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Samah Sabawi is the honored guest in this, the fourth installment in my Political Poetry series at Counterpunch.
Previously, I interviewed Sowetan Lesego Rampolokeng, whose hard-hitting poetry, including "bantu ghost", expresses the outrage black South Africans still feel over the horrors of apartheid forced upon them by white supremacists.
Samah Sabawi, a poet and political activist, has likened Gaza to an "Israeli-controlled Bantustan." She has known the alienation and despair of a refugee since the Israelis forced her parents (and thousands of other Palestinians) to flee their homes in Gaza in 1967.
Now a Palestinian-Australian with Canadian citizenship, Sabawi is the author of three plays — Cries from the Land, Three Wishes, and Tales of a City by the Sea. She has also co-written the book The Journey to Peace in Palestine: From the Song of Deborah to the Simpsons.
Sabawi's poems deal with Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, often from the empathetic perspective of someone not directly on the scene with her comrades. She expresses the plight of nearly two million people in the concentration camp called Gaza, as well as the millions of lost souls in the Palestinian diaspora. In her poem, "Defying the Universe", dedicated to her husband Monir, she asks:
Are your loved ones trapped behind the wall
Do they need the army's permission
For their prayers to reach the sky
For their love to cross the ocean
And touch your thirsty heart
Are your loved ones trapped
Do you yearn to be in your family home
And when you call, do they always say
"we are fine, alhamdollelah"
Does it surprise you that they are whole
While you… are broken
Must they always worry about you
Urge you to have faith in your exile
Must they always pity you
For not breathing the air
Of your ancestors' land
Must they always comfort you
Even when the bombs are falling
Do you ever wonder who is walled in
Is it you…or is it them
And when it finally dawns upon you
That their dignity sets them free
Do you feel ashamed of your liberty
Israeli oppression of the Palestinians takes many forms. As Sabawi recently explained in an interview with Joe Catron, "The currency used here (in Gaza) is the new Israeli shekel, the IDs all the residents carry are issued by the Israeli interior ministry, all births go through the Israeli national registry, the essential products are all Israeli in this captive market" ("Israel's Gaza Bantustan," 5 January 2013)."
Sabawi is part of a new generation of Palestinian thinkers who insist on reclaiming the discourse and reframing the language used to assert Palestinian rights. For her and many others of her generation, language is an essential tool in the struggle for liberation. She writes in her poem "Liberation Anthem" "I'll craft new words of expression/ outside of this suffocating language/ that has occupied me/ Your words/ are like your walls/ They encroach on my humanity."
Sabawi rebels in her poetry against adopting a language she sees as complicit and dictated by the occupier. She insists on using words such as "apartheid" and "ethnic cleansing" to describe the reality of life in Palestine. When a newspaper editor recently deleted these words from an op-ed she submitted saying they were "too strong," she responded with this:
I stand dispossessed
No congress behind me
No statesmen surround me
No lobby to breathe hellfire
No media eager to appease
No three-ring circus
Of intellectual jesters
Academic clowns
And policy experts
Who truly do not see
the big elephant in the room
No legal acrobats
Dance for me
On a thin rope of decency
No politicians
Juggle oppression
And human rights
On my behalf
No trips to boost careers
For MPs and their wives
No propaganda movies
No radio broadcasts
No myths
No lies
No hasbaranites
No army,
No country
Not even one leader
To believe in
All I have are my words
To tell my story
My voice
To demand justice
But you tell me
My language is too strong
Forced exile
Ethnic cleansing
Carefully chosen
Purposely uttered
These are the words
That lay the foundation
Of the language of my liberation
While speaking and writing forthrightly about the horrors of Israeli oppression, Sabawi maintains strong connections with anti-apartheid Israelis, and she advocates reconciliation and understanding. But she believes that reconciliation can only begin once the oppression ends. Consider the following lines from her poem "Liberation Anthem":
To the people of Israel who fear our freedom: Don't be afraid, we will liberate you too.
This is my rendition
Of an anthem to be sung
That day you and I
Will stand side by side
Shoulder to shoulder
Watching a new dawn
Wipe away
Decades of hate and savagery
The day I rise
From the ruins of your oppression
I promise you I will not rise alone
You too will rise with me
You will be liberated
From your tyranny
And my freedom
Will bring your salvation
Given the total support of the US Government for Israel, there seems to be no other rational alternative. And yet, Palestinians politics is marked by deep divisions, not least between Hamas and Fatah. Sabawi's goal is to overcome the divisions between Israel and Palestine, and among Palestinians, not by proselytizing or demonizing people, not by humiliating or obliterating, but by discovering a common human bond. As Sabawi says:
I am more than demography
I'm neither your collaborator
Nor your enemy
I am not your moderate
Not your terrorist
Not your fundamentalist
I am more than adjectives
Letters and syllables
I will construct my own language
And will defeat your words of power
With the power of my words
In her poem "Against the Tide" she pledges "I will not delight/ In the suffering/ Even of those/ Who oppress me."
I recently asked Sabawi about her poetry, the poetry of Palestinians, and the political situation in Gaza. I noted that perhaps the most frustrating form of psychological oppression Palestinians suffer is the total antipathy of the United States Government. The US blocks every vote to condemn Israel at the UN, it provides Israel with the weapons and means of its oppression, while the mainstream American media suppresses and distorts the facts, even rationalizing the mass murder of 1400 Palestinians in Gaza in 2009 as necessary for Israel's security.
DV Gaza is a Bantustan, but the many nations seem to have turned their backs on the Palestinians, although, in contrast, much of the world joined in the boycott of South Africa. This is largely due to the fact that Palestinians have been thoroughly dehumanized by the Israeli-AIPAC propaganda machine. Can poetry help to overcome the prejudice that many Americans have? Is translating from Arabic to English part of the problem?
SS Humanity doesn't always respond instantly. The world community is often slow to react in the face of oppression and injustice especially when it is being perpetrated by powerful state actors and driven by corporate greed. But history has taught us that no tyranny can last forever and that the people will always overcome oppression. To use your example of South Africa, it actually took a long time for the world to take a stand against the apartheid regime. Think about it: white supremacy over South Africa began with the arrival of the early Dutch settlers as far back as the mid 1600s and institutional discrimination against the indigenous population began in the early 1900s. The Boycott movement against South African Apartheid didn't start till the late 1950s and it took world governments years and for some even decades before they made a stand. So, when you're looking at the timeline of the Palestine/Israel conflict in comparison and especially in the last two decades you will see that Palestinians are in fact gaining the support of the world community at a much faster pace perhaps this is so because we have more direct and instant modes of communication at our fingertips.
So yes, the world may have initially turned its back on Palestinians and even adopted the Zionist discourse of blaming and dehumanizing the victims but times have changed and we have come a long way. Palestinian solidarity is growing and the overwhelming show of support at the UN for an observer seat for the state of Palestine last year if anything has illustrated the isolation of Israel and its allies in the face of a world community that is sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
Now you ask if poetry might contribute to this in any way. I guess I would say that art in all its forms can have an important role to play in humanizing people and conveying their story. Art can serve to inspire and instigate change.
Who can deny that the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish for example offered many in the west a window into the lives of Palestinians; their pain, their aspirations and their yearnings? Although Darwish's poems were written in Arabic, they were translated into many languages and served as a bridge between Palestine and the rest of the world.
Of course language can be an obstacle but I think that the Palestinian experience is a universal one and so is easily translated. We are a people disposed standing up against tyranny and oppression, fighting for a just cause. This resonates with people in any language. Here are a few lines from one of my favorite Darwish poems: "Who Am I, Without Exile?" (translated by Fady Joudah)[i]:
A stranger on the riverbank, like the river … water
binds me to your name. Nothing brings me back from my faraway
to my palm tree: not peace and not war. Nothing
makes me enter the gospels. Not a thing … nothing sparkles from the shore of ebb
and flow between the Euphrates and the Nile. Nothing
makes me descend from the pharaoh's boats. Nothing
carries me or makes me carry an idea: not longing
and not promise. What will I do? What
will I do without exile, and a long night
that stares at the water?
DV Palestinians have no power over their oppressors. They are powerless to stop the settlements. At the slightest hint of uprising, the Israelis come down like a storm troopers. But Palestinians do write poetry – or have the Israelis tried to stop them from writing poetry too?
SS For the Israeli Zionist project to succeed in asserting legitimacy and presence on the ruins of Palestinian homes and lives, it needed to do two things: make the Palestinians invisible to the world by denying their existence ('a land without a people for a people without a land'), and/or in the event that they become visible, demonize them by manipulating the discourse – for example, by emphasizing Palestinian violence and terror while undermining and ignoring Palestinian non-violent resistance and the reality of occupied vs. occupier. This is why Israel views Palestinian culture with great contempt. After all, Palestinian artists and cultural figures tell the stories of their people and by that they reflect a reality through their art that Israel would rather conceal.
So yes, certainly Palestinian culture, like all other facets of Palestinian life, faces tremendous challenges under Israeli occupation. Palestinian cultural figures were first targeted by British and later by the Israeli authorities. Some were assassinated, others were imprisoned or banished into exile. Amongst the artists and intellectuals assassinated by Israel are writer Ghassan Kanafani (Abukhalil 2012) and poet and intellectual Wael Zuaiter (Jacir 2007).
The attempt at erasing Palestinian culture was clear during Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, when Israeli forces looted and confiscated the accumulated national archives of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which included valuable and rare collections of films and other Palestinian cultural artifacts (IMEU 2012).
Today, Palestinian cultural figures under Israel's occupation are caught in an intricate and multi layered system of oppression. For example, Human Rights Watch issued a report (27 July 2012) accusing Israel and its security arm the Palestinian Authority of "trampling on the rights of Freedom Theater's staff," adding "[a] theater should be able to offer critical and provocative work without fearing that its staff will be arrested and abused." The HRW statement referred to Israel's ongoing system of arbitrary arrests and detention.
Of course it is important to recognize that repression does not always ride on a military tank. The worst kind of repression is one that manifests itself inside colonized minds desperate to present their craft to the world and aware that their success hinges on their ability to be on the good side of their political masters. I mean artists find it challenging enough in rich societies to make a living out of their art, so imagine when you are stuck in a Bantustan where most people struggle to feed their families. That's where the role of the PA and international donors raises some questions about which artistic projects receive funding and which ones don't; which artists are given a platform and which ones aren't. For the most part, Palestinian resistance has through the years overcome such challenges and Palestinian artists both inside Palestine and in Diaspora continue their effort to liberate Palestine one poem, one painting, one novel and one song at a time.
DD In your poem "Verses and Spices" you talk about how "Growing up/ My father's poems/ Ran through my veins/ Like blood/ A necessary life ingredient/ A rhythm that kept my heart pumping." Your poems stress the crucial importance of language in resolving problems. In this poem you speak specifically about your father's poems. Please tell me a little about traditional Palestinians poetry and which Palestinians poets American should, or can read today to get a better understanding of the situation in Gaza.
SS Your question asks specifically about "traditional Palestinian poetry" but I actually grew up with a wide range of Arab poetry. We weren't raised to see "Palestinianism" as distinct from Arab nationalism. We the Palestinians were part of the Arab world and took pride in that. Our definition of Palestine back then was also based on nationalism: one secular state for all three religions. That was the mantra of the PLO in the early 1970s. Much has changed since and we have become factionalized and sectarianized beyond recognition.
It is true I grew up in a house of verses and spices. Poetry was always present at every meal and every gathering. My father, Abdul Karim Sabawi, a distinguished Palestinian novelist and poet, tried to introduce me to classical Arabic poetry such as Al Mutanaby and Omar Alkhayam but apart from sounding lyrical to my ears, that type of poetry didn't really capture my heart. The language was too formal, too clever and too distant in time to feel real. It also reflected a 'male' view of the world, which as a young girl and later a woman not only alienated me but at times even offended me. It was when my father recited modern Arab poetry like that of Mahmoud Darwish (Palestinian), Nizar Qabbani (Syrian), Amal Donkol (Egyptian) and especially Salah Jahin (Egyptian) that I would tune in and pay attention. My father encouraged me to navigate my way through his large collection of poetry books. Modern Arab poetry varies in style but I found myself gravitating toward poetry that conveyed ideas and not just showcased linguistic prowess. For example Egyptian giant Salah Jahin 's quatrains made use of colloquial everyday simple Egyptian dialect to communicate complex philosophical ideas:
The rich man was buried in a marble tomb
The beggar was buried in a hole with no coffin
I passed them by and marveled to myself
Both graves emanate the same stench
My father's own poetry also ranged in style. Some of his poems were in colloquial Gazan dialect while others in sophisticated classic Arabic. His poetry reflects the quintessential Palestinian experience, which at its core is a universal human experience of loss, dispossession and exile. To give you an idea of the spirit of my father's poetry, here is one he wrote that first morning he woke up in 1967 to find himself a refugee in Jordan.
When you were parched
We quenched your thirst
With our blood
We carry your burden
We cry in shame when asked
Where do you come from?
Dishonored we die
If only the stray bullets
From the occupier's guns
Were merciful
That they pierced through our legs
It only they tore through our knees
If only we sunk in your sand
Deep to our necks
If only we got stuck
And became the salt of your earth
The nutrients in your fertile soil
If only we didn't leave
The gates of our hearts
Are wide open to misery
Don't ask us where this wind is blowing
Don't ask us about a house
Or windows
Or trees
The Bulldozers were here
The Bulldozers were here
And the houses in our village
Fell…Like a row of decayed teeth
They haven't colonized Mars yet
And the moon is barren
So carry your children
Your memories
And follow me
We can live in the books of history
They'll write about us…
"The wicked Bedouins
Landed in Baghdad
They landed in Yafa
They landed in Grenada
Then they moved on
They packed their belongings
And rode on their camels
They didn't leave their print on the red clay
And all their artifacts
Were faded
With the passing of the years"
Does anyone in the world really care?
Does anyone care?
What difference does it make
To be an Arab…
A Native American…
Or a dinosaur
SS So as you can see, poetry was always a part of my life. But I never thought of integrating it into my activism until one day when I saw a YouTube video of Suheir Hammad reciting her poem 'First Writing Since' in New York in the aftermath of 9/11. This was a milestone in my life. First of all, I was so happy to hear a captivating articulate Palestinian woman poet at last! But more than that, her poetry was not written in Arabic and translated into English. Hammad's poetry comes out in English and is effective and authentic and real. This brings me to my next point: Palestinian writers today are a diverse group of people with countless citizenships who speak many languages and who are able to use a variety of mediums to reconstruct their national identity and to communicate their stories of exile. So when we talk about Palestinian literature in the modern sense we must acknowledge that it now transcends linguistic and geographic borders. It was Suheir Hammad who helped me come to terms with my own identity crisis. Yes, I can be Palestinian and I can write my poetry in English.
DV Please tell me a little more about where you live and what you're doing now.
SS I live in Melbourne Australia and I'm currently working toward the production of my recent play Tales of a City by the Sea. The play was inspired by a collection of poems I wrote during Israel's assault on Gaza in 2008/2009. It is set to be staged at La Mama's Courthouse theatre in Melbourne September 2014 and I am so blessed that La Mama has agreed to be our presenting partner for this production. We hope the Arabic version of the play will premiere at the same time in Gaza and in the West Bank. I am also working on a poetry book with Palestinian writers Ramzy Baroud and Jehan Bseiso along with some incredible artists. So next year is looking like a very busy artistic year for me.
I'd like to end with a poem that inspired my recent play. It is dedicated to the Free Gaza Movement and the victims of the Mavi Marmara:
Tales of a city by the sea
The landscape constantly changes
Only the sea remains the same
A consistent presence amid the chaos
Its whooshing waves whisper tales
Of occupiers that have come and gone
Crusaders, tyrants and warlords
Riding on their horses
Riding on their Tanks
Riding on their F16 fighter jets
Always riding through
Leaving their footprints
And part of their history
Leaving their artifacts and ruins
Leaving fire and debris
Always leaving…
Only the sea remains
A cure for the trail of broken lives left behind
A landmark untouched by human greed and destruction
Oblivious to war occupation and aggression
Defiant to the rules of man
It embraces the shores of a battered city
It makes a mockery
Of those who try to break its spirit
Those who think they can contain
Its one and a half million beating hearts
It laughs in the face
Of that big iron wall
There is no limit to the sea's audacity
It breaks the siege every day,
One defiant wave at a time
Connecting Gaza to the rest of the world
And connecting the world with the Shati refugee camp
If you stood with your back to Gaza facing the sea
You can imagine you are some place else
Beirut, Barcelona, Alexandria or Santorini
You can dream of the promise of what lays
Beyond the horizon
Countries, continents the whole world is out there
If only you could ride the sea
If only your body was bullet proof
If only your boat was made of steel
If only your dream was real
The landscape will change once more
Only the sea will remain the same
Its whooshing waves will whisper new tales
Of occupiers that have come and gone
June 2010 Melbourne Australia
DV Thank you very much, Samah Sabawi, for this incredibly informative and moving interview.
Please visit Samah's website talesofacitybythesea.com to read more about Palestine the culture, the politics and the people, and to get more updates on her play Tales of a City by the Sea.
Samah can also be reached on twitter @gazaheart
For information about Doug Valentine and his Political Poetry series, visit his website www.douglasvalentine.com or email him at firstname.lastname@example.com
One of Samah Sabawi's poems will appear in the forthcoming anthology With Our Eyes Wide Open: Poems of the New American Century (West End Press, March 2014). Please email John Crawford at firstname.lastname@example.com for information about pre-ordering the anthology.
[i] Reprinted from The Butterfly's Burden (2007) by Mahmoud Darwish, translated by Fady Joudah. Used by permission of Copper Canyon Press,www.coppercanyonpress.org. Source: The Butterfly's Burden (Copper Canyon Press, 2007)


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From September 12 to October 6, 2019, the National Tigressá Event is happening at Capital Flooring and Design. During this event, shoppers can save on select products from the following collections: Tigressá SoftStyle, Tigressá Cherish, and Tigressá H2O. Discounts will also be available on some Galvanite hard surface products. Furthermore, the sales event includes special financing opportunities for qualified buyers.
Tigressá is a well-established brand known in the industry for its plush texture and vibrant colors. It comes in a diverse array of styles, with different collections designed for specific purposes. For example, the Tigressá H2O line offers water resistance and stain protection. Anyone interested in Tigressá carpeting is encouraged to visit the Capital Flooring and Design showroom to see the products in person and talk to the store staff. The team there can also answer any questions about the Galvanite hard surface flooring products on sale, or the financing offers available during the National Tigressá Event.
During the promotion, there are three financing plans on offer. Qualified customers can enjoy a 12-month plan at just 2.99%, an 18-month plan at just 5.99%, or a 36-month plan at just 9.99%. Prospective shoppers can apply online or in-store. Sales associates are available to help with the application process if necessary and explain the details of the financing plans.
For more information about Capital Flooring and Design, their National Tigressá Event, and their products, call (916) 341-9549. Details can also be found on the store's website. They serve clients from throughout West Sacramento, Davis, Woodland, Sacramento, and Elk Grove, California, as well as the surrounding areas.
Media Contact
Company Name: Capital Flooring and Design
Contact Person: Dale Anderson
Email: Send Email
Phone: (916) 341-9549
Address:2520 Industrial Boulevard
City: West Sacramento
State: CA
Country: United States
Website: https://www.capitalflooringamerica.com/

subset: commoncrawl


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The wife of Shashi Tharoor, an Indian minister and member of parliament, was found dead in a luxury hotel in New Delhi days after exposing her husband's alleged infidelity via Twitter.
The cause of death is not known, but a forensic expert reportedly dubbed it a "sudden, unnatural death."
Private messages between Tharoor and a Pakistani journalist popped up on Tharoor's Twitter account on Wednesday (he has more than 2 million followers, so people noticed). Tharoor claimed that his account was hacked, but the deceased wife, Sunanda Pushkar, told local media that she made the posts to expose the affair.
The couple subsequently released a statement declaring that they had patched things up and were "happily married."
Tharoor has implored authorities to conduct a swift investigation in hopes of uncovering the truth.
[Source: Reuters via The Register]
US Tech Firms Making Anti-Tax Push
The Digital Economy Group, or DEG, a lobbying group boasting some of the biggest names in U.S. tech, is spearheading an effort to thwart plans devised by the G20 to tighten up international tax loopholes.
DEG penned a letter to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development saying that enterprises that utilize "digital communications models" do not operate differently in terms of law and taxes. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt made a similar argument in April, as Google fended off accusations of tax evasion in Britain.
The OECD has been asked by the G20 to devise reforms that would make it more difficult for international companies to skirt taxes. Those reforms presumably would be constructed with companies like Facebook, Google and eBay in mind — companies that employ those aforementioned digital communications models, and that have been accused of skimping on taxes.
There is no shortage of G20 members that have taken issue with tech taxes. The UK has been particularly zealous in its tax criticism of Google, as well as Amazon and eBay. Germany and Australia also have been outspoken about U.S. tech companies' tax practices, which often involve channeling profits through countries with favorable tax conditions, such as Ireland and Bermuda, despite those countries ostensibly having nothing to do with the profits in question.
[Source: The Guardian]
Nintendo Shares Drop
Nintendo shares dropped nearly 20 percent Monday after the video game giant announced its third straight annual operating loss.
On Friday evening — after markets closed — Nintendo nicked some 70 percent off of its global Wii U sales forecast for the year to March 31.
The bad news reportedly is ratcheting up the pressure on Nintendo to begin licensing its software to rivals. This would enable, say, Super Mario to pop up on mobile platforms, whereas it is currently relegated only to Nintendo consoles.
Nintendo shares had experienced a recent spike after China announced it would lift its 14-year ban on foreign-born videogame consoles.
[Source: Reuters]
England to Peddle Medical Data to Insurance Companies
Beginning later this year, drug and insurance companies will be able to buy "pseudonymized" health records — that is, hidden but not entirely anonymous — on English patients through a national database.
Insurers, drug companies and university research institutions will have to apply to the newly created Health and Social Care Information Center to gain access. If approved, applicants will then pay to extract information.
The data will include mental health conditions, diseases such as cancer, and smoking and drinking habits, as well as other information. The data will be culled from hospital and general practitioners' records, marking the first time that such info has been digitized and kept in a single location.
There is division about what the database will spell for citizens. Advocates suggest that it will facilitate advanced studies about, for example, the success of certain procedures or the side effects of certain drugs. On the other hand, opponents worry that the system will make it impossible for people to determine who has their medical records and to what end said records will be used.
Some personal identifiers will be expunged, but the information reportedly will not be completely anonymous. There is a "small, theoretical risk" that the information could be pieced together to identify individuals, according to a public assurance director working with the project.
[Source: The Guardian]


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Coronado Heights 100th Anniversary in 2019!
Smoky Valley Historical Mission
The purpose of this association shall be to collect, arrange and preserve historical data, books, pamphlets and manuscripts pertaining
to the early history and settlement of our community in general and the City of Lindsborg in particular; to preserve and beautify places of
historical interest in our city and its vicinity; and to promote the study of history of our settlement and its cultural growth by
lectures and other available means.
Our Pictorial Tour
The highlight of our web site is a Photograph Tour that features both vintage and modern photos of the various
historical sites in Lindsborg and the Smoky Valley. Take the tour by clicking here: PHOTO TOUR
or for more detailed information on each historic site, click on the buttons in the left hand column or use our
drop down menu.
Coronado Heights
The Smoky Valley Historical Association owns and manages the popular Coronado Heights recreation area and historical site. General
information about Coronado Heights can be found by clicking here or on the Coronado Heights button in the left hand
colummn. The rules and regulations for the use of the Heights can be found in the Coronado Heights Use Policy.
The Smoky Valley Historical Association
Board of Directors
Tim Stewart, President
Robert Ahlstedt, Vice President
Julie-Ann Neywick, Secretary
Lenora Lynam, Treasurer
Elly Ostlind, Program Chair
Jim Malm
Leland Nelson
Christine Rocco
Chester G. Peterson - Emeritus
Contact Us
You can e-mail us at: firstname.lastname@example.com
Our mailing address is:Smoky Valley Historical Association, Inc.
PO Box 255
Lindsborg, KS 67456
We have bi-monthly meetings held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. Location has changed due to COVID-19 meeting will NOT be at Bethany Home.
Check the Program Schedule for location and directions. Program starts at 7:30 p.m. with topics of local historical interest. Come join us!
Click here for our 2020-2022 Program Schedule.
Click here for our most recent Newsletter dated February 2021.
Other Local Links of Interest
Bethany College
City of Lindsborg
Lindsborg Convention & Visitors Bureau
Anatoly Karpov International School of Chess
Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery
Old Mill Museum
Red Barn Studio
Midsummer's Festival
Svensk Hyllningsfest
Messiah Festival
Membership contributions are the SVHA's major source of on-going funding. A free-will donation in any amount will secure your
membership in the Association for the year. Memberships are renewed in the first quarter of each year.
Significant contributions are received from time-to-time, generally with a specific project in mind. A
number of local businesses, organizations, and individuals have contributed to the signage the SVHA has placed
along the Välkommen Trail, for instance. Gifts in memory of Bryce Carlson, a Bethany College graduate and
enthusiastic supporter of all things Lindsborg, and from the estate of the Lindstrom brothers, who farmed near
Falun for many years, have been set aside for the maintenance of Coronado Heights and the road leading to the
top of the hill.
Grants, such as those awarded by the Kansas Humanities Council, are also available from time-to-time to
further the mission of the SVHA.
Funding for worthwhile projects designed to preserve the rich history of the Smoky Valley and its people
are always welcomed. Please contact the Association at email@example.com
to share your ideas on how we can further our mission.


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Happy New Year
This was a year where, those of you have been reading for years and telling your friends what kind of scum are trolling through Hollywood were vindicated. I don't see how 2018 will be any different in exposing the worst of the worst. One of the great things about this coming to light is more people feel safe coming forward and sharing the stories of things that happened on sets or they experienced themselves. I think 2018 will have bigger names taking bigger falls and people getting jail time.
As always, 2017 confirmed to me that all of you are the best audience. Everyone seems to have adjusted nicely back into Blogger and the community is more lively than it has been in awhile. As always I have some people to thank.
On Blogger there is no link to the Crazy Days And Nights Facebook Fan Page. I say fan page, but really it is a complementary page that has lots of fresh things to read each day. A companion site if you will. I am grateful for all the hard work that goes into that and you can visit the page and like it by clicking this link.
Himmmm and Mr. X stepped up and delivered some really good gossip the past six months. Although you don't always see Mr. X's items, he provides lot of tips and is still the go to person for a lot of different parts of Hollywood. With Himmmm coming back, the last few months really have seemed like old home week which was great because of the return to Blogger. It was all full circle.
If you want to follow me on Twitter or be personal friends on Facebook, you can click on the links on the right side. I hope each of you has an amazing New Year and find the time to come say hi when you can.
Love & Bacon,


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The 100th anniversary of the Titanic's tragic sinking on its maiden voyage will be retraced next year by a unique new cruise, one hundred years to the day it originally happened.
It's a voyage that could be considered morbid, but in fact all 1,309 places on the Titanic memorial cruise sold out a year ago, with the top tickets selling for as much as $9.300.
According to the trip's planners the most poignant part of the new journey (which will sail with the same number of passengers as on the original voyage) will come seven days into the trip.
On April 14, 2012 - one hundred years to the very day in 1912 that the ship's lookouts shouted: 'Iceberg, right ahead!' - the passengers on this remarkable new voyage will experience a chilling echo of history.
When an iceberg hit the Titanic's starboard side disaster struck and the ship sank at 2.20 A.M. on April 15. 2,224 passengers and crew had come aboard for the maiden voyage and 1,514 died.
Read More:
US Titanic exhibit to mark centenary in Connecticut
Titanic centenary: 35,000 sign up for Belfast centre tickets
Titanic concert to be broadcast around the world
The 2012 12-night cruise will be aboard the liner Balmoral, chartered by Titanic Memorial Cruises.
Passengers are scheduled to participate in a memorial service at the sinking site and will also eat the same 11-course meal served to the Titanic's first-class diners, including oysters, roast pigeon and sautéed chicken Lyonnaise.
Conscious of the controversy the memorial trip is generation in some circles, Miles Morgan of Titanic Memorial Cruises told the Daily Mail the voyage was not 'disaster voyeurism' and he claimed the passenger list includes relatives of both victims and survivors.
'We've heard stories from guests who are having dresses created by top designers especially for the event and requests from musicians who want to audition to be part of the famous string quartet (which played on as it sank),' he told the Mail.
Getting in on the commemoration drive another company is offering 80 well heeled tourists the opportunity to travel two-and-a-half miles down into the Atlantic to visit the Titanic wreckage site in a Russian-built submarine. The company plans four trips in the better weather of July and August, 2012 with the eye-popping price of $60,000 per person.
Rob McCallum, expedition leader of Deep Ocean Expeditions, the company running the trips told the Telegraph it would be the only time the firm took tourists to the spot. 'We never set out to be a retail travel company. Next year will be a poignant year to make the trip. It's a good time for us to sign off.'


text:
folktales of Aarne-Thompson-Uther
types 1450, 1451, 1452, 1453, and 1457
about choosing a bride
translated and/or edited by
D. L. Ashliman
© 2000-2010
Once upon a time there was a girl who was beautiful, but lazy and negligent. When she had to spin she was so ill tempered that if there was a little knot in the flax, she at once pulled out a whole heap of it, and scattered it about on the ground beside her. Now she had a servant who was industrious, and who gathered together the discarded flax, cleaned it, spun it well, and had a beautiful dress woven out of it for herself.
A young man had courted the lazy girl, and the wedding was about to take place. On the eve of the wedding, the industrious girl was dancing merrily about in her beautiful dress, and the bride said,
Ach, wat kann das Mäken springen |
Ah, how that girl can jump about, |
The bridegroom heard this, and asked the bride what she meant by it. So she told him that the girl was wearing a dress made from the flax which she had thrown away. When the bridegroom heard this, and saw how lazy she was, and how industrious the poor girl was, he gave her up and went to the other girl, and chose her as his wife.
A man wanted to select a wife for himself from among three sisters, all of whom pleased him greatly. He invited them all to eat their noon meal with him at an inn. Wanting to find himself an industrious and efficient housewife, he decided to test them on how they ate cheese.
When her cheese was served the eldest cut the rind off so thick that it included a lot of good cheese, which was thus lost. "She will waste too much and throw out everything," thought the man. "You cannot choose her."
Then the second sister received her cheese, and she ate her piece without cutting off any of the rind. "She is not the wife for you either," thought the man. "She will be disorderly."
Then the youngest sister was served her cheese. She scraped her piece off cleanly and carefully, and then ate it. Thus the suitor thought, "She is the right one!" and he did indeed marry her.
A young herdsman wanted to get married. Now he knew three sisters. All were equally beautiful, and he liked them all equally well, so he could not decide which of them he should choose as his bride. His mother noticed this, and she said to him, "Let me give you some good advice. Invite all three sisters to eat with you at the same time. Serve them some cheese and pay attention to what they do with it."
The son followed this advice. He invited the girls to his house and served them cheese. The first one greedily ate her piece, complete with the rind, so that not a trace of it was left. The second one, to the contrary, cut off the rind so thick that she wasted a lot of good cheese. The third one neatly peeled off just the right amount of rind.
The herdsman told his mother what had happened with the cheese, and she said, "Choose the third one. She will bring you luck."
That is what he did, and as long as he lived, he never regretted having followed his mother's advice.
There was once a rich farmer's son who went out to woo. He had heard of a lass who was fair and gentle, and who was both clever in the house and good at cooking.
Thither he went, for it was just such a wife he wanted. The people on the farm knew, of course, on what errand he came, so they asked him to take a seat near to them, and they talked and chatted with him, as the custom is, and beside offered him a drink and asked him to stop to dinner. They went in and out of the room, so the lad had time to look about him, and over in a corner he saw a spinning wheel with the distaff full of flax.
"Whose spinning wheel is that?" asked the lad.
"Oh, that's our daughter's," said the woman of the house.
"There's a deal of flax on it," said the lad. "I suppose she takes more than a day to spin that," said he.
"No, not at all," said the woman. "She does it easily in one day and perhaps less than that."
That was more than he had ever heard of anyone being able to spin in such a short time.
When they were going to carry in the dinner they all went out of the room and he was left alone. He then saw an old key lying in the window, and this he took and stowed well away among the flax on the distaff. So they ate and drank and got on well together, and when the lad thought he had been there long enough, he said good-bye and went his way. They asked him to come soon again, which he promised, but he did not speak of the matter he had at heart, although he liked the lass very well.
Some time after, he came again to the farm, and they received him still better than the first time. But just as they were chatting at their best, the farmer's wife said, "Last time you were here something very remarkable happened. Our storehouse key disappeared all at once, and we have never been able to find it since."
The lad went over to the spinning wheel, which stood in the corner with just as much flax on it as when last he was there. He put his hand in among the flax and said, "Here is the key! Much cannot be made by the spinning when the spinning day lasts from Michaelmas [September 29] to Easter."
So he said good-bye, and did not speak of the matter he had at heart that time either.
There was once a handsome young fellow by the name of Tom. From an old, wealthy uncle he had inherited a fine farm, and being well established in life, he determined to seek a wife. As he was quite wealthy, he considered himself able to afford a little more than ordinary people in this direction, for the wives of wealthy men must always be prettier and wiser than those of the poor, as we all know.
So Tom wanted a wife who was handsome and industrious, wise and good, and of course it would not be out of the way if she possessed some property.
One day he rode over to a rich farmer who lived in the neighborhood and who had three daughters, all of whom were ready to be married at once. He had seen, although he had never talked with, them, and thought well of all three.
Now these girls, who were otherwise pretty and good, had one great fault: namely, that they could not talk distinctly. When Tom came riding into the yard the farmer received him kindly and conducted him into the room where the three girls sat spinning diligently.
They nodded kindly to him and smiled, but did not utter a sound, as their mother had strictly forbidden them to do so. The farmer led the talking, while his wife waited on them with good food and drinks. The girls spun, and looked at the young man at the table, and glanced at each other and at the ceiling and out of the windows, but none of them spoke.
At length the one happened to break her yarn. "My 'arn bote!" exclaimed she.
"Tie it adain," advised her sister.
"Mamma told us we say no'tin', and now we t'ant teep 'till!" broke in the third one.
When Tom heard these grown girls talk like babies he hurried away, utterly shocked. A wife who could not speak distinctly he had no use for at all.
He proceeded to another farm, where they had a daughter who was said to be a very fine girl in all respects. Tom went into the house and saw her. If the first three ones had been too silent, this one talked, however, more fluently and volubly than any girl whom he had ever met. She talked like a house on fire, while her spinning wheel went more rapidly than any engine.
"How long does it take you to use up such a head of flax?" asked the young man, pointing to the rock [distaff].
"Oh," she said, "I use up a couple of them every day."
While she left the room a few minutes to look after the servants, Tom seized a key from a drawer of a bureau in the room and stuffed it into the head of flax. When she returned they finished their conversation; whereupon he bid her parents and herself good-bye, promising to call again in a week.
On the appointed day Tom returned. The girl and her parents expected him to talk this time of his errand. When he came into the room the girl was busy with her rock, as before. She bid him welcome, and invited him to sit down.
"How unfortunate!" began she. "We have been missing the key of that bureau ever since you were here. We are unable to find it, and I cannot reach any of my things. It never happened before."
On hearing this, Tom went over and pulled the key out of the head of flax. It was the same key, and, still worse, the very same head of flax that he had seen a week before. Thus he knew her word could not be depended upon; and bidding her good-bye he left at once, richer in experience than before.
Some time afterwards he heard of a girl who was very pretty and good, but especially wise and thoughtful in all practical matters. Her parents were said to be the same. Tom saddled his horse and rode over to see her.
The whole family was at home and received the young man very kindly. While the men drifted into a talk about the weather and crops, the women placed before them the best that the house could afford.
"Go into the cellar and fetch a bottle of wine," said the woman to her daughter.
The girl went into the cellar, but was so busy thinking what pattern she might choose for a wedding dress that she sat down on the floor, lost in reflection upon this important subject, and the wine was entirely forgotten. After she had left the room, the parents told Tom of their daughter's many good qualities; how industrious she was, how thoughtful, and so on. The young man thought that she would be exactly such a wife as he wished. But as the girl did not appear with the wine, her mother went to see what had become of her.
When she came into the cellar and found her daughter sitting on the floor, she asked, "Why do you sit there, instead of bringing the wine?"
"Well," was the answer, "I am thinking that if I marry Tom I must make a careful choice of the pattern for my wedding gown. The question is, what pattern would do best?"
"Yes, indeed," answered her mother, "which pattern will be the most suitable?" She sat down by her daughter, pondering over this important question.
"I wonder what has become of them both!" at length exclaimed the man, referring to his wife and daughter. "I must look after them."
He went into the cellar, and when he saw both women sitting on the floor he cried, "Why are you both sitting here? You have kept us waiting for over an hour!"
"We are thinking," replied his wife, "of the pattern for the wedding gown. If she is to marry Tom, the gown must, of course, be a pretty one, and the choice of the right pattern is, indeed, an important matter."
"To be sure!" answered her husband, seating himself on the floor beside them to consider the same subject.
As at length Tom grew tired of waiting, he went himself into the cellar to see if anything unusual had happened. He found the whole family sitting on the floor and looking extremely thoughtful.
"Why do you all sit here?" he asked. At length the farmer, aroused from his reverie, proceeded to relate the difficult question which had caught their attention.
"Yes, in dee e ed," answered Tom. "Which will be the most suitable pattern? You may think of that until I return, and in the meantime I will do the same. Good bye to you!"
Mounting his horse, he rode home as rapidly as the steed would carry him, and if he has not found another and less thoughtful girl, he is yet a bachelor.
But the three people may yet be sitting on the cellar floor, thinking of the pattern for the bridal gown, for all that I know!
Return to D. L. Ashliman's folktexts, a library of folktales, folklore, fairy tales, and mythology.
Revised July 17, 2010.


text:
Game Of Thrones Season 8 Wallpaper GoT 8 HD
大小:969KiB版本:v 12.0.7更新时间:2021-12-21
Replace your new tab with the Game Of Thrones Custom page, with bookmarks,apps, games and GOT Season 8 wallpaper.
Game Of Thrones Season 8 Wallpaper GoT 8 HD 的使用方法详解,最全面的教程
Game Of Thrones Season 8 Wallpaper GoT 8 HD 描述:
扩展大小:969 KiB
版本:v 12.0.7
Game Of Thrones Season 8 Wallpaper GoT 8 HD 插件简介:
这是来自Chrome商店的 Game Of Thrones Season 8 Wallpaper GoT 8 HD 浏览器插件,您可以在当前页面下载它的最新版本安装文件,并安装在Chrome、Edge等浏览器上。
Game Of Thrones Season 8 Wallpaper GoT 8 HD插件下载方法/流程:
Game Of Thrones Season 8 Wallpaper GoT 8 HD插件安装教程/方法:
(2) 从设置->更多工具->扩展程序 打开扩展程序页面,或者地址栏输入 Chrome://extensions/ 按下回车打开扩展程序页面
(3) 打开扩展程序页面的"开发者模式"
(4) 将crx文件拖拽到扩展程序页面,
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text: Saying that "the darkest corners of the Internet" pose a real threat to children, British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday rolled out a plan that would, by default, block pornography on most computers, smartphones and tablets. British wireless and Internet providers have agreed to put adult-content filters on phones, public Wi-Fi networks and home computers in the coming months. By the end of the year, the filters will become the default setting for anyone setting up broadband Internet service at home, Cameron said. "I'm not making this speech because I want to (moralize) or scare-monger, but because I feel profoundly as a politician, and as a father, that the time for action has come," Cameron said. "This is, quite simply, about how we protect our children and their innocence." All of those filters could be deactivated by those who can "prove" they are 18 or older, Cameron said. The plan is the result of a monthslong effort by Cameron to restrict access to Internet porn. He has called Google and other search companies into meetings, demanding they do more to hide porn from children, and appointed Parliament member Claire Perry as a special adviser targeting the issues. The plan will require no action from Parliament because service providers and other Web companies are participating voluntarily. Some already provide service with porn filters as their default settings. Not surprisingly, Web freedom advocates and other critics were quick to decry the plan. For one, many say effective Web filters simply don't exist. "As a technological feat, it would be utterly impossible," columnist Andy Dawson wrote in the Daily Mirror, a nationwide tabloid frequently critical of Cameron's Conservative Party. "His porn shield speech today, and the proposals that are in it are the deranged ravings of someone who has decided that something must be done, has decided what it is, but doesn't (realize) that it isn't actually feasible. He's got just as much chance of banning (gray) clouds while giving us all access to the nice white, fluffy ones." Critics say that automated filtering technology inevitably allows offensive material through accidentally as well as creating "false positives" that block inoffensive content. Others, such as BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, say default-on filters can create a false sense of security among parents, who could become more lax in monitoring their children's online behavior. The Internet service providers that have signed off on the plan provide service to roughly nine out of 10 households in Great Britain. In his speech, Cameron cited a two-pronged problem: the online exploitation of children through child pornography and the easy access children have to otherwise legal pornography at an early age. "In one we're talking about illegal material, the other legal material that is being viewed by those who are underage," he said. "But both these challenges have something in common. They are about how our collective lack of action on the Internet has led to harmful – and in some cases truly dreadful – consequences for children." The prime minister announced an effort to expand and streamline currently fragmented child-porn databases and a new interpretation of law that will make porn depicting rape illegal. He also announced a new "Family Friendly Wi-Fi" label that will allow hotels, restaurants and other businesses to advertise that the Web access they provide has porn filters enabled. Two recent British murder trials in which the defendants were each said to have viewed images of child sexual abuse online have heightened public concern over the issue. One case was that of April Jones, a 5-year-old girl whose disappearance last year in a remote part of Wales sparked a huge search. Mark Bridger was found guilty of her murder in May, but her body has still not been found. The other was the murder of a 12-year-old girl, Tia Sharp, by her grandmother's partner. Cameron said he had met with the parents of those two girls on Friday. "Protecting the most vulnerable in our society, protecting innocence, protecting childhood itself – that is what is at stake," Cameron said. "And I will do whatever it takes to keep our children safe."


text:
XFree86 is the Open Source port of X.Org's X11R6.6 release that supports several UNIX(R) and UNIX-like (such as Linux, the BSDs and Solaris x86) operating systems on Intel and other platforms.
See the Copyright Notice.
The sources for XFree86 are available by anonymous ftp from:
Binaries for NetBSD 1.4 and later are available from: ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/4.2.1/binaries/NetBSD
A list of mirror sites is provided by http://www.xfree86.org/MIRRORS.shtml
XFree86 also builds on other NetBSD architectures. See section Building on other architectures for details.
XFree86 also supports NetBSD on PC98 machines.


text:
Old Objections Hang Over New Push for Media Shield Law
Bipartisan momentum is building for legislation that would give reporters new legal protections from government authorities who want them to reveal their confidential sources. But it's far from clear whether the effort can overcome the objections that derailed similar bills in the Senate in 2007 and 2009.
Reps. Ted Poe, R-Texas, and John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., appeared with a group of lawmakers from both parties Wednesday to announce growing House support for "media shield" legislation (HR 1962) that would create a judicial process to ensure that reporters are not compelled to identify their sources unless certain conditions are met. The conditions include requiring government investigators to prove that "the public interest in compelling disclosure outweighs the public interest in gathering or disseminating news or information."
Poe and Conyers, members of the Judiciary Committee, said the legislation is a response to recent revelations that the Justice Department took phone call records and other information from reporters with The Associated Press and Fox News as part of broader investigations into government leaks.
The Justice Department's actions, Poe said, "remind me of the old Soviet-style tactics of spying on the press." He added that lawmakers from both parties "believe it's time for Congress to intervene and take action to preserve and protect the First Amendment that we all believe in."
Conyers, the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel, said the legislation would protect the constitutional rights of the media and send a strong message that "fishing expeditions" by the Justice Department into the professional dealings of the press "are not in order."
The House bill has 16 co-sponsors, including 14 members of the Judiciary Committee, ranging from conservative Republican Howard Coble of North Carolina to progressive Democrat Jerrold Nadler of New York. Judiciary Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte, R-Va., and Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, both signaled Wednesday that they could be supportive of the measure since they backed similar efforts in the past.
Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steel, said he wasn't familiar with the details of the Poe-Conyers proposal but noted that Boehner "supported a bill on this topic that passed the House in 2007." Poe said Wednesday that his legislation is "very similar to the bill in 2007."
The bipartisan momentum is not limited to the House. In the Senate, Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are co-sponsoring similar media shield legislation at the behest of President Barack Obama, who has been on the defensive regarding the actions of his Justice Department in the AP leaks probe.
Thorny Questions
Bipartisan support for media shield legislation, particularly in the House, is nothing new. The House overwhelmingly passed similar bills in 2007 and 2009 — the latter measure by a voice vote — only to see those bills falter in the Senate.
The same dynamic could still be at play as lawmakers, particularly in the Senate, wrestle with thorny questions over who should be defined as a "journalist" and when the government may override the shield law and compel the disclosure of a reporter's sources.
In the current House bill, journalism is defined as "gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting or publishing of news or information that concerns local, national or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination in the public." That definition is almost certain to run into concerns among senators, including Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who expressed wariness in 2009 about an overly broad definition of journalism — one they said could allow congressional press secretaries or bloggers to claim a reporter's privilege in court.
Asked about the senators' past concerns on Wednesday, Poe acknowledged the difficulty in defining journalism under the bill. "Probably before we get a vote on the bill, we'll clarify what a journalist is," he said. "Because of the Internet primarily, 2007 is a lot different than 2013."
Concerns over national security are likely to be the other major obstacle. Schumer previously pushed the media shield legislation he is currently sponsoring, but the measure — which made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 14-5 vote in October 2009 — eventually fell victim to concerns over national security.
In particular, a furor over the website WikiLeaks, which published sensitive national security information as the bill was pending on the Senate floor, led lawmakers to question whether the measure would allow the site's founder, Julian Assange, to avoid prosecution.
"It just never went forward from there," said Gregg Leslie, legal defense director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which has advocated for a federal media shield law to rival the measures that are already on the books in 49 states and the District of Columbia.
Leslie acknowledged the difficulty in passing highly technical legislation that attempts to strike a balance between national security and freedom of the press, but he said he believes the chances this year are better than in the past.
He noted there is bipartisan outrage in Congress about the Justice Department's actions, and several key senators who held up passage of the bill in the past — such as Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Arlen Specter, D-Pa. — are no longer in Congress. In addition, new senators, such as Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas, are strong proponents of the Bill of Rights and might be inclined to support the measure based on its First Amendment protections.
"I would think that's going to work in our favor," Leslie said.
In an earlier version of this article, the photo caption misstated which chamber Ted Poe serves in. He is in the House.


text:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 28, 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: KIRA CALM LEWIS 301-446-3327; firstname.lastname@example.com – or –
VERONICA MARSHALL 301-446-3313; firstname.lastname@example.com
Kinderfest 2017:
Bigger and Better
Riverdale, MD – Entertaining your whole family was never so easy! Everyone is welcome to the 36th Annual Kinderfest – where we have something for everyone.
Think of Kinderfest as an 'Octoberfest' for families - the free event boasts dozens of attractions, including carnival games, a craft corral, hay and pony rides, riding a mechanical bull, climbing a rock wall – and of course, Watkins Park's carousel and miniature train.
As always – the festival gets bigger and better every year! To celebrate its 36th anniversary, this year the festival is featuring new Midway Amusements like the Atlantis Fun Park, Robo Rampage, and more!
And did we mention there are live performances? Whether your family is drawn to animal acts like reptiles, amphibians, and birds of prey – or they prefer upbeat and interactive musical performances like Zumba – we have events to satisfy everyone!
So on Sunday, October 8, make sure to grab 15,000 of your closest friends and join us for Kinderfest!
WHAT: 36th Annual KinderfestWHEN: Sunday, October 8 from noon – 5 PMWHERE: Watkins Regional Park, 301 Watkins Park Drive, Upper Marlboro, MD. 20774COST: FREE; Fees for some activities and food concessions
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission is celebrating 90 years of excellence, since 1927. The Department of Parks and Recreation delivers an award-winning park system through progressive, innovative leadership and a commitment to the community and the environment in Prince George's County.
For more on the Department of Parks and Recreation, visit www.pgparks.com and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Instagram. The M-NCPPC Department of Parks and Recreation encourages and supports the participation of individuals with disabilities in all programs and services.


text:
Control Center Help¶
In the Help screen of the Denodo Platform you can do the following:
Click Online documentation to open the documentation of the Denodo Platform (opens a window in your browser).
Click Tutorials to open Denodo tutorials in your web browser.
Click License information to display the terms of the license. This only lists the information that affects this installation (terms for the local Solution Manager and Virtual DataPort). To obtain the full list of servers granted by this license, open the Solution Manager administration tool.


text:
Wow, Trail Tech just released a GPS system. Called the Trail Tech Voyager GPS, this system is full integrated and bike specific, built for motorcycles.
Question: Voyager kits include physical sensors, magnets, and other cables. Why does the unit need this if it's a GPS?
Answer: You can use Voyager handheld without any sensors connected. However, physically bolting Voyager to your vehicle provides many advantages over what you are used to in a "standard" GPS.
- Power from the machine enables several integration features, such as extended run-time and maintenance-free charging. (Voyager can be run using only the internal battery and charged with a wall charger.)
- The engine temperature sensor monitors the health of your machine and enables two major features: engine temperature diagnostics and over-temp warning LEDs.
- The ignition sensor tells Voyager when the engine is running. This enables logging of tracks only when engine is running and tachometer display features.
- The wheel sensor can also control when to log, and provides a more accurate odometer than GPS. See next question.
Question: Do I really need a wheel sensor? "Standard" GPS units get along just fine without one.
Answer: All speed/distance data can be gathered from either GPS or the wheel sensor. Voyager kits provide a wheel sensor for several reasons:
- When using a wheel sensor, Voyager knows to stop logging when the vehicle stops moving. When you start rolling again, the wheel sensor tells Voyager which starts logging again (without a GPS induced lag.)
- The wheel sensor will track distance regardless of GPS conditions. This is important under several circumstances:
- GPS cannot tell the difference between a motorcycle moving under its own power or in the back of a truck.
- The GPS signal can be lost, especially around metal structures or in tunnels. With no signal, speed and distance accuracy is lost.
- GPS cannot see small changes in elevation (i.e. whoops and ruts.) Over time this will create significant odometer error.
- GPS is accurate while travelling in straight lines at constant velocity. However, tight, fast corners will cause the GPS to skip over part of your path. Over time this will contribute to odometer error.
- Trail Tech believes an accurate odometer and hour meter are critical features. To maintain this accuracy, kits are provided with a wheel sensor included.
Question: Can Voyager use GPX files?
Answer: Yes, GPX (GPS Exchange Format) files are the main format that Voyager uses. Import and export GPX files directly from Voyager using the accessible waterproof MicroSD memory card slot. Download new GPX trails directly from OHVtrails.net and ride new areas with confidence. GPX also works well with Google Earth™,GPSBabel.org, the Trail Tech's GPX Editor software and many other resources.
GPX (the GPS Exchange Format) is a light-weight XML data format for the interchange of GPS data (waypoints, routes, and tracks) between applications and Web services on the Internet. GPX is being used by dozens of software programs and Web services for GPS data exchange, mapping, and geocaching.
Question: Does Voyager have topo maps?
Answer: On the trail, OHV (off-highway vehicle) riders do not typically utilize elevation data found on topo maps; instead, topo maps are used because of trail route information. Topo maps are mostly based on aerial photos from the 1950's and 1960's, so many are out of date and inaccurate. While some updated topo maps are available, the efforts to restore them focus on hiking trails, not OHV trails.
Because topo maps are not particularly well suited for use on OHV trails, Voyager provides a better means of collecting, displaying and sharing up-to-date OHV trail information. Routes may be imported into Voyager from standard GPX files, or exported for later review and sharing. Using Voyager's trail-centric approach, riders can enjoy a superior experience using up-to-date trail maps.
You can find up-to-date trail information at Trail Tech's OHV map website: www.OHVtrails.net. There you can plan your rides by overlaying a library of OHV trails and roads on top of detailed topographical maps and satellite images courtesy of Google Earth™. Create your own custom trail collection and upload it to your Voyager GPS dashboard. While OHVtrails.net currently covers only North America, it is being actively developed for other parts of the world. OHVtrails.net is provided free of charge for all to use.
Question: How many track points can Voyager hold?
You can have up to 200 waypoints.
You can also have 1 track with 72,500 points (or up to 300 tracks with 241 points, or some hybrid.)
You can also have 1 route with 72,500 points (or up to 300 routes with 241 points, or some hybrid.)
Route and track memory are independent (e.g. you can have up to 72,500+72,500=145,000 points total if track and route memory are both full.)


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I cannot tell whether the fog that hangs in the air outside will burn off later today, or continue to mist through the trees and keep everything green and damp throughout the day. My vegetable garden calls for my spade, and if I do not make the time to thoroughly work over that small patch of ground it with be thick with deep rooted weeds when I plant it in earnest a week or two from now. Another bed of perrenial herbs and wildflowers is overrun by choke cherry suckers, and it may be that this year I am forced to destroy the garden to save it. There is garlic mustard testing the boundaries of my modest backyard from beachheads it has established at the property lines. Ignore that, and the choke cherry suckers will be but a modest inconvenience in comparison.
I love gardens in spring, however, especially the one that contains ephemeral wildflowers. I have let the dog toothed violets and ramps seed and grow where they will, and watched with delight as new Jack-in-the-Pulpit plants appear in other parts of the flower bed from their parent. There are Dutchmen's britches and bloodroot and both have started to find new niches amid the ferns. There are trillium and wild geraniums and wild ginger, and even a clump of calcium-loving large yellow ladyslippers. There is a new seedling growing this year, apart from the clump of many flowered stalks nearby, and I believe it has accomplished that most unusual feat for one of these orchids and actually germinated.
Later in the season the cardinal flowers and white turtleheads will rise above the fading green leaves of these plants as the early flowers have all gone to seed. I'm not sure what blight did in my formerly vigorous stand of Giant Solomon's Seal but it has all but vanished where once it flourished. I watch, and I weed, and I wonder, and still it is this garden that helps me mark the progress of Spring to early summer better even than the uncurling maple leaves, or the nesting wrens at the back of the yard. It has taken a decade for this garden to assume its present shape, and with luck, and a bit of intervention when an invader makes a run at it, it will continue to evolve and change for many years to come.


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Fridays With Fred: Velma Bell and Beloit
"For the first time in the history of the Beloit chapter of Phi Beta Kappa – and that extends back some 18 years – a colored student has been elected to membership. She is Miss Velma Bell of Beloit, graduate of Beloit high school, and a student of remarkable attainments. Miss Bell has received no grade lower than a 'B' during her college course and has amassed so many gradepoints that she will have almost three times as many as she needs by the time she is graduated in June. She has earned almost all of her way through school in addition." – The Beloit Alumnus, November 1929
Velma Fern Bell was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi and came to Beloit with her family in 1914. It was a period when African Americans were migrating from the South to work in Northern factories, and Fairbanks-Morse and Company of Beloit hired many laborers from Pontotoc, including Bell's father, Walter. The family eventually settled on Elm Street on the west side, and Bell attended various Beloit schools. "I went on to high school after 9th grade," she said in a 1996 interview, "and one of the teachers there…said to me, 'I hope you're going on to college.' I remember that. And of course I had assumed that I would. It never occurred to me that I wouldn't, but no teacher had ever said that to me."
She graduated from Beloit High School in 1926, one of the top five students of her class and a member of the National Honor Society. Due to the economic climate of the times she was unable to go away to college as she hoped and so she attended Beloit, walking across the bridge to campus each day. She immersed herself in her studies and found work taking roll for the thrice weekly chapel and vespers services.
"Opportunities to develop leadership skills open to most college students were limited for me because I was a 'townie' and lived on what was then the 'far west side'," she wrote in 1985. "After classes, library study and required college activities such as chapel and vespers, I went home and did not return to the campus for recreation, student government, or social participation in small student groups (nor was I encouraged to do so)."
Tuition expenses grew beyond her means and she found it difficult to find meaningful, well-paying work, according to a January 1929 letter to the college. "During the summer the only work open to girls, of my race, especially, is housework which, as you know, is not very remunerative. Although I have received all of my education in Beloit – from first grade to college – I seem to be thought unworthy to hold the positions which my friends hold…" The college was determined to do what it could and arranged a small scholarship, followed by successful application to the Julius Rosenwald Fund on her behalf, which helped fund her junior and senior years. A letter of support by Professor Lloyd Ballard described Bell as "a student of marked ability and of genuine earnestness."
By the fall semester of her senior year, Bell's reputation as one of Beloit's finest students was firmly established. That October, Beloit College Dean William Alderman wrote to Bell, "It gives me great satisfaction to be able to be able to extend to you my congratulations because of your election to Phi Beta Kappa. This coveted honor was in your case a much merited one. In these days of unsolved problems those who have minds to discern and wills to execute will inherit a great responsibility. I shall follow you with expectation as you go on to further preparation and as you finally take your place in and make a place for yourself in the work of the world."
As part of her sociology major, Bell wrote a brilliant thesis entitled Race Prejudice, which gained her departmental honors, one of only six students honored college-wide that year. "The cry of the Negro is one with that of all the darker peoples," she wrote. "They want freedom from economic exploitation; they want to participate in whatever economic system touches them on the basis of their merit as individuals; they want freedom from political dominations; they want their real interest represented in whatever government rules; they want an education, not one which will fit them for a certain subordinate status, but an education that will fit them to make a living in the world as it is; they want the stigma of inferiority lifted from them so that they may be able to walk down the streets of the world and into the common gathering places of mankind free from contempt. They ought to have unfettered opportunity for the realization of these hopes. Should such attitudes and desires be treated with unreasoning, intolerant prejudice?"
On June 16, 1930, after only three years of study, Bell graduated from Beloit College magna cum laude.
A 1985 letter commemorating the anniversary of 90 years of women at Beloit College found her reflecting on her student years: "We came along after the first women had proved their intellectual competence (which many had doubted when women were first admitted) and their abilities to enhance the quality of college life. But equally important, we were in on the ground floor of new choices and new opportunities brought on by cultural and social changes. We were exposed to a broad base of knowledge; we were acquainted with the elusive nature of truth and the need to continually search for it; we were taught (hopefully) to think, to expect and accept change; it gave some of us the successful experience of breaking down barriers; we had opportunities to develop confidence in ourselves through academic achievement. This kind of environment during my four years at Beloit was for me the 'open sesame' for whatever I have accomplished since graduation."
And she achieved much. Following graduation, Velma Bell taught at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, North Carolina. She received a Master's Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1933, having written a thesis entitled, The Negro in Beloit and Madison Wisconsin. In 1934 she married fellow educator Harry Hamilton. She had a distinguished career in Madison, Wisconsin, where she taught at the Madison Vocational School (now Madison Area Technical College), sat on the boards for the governor's Commission on Human Rights and the Wisconsin Committee on Children and Youth, was a charter member and president of the Madison branch of the NAACP, was named Citizen of the Year in 1961 and Wisconsin Mother of the Year in 1974. In 1968 she became Beloit College's first African-American trustee, serving until 1971. She received a Distinguished Service Citation in 1965 and an Honorary Degree in 1991. Two of her three children, Harry Hamilton Jr. (long-time Beloit College trustee) and Patricia Gyi, are graduates of Beloit College.
Velma Bell Hamilton passed away on July 9, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia.


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Detroiters Elect Ex-Con Brian Banks As State Rep
DETROIT (WWJ) Among the new group of state lawmakers to emerge from Election Day on Tuesday is Brian Banks, who has been convicted eight times for felonies involving bad checks and credit card fraud.
Banks, a Democrat and lifelong Detroiter, won a seat in Lansing as a state representative for the 1st District, representing the east side of Detroit, Harper Woods, and the tony Grosse Pointes. He won 68 percent of the vote to Republican Dan Schulte's 32 percent.
Banks, 35, was convicted eight times between 1998 and 2004 of writing bad checks and credit card fraud.
His slogan was "You can Bank on Banks."
"It's time to elect a leader, with experience and passion, who will fight for you," he wrote on his website.
Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2010 that bans anyone convicted of a felony in the last 20 years from running for office -- but the caveat is the conviction has to be "related to the person's official capacity while holding any elective office." This is Banks first run at elected office.
Banks' website says he's a lawyer and adjunct professor, though he doesn't say where, and uses his law degree to provide "free legal assistance to indigent clients." He's said in published reports he changed his ways after his latest conviction eight years ago.
He was endorsed by his pastor Mark Holloway at Peace & Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit, and a variety of unions including the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters & Millwrights, the Michigan Education Association, Pipefitters Local 636, Teamsters Local 299, and UAW Region 1A.
"He is an educator, law graduate, community leader and visionary. Brian Banks has risen to prominence in spiritual, community and academic arenas – against the odds," his site says.
He told WWJ Newsradio in September that he had made "many poor decisions," adding "I would ask them to look at what I've accomplished professionally and academically, since my poor decisions."
Banks was one of two candidates with unusual pasts elected in Michigan on Tuesday. Reindeer farmer Kerry Bentivolio, who once said in a deposition he wasn't always sure if he was himself or Santa Claus and whose brother described him as "mentally unbalanced," won the House seat in Michigan's 11th District.
for more features.


text: Think Fast: Reaction Time and IQ May Predict Long Life http://www.psychologicalscience.org/media/releases/2005/pr050202.cfm [The report itself is at http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/ps/reaction_time.pdf .] News Release, 5.2.2 The ancient Greeks imagined three Fates - one spun the thread of life, the second measured its length, and the third snipped it off. Science has tried to provide more plausible (if less poetic) reasons for why some of us live longer than others. Now two researchers in Scotland have made a discovery even the Greeks couldn't have imagined: Reaction time may be a core indicator of long life. Ian Deary, University of Edinburgh, and Geoff Der, MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Glasgow, report on a study from the MRC Unit that measured both the IQs and the reaction times of middle-aged subjects. Both tests of mental ability were associated with life span, but reaction time was the stronger indicator. These findings, presented in the study "Reaction Time Explains IQ's Association with Death," will appear in the January 2005 issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the American Psychological Society. The new research builds on earlier studies showing that people with lower IQs tend to die at younger ages than those with higher IQs. Deary and Der, however, wanted to use a more fundamental measure of mental ability - which they define as efficiency in processing information. They thought IQ tests might relate to physical health because people with higher IQs typically are more likely to be in occupations with safer environments. Reaction time is moderately related to IQ, but is a simpler assessment of the brain's information-processing ability - one that doesn't bear so much on other, possibly confounding factors like knowledge, education, or background. To test their theory they examined data from the MRC Unit that, back in 1988, had 412 male and 486 female 54- to 58-year-olds living in west Scotland. The participants took both an IQ test measuring their verbal and numeric cognitive abilities and a reaction-time test that measured how quickly they pressed a button after seeing a number on a screen. The researchers also recorded the participants' gender, employment, education, and smoking status. Over the next 14 years, 185 participants died, and Deary and Der compared their test results to see if the IQ or reaction-time responses predicted their mortality. The researchers learned that those with higher IQ scores lived longer, a result consistent with other studies. The study also showed that characteristics significantly related to death included male gender and smoking. But Deary and Der also found something new - faster reaction times seemed an even better predictor of long life than IQ. There are different ways the results could be interpreted. Slow reaction times could reflect a degeneration of the brain, which in turn could reflect degenerating physical health (an obvious possible cause of earlier mortality). But in another study the IQs of 11-year-old subjects also were found to predict life span length, just as accurately as it did for the middle-aged participants in Deary and Der's 14-year study. Future studies of reaction times in younger-aged people may shed more light on the IQ-mortality connection. Professor Deary said, "It is only in the last few years that we have come to realize that IQ-type scores are related to mortality, even when the mental tests were taken decades before death. Now, several research teams have replicated this finding. What we need to do now is understand it. We and others are following up several possible explanations for this intriguing new association between intelligence and survival." For more information, contact Deary at [13]i.deary at ed.ac. A full copy of the article is available at the APS Media Center at [14]www.psychologicalscience.org/media. Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information. The American Psychological Society represents psychologists advocating science-based research in the public's interest. References 13. mailto:i.deary at ed.ac


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Tag Archives: #veganlife
About Wholesome Culture The brand was founded almost a year ago and has been making waves since then with its message of living life in balanced harmony with nature. Wholesome culture is a fashion brand that is aimed at people who live a plant-based lifestyle. Their mission is to make cruelty-free clothing while encouraging the adoption of vegan lifestyle to help environment and save the animals. As written on their website, At Wholesome Culture, we want make sure our clothing is made in condition where people are safe and well-treated. Most of the clothing we use is made in Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) certified factories.
Copper Branch: Continuous Improvement Via Social Media
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Are you on board with the food revolution? A growing awareness is spreading and the demand for plant based meal options is growing. Studies confirm the link between eating animals, especially processed meat, and the link to cancer and health conditions such as diabetes. Environmental impacts of a meat based diet have been demonstrated, and the ethics behind factory farming are being scrutinized. People are reading labels and choosing organic, non-GMO and local ingredients more often. Copper Branch, a quick serve plant based restaurant, is fulfilling the gap in the food industry and is well timed with this growing lifestyle to ride the wave of popularity and expand across Canada and internationally with their brand. Social media has played a major role in Copper Branch's business development and continues to help them evolve and tailor menu items to their customers. Copper Branch opened its first location in Montreal Canada, and has since grown to twelve locations across Quebec and Ontario. By the end of 2017, fifteen locations will be in operation. The first launch outside of Canada will be in the city of Boston, USA. Copper Branch operates under the franchise model, for any curious investors who may be reading this. I was lucky enough to speak with Andrew Infantino, Director of Marketing, who has been with Copper Branch since the early planning stages. During the initial planning and research phase in developing the concept of Copper Branch, Andrew transitioned over to a vegetarian diet. He could no longer ignore the link to diet and health and he states he will never go back to his flesh eating ways. In his own words Andrew states: To work at Copper Branch it is not a requisite to be vegan per say, because again our mission is more health focused. But I'd say the majority of our team at the very least is very much inspired by the plant based movement and have incorporated a lot more into their diet or have even transitioned into a vegetarian or vegan diet… And so for myself. It has been a journey or stance that I have taken, have held and I think I will hold for the rest of my life. The founder of Copper Branch is Andrew's father Rio Infantino. Rio has an extensive 22 year history of work in the fast food industry. He was a multi unit franchise owner before he liquidated… Read more »


text: Thinking about a heart transplant for your air-cooled Volkswagen? You are in the right place! Post any questions/suggestions/stories you might have, or pictures of your conversion. This site is designed to help anyone thinking about doing a custom engine conversion in the back of your old-school V-dub. Thanks for Visiting! I started this site to share the experiences I had when converting my 65 Bug to Mazda Rotary Power. Click here to visit my site for more information. |


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I pulled out canvases, buttons, ribbon and paint. I lit candles and put on some peaceful, worshipful music. And, we created ...
No rules, just fun and whatever we wanted to make. She asked for help painting a horse :)
This is so sweet! It inspires me to create a special time with Jane...candles, music, and quiet bliss.
I love these precious moments and how you make them extra special with the little things. Emily made masterpieces! I love her nest of eggs. Lovely, Angelia in Tx
Love this! And it reminds me of my own late-night crafting with Emily in Colorado one Christmas :)
Love to all, Mom
Super cute. Love her freckles, and the artwork is so sweet!
what memories...nothing beats time spent with "mama"...
My girls and I love to craft and paint together. I love the way we bounce ideas off each other, it always makes for more interesting projects in the end.
How sweet! My daughters love arts and crafts projects, though their mother isn't very crafty at all! ;)
Finding this time at the end of the day for you and Emily to craft must be such a treasure. The youngers are asleep and your to-do list has been put away. My son stays up later than my daughter, but I struggle on how to engage him. Our interests are so different. Last night, he mercilessly beat me in a game of ping pong. But I shouldn't assume that he wouldn't like to craft.
I have several pieces of my children's art framed in my home. They're the ones that I cherish most.
Very cute. I love the ribbon on the pictures. Kidsd art is the best~I love going back and seeing how their art chages as they grow older.
One word "inspiring", wish I weren't so done at the end of the day. I need to find time to do this kind of stuff with my girls:) Thanks Monica.
Looks like a very fun project!
What a neat idea.... this will be a fun surprise for my girls one evening next week. Thanks!


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Saturday, March 2, 2024
But beneath the cloud cover and canopy, the jungle is a tangle of oil slicks, festering sludge, and rusted pipeline. Smokestacks sprout from the ground, spewing throat-burning fumes into the air. Wastewater from unlined pits seeps into the groundwater and flows into the rivers and streams.
This nightmarish landscape is the legacy of Texaco. Between 1964 and 1990, Texaco (which was acquired by Chevron in 2001) drilled roughly 350 wells across 2,700 square miles of Amazon rainforest. It extracted some 30 billion dollars in profits while deliberately dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic soup, known as production water a mixture of oil, sulfuric acid, and other carcinogens into the streams and rivers where people collect drinking water, fish, bathe and swim.
In the process, Texaco constructed over 900 oil sludge pits, many the size of Olympic swimming pools. Unlike swimming pools, these pits were unlined punctures in the earth. With no concrete to protect the surrounding soil, poison seeped into the ground water.
I had head about what has been called "Chevron's Chernobyl in the Amazon" for years. But nothing could prepare me for the horror I witnessed during my three-day visit to Ecuador.
I held a dragonfly covered in oil in my hands, desperately and hopelessly trying to flutter its wings. I saw pig footprints in the mud next to the oily gunk, where it had eaten contaminated grass, and will soon be contaminating the children, women, and men, who in turn feed on Chevron's waste.
I met a man who told me his two children died after swimming in contaminated water. One died within 24 hours. The other writhed in agony for six months before his poor body gave way.
I met another man whose home is just a few hundred yards from one of the pits. He has 10 children. All of them have become sick, some covered with sores. His chickens and pigs have died. Nothing grows near his home.
I saw a poisonous pit abandoned by Texaco in 1974 and never used by any other company. The pipes leading from that pit have clear liquid running from them. When I put the liquid to my nose, it smelled like gasoline. It runs directly into an adjoining stream, which is the main source of drinking water for people who live along its banks.
We heard terrifying stories of mistreatment by Texaco workers: women raped; shamans taken by helicopter to far mountain ranges to see if they could find their way back; Indians told that rubbing oil on their bald scalps would make their hair grow long and thick; and Texaco trucks that dumped oil waste on roads where people walked and suffered the burns of sticky tar in the hot sun.
This is not a matter of misty-eyed nostalgia. This is an issue of human rights clear violations of the indigenous Ecuadoreans' rights to life, security, and self-determination.
When Texaco oilmen descended from helicopters into the jungle in the early 1960s, they gifted the locals with bread, cheese, plates, and spoons. To this day, this is the only compensation any of the indigenous groups have ever received.
Never were they asked for their permission before Texaco executives negotiated a contract with Ecuadorean government officials.
Texaco knew people would die because of what they were doing, and they ignored it. At last count, 1,400 children, women, and men have died of illnesses directly attributed to Texaco's contamination. Cancer rates in communities affected by oil activity are 30 times higher than anywhere else in the country. Other medical teams have documented elevated rates of birth defects, miscarriages, skin disease, and nerve damage.
Two nomadic groups that once inhabited the region, the Tetetes and the Sansahuari, have been wiped out. What Texaco did arguably amounts to criminally negligent homicide.
Now, the remaining indigenous peoples of the Oriente the Cofán, Siona, Secoya, Kichwa and Huaorani people have taken the fight to Chevron. Organized by a grassroots organization called the Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia (Amazon Defense Coalition) they are simply demanding through an unprecedented class action lawsuit that Chevron clean up its mess.
The case is now in its 16th year. Chevron (whose human rights statement reads, "We value and respect the cultures and traditions of the many communities in which we work") has tossed up one delay after another.
Yet, the evidence of Texaco's wrongdoing is plain for all to see. Last year, an unnamed Chevron lobbyist was quoted as saying the lesson of Ecuador is that "We can't let little countries screw around with big companies like this companies that have made big investments around the world."
But as an American, I am appalled that a corporation from our country would treat innocent people with such disdain. We consumers, investors, elected officials, journalists, activists, and citizens must hold Chevron accountable for its actions, and see that justice is done.
Here in the Oriente, 45 years after Texaco first bore into the ground 16 years after the Ecuadoreans began their fight for justice traces of paradise are still visible. We must not allow them to vanish.


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I am so envious of this giveaway- you don't even know. Shari and I have been emailing back and forth throughout this competition and not only is she super nice, but she's so talented! Check out these cute looks by her:
This screen print will be gracing skirts, tees and dresses, and Shari will be donating a large portion of her sale proceeds to help fund a micro-loan for a woman owned sewing business in a third world country. How cool is that? You can shop with a conscience, get cool clothes, and help empower another woman (or women if she can raise enough money!) somewhere around the world to start her own little business, just like Shari did.


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Some of you may have noticed that the regular "Elbo Room" sign had recently been replaced with another older-looking one that reads "Amelia's." Now, it's back to the "Elbo Room" again. So, what's going on here?
Well, after talking to some key Elbo staff, it turns out that around 20 years ago the Elbo Room used to be a rocking dyke bar named Amelia's that allegedly would have put the Lex to shame. Every year when Pride rolls around, they dig the old sign out of storage and install it in front as an homage to the bar's colorful history. Then, when Pride weekend ends and all the brunches are over, bloody marys flowing in the gutter, they lock it up again and go back to the regular ol' Elbo Room. So there you go!
History lesson with Professor Sarkarati over!