him. Worse still to deny him those incredibly important final graces that all Catholics hope to receive at the hour of death.
Final judgment on this story should be reserved until the Boston Police Department clarifies their thinking on the matter, which I hope they will do very soon. But the whole thing is unsettling. Many in the media along with government officials who have spoken out after the bombings have positively tripped over themselves in their attempts to merely label this an act of "extremism" or even, if they're feeling generous, "religious extremism" — without ever acknowledging exactly which extremist religious philosophy was behind it. And yet they have also, for reasons as yet unknown, kept those religious persons who were truly attempting to bring comfort and peace to the injured and dying away from the scene of this horrific tragedy.
Something doesn't add up.


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This week I dove into Pinterest full on. I love the ideas that are out there, and for creative bloggers, it's this fine balance between getting inspired and feeling like everyone else has all the best ideas. After brushing myself off, telling myself not to act like my children, I dove back in and fell in love. All of this is to explain that I got this idea from a pin – after seeing these great labyrinths from bloesem kids, I thought how can I make it, so it encourages writing but is low on the frustration meter. This is what we did.
- Gather your materials. You will need a CD case, some plain paper, markers, scissors and dry erase markers.
- Start by taking the liner out of the cd case and tracing it to make your own liners – we made four by folding and layering the paper before cutting.
- Next, make the mazes. Ok so you could totally print some off the internet too, and I encourage you to do this because man making mazes isn't super easy, but maybe I am just maze challenged.
- Pop them all in a stack and into your case facing the back. Now your child can do a few at a time or all in one sitting.
- Add your kid, and dry erase – mistakes are no biggie and look, writing practice!
- If you make a mistake, just wipe and try again!
You really should check out bloesem kids they have some magnificent ideas.


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On Thursday, the Senate approved two resolutions making both temporary and permanent procedural changes—to the detriment of the rights of the minority party as well as individual Senators on both sides of the aisle.
The first resolution was in the form of a standing rule to be in place for two years that addresses a new means to proceed to bills and an exemption for certain nominations from the threat of a filibuster.
S.Res. 15, which passed by a vote of 78-16, guarantees each party two amendments, but restricts the ability to filibuster proceeding to debate on an underlying matter. This measure, among other things, sought to assuage Senate Republicans' complaint that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "fills the amendment tree" as means to block conservative amendments to bills. This procedure blocks any amendments from being offered by Senate conservatives and serves to squelch the only voice minority-party and non-leadership Senators possess.
Additionally, this measure narrows post-cloture debate on judicial and non-Cabinet-level nominations from 30 hours to two, guaranteeing insufficient vetting of presidential appointees, who in many cases will retain their positions virtually for life. Furthermore, if there is no threat of a filibuster on lower court nominations, the President will have an incentive to nominate even more extremists to the federal courts.
The second resolution is a permanent change to the rules. S.Res. 16, agreed to by a margin of 86-9, changes the Standing Rules of the Senate to, among other things, shorten debate on motions to proceed when 16 Senators of both parties agree. It also limits the opportunities to filibuster a bill before it gets to conference from three times to one.
The problem with the Senate is not the rules, it is the members. The Majority Leader does not want to face tough votes, because doing so will expose the division within his own caucus. In an effort to avoid accountability, Senator Reid would rather force changes in the rules that disenfranchise those Senators outside of the ranks of leadership, regardless of party affiliation. Although he and then-Senator Barack Obama were adamant supporters of the filibuster when in the minority, now that they are in the majority, Reid envisions a Senate that procedurally mirrors the House of Representatives, not the Senatorial saucer where legislation is poured from the House to cool, as the Founders intended.


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Regularly there are new sleep products on the market. Just last week I saw one that really impressed me, so much so that I'd like to share. Rest assured, I have no affiliation with this company, financial or otherwise.
It is a new bed which was designed ergonomically so the body can be in a neutral side-lying position during sleep. There is a cut-away so that the lower arm is supported underneath the body, while the head and shoulders are supported above. In this position the spine is not twisted, as it commonly is when side-lying. The support system allows the shoulders to be in a neutral position also, instead of rolled inwards as commonly happens.
The mattress is wedge-shaped so that the head is elevated. There's been some work showing that when the body is supine, edema can re-distribute and cause narrowing of the airway. That airway narrowing increases the risk of apnea.
The bed is made of foam, and when I first heard that my alarm bells went off. However, I've learned that they only use pure foam that has not been treated with the harmful chemicals found in some foam. There were no fumes evident in the store, either when first walking in or after spending time looking at the bed.
So many people have pain conditions which interrupt their sleep, and the improvements to their sleep are limited until the pain can be eliminated. This bed gives me hope for some of those pain patients
In the next weeks someone will be trying it out for me, and I post an update here after the test. If you'd like more information, you can find it on the inventors' site http://www.squiresleep.com/


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What the Hell Happened to...Joe Kleine?
He was a member of the 1984 USA Olympic Team. He was one of 2 players acquired from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Danny Ainge, a trade I really disliked when I was younger. While on Phoenix he was affectionately referred to by teammate Charles Barkley along with Danny Schayes as "Schleine" (a good name but not as much as I liked Carluis Scolandry, the combination of Carl Landry and Luis Scola). He actually won a championship ring with the Bulls in 1998. I'm talking about Joe Kleine.
The 7'0 Kleine was a McDonalds High School All American and began his college career at Notre Dame but would transfer to the University of Arkansas after 1 season. After winning a gold medal with the 84 Olympic Team he became the 6th pick in the 1985 draft by the Sacramento Kings, drafted ahead of Chris Mullin, Detlef Schrempf, Karl Malone and Joe Dumars. He would play 3.5 seasons for the Kings before being traded to the C's on February 23, 1989 along with Ed Pinckney for Danny Ainge and Brad Lohaus.
After the 1993 season he signed on with Phoenix where he'd team with Danny Schayes to be known as the 2-headed monster "Schleine." That was when Phoenix had a dynamite team, signing Danny Manning and Wayman Tisdale and adding them to a team that already had Barkley, KJ, and Dan Majerle. He'd play with the Suns for 3.5 years until being traded to the Flakers with Robert "Towel-Throwing" Horry for Cedric Ceballos. He'd play just 8 games for LAL before being traded again to the Nets. Somehow I don't have the animosity for him as I did for these 2 clowns.
Kleine would play 2 more seasons after that, the lockout-shortened season of 1999 with Phoenix and then the 2000 season with Portland, where he hoped to get one more chance at a title. And if not for a 4th quarter collapse of the ages against the Flakers in the Western Conference Finals (for a Portland team that was really talented) he probably would have.
most hated NBA player today. He lives in the area with his wife Dana and 4 children: they have two sons Daniel, 21 and William, 8 and two daughters Courtney, 18 and Mallory, 15. Outside of basketball Joe owns a couple of Corky's Ribs & Barbecue, which are restaurants based out of Memphis, Tennessee.
For a list of all the "What the Hell Happened To" Series please click here.


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The August Check is in the Mail |
By Alex Dunne | |
August 19, 2013 | |
JOHN PROCOPI TAKES TWO ! John Procopi takes 12W38 and 13W11 John Procopi of Levittown, PA, born July 12, 1948, is a retired accountant. He started playing chess in the late Sixties and was quite active OTB for about fifteen years, but when his wife and he started a family, he gave up OTB and started playing postal. He made Postal Chess Master about twenty years ago and stopped playing. Now retired, he began playing again and has had some fine results including this July, two victories in Master/Expert tournaments. 12W38 Walter Muir Tournament GAME OF THE MONTH Procopi demonstrates that even a Rook Pawn can aspire to greatness. SEMI- SLAV DEFENSE 6952 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 e6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bg5 The choices today are pretty much between this move, 5. Bf4 and 5. e3. 5...h6 6.Bxf6 Retreating the Bishop was seen in O'Hare-Brandhorst, 2003 Absolute, which led to an even game after 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. h4 b4 11. hxg5 bxc3 12. bxc3 Nxe4 6...Qxf6 7.e3 Left back in the history books in favor of 7. e3 seem to be the replies here of 7. Qb3, 7. Qc2, and 7. g3. 7...Nd7 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Bb4 The most popular reply now is 9...g6 as in van Oosterom-Pinkovetsky, 15 Olympiad, which continued 10. 00 Qe7 11. e4 Bg7 12. Re1 00 = 10.0-0 Bxc3 11.bxc3 0-0 12.a4! This is better than 12. Nd2 Nb6 13. Bb3 e5 with rough equality as in Antunes-Ferreira, Carris Open 2002. 12...e5 13.Qc2 exd4 White ends up with a strong center and a lead in development after this exchange. Better was resistance by 13...Re8 14. Bd3 Qe7 15. Nd2 Nf6. 14.cxd4 Nb6 15.Ba2 Be6 16.a5 Bxa2? Black needed to play 16...Nd5 17. Bb1 g6 18. Qb2 Qe7 19. Re1 Rac8 20. Ne5 c5 when White stands only a little better. Now the a-Pawn is decisive. 17.axb6 Bd5 18.e4 Be6 19.bxa7 White has created a monster that stands on a7. It is now Procopi's task to use it effectively. 19...Rfd8 20.Rfb1 Rd7 21.Qc5 Qf4 Black seeks active counterplay as defense by 21...Qd8 just loses to 22. Ne5 Rxd4 23. Nxc6! bxc6 24. Rb8 Rxb8 25. axb8(Q) Qxb8 26. Qxd4 22.Ne5 Rdd8 23.Rxb7 Qxe4 24.Nxc6 Re8 25.Rb8 Kh7 26.Rxe8 Rxe8 27.Ne7 Bd5 After 27...Ba2!? 28. Qf5+ Qxf5 29. Nxf5 Bd5 30. Nd6 Rf8 31. h4 Ra8 32. Ra5 Be6 33. Nb5 Rc8 34. Nc7 the win is easy. 28.Qxd5 Qxe7 29.g3 1-0 Avoiding 29. h8(Q) Qe1+ and insuring the win. THREE WAY TIE IN 13W11 John Procopi strikes again, sharing first this time with Charles Jacobs and James Anderson. Black's combination on Move 21 backfires and the game ends quickly. NIMZOINDIAN DEFENSE (E20) 6953 JULY RESULTS Swift Quad Ralph Vecchio 12SQ19 5 ½-½ Eric King 13SQ05 6-0 Trophy Quad Joseph Kuhajda 12Q05 5-1 James Ruth 12Q05 5-1 Timothy Grassel 11Q12 5-1 John Terrall 11Q12 5-1 Walter Muir William Vega 13W13 4-2 Charles Jacobs 13W11 4-2 John Procopi 13W11 4-2 James Anderson 13W11 4-2 John Procopi 12W38 4 ½-1 ½ Ronald Roberts 13W09 5-1 John Collins Palciauskas Tournament Eugene Bedard 10P08 5 ½-½ GERARD SORICELLI TOPS 11C08 PETROFF DEFENSE (C42) 6954 OBITUARY Raymond Stefens, born 1949 died 5/23/13. GRUNFELD DEFENSE (D96) 6955 LEARN CHESS BY MAIL ! Lessons given by mail, telephone, ICC - many different ways. I specialize in players rated 800-2100 who would like to improve their game. Contact me for information. Alex Dunne, 324 West Lockhart St., Sayre, PA 18840 or [email protected] Chess booklet for sale: 2004 Golden Knights Championship -- booklet of the 57th USCF CC Championship -- $10.00 postage paid. 35 pages, 90+ games THE ABSOLUTE CORRESPONDENCE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE UNITED STATES CHESS FEDERATION 1976-2010 is now available at McFarland Publishers and Amazon for $45.00 and also Kindle at $16.49 NEW! 2006 Electronic Knights Championship ebook. 190 games some annotated, all the crosstables, bios of the top three, list of all the finalists, ChessBase format, .pgn notation and Microsoft .pdf format. $4.00 postage paid for the disk, $2.00 sent to you via email. Hard copy $10 postage included. Pertti Lehikoinen estimates that the 14 games he played during the Finals of the 20th World Championship consumed 14,700 to 14,800 hours. Roughly half of the thinking time he used in analyzing with computers and the other half was done in the traditional way manually at the chessboard or blindfold. Patience, patience, patience brings home the point. ENGLISH OPENING (A34) 6956 From 12W38 White lands too many punches for Black to survive. SEMI-SLAV DEFENSE (D46 ) 6957 McCann finds a drawing line in this Pawn down endgame QUEEN's PAWN GAME (E10) 6958 White's Bishops are the stars of this show but the Rooks don't do too badly either KING'S INDIAN ATTACK (A08) 6959 If chess pieces had sharp bases, the chess board would be in tatters after this gem. ENGLISH OPENING (A18) 6960 When White tries an opening innovation on move 6, Corky demonstrates conclusively why it was not played before. DUNST OPENING (A00) 6961 Mark Laboda demonstrates the power of the two Bishops in an endgame. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B88) 6962 Find a pdf index of Alex Dunne's columns. |


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funnel chanterelle
This month is mushroom's season, alleys and alleys of mushrooms explict Autumn's golden hue or the most exquiste shapes alluring customers. I had a good self-control and didn't touch these delicate guys, all left to the vendor. When came to the fishman, trouble! I just couldn't! Merely rely on looking (or talking) to judge is just not in my book. I picked out a few, got (kind of) scolded. The vendor picked the rest for me...
In this recipe I've used two different chanterelle mushrooms, they are the vehicle of delivering the most sensational texture: velvety yet with some bit. Don't ever try to look for a va-va-room flavor, which is not what I intend in this recipe anyway. Combined with fresh squid, topped with a poach egg, I felt my tongue teased by silk! Recipe (yield 4 servings as the first course)- 4 poached eggs
- 4 small squids, cleaned and skinned, sliced
- about 10 oz fresh mushrooms of different types, preferable with delicated texture (e.g. the above said or enoki is also great), wiped clean, slice them if neccessary
- 1/4 medium yellow onion, finely sliced
- a bit of lime juice
- chives, finely diced
- crush red peppers
- vegetable oil
- salt and (white) ground pepper
- Pre-heat a skillet (at the same time to heat a pot of water for poaching eggs) , drizzle some oil, saute the onion for a minute or 2, add mushroom, keep the heat on medium. Once the mushrooms start changing color, add squid and salt, you may need to raise up the heat. It may only take 2 minutes to get the squid cooked (don't over-cook!).
- Drizze a bit lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. Scoop the mixture on serving plates, top with poached eggs, sprinkle chive and red peppers. Serve immidiately.


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Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com North American fans will have only one chance to see Linkin Park live in 2013. The band has announced they will play their lone U.S. show of the year at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas on Feb. 16. With this being Linkin Park's one show of the year on the continent, demand will probably be through the roof. And having the show in a venue like Planet Hollywood, instead of an arena or stadium will make seats even more scarce. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday (Dec. 14) at 10AM. Last weekend, Linkin Park performed at L.A. radio station KROQ's '23rd Annual Almost Acoustic Christmas.' In an interview taped before the show, Chester Bennington talked about his first encounter with Kiss' Gene Simmons. "So the first time I met Gene Simmons, I was like, 'Whoa, that's Gene Simmons. He's like right here,'" Bennington explained. "So I went over and introduced myself. He grabs me by the shoulders, and he says, 'You are a powerful and talented young man.' He's staring at me in my eyes and says, 'If we were in prison, I would make love to you.' I was like, 'Oh.'" If you're not able to make it to Vegas to see the band, you'll have to travel across the world to see them in 2013. Linkin Park have dates scheduled in Australia and New Zealand next February and March. [button href="http://loudwire.com/linkin-park-announce-clean-energy-promotion-rock-american-music-awards/" title="Next: Linkin Park Announce Clean Energy Promotion" align="center"]
See the original post:
Linkin Park to Play Only North American 2013 Concert in Las Vegas


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Lindsay Lohan Has Been Sent Back to Jail – Once Again [PICTURES, VIDEO]
At a probation hearing today, a judge ordered Lindsay Lohan back to jail with $100,000 bail, for continuous probation violations.
Lohan arrived at court this morning to update Judge Sautner on her compliance to the terms and conditions of her probation. Sautner then revoked Lohan's probation, citing her bad behavior and lack of hours served.
Lohan has only logged 21 of her required 360 probationary community service hours since her conviction. To date, she has missed 9 appointments at the Downtown Women's Shelter. She has also logged no time at the morgue, where she was required to complete 120 hours of community service.
"I thought she could be of value to downtown women's center but obviously not," said Judge Sautner.
If the actress posts bail, she will be required to complete a minimum of 16 hours of service at the county coroner's office before a November 2 hearing to determine whether or not she has violated her probation and should return to jail for an extended sentence.
Lohan's attorney Shawn Holley defended her, telling the judge she "had to earn a living to support herself and her family" and that her opportunities are in Europe.
Sautner admitted that jail is not an appropriate place for Lohan, since that is where the state sends felons, but told her, "Probation is a gift, not a right."
[LA Times]


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No post ever.
No post in two years
I see a Flandre.
How dare you.
Your avatar is full of seasonal swag by the way.
Get on more.
You have great taste in anime. Thumbs up.
Hey could you give me the links to those unlisted mari dub videos again, was gonna send to someone. ;_;
Thanks for replying. Also, you do realize your profile picture is a little suggestive? She looks like she's choking someone with glee.
I demand to know the names (and serieses) of the characters in your Avatar and Signature.
Send an Instant Message to RastisRules Using...
lolregdex hermit
stop trying
The Nova is over
Phantom Watch
Blue bird of friendliness
Green Bean


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Transformation Story Archive
The Transformation Story Archive (TSA) is a website that archives stories that feature a personal physical transformation, or feature its aftermath. It is the nucleus of a small community of amateur writers and fans of transformation stories. The website was founded in 1995 by Thomas Hassan of Austria, who has since passed on the duties of maintenance to others, including JT Skunk, Jon Sleeper and XoYo.
Due to the prevalent plot device, most of the stories are science fiction or fantasy. The stories are categorized by the type of transformation, sometimes by the method of transformation:
- Animals
- Mythical Beasts (unicorns, mermaids, etc.)
- Furry Creatures (werewolves, anthropomorphic animals)
- The Other Sex (transgender)
- Strange Changes (plushies, cars, misc.)
- Worlds (shared universes)
Though there aren't enough for their own category, some age regression or progression stories are also archived. Sometimes they are lumped with other categories, such as the transformation of a middle-aged man into an equine foal.
One may distinguish two broad patterns in the role transformation or shapeshifting plays in the stories in the archive. In some, an unexpected but welcome transformation (especially various forms of lycanthropy) plays a thematic role similar to the plot device of the protagonist being a commoner who finds out they are actually royal, or have unsuspected magical talent, or have some other wonderful secret destiny. In others, a transformation imposed from without by a hostile entity is a challenge to be overcome; the protagonist seeks a way to reverse the transformation and regain their original form. In many such stories, the final resolution involves the unwillingly transformed protagonist coming to terms with his or her new shape and turning it to their advantage rather than finding a way to return to "normal".
Most of the stories are written in either first person or third person limited omniscient.
The archive has a high proportion of transgender and furry wish-fulfillment stories because they were the most numerous at the time of its creation. Its stated goal is to become the premier Internet archive of transformation-themed fiction, and a showcase for amateur authors. It does not accept fanfiction.
At one point, the TSA accounted for a significant portion of the Internet traffic of Austria.[citation needed] The main server has been moved to the United States, and there are now mirror servers in Australia, and Europe.
Spawned from and by the members (and run by Kristina Tracer and Jessie Tracer) is TFNet, an IRC network for chat and story discussion. It is a counterpart to TSA-Talk, the long-running TSA mailing list.
While not actually a part of the Transformation Story Archive, an annual get-together of visitors of the TSA, members of TFNet, and other individuals interested in transformations was formed in 1998. The TSA-Bash began in the home of Phil Geusz, but quickly grew out of the home and started bouncing around North America. In 2008, it will be in Oakland, CA.
JT Skunk had apparently vanished from the site, taking the password for the tsa-submissions e-mail account with him. According to the front page of the TSA website, it has not been updated since the 15th of July, 2003.[1]
See also[edit]
- Transformation Story Archive at Wikipedia
External links[edit]
- Transformation Story Archive
- TSA-Talk FAQ
- Transformation Stories, Art, Talk - Online magazine
- TFCentral - A portal dedicated to TF. Hosting, blog, forums, image archive, story archive, and chat.
Some of this page is derived from Wikipedia. The original article was at Transformation Story Archive. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WikiFur, the text of Wikipedia is available under CC-BY-SA and the GFDL. |


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The Ash`ari scholars were foremost among those who refuted the Hashwiyya from the time al-Ash`ari first appeared until that of al-Bayhaqi and Ibn `Abd al-Salam. These Ash`ari scholars fought innovators by means of the pen and the tongue until they came to be known as the synonym, or rather the definition of Ahl al-Sunna as described in the words of al-Bayhaqi in his letter to `Amid al-Mulk: "Those of the Hanafis, Malikis, and Shafi`is that do not go the way of divesting Allah of His Attributes (ta`tEEl) as the Mu`tazila do, nor the way of likening Allah to creation (tashbEEh) as the Mujassima do."[54] Just as the Prophet and the Companions embodied the "Middle Community" praised by Allah in His Book (2:143), the Ash`aris embodied the "Saved Group" praised by the Prophet in the hadith of the seventy-three sects. That is, the group that holds a middle ground between the vagaries of different heretical doctrines, as described by Ibn `Asakir:
The Hashwiyya, who liken Allah to creation, said: Allah can be subject to modality and dimension like anything that can be seen. The Mu`tazila, the Jahmiyya, and the Najjariyya[55] said: Allah cannot be seen under any circumstance whatsoever. Al-Ash`ari took the middle road and said: He can be seen without indwelling (min ghayri hulul) and without acquiring limits nor being subject to modality.
The Najjariyya said: Allah is in every place without indwelling nor direction. The Hashwiyya and Mujassima said Allah is materialized (hallun) over the Throne, the Throne is His place, and He sits on it. Al-Ash`ari took the middle road and said: Allah existed before there was place; He then created the Throne and the Foot-Stool, and He was in no need of place. He is, after place was created, exactly as He was before it was created.
The Mu`tazila said: He has a "hand" (yad) but His "hand" is his power (qudra) and favor (ni`ma), while His "face" (wajh) is His existence. The Hashwiyya said: His hand is a limb (jariha), and His face has a form (sura). Al-Ash`ari took the middle road and said: His hand is an attribute and His face is an attribute, just like His hearing and His sight.
The Mu`tazila said: [Allah's] "Descent" (nuzul) is the descent of any given sign of His, or that of His angels, while istiwa'[56] means mastery (istEEla'). The Mushabbiha and Hashwiyya said: Descent is the descent of His person (dhat) through movement (haraka) and displacement (intiqal), and istiwa' is His sitting on the Throne and indwelling on top of it. Al-Ash`ari took the middle road and said: Descent is one of His attributes and istiwa' is one of His attributes and an action He did pertaining to the Throne, called istiwa'.
The Mu`tazila said: Allah's speech is created, invented, and brought into being. The Hashwiyya, who attribute a body to Allah, said: The alphabetical characters (al-huruf al-muqatta`a), the materials on which they are written, the colors in which they are written, and all that is between the two covers [of the volumes of Qur'an] is beginningless and preternal (qadEEma azaliyya). Al-Ash`ari took a middle road between them and said: The Qur'an is Allah's beginningless speech unchanged, uncreated, not of recent origin in time, nor brought into being. As for the alphabetical characters, the materials, the colors, the voices, the elements that are subject to limitations (al-mahdudat), and all that is subject to modality (al-mukayyafat) in the world — all this is created, brought into being, and invented.[57]
This is the middle doctrine of Ahl al-Sunna which balances between the extremes of complete figurativeness and complete literalism. In his Maqalat al-Islamiyyin ("Sayings of Those Who Profess Islam") al-Ash`ari gave another example of this middle doctrine when He rejected the claims of both those who assert that Allah is in every place rather than in a specific place, and those who claim that He is in a specific place rather than in every place:
I. Those who Deny that He is in one place:
[Among] the statements of those who deny that Allah is in a place is the doctrine whereby Allah is materially in every place, and the doctrine whereby He has no end.[58] Both these sects denied the claim whereby Allah is in a specific place at the exclusion of another.
II. Those Who assert that He is in one place:
a) Others said: Allah is a body uncharacterized by any of the attributes of other bodies. He is neither long nor large and cannot be described by color, taste, and touch, nor by any of the attributes of bodies. He is not in things, nor is He on (`ala) the Throne except in the sense that He is above it (fawqah) without touching it. He is above things and above the Throne, and there is not, between Him and those things, anything other than that He is above them.
b) Hisham ibn al-Hakam said that His Lord was in one specific place exclusively of others, and that that place was the Throne, and that He was in contact with the Throne, and that the Throne contained and circumscribed Him (hawahu wa haddahu).
c) One or more of His colleagues said that the Creator fills the Throne and is in contact with it.
d) One or more of those who profess the science of hadith said that the Throne is not entirely filled by Him, for He will make His Prophet sit with Him on the Throne.[59]
III. Ahl al-Sunna and the specialists of hadith said that Allah is not a body, nor does He resemble things, and He is on the Throne in the way that He said in the verse: "The Merciful is established on the Throne."(20:5) Nor do we venture to speak of its meaning in front of Allah. Rather, we say: istawa bila kayf, He is established without "how".
[54] Narrated with its chain by Ibn `Asakir in Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari (p. 106) and al-Subki in his Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya (3:396).
[55] The Najjariyya were the followers of al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Najjar, a third-century Mu`tazili. See biographical notices.
[56] See in further posts, paragraph entitled "HIS ACTS", and Appendix entitled "Istiwa' is a Divine Act."
[57] Ibn `Asakir, Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari (p. 150-151).
[58] The trend of attributing limit to Allah was at one time dominant in Khorasan and Sijistan, whence Ibn Hibban (d. 354) was expelled for refusing to assert limits to Allah. Isma`il al-Harawi asked the opinion of Yahya ibn `Ammar about Ibn Hibban as a narrator. Ibn `Ammar said: "He was very learned but had little religion. He came to us and denied that Allah had a limit, so we expelled him from Sijistan." Al-`Ala'i comments: "O wonder, by Allah! Who is more deserving of being expelled and declared an innovator lacking in religion?" and Al-Subki comments: "Look at the ignorance of this critic of hadith scholars! I truly wonder who deserves criticism more: the one who asserts limits for His Lord, or he who denies them?" Quoted in al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya (Halabi ed.) 3:132 and his Qa`ida fi al-jarh wa al-Ta`dil, p. 30-32.
[59] See in further posts, set entitled "The Prophet's Seating on the Throne."
Peace and Blessings upon the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions


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A look at the best tweets from the world of UFC. Follow @ufc, the list of official UFC accounts, and the list of UFC fighters to keep up with these guys and gals.
UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs Manuwa
Having fun with media lol @kimurasweden http://instagram.com/p/lNmMcRQzeD/ -Alexander Gustafsson
To all the fans... Loving all the support. Thanks a lot guys. #ufclondon #lionseatfirst -Jimi Manuwa
This is my view of you #UFCFightNightLondon #ufcweigh-ins @UFC_UK @ufc pic.twitter.com/3ZUZSfdaMe -Brad Pickett
Michael Johnson vs Melvin Guillard should be fireworks!!! http://youtu.be/zEncyMfnwmI -Dana White
Daddy Duties
On another note my daughter can't tell the diff between a doo doo & a fart yet. You can see how that could cause problems.... -Jason High
So, this is pretty much my life now. #babylauzon http://instagram.com/p/lG187SKb-V/ -Joe Lauzon
Driving Crazy
Another way to pass the time in traffic, shaving. Sign of a not so manly beard. pic.twitter.com/cNgbUzh76Q -Charlie Brenneman
To drive "safely" in #LA you must be able to anticipate stupidity... -Kenny Florian
Special Occasions
Married tomorrow. :) pic.twitter.com/OdkTpQiqnG -Chan Sung Jung
Happy 1st Birthday to my happy lil dude! #BigBenny pic.twitter.com/eiOvtmnIeU -Joseph Benavidez
Happy birthday to the most important lady in my life ! Happy birthday Ma ! -Sean Soriano
Shoot out at 155?
Daron Cruickshank Calls Out Donald Cerrone http://youtu.be/Lpv1Y7lOp4U @cowboycerrone let's set this up for charity somehow -Ike Vallie-Flagg
"@trey_fightlife: @cowboycerrone @Cruickshank155 callin a cowboy out for a shootout?! Sounds like a bad idea to me lol"it is a bad idea -Cowboy Cerrone
The Good Ol' Days
#tbt to the best day of my life I ate 11 pounds of Nutella in 2 weeks. #throwbackthursday #nutella… http://instagram.com/p/lOqua5LEU3/ -Beneil Dariush
Young Metalheads in Love
You know your gf loves you when she goes to metal shows with you <3 http://instagram.com/p/lOU6IfzFkT/ -Ian McCall
Dapper Dan
If you were going to be live on TV on Saturday night, commentating for the @@ufc at the O2 Arena in London, what would you wear? #TVClothes -Dan Hardy
Castillo vs Brenneman: War of Luxurious Hair
Same date. Different dude. #FightUpdate #UFC172 #April 26 #Baltimore http://instagram.com/p/lLjMjjp1a4/ -Danny Castillo
That's Black Belt Level Napping
Just took a nap in my car outside of Barnes and Nobles. Wasnt the first wont be my last. It happens and you know you would too -Drew Dober
At Least There's the Cute Pups & Kitties
No Facebook video has ever "restored my faith in humanity." Just throwing that out there. -Julie Kedzie
Stipe Gets the Hang of Twitter
I see it's an angry twitter day. Let me try.......GARRRR SO ANGRY AT RANDOM THINGS.....
That felt good. -Stipe Miocic
A Good Impression? YES!!
Good to see @IKEVF channeling his inner @DiegoSanchezUFC for our road trip #safetravels pic.twitter.com/Oh9YfRlbIo -Cub Swanson
KenFlo Needs His Special Alone Time
Sometimes I wish people would just leave me and my Strawberry Shortcake Dolls alone. -Kenny Florian
UFC Performance Institute
Dana White On The Opening Of UFC PI Mexico


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Wednesday, 4:28pm
13 June 2012
Charts change minds
Description of the slave ship Brookes, 1788 – infodesign history in Eye 82
Eighteenth-century abolitionists used every propaganda tool in the book, but one of their most widely circulated visual aids was an innovative diagram of the Liverpool slave ship Brookes, first published in 1788, writes Anne-Marie Conway in Eye 82.
Thanks to a parliamentary survey that year, detailed measurements of the Brookes were available and a group of Plymouth-based campaigners had accurate deck plans, cross-sections and side views drawn up. Into these were added hundreds of prone black figures, not dissimilar to Isotype figures (Otto Neurath had a German reproduction of the diagram, dated around 1800, in his private collection), drawn to the dimensions laid down in the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788 ('6ft by 1ft 4in to each man, 5ft 10in by 1ft 4in to each woman, 5ft by 1 ft 2in to each boy, 4ft 6in by 1ft for a girl').
Under the act, which was designed to reduce the overcrowding that led to so many deaths on the transatlantic crossing, the Brookes was permitted to carry a maximum of 454 slaves. The engraver managed to fit 400 in. At least one earlier voyage had carried a human cargo of 609 African people.
London abolitionists had it printed on 7000 posters (in one run), and, in the years that followed, the diagram was widely copied in broadsheets, pamphlets and books in Britain, France and the United States. 'No one saw it but he was impressed,' wrote the tireless abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, who was partly responsible for the original. 'It spoke to him in a language which was at once intelligible and irresistible.' Art critic Tom Lubbock described it as 'perhaps the most politically influential picture ever made'.
Despite its undoubted power – the diagram moved people to tears as early as 1789 – Wilberforce's act abolishing 'the purchase, sale, barter or transfer of persons intended to be … used as slaves' throughout the British empire was not passed until 1807. Slavery itself was not banned until 1833.
Top and below (detail): Stowage of the Slave Ship Brookes (ca. 1788), first designed by the Plymouth Chapter of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Image: Library of Congress / Science Photo Library.
First published as part of 'The graphic power of knowledge' in Eye no. 82 vol. 21, 2012.
Eye is the world's most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published quarterly for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It's available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop, where you can buy subscriptions and single issues. Eye 82 is out now, and you can browse a visual sampler at Eye before you buy on Issuu.


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Unless you happen to be married to a citizen of a foreign country, re-entering the United States after a trip abroad, adopting a child, or dealing with the death of a spouse (and if you are, my condolences), if you're one half of a legally married same-sex couple, there's a very good chance that this time of year — tax time — is the time you and your spouse most acutely feel the sting of marriage discrimination.
If you live in a non-marriage equality state, you know how degrading it is to have to check the box next to the word "Single" on your federal and state tax forms.
If you happen to live in one of the six states where marriage equality is the law of the land — or any of the five non-equality states that allow same-sex couples to file jointly — you're at least spared the indignity of your state government pretending that you and your soulmate are legal strangers. But due to the discriminatory "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA), the federal government is forbidden from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples. For the moment, at least, your legal marriage does not exist in the eyes of the United States of America. And while state-level marriage equality or relationship recognition is unequivocally a good thing, same-sex couples know that the dissonance between state recognition and federal non-recognition can create some pretty major headaches during tax season.
I'm not going to spend any time going into detail about the tax-specific ways that DOMA penalizes same-sex couples — many others have already very capably done so. (Check out these two informative articles from the New York Times, for example.) But I am going to take a minute to share a brief personal story about the impact DOMA has had on my husband Michael and me this past year.
In 2011, Michael and I moved from our home state of Wisconsin (a non-marriage equality state) to our new home in Vermont (a marriage equality state). Let me tell you, the difference between the two is like night and day. I don't think I can overstate how much it means to us both to live in a place that values the loving marriages of all couples — gay and straight — or our gratitude to all those Vermonters who worked so hard to make marriage equality possible.
But living in a marriage equality state for the first time did make filing our taxes a little more eventful. Vermont, like most states, uses the figures from a couple's federal return to compute their state return. Since our legal marriage means we file jointly with the State of Vermont but DOMA forces us to file separately and singly with the United States, Michael and I — well, our amazing tax preparer — were forced to complete four tax returns: one individual federal return each (which each of us ultimately files), a "dummy" joint federal return (to combine our incomes, adjustments, credits, etc. in order to obtain the necessary numbers for our state return), and our joint state tax return (which we file with the State of Vermont). While the extra step of preparing that "dummy" federal return is a big-time hassle, it also provided us, for the first time, the opportunity to see exactly how much more we paid in taxes because the federal government forces us to file singly, rather than jointly as our straight counterparts are able to do. The difference between those two numbers is what I and others refer to as the "Gay Tax."
For my husband and me, that difference in 2011 amounted to $1566. To some of you that might not seem like much, but trust me: to a young professional couple, one of whom works in the nonprofit sector, $1566 is a good chunk of cash. That $1566 could have gone towards the purchase of a car that's newer and more reliable than the one we currently own, which was built when this 27-year-old was in the fifth grade. It could have helped pay down our student loans or some of the credit card debt that he and I incurred in order to pay our bills during the fifteen months when neither of us could find full-time employment. Hell, it could have paid for our groceries for nearly nine months! But no — instead, we're forced to pay it to the IRS because our legal spouse happens to be of the same gender. We're paying a $1566 "Gay Tax."
Thanks, DOMA.
If you've read this far and are wondering why I bothered to spend any of my time and energy on an issue that's such old news, consider this: if I had a dollar for every wide-eyed, incredulous, shocked look I've received over the last year whenever I bring up the subject of federal tax discrimination, I'd have more than enough money to pay my $1566 "Gay Tax." I choose to share my story because of the truly astonishing number of well-meaning people — both inside and outside the LGBT community — who have absolutely no clue that same-sex couples incur federal tax penalties even when they live in states that recognize their marriages. I'm speaking out about how the "Defense of Marriage Act" hurts my marriage — my family — because we've got to change hearts and minds all across America if we hope to see that awful law repealed. And I'm speaking out because those hearts and minds won't change unless all of us continue to speak out and share our stories.
If you're a victim of DOMA, you can speak out right here and now by leaving a comment below. Go ahead, tell your story. How costly was the "Gay Tax" for you and your spouse this year?


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ℹ graphs has moved to https://codeberg.org/unkonstant/graphs under a new license ℹ
is a simple graph library for Scala
@@snip SimpleGraphApp.scala { #simple_graph }
Please check the guide and the API docs
- Simple graph creation API
- Depth-first traversal / search
- Breadth-first traversal / search
- Topological sorting
- Dijkstras algorithm for shortest paths
- GraphML import / export (experimental)
force based layout(planned)- cross compiled for Scala 2.12, 2.13, Scala.js
was created to explore different type encoding for graphs and implement well-known algorithms
- Support Scala.js
- Support GraphML
- Usages of the library and the core interfaces should be intuitive
- The codebase should follow current idioms and integrate with mainstream libraries for Scala
- Support all possible graph types / scenarios
- Provide a purely functional library
Graph for Scala is probably the most established graph library for Scala and supports many kinds of graphs explicitly (custom syntax etc.) with a big variety of algorithms and extensions (json, dot support).
Its still being worked on and recently added support for Scala.js. It might have a steeper learning curve but is more
battle-tested and powerful then graphs
quiver follows Martin Erwigs Functions Graph Library and appears to be more or less abandoned. Its less focused on algorithms but provides a more functional perspective on graphs.
is inspired and influenced by both libraries. Please check them out to see if they fit your use case
and preferences better.
graphs is published under the terms of the Apache 2.0 License. See the LICENSE file.


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The latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 7, will launch on September 18. For owners of recent iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch models, this will be a free over-the-air download that will only cost you time. Despite being free, pirated beta versions of iOS 7 are popular downloads on various Bittorrent websites. Perhaps it goes without saying, but trusting your device to a pirated operating system isn't a good idea.
Activation Errors
If you want a legal, Apple-approved copy of iOS 7 beta you'll need to pony up $99 to the App Store gatekeepers. In exchange for your cash, Apple authorizes your device's UDID number and approves beta versions of iOS 7 for use on your device. There is, however, a weird little work-around that side-steps the UDID authentication process so anyone can install iOS beta files.
There are scattered reports of unauthorized iOS 7 users suddenly finding themselves hit with strange activation errors, forcing them to downgrade back to iOS 6 and restore from backups. Whether or not this is Apple trying to maintain control of their betas isn't clear, but it sounds like a real headache. And an unnecessary one to boot!
Scams and Malware
Where there are illegal downloads there are scams, and iOS 7 is no different. Remember how you don't need to Apple to authorize your UDID to install iOS 7? Not everyone has received the memo, and people are apparently making a business of "authorizing" UDIDs of would-be iOS 7 users.
Of course that there's no guarantee that these UDID authorizers will deliver their goods, and we've seen similar scams for iOS 6 jailbreaking tools that parted victims from their money and personal information to boot. Scammers are particularly fond of catering to less-than-legal desires, since most victims won't report the crime out of fear they'll be punished themselves.
Even if you successfully purchase an activation from one of these sellers, your UDID is now tied to a developer account oustide of your control. Worse yet, if they have physical access to your device these "developers" wanted could install whatever apps they want. This is similar to how the Mactans malicious charging stations we saw at Black Hat work.
It's unlikely that pirated copies of iOS 7 beta will contain malware since the code is signed by Apple. That said, installing critical system files obtained from a shady Torrent website doesn't sound like a good idea to me. After all, jailbreaking iPhones has turned out to be a great way to introduce malware onto Apple devices.
"It's just crazy," said SecurityWatch contributor Neil Rubenking. "I mean, you wouldn't go to a shady east European website to download your Windows updates, would you?"
Just Wait!
Really, everyone could just save themselves a lot of trouble by waiting the two days until Apple drops the official release. I mean, come on: it's free! Why even worry about activation problems, scammers, and potential malware when you can sleep two nights and wake up with a brand new operating system fully supported by the manufacturer.
Apple has thrived off the excitement generated by their announcements, and it's thrilling to get a glimpse of a highly anticipated product before it hits the streets. But in this case, it's safer to just wait until release. In the meantime, you can sate your iOS 7 appetite with our extensive coverage.
Image via Flickr user Aidan
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text:
Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A novel way to speed the testing of cancer drugs and quickly separate winners from duds has yielded its first big result: an experimental medicine that shows promise against a hard-to-treat form of breast cancer.
The method involves studying drugs in small groups of people and using advanced statistical techniques to analyze the results as they come in, instead of waiting for all the data to arrive.
Whether the drug, veliparib, ever makes it to market remains to be seen, but it has shown enough potential to advance to final-phase testing aimed at Food and Drug Administration approval.
Bringing a new cancer drug to market usually takes more than a decade and tests in thousands of patients, and costs more than $1 billion. Companies can't afford many studies like that, and patients can't wait years for potentially life-saving new medicines, said Don Berry, a biostatistician at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
He helped design the novel analytical method discussed Friday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, an international conference.
Researchers testing a drug usually don't see results until they're all in, to prevent biasing the study. But several years ago, an unusual partnership decided to try a new way. It involves the National Cancer Institute, the FDA, drug companies, dozens of cancer research centers and charitable foundations.
The study, called I-SPY 2, puts small groups of women on experimental drugs or combinations, then gives them surgery to see what effect the medicines had. The best result is a complete response, where no signs of cancer remain.
Each patient's results are analyzed as they come in, and advanced statistical methods are used to calculate probabilities that the drug would help in various situations, depending on which women had a complete response.
"This allows us to learn and adapt from each patient as the study goes on," and results on early participants guide treatment that later ones get, said Dr. Hope Rugo of the University of California, San Francisco. When enough evidence indicates a high probability of success, the drug "graduates" to final-phase testing.
On Friday, Rugo gave results on veliparib, the first of seven drugs being tested. It is made by AbbVie Inc., a North Chicago, Ill., company recently spun off from Abbott Laboratories. It is in a new class of experimental medicines called PARP inhibitors, which target an enzyme cancer relies on to grow.
The I-SPY 2 testing suggests that adding the chemotherapy drug carboplatin and veliparib to usual chemo before surgery improved outcomes for women with "triple negative" breast cancer _ tumors that are not fueled by estrogen, progesterone or the gene that the medicine Herceptin targets.
Up to 20 percent of breast cancers are this type, and they are more common in young women, blacks and Hispanics, and women with certain breast cancer gene mutations.
Researchers were able to determine the drug's potential after tests in only 71 women and just six months of treatment. They calculated that tests of only 300 women with triple negative tumors are needed to give a definitive answer, and that the drug has at least a 90 percent probability of success in such patients. If more types of cancer are included, the probability of success drops to 55 percent.
The results show that "we can get early reads on something that is worth pursuing" and bail quickly on treatments that don't help, said Dr. Carlos Arteaga of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Veliparib has now graduated and is eligible for testing in a definitive study. It's not known how long that would take, but it surely would be shorter than the several years that traditional testing requires.
FDA officials have said that in certain cases, complete responses can be considered a basis for conditional approval of a drug, as long as follow-up tests are done after the product is on the market to prove that it indeed is improving survival.
Last week, another company participating in the I-SPY 2 study, Puma Biotechnology Inc., said its experimental drug neratinib had also graduated and would enter a definitive study. Results of the early testing will be presented at a cancer conference next year.
The San Antonio meeting is sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, Baylor College of Medicine and the UT Health Science Center.
I-SPY2 trial: http://www.ispy2.org
Cancer meeting: http://www.sabcs.org
Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text:
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But let's not forget about the noodles and soups! From fried noodles and noodle soup to chop suey, chow mein, lo mein and wonton soup, there is no shortage of tasty noodle dishes and soups offered up at Chinese restaurants no matter what area you live in. And as you slurp your soups and noodles, how about some tea to balance things out? China is the world's largest exporter of green tea, which is known to offer a variety of health benefits.
Are there Chinese restaurants in your city or town that you'd like to check out? Take a look at the discounts we offer to some of the most popular Chinese restaurants. You can obtain $25 restaurant certificates for only $10!


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Home>News Center>World | ||
Iraqis drag 4 US bodies through streets In a scene reminiscent of Somalia, frenzied crowds dragged the burned, mutilated bodies of four American contractors through the streets of a town west of Baghdad on Wednesday and strung two of them up from a bridge after rebels ambushed their SUVs.
Five U.S. soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division also were killed when a bomb exploded under their M-113 armored personnel carrier north of Fallujah, making it the bloodiest day for Americans in Iraq since Jan. 8. The four contract workers were killed in Fallujah, a Sunni Triangle city about 35 miles west of Baghdad and scene of some of the worst violence on both sides of the conflict since the beginning of the American occupation a year ago. Chanting "Fallujah is the graveyard of Americans," residents cheered after the grisly assault on two four-wheel-drive civilian vehicles left both SUVs in flames. Residents in Fallujah said insurgents attacked the contractors with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. After the attack, a jubilant crowd of civilians, none of whom appeared to be armed, gathered to celebrate, dragging the bodies through the street and hanging two of them from the bridge. Many of those in the crowd were excited young boys who shouted slogans in front of television cameras. Associated Press Television News pictures showed one man beating a charred corpse with a metal pole. Others tied a yellow rope to a body, hooked it to a car and dragged it down the main street of town. Two blackened and mangled corpses were hung from the green, iron bridge spanning the Euphrates River. "The people of Fallujah hung some of the bodies on the old bridge like slaughtered sheep," resident Abdul Aziz Mohammed said. Some corpses were dismembered, he said. The White House blamed terrorists and remnants of Saddam Hussein's former regime for the "horrific attacks" on the American contractors. "It is offensive, it is despicable the way these individuals have been treated," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. Referring to the planned June 30 transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis, McClellan said "the best way to honor those that lost their lives" is to continue with efforts to bring democracy to Iraq. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the contractors, all men, "were trying to make a difference and to help others." U.S. officials did not identify the dead or the nature of their work because the next of kin had not yet been notified. However, early evidence indicated they worked for Blackwater Security Consulting, a company based in Moyock, N.C., the company said in a statement. The security firm hires former military members from the United States and other countries to provide security training and guard services. In Iraq, the company was hired by the Pentagon to provide security for convoys that delivered food in the Fallujah area, the company statement said. The abuse and mutilation of the contractors' corpses was similar to the scene more than a decade ago in Somalia, when a mob dragged corpses of U.S. soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu, eventually leading to the American withdrawal from the African nation. The images were broadcast worldwide and became the subject of the book and movie "Black Hawk Down." On Wednesday, a man held a printed sign with a skull and crossbones and the phrase "Fallujah is the cemetery for Americans" beneath the blackened corpses after they were pulled from the vehicles. One body was tied to a car that had a poster in its window of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder of the Palestinian militant group Hamas who was assassinated by the Israeli military in Gaza City. One resident displayed what appeared to be dog tags taken from one body. Residents also said there were weapons in the targeted cars. APTN showed an American passport near a body and a U.S. Department of Defense identification card belonging to another man. Some of the slain contractors were wearing flak jackets, resident Safa Mohammedi said. In Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the coalition would not be deterred from its mission to rebuild Iraq, and that numerous reconstruction projects were moving forward nationwide even though attention was focused on the attacks. The roadside bomb that killed the five American soldiers Wednesday was in Malahma, 12 miles northwest of Fallujah, where anti-U.S. insurgents are active. Their deaths raised the number of U.S. troops killed in March to at least 48, making it the second-deadliest month for U.S. troops since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1. The deadliest month was November, when 82 U.S. troops were killed. In all, at least 597 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the war began March 20, 2003. Of the total, 459 have died since May 1 when Bush flew onto an aircraft carrier off the California coast to declare the end of major combat. Kimmitt said that over the past week, there has been an average of 28 attacks daily against coalition military, compared with an average of just under 20 daily attacks in previous weeks. In the deadliest previous incident this year, nine soldiers were killed Jan. 8 when their Black Hawk medevac helicopter crashed near Fallujah, apparently after being shot down. Fallujah is in the so-called Sunni Triangle, where support for Saddam was strong and rebels often carry out attacks against American forces. U.S. Marines recently took over authority in the region from the departing U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division. In an effort to forcefully establish their presence, the newly arrived Marines have conducted numerous patrols in Fallujah and have engaged in fierce firefights with rebels. In recent months, U.S. soldiers were not seen as often in the center of town. The Marines have said they will aggressively pursue guerrillas in Fallujah. However, no U.S. troops or Iraqi police were seen in the area after the attacks Wednesday, and the city was quiet. In nearby Ramadi, insurgents threw a grenade at a government building and Iraqi security forces returned fire Wednesday, witnesses said. It was not clear if there were casualties. Also in Ramadi, a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. convoy, witnesses said. U.S. officials in Baghdad could not confirm the attack. Northeast of Baghdad, in the city of Baqouba on Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew up explosives in his car when he was near a convoy of government vehicles, wounding 14 Iraqis and killing himself, officials said. |


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I love Beacon style blankets (this is another recent vintage buying spree find.)
And I Live in Overalls
Ahh, the sweet smelling luxury of a laundry line:
12/1/05: Warm Wash, Cool Dry
1/2/06: Winter Color
4/17/06: Monday Washday (and a Lamb Report)
1/12/08: Winter Wash and Dry (and the R-rated Version)
5/6/09: The Lamb and the Laundry Line (a look back at Baby Cary)
6/22/09: Vintage Laundry Line
Do you hang your laundry on a line?
© 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the well washed foodie farm blog where while many people are already bemoaning the fact that summer (in all its hot and sweaty glory) will soon be over, we're happily counting down the days until we can bury the bed with blankets and quilts and prance around in polar fleece (which is one of the greatest inventions ever).


text: Since this topic came up last week I tripped over an article that may be useful to many: http://www.lostcircuits.com/memory/reg_ddr/ Also, earlier I had stated that the S754 and S939 Athlon64 CPUs could not use ECC RAM. I stand corrected. However few maybe none) of the motherboard makers provide for this in the BIOS. The assumption is probably that if you want ECC, you want an Opteron board. At present Opterons and Athlon64 FX CPUs REQUIRE ECC RAM. With our best regards, Maurice W. Hilarius Telephone: 01-780-456-9771 Hard Data Ltd. FAX: 01-780-456-9772 11060 - 166 Avenue email:maurice at harddata.com Edmonton, AB, Canada http://www.harddata.com/ T5X 1Y3 This email, message, and content, should be considered confidential, and is the copyrighted property of Hard Data Ltd., unless stated otherwise.