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Massages and "Extra Services"
So I went for a foot massage today, more interesting than the tons I've ever done in Hong Kong. The best thing about HK is that massages are super cheap – or that is – compared to Canada. Of course there are cheaper places in China, but by the time you go down there, the extra cost would've went to transportation already. Nevertheless, I love getting massages, but this time we went to a new one because the one we used to go to finally went out-of-business.
This was definitely a "new experience" indeed because apparently the massage came with extra services. I'm not sure whether these "extra services" cost any more than the regular payment since I halted it extremely fast. Here I was, sitting down while getting my feet soaked and then the masseuse came along and began to dry my feet in preparation for the massage. Just because foot massages are so comfortable, I usually just tilt my head back and enjoy the feeling, but I always like to see what they're doing the first time we try a new place and to gauge their technique. The massage began quite gentle to "warm things up" and then eventually the temporary pain set-in as she pushed down hard on all the pressure points.
About 15 minutes into the massage, a second girl came out of the room and began to work at my other foot and moved up my leg. I thought it was kinda interesting since most of the massages I ever had were one-person only, especially since most places aren't going to give you two people for the pay of a single massage, unless you're paying extra for it. I know for sure I didn't request to have 2 people and know my cousin and uncle didn't since they were next to me the entire time. So as the 2nd girl began to work up my leg, it felt weird since one was working on my foot and the feeling of two people massage two different places causes a feeling is non-symmetry, LOL. It wasn't until about 3 minutes after the 2nd girl came out where it began to get heated and finally I understood why I had two girls massaging me. One was doing a real massage and the other was preparing to massage me elsewhere… she had her hands caressing me and was ready to stroke me and I was like, "Ahhh, stop!" but she didn't. I have a feeling she interpreted my "ahhh" as a pleasurable one and not the "WTF, stop now" type of "ahhh" – so this girl clearly was trying to get me turned on so she can perform 'other services'.
Bebe is 2 days away from coming to Hong Kong and I think this is the God's way of playing a practical joke on me, trying to get some girl to turn me on and break my loyalty to bebe… HRMF! All 3 of us were aghast at this because we were seriously only looking for a massage, not a "rub-and-tug" kind of place. We were telling them to stop, but I have a feeling they either did not understand English or just thought we were 'shy'. We had to get the parlour owner to tell them to stop as we were not looking for those types of services. As the 2nd batch of the girls left since we told them we wanted non-sexual massages only, we saw a guy come out of a private room, still getting his pants on with a big smile on his face… clearly, our suspicions were true, this wasn't just a "normal" massage parlour. I felt grossed out immediately because it occurred to me I was sitting on this chair where other "customers" sat and it's quite likely their dried splooge is probably all over the chair I'm on… urg, so gross.
We left, simply paying the regular price since we didn't ask for their other fantastic 'services' and we decided it was not a place we wanted to be return-customers… well, I suppose that is unless bebe dumps me and I become single again, LOL… then perhaps I wouldn't mind so much XD (not that I want that to even happen) – man, I don't believe these places exist smack in the middle of the city under prying eyes, haha. I mean I've seen my fair-share in Hong Kong, but man it was a shocker given that this place seemed so damn reputable. There's a good reason why you always give your business to the places you're used to going, so they don't pull weird things like this. Suffice to say, upon getting home, I had my pants washed and body disinfected because who knows how dirty my clothing were after that.
Luckily my other uncle will be free tomorrow to take us to proper massage parlours where we won't be subjected to being "offered" services other than what we ask for and where I don't have to worry about having my dick grabbed while I'm getting my feet massaged. To be honest, I know getting a massage tends to bring very dubious and questionable views from women, particularly in HK because it's under the assumption we all like to be stroked and "have a happy ending" – but regular massage parlours only offer massages and nothing more. The reality is that it's just a very relaxing and entertaining thing, particularly in a place where walking is a common method of transportation and feet get tired easily.
Time for me to sleep, enjoying a nice BBQ with family/friend tomorrow and more importantly, only hours away from holding my baby 😀 Just some food-for-thought… make sure you know how reputable the place you are getting your massages from, LOL!
Posted on December 24, 2010, in Personal, TMI Corner and tagged Blog, Culture, Friends, Girlfriend, Hong Kong, Life, Massage, My Life, People, Personal, Rub N Tug, Thoughts. Bookmark the permalink. 26 Comments.
Get bebe to massage you lar ^^ Think of it as bonding time together ^^
PC… I thk he would want her to massage him as well… but nt shoulder, back or feet… somewhere… else xDD
I saw u pop online, I kno ur home!!!
Wanna hear all abt ur day soon…. I meant IMMEDIATELY once u c this, lolz!
Yesh, I'm sure u want to kiss her, hehe… I kno u think she has beautiful lips xDD U rly like the cute girlz, I kno yur taste, lol. Good, keep it up la. No point in holding bk from touching her coz I think she won't be the one instigating it either… if u dun do nethg, she won't either! She just seems TOO conscious abt evrythg and thinks WAAAYY TOO much. I kno that u like to think abt the future too, but she's letting the whole thing get into yur way. I mean.. I followed Josh bk to HK too and u luv her so much she should c that n' follow u.
Wut she doesn't realize is that this is probably a LIFETIME opportunity… u will not wait for her 4evr n' she should be a bit more serious abt this rather than saying, "Our language conflicts" or wutevr coz she can look arnd and c so many couples who hv their own language and ONLY speak English together and still hv a perfectly find relationship. U kno it is tru that girls can cm up wit ne possible excuse 😛 we are MASTERS at that… haha. She'd be so crazie to give u up or to bypass a chance like this… I rly think she's lying to herself smtimes… she does such a good job of it she doesn't even kno she's lying to herself.
I dunno y she'd be ok with other guys touching her but nt u.. I think she realli needs one of her friends to give her sm guidance on physical intimacy n' wut true relationship/feelings mean… mayb she can't even interpert her OWN feelings -_-Zzzz. Dun let wut she says deter u, she's just being silly saying she has no feel for u… just believe it as BS… u kno our saying, "U can lie to the world, but cannot lie to urself"… although she obvious does quite a good job of both X_x
I hv tried many excuses wit Josh b4… I used to tell myself I din like him even when I did… n' realize that I wasted so much time pretending n' faking myself… so dumb. Tht's y I don't want yur bebe to walk the same path I did, waste time n' cause so much headache… this is headache for BOTH of u, not just one. Right now is hard coz she wants to stay with msia n' be with u as well, yet she uses her 'reasoning' to "not be with you" to justify her staying 😐 dun get how she can be so unfair to u n' not giving u a serious chance by throwing barrier in yur way..
Aiya…. but I'm here 4u netime we can chat.. Juz hold her more often, I kno that makes u feel great ^^
Dun 'play' too much la or else it might start hurting, LOL. Save it for her 😉 I hv confidence in u tht u will be able to satisfy her n' once she "experiences" u the first time, she will want no other… KAKAKAKAK!
Wowoweeee!! Now I kno wut u mean when u say bebe has kissable lips xDD They r very nice, makes me jealous 😦 Bet u'll be so excited when she lets u get at them, haha.
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We have many locations in Hong Kong, include many in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. We also have smaller locations in New Territories and Discovery Bay. Our services are available all day and every day of the year (weekend and holiday service have premium). Sex toys and other paraphernalia may be available and rented from offered locations and condoms are available free-of-charge. If you are interested in this, please contact me by email and I will send you the locations and phone numbers to book an appointment.
I hope you will visit us soon as many girls are waiting for YOU. We have many satisfied customers and our prices are cheap. We give 80% off for first-time visitors. We also offer VIP services for regular visitors who are given access to many of our finest girls or no-condom sex. All men are welcomed, bring your friends for better prices. All our rooms are fully equipped with air conditioning and comfortable beds. Most full nights are less than 300 per girl. Remember Sexy Thai Massage when you want a good massage, good service and good price! Do not forget not to leave Hong Kong before you visit!
Thank you.
kakakak… ppl advertise on yur site la now 😀
Must be "key words" they capture n' automatically write to u…
I dun believe places offer no-condom sex 😐 so dangerous…. n' so cheap, 300 a night? No wonder ppl cm to Asia to hire hookers…
please provide number and address in discovery bay
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Research is a key part of our work at the School of Engineering and Computer Science, and a diverse range of projects are underway at any one time.
Our world-leading research is undertaken in a dozen research groups, broadly covering artificial intelligence; computer graphics; mechatronics; networking; programming languages; and wireless communications.
Over 90 students are engaged in postgraduate studies, with around 70 at PhD level. Students come from around the world and contribute to the School's vibrant atmosphere.
Research collaborations with other Schools at Victoria University of Wellington, in particular Bioinformatics, Applied Lingustics, Physics, and Mathematics and Statistics, form important links and allow students to access a wide range of facilities.
Wellington is at the heart of science and technology in New Zealand and we have strong collaborative links with many of the industry and research organisations based here. These include Industrial Research Limited, New Zealand Registry Services and Magritek. These links provide students with an enriched study experience and many work with potential employers during their research placements.
We have a depth of knowledge that makes us able to address a wide range of modern engineering problems. If you are interested in doing research with us, or have an idea for a project of common interest, please contact us.

subset: commoncrawl


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Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder
Sponsored By
Lawmakers Renew Call To Give Trains More Priority On South Channel Bridge In QueensThe New York City Transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has gotten behind a proposal to limit openings of the South Channel Bridge that carries trains from Broad Channel to the Rockaways.
New Bill Hopes To Ensure Students 'Never Forget' 9/11 VictimsThe bill would require a period of silence on the morning of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks each year in every New York school.
Queens, Nassau Lawmakers Call On State To Improve Storm Emergency RoutesAssemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Far Rockaway) and Nassau County Leg. Howard Kopel are urging the state to improve local roads needed for emergency evacuations during disasters.
Homeowners: NYC Planting Trees Despite ObjectionsThe trees are planted curbside on city property, but homeowners say they wind up having to take care of them.
Long-Abandoned Rockaway Courthouse To Get New Life As Medical CenterDeveloper Uri Kaufman is buying the old Rockaway Courthouse on Beach Channel Drive for $50,000 and turning it into a medical center, filling a void left when the bankrupt Peninsula Hospital shut down last year.
Lawmaker: 'It Is Criminal' NYPD Has Not Installed Security Cameras In RockawaysAssemblyman Phil Goldfeder said legislators did the hard part in 2010 when they voted to approve the $300,000 needed for three security cameras in the Rockaways.
City Lawmakers Want Feds To Reimburse Sandy-Devastated HomeownersNearly six months after superstorm Sandy, some victims still haven't seen any of the funds promised to them.


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- News
- Publications
- Resources
- Conferences
- Technical Forums
- Membership
- About PSMA
Electronic Components Industry Association, Inc. (ECIA)
ECIA was formed in 2011 as a result of a merger between the National Electronic Distributors Association and the Electronic Components Association (ECA). ECIA represents the manufacturers of electronic components and their authorized distributors and sales rep firms.
Contact us: Tel: (973) 543-9660 Fax: (973) 543-6207 email@example.com
P.O. Box 418, Mendham, NJ 07945-0418
© 2020Power Sources Manufacturers Association.


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During the festive season, it has almost become tradition to eat one's weight in food, enjoy more than a few glasses of wine, and then come New Year, turn to a diet or detox to counteract the effects and shift any excess pounds gained.
While it is important to enjoy ourselves and celebrate, putting our livers at risk is not the best way to start the New Year. Here, we have gathered a few top tips with the aid of Consultant Hepatologist, Dr Alastair O'Brien from The London Clinic.
• Alcohol and heavy drinking, particularly binge drinking, can cause serious damage to your liver. Try replacing that aperitif with a mug of herbal tea to aid digestion. Drinking plenty of water will also help flush out toxins and keep you hydrated, especially before bedtime


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My Approach to Helping
Want a positive space to recreate your life? That is what Life Synergy offers. Our skilled clinicians each have their own niche. They work with adolescents, teens, pre-teens, adults, or a combination. Our providers help clients overcome life\'s challenges and stressors. Together we\'ll explore issues such as addiction, anxiety, anger management, substance abuse, relationship issues, depression, stress, sexuality, self-harm, chronic illness, cancer survivors, self-esteem, caregiving, etc. We offer a warm, safe space that provides the tools essential for clients to address and conquer the challenges of today\'s life. We offer a positive, nonjudgmental space where individuals can safely share.
Our team is committed to working with families and individuals to improve their relationships and communication. We offer specific strategies to achieve balance and a happier life. Using cognitive techniques and motivational interviewing, we facilitate change to improve our clients\' relationships with others.
Our compassionate providers bring passion to every session. They use a range of unique techniques to help clients of all ages make healthy changes and better understand themselves. Our positive environment empowers clients to recover. We listen actively, offering caring, support, respect, and encouragement to help our clients achieve a renewed sense of well-being.


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Disclaimer of Liability:
Further Disclaimer:
The Sassy Psychologist is not intended as an academic or clinical resource. All information used for the site is based on the practical experience of one licensed psychologist who treats a specific population of high-functioning adults. All information provided as not been proven with the use of methodologically sound research methods and instead is derived from the clinical perceptions of our psychologist. There is therefore no guarantee of validity, reliability, or accuracy. Readers agree to indemnify the author from any misunderstandings, errors or omissions stemming from the information contained herein. The author maintains no responsibility to any person by reason of negligence.
Case examples can be found throughout this blog. In incorporating these examples, our psychologist thoroughly disguised the identities of all clients to maintain confidentiality. However, details pertaining to the psychological assessment of these clients are genuine.
The information offered in this blog is not a substitute for professional services. The author does not assume any responsibility for errors, omissions, or misinterpretations of the material herein.
The self-help readings and activities were generated from the opinion of the blogger and should not be considered as a health care treatment or service. Instead, the readings and activities are designed to serve as elaboration on existing blog entries and as a small component of treatment augmenting the ongoing services of a trained profession. If the aid of an expert is needed as a result of reading this blog or engaging in self-help activities, the services of an appropriate professional should be pursued.
Our psychologist, Anna-Maria Tosco MA MA and www.sassypsychologist.com assume no responsibility for any products or services cited, or any of the techniques or practices discussed. The purchaser or reader assumes responsibility for the use of this information.
This blog is not an endorsement for any resources or publications mentioned. Readers should exercise their own judgement in making decisions about any resources or publications.
We are not responsible for the contents of any off-site pages referenced. Links from the www.sassypsychologist.com site on the World Wide Web to other sites are links to information only and are not endorsements.


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2019 NBA Playoffs: Warriors Get All Out Effort To End Series With Rockets
With Kevin Durant sidelined with an injured right calf. It seemed inevitable that the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors series was going to game seven. It appeared that way within less than halfway through the first quarter as Stephen Curry picked up two quick fouls and then relegated to the bench. Still the Warriors got contributions from Jonas Jerebko, Shaun Livingston, Quin Cook, Kevon Looney and Alfonso McKinnie. Which


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Forgiveness Quotes
A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong.
The more a man knows, the more he forgives.
When we can recognize and forgive ignorant actions of the past, we gain the strength to constructively solve the problems of the present.
Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth.
Friends are God's way of apologizing for your family.
The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way
Never contradict. Never explain. Never apologize. (Those are the secrets of a happy life!).
Letter to The Times of London, September 5, 1919.
Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me.
Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.
In a family argument, if it turns out you are right, apologize at once!
Apologizing – a very desperate habit, – one that is rarely cured. Apology is only egotism wrong side out. Nine times out of ten, the first thing a man's companion knows of his shortcomings is from his apology. It is mighty presumptuous on your part to suppose your small failures of so much consequence that you must make a talk about them.
The Professor At The Breakfast Table (1906)
If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl.
"Epitaph" from Smart Set (December 1921)
America's finest - our men and women in uniform, are a force for good throughout the world, and that is nothing to apologize for.
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
To err is human, to forgive divine.
An Essay on Criticism
To inquire if and where we made mistakes is not to apologize. War is replete with mistakes because it is full of improvisations. In war we are always doing something for the first time. It would be a miracle if what we improvised under the stress of war should be perfect.
Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don't ever apologize for anything.
Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.
We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
The Preface To 'The Picture Of Dorian Gray', 1891
Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much.
It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.


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New Castle's Carrie Chapman Catt & The Women's Suffrage Movement
2017 marks the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in New York State. New York State awarded this right to women three years before the 19th Amendment expanded it nationwide. In ... Read more


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Black Coffee at the Rose Theatre, Kingston – theatre review
PUBLISHED: 14:57 17 October 2014 | UPDATED: 15:06 17 October 2014
Darren Bell Photography
Agatha Christie wrote just one play about her meticulously brilliant Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, despite penning a proliferation of stories about him that spanned a period of almost 60 years.
Tweet us your one line theatre reviews @SurreyLife!
That play was Black Coffee, with a cleverly crafted plot involving theft, death and naked ambition - all standard ingredients of a Christie murder mystery. Black Coffee came to the Rose Theatre earlier this month, courtesy of The Agatha Christie Theatre Company and director, Joe Harmston.
Set in 1929, the year Black Coffee was written, the story unfolded in typical Christie style with the arrival of a corpse early on in proceedings, along with a raft of suspects guarding secrets, motives and underlying tensions galore. Suspects included Lucia - the passionate Italian daughter in law with a secret past, played by Georgina Leonidas who managed to maintain a credible Italian accent throughout.
She was joined, amongst others, by her thoroughly decent husband (Ben Nealon), the inscrutable butler (Martin Carroll), an ambitious private secretary (Oliver Mellor), and a mysterious Italian doctor (another decent stab at the Italian accent by Gary Mavers).
Other characters of note included the deceased's grieving widow (Deborah Grant), who seemed come straight from the set of Downton Abbey, as well as 'Bright Young Thing', Barbara (Felicity Houlbrooke), whose flirtation with the nonplussed Captain Hastings (Robin McCallum) was a particular comic highlight.
Of course, the play's main action revolved around Poirot himself, played with carefully constructed mannerisms, yet another plausible European accent and well-judged dry wit by Jason Durr. Accompanied by the loyal Hastings, Poirot picked his way through the case to reveal the cause of death (poisoning via a First World War medicine box) and the identity of the murderer (sorry, we're not giving that bit of information away here...). Not to mention a myriad of false testimonies, red herrings and other essential murder mystery plot devices.
Despite its macabre theme, Black Coffee was enormous fun to watch, with a fast pace, played against the backdrop of designer, Simon Scullion's evocative 1920s set. The audience had plenty of chances to try and figure out 'whodunnit' for themselves and, with two separate intervals, plenty of time to discuss their theories with each other.
Black Coffee runs at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, until Saturday October 18
Agatha Christie and a real life Shere murder mystery


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How can I Celebrate a Co-Worker's Birthday?
Celebrating a co-worker's birthday can be a great way to make people feel appreciated at work. It is important to do so in an appropriate way for the workplace, however, and to include everyone else who works there. In addition, keep in mind that celebrating one co-worker's birthday will generally mean that every workplace birthday will need to be celebrated to avoid hurt feelings.
One simple way to celebrate a co-worker's birthday is to purchase a card and have everyone at the workplace sign it. Other employees may also choose to all chip in and bring in a treat for the office to share, such as a birthday cake, cupcakes, or donuts. If people would rather have a healthy snack, a fruit basket may be a good choice as well. Keep in mind that some people may not want to celebrate their birthday, or even want everyone to know when their birthday is, so it may be best to ask first before planning a party or event.
Some businesses choose to celebrate co-worker's birthdays all at once, on one designated day per month. For example, a monthly potluck lunch may celebrate everyone who has a birthday in that month. Each person who works there can bring in a favorite dish they have made, and then everyone can share in the birthday celebrations and not eat too many unhealthy sweets. This generally works better for larger offices where it is not practical to celebrate each individual co-worker's birthday.
For a smaller workplace where the employees are all good friends, it may be appropriate to go out for dinner, or even for all of the other employees to purchase a gift for a co-worker's birthday. Again, it is important to include everyone in the celebrations, and to practice good workplace etiquette. For instance, though it might be fun to go out and have a few drinks, it is necessary to remember that you will need to work with all of these people the next day, so planning such an event on a Friday might be better.
Celebrating a co-worker's birthday can be a good way to develop positive relationships with your co-workers and to break up the monotony of the day. Many businesses now encourage employees to develop a positive social life as well as their work life, because it is more likely to make employees happier and more productive when they are at work. Even a small gesture like a card and a small box of chocolates can be a nice, simple way to celebrate a co-worker's birthday.
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Discussion Comments
Oh, I am dreading this so much. My coworkers love doing this thing, and since I am extremely private (and often seen as negative because of it) I feel like I have to let them do this -- if they intend to do it (I don't know if they will), even though I don't like that sort of thing. I have a healthy dislike of being the center of attention, being put on the spot, and the obligation to act thrilled when I am anything but.
I'd be a deal happier if all they did was sign a card for me. I don't want the fuss and attention.
I don't like my birthday celebrated at work, and it really irritates me when my coworkers insist on doing so against my wishes. I've told them very politely on several occasions that, while I appreciate their intentions, I am a private person and really do not wish my birthday to be acknowledged at work. Their response? "Well, the more you protest the bigger will be our celebration!" I'm sorry, but that's just rude in my opinion.
@gardenturtle: We do something very similar in my office. We have a plastic bucket that we put all of our names in. When someone's birthday is coming up, the boss draws a name out of the hat and that person brings the cake. He draws another name out for plates, forks, etc. Once your name has been drawn, it is taken out until everyone's name has cycled through.
We have a cake budget that the company allots. No one actually has to spend money out of their pocket. They just go and pick the cake or supplies up and they are reimbursed.
The birthday of a coworker can be a great way to de-stress in the office. It's also a great way for everyone to get to know each other a little bit better.
I work at a telemarketing company and many of us don't even know each other's names. We just say hi in passing. My boss had the idea of starting an employee birthday party.
We have a huge calendar by the time clock so that everyone can write their birthdays in.
I bought a box of birthday cards that I keep in my desk and every day I look at the calendar to see if it is anyone's birthday. If so, I try to make out the birthday card early and leave it in their cubicle.


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Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2
I Procrastinated and Almost Ran Out of Time
I very nearly missed him.
It wasn't as if I hadn't been meaning to go visit him. I truly had. But I kept putting it off.
My mother would ask me on regular occasions, "Have you gone to see Don?"
I kept saying I would. I told herthat I would go, "soon."
But I kept putting it off.
It almost was too late. I almost ran out of time.
Friends For a Long Time
I first met Don when I was in high school. He worked in the office as the business manager.
For the life of me, I don't know how we actually met. Business managers of high schools don't usually associate with students, as far as I know.
But Don, my best friend Mike, and I became friends. We have a couple of lunches off campus now and then during my senior year.
After I graduated, I came back to visit once or twice and always stopped in to say hello to Don.
Don knew my mom as well. But practically everyone in town knew my mom. My mom was the local travel agent and if you traveled by plane or train or took a cruise, you saw my mom!
She would, of course, keep everyone up to date on my doings and happenings – graduating from college, going to seminary, getting married, being ordained, having kids, and all the rest.
My mom kept Don up to date on all my doings. So, when I moved back to Illinois from California and became the associate pastor at St. Matthew, Don knew about it.
Within a couple of weeks of my installation, my mom first asked me, "Have you seen Don yet?"
Then I met John and Audrey. They were neighbors of Don and good friends. They overheard my mom asking me about Don and mentioned that they knew him as well.
John would regularly ask me if I would go and see Don and say, "hi."
It took me a long while before I did finally go and see Don.
But it was almost too late.
He Was Waiting to See Me
Don had been diagnosed with cancer. He had been put on hospice care.
As a result his son called me and asked me to visit him. He told me that Don had been asking about me and wanted me to come see him.
It turns out Don doesn't have much longer on this mortal soil.
So I didn't make him wait any longer. I went to go see him. He's sick now. Bed-ridden. But the Don I knew so long ago I could still see in his eyes.
"Hello, my old friend."
I would have had a hard time forgiving myself if I hadn't seen Don before he died. I plan on seeing again him the day after tomorrow.
He's worried, you see. The cancer has him scared. He's in physical pain. But he's also a little afraid of dying, I think.
I very nearly was too late to assure him of his baptismal grace. He has faith in Christ as his Savior. He told me he was baptized when I asked him. I assured him that there's nothing to fear.
I will assure him again.
Now Is the Time to Tell Someone About Jesus
I've come to realize more clearly than ever before that this is what Christians do. We make sure we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others before it is too late.
While there is still breath in us, now is the time to share and reassure that Christ died to forgive all our sins. That Christ rose to assure us that, in faith, we will rise from the grave also.
For a long time, I told myself that I'm busy, I'm trying to get this or that done.
But no more. My time is to be used to tell others about Christ. To reassure the sick and dying that Christ loves them and reaches out to them.
And so I encourage you that now is the favorable time, now is the day of salvation!
Therefore, don't hesitate. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Text them. Go over to their house. Say hello.
And tell them about Jesus.
Now is the time.
Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me the time to tell someone else about Jesus. Please give me your Holy Spirit so that I do not procrastinate anymore. Empower me to use the time I have wisely and to reassure others that you love them. In Jesus' name. Amen.
© 2018 True Men Ministries


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There are many viewpoints of Ukrain, and this is the place were you really can find out what you believe is the truth by turning all the coins and looking at all the arguments.
The Main subjets of debate have been
1. What is the active substance of Ukrain?
2. Do Nowicky Pharma refuse to participate in independent evaluations?
3. Has Ukrain been unfairly blocked to obtain license in Austria and the EU?
4. Do Ukrain have selective toxicity for cancer cells?
Therapeutic Substance(s):
Therapeutic intervention:


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Sheila and Barry Taylor of Country Place in Potomac have been married for 58 years. Both were the only children in their families and were married in 1958 in a small synagogue in Philadelphia. He was 22 and she was 20.
As reformed Jews, they started raising their family in Philadelphia; then Lawrence Township, N.J.; then Potomac where they moved in 1970. Now they have lived in the same house for 46 years. The couple has three grown children: Debbie, 55; David, 52; and Denise, 50; plus six grandchildren, ages 7-20.
What Sheila loves most about him is his kindness, she said. "He's just sweet and he helps me when I ask for help. Maybe not so fast but he gets to it eventually and he likes to do the same things that I like to do," she said.
Barry feels the same: "She's considerate and a generally enthusiastic kind of person who's generally happy and cheers me up."
The secret to a good marriage said Sheila, age 78, is having similar interests. "We spend a fair amount of time together enjoying the same things. We go to the opera together, we have theater tickets. We do traveling together. We visit our children, our grandchildren. And we usually have dinner together."
Barry, age 80, added that common interests and points of view of the world are important. "Our attitudes toward money, for example ... we don't like to spend money. We're driving 16-year-old cars. We don't need to have the fanciest things. We rarely have any arguments about money."
Barry said his wife also tolerates his idiosyncrasies. "I'm somewhat of a workaholic; I'm a scientist emeritus at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, so she's tolerant of my work ethic."
The couple first met at Temple University's physics department in Philadelphia in the 1950s. Barry was two years ahead of Sheila, who had been dating other physicists when she found him. What attracted him was that she liked the same things as he did. "We had this common interest in physics," he said. "She liked me, and if someone likes you, you tend to like them back."
Sheila added: "I had dated a couple of other guys in the physics department, but I thought he was cute."
Sheila grew up in Philadelphia's Center and moved to Oxford Circle. Barry grew up in Strawberry Mansion. He attended Temple University then the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Ph.D. in physics in 1963. "Those were the glory days of science," he said. As a teaching assistant, he didn't have to pay for tuition.
Sheila also studied physics at Temple University, worked for a couple of years and then received a master's degree in computer science from the University of Maryland in 1970. She worked at the Dental Institute at NIH and discovered she could make more money as a computer person.
In her spare time, Sheila volunteers with the Potomac Community Village where she's on its board and does the IT work, maintains its website and data base. She's also a volunteer driver for Village Rides, which gives rides to local people. "It's a way to keep people in their houses by providing services for them and socialization and driving to appointments," she said. "I'm very involved with this organization."
Barry works on the Religious Practices Committee at his temple, Temple Beth Ami in Rockville. "We meet periodically to discuss issues having to do with the religious activities of the Temple, services, timing of services, prayer books and what roles for the ages of children to give bar and bat mitzvahs," he said.
The couple also enjoys exercising. They used to do a lot of bicycling and when the weather's nice, they'll walk 4-5 miles on the C&O Canal on Sundays. "We start at Great Falls Tavern and walk down and back," he said.


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Operating directly under the National Command Authority, a relatively unknown entity of handpicked warriors are called on when the mission must not fail. They are the Tier 1 Operators.
Over 2 million Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines wear the uniform. Of those, approximately 50 thousand fall under the direct control of the Special Operations Command. The Tier 1 Operator functions on a plane of existence above and beyond even the most highly trained Special Operations Forces. Their exact numbers, while classified, hover in the low hundreds. They are living, breathing, precision instruments of war. They are experts in the application of violence. The new Medal of Honor is inspired by and has been developed with Tier 1 Operators from this elite community. Players will step into the boots of these warriors and apply their unique skill sets to a new enemy in the most unforgiving and hostile battlefield conditions of present day Afghanistan.
* There is a new enemy. * There is a new war. * There is a new warrior. * He is Tier 1.
"Only available in the Limited Edition of Medal of Honor on PlayStation 3, Frontline has been completely remastered in HD with improved graphics, and all of the heart-wrenching battles of the original game."
BF3 Beta:
If you own Medal of Honor Limited Edition you will receive an invitation to the Battlefield 3 beta within 12-months following the release of Medal of Honor.
Medal of Honor Limited Edition features other special content out-of-the-box including the MP-7, a weapon utilized by real-world Tier 1 Operators in the field. With its light weight, high rate of fire as well as its ability to penetrate body armor, the MP-7 handles like a pistol yet allows targets to be engaged like a rifle.
The Limited Edition is available at no extra cost!
Beta offer is contingent on Beta availability within 12 months of Medal of Honor release. Beta will be available for a limited time only and offer expires upon close of Beta events. Participation in Beta requires acceptance of Beta Agreement.


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Tag Archives: Donald Rumsfeld
SYNDICATED COLUMN: 10 Things You Don't Know About How the NSA Spies on YouJune 12, 2013
The Least Most Untruthful Analysis of Obama's Orwellian Dystopia
Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian says "a lot more significant revelations" about America's colossal Orwellian surveillance state are coming down the pike — courtesy of the thousands of pages of classified documents he obtained from Edward Snowden, the heroic former CIA contractor. That should be fun.
In the meantime, we've got a pair of doozies to digest: Verizon's decision to turn over its the "metadata" — everything about every phone call (except the sound) to the NSA, and the PRISM program, under which the biggest Internet companies (Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, etc., pretty much all the top outfits except Twitter) let the NSA read our emails, see our photos, even watch our Skype chats.
Establishment politicians and their media mouthpieces are spinning faster than a server at the NSA's new five zettabyte data farm in Utah, doing everything they can to obfuscate in the hope that we'll forget this whole thing and climb back into our pods in The Matrix.
So let's get some clarity on what's really going on with 10 things you probably don't know about the NSA scandals.
1. PRISM, not Verizon, is the bigger story.
Government-aligned mainstream media outlets like The New York Times and NPR focus more on Verizon because — though what the phone company did was egregious — it's less indefensible. "Nobody is listening to your telephone calls," Obama says. (When that's what passes for reassurance, you've got a PR problem.) PRISM, they keep saying, is targeted at "foreigners" so Americans shouldn't be angry about it. But…
2. PRISM really is directed at Americans.
"Unlike the call data collection program, this program focuses on mining the content of online communication, not just the metadata about them, and is potentially a much greater privacy intrusion," notes Popular Mechanics.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified to Congress that the NSA does not collect "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans." "Not wittingly." As The New York Times said in an uncharacteristically bold post, this is a lie. Here's what's behind the Rumsfeldian logic of what Clapper describes as his "least most untruthful" testimony: "What I was thinking of," explains Clapper, "is looking at the Dewey Decimal numbers of those books in the metaphorical library. To me the collection of U.S. persons' data would mean taking the books off the shelf, opening it up and reading it."
In other words, the NSA collects the search histories, emails, file transfer records and actual live chats of every American. They store them in a data farm. Whenever the NSA wants to look at them, they can. But according to Clapper, this isn't "collecting." It's only "collecting" when they choose to read what they have.
I have bought several books. They're on my shelf. I haven't read them yet. Have I "collected" them? Of course.
I don't want the NSA to read my sexts or look at my dirty pictures. The fact that they may not have gotten around to it yet — but have them sitting on their shelves — doesn't make me feel better.
3. President Obama should be impeached over this.
Richard Nixon was. Or would have been, if he hadn't resigned. Obama, his top officials and his political surrogates have repeatedly and knowingly lied to us when they said the NSA didn't "routinely sweep up information about millions of Americans." He should go now. So should others who knew about this.
4. PRISM and other NSA spy programs are not approved by courts or by Congress.
White House defenders say the surveillance — which is, remember, a comprehensive vacuuming up of the entire Internet, and of every phone call ever made — has been approved by the legislative and judicial branches, so there's nothing to worry about. But that isn't true. The "FISA court" is so secret that, until last week, no one had ever seen a document issued by it. It's not a real court. It's a useless rubber stamp panel that literally approves every surveillance request the government asks for. In 2012, that's 1856 requests and 1856 approvals.
Very few members of Congress were aware of the Verizon or PRISM programs before reading about them in the media. Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a few select Friends of Barack, that's it. That's not Congressional oversight. Real oversight occurs in full session, in public, on C-SPAN.
5. There is no evidence that NSA spying keeps America safe. And so what if it did?
According to government officials, PRISM saved the New York City subways from being bombed in 2009. Actually, the alleged would-be terrorist was caught by old-fashioned detective work, not data-mining. There is zero evidence that the NSA has saved a single American from being blown up.
But so what if it did? In recent years, between 15 and 17 Americans a year died worldwide from terrorist attacks. You're as likely to be crushed to death by your television set. It's sad for the dozen and a half victims, of course. But terrorism is a low, low national priority. Or it should be. Terrorism isn't enough of a danger to justify taking away the privacy rights of 320 million people.
6. This is not a post-9/11 thing.
We're being told that PRISM and the latest Patriot Act-approved surveillance state excesses date back to post-9/11 "make us safe at any cost" paranoia. In fact, the NSA has been way up in your business long before that.
Back in December 1998 the French newsweekly Le Nouvel Observateur revealed the existence of a covert partnership between the NSA and 26 U.S. allies. "The power of the network, codenamed ECHELON, is astounding," the BBC reported in 1999. "Every international telephone call, fax, e-mail, or radio transmission can be listened to by powerful computers capable of voice recognition. They home in on a long list of key words, or patterns of messages. They are looking for evidence of international crime, like terrorism…the system is so widespread all sorts of private communications, often of a sensitive commercial nature, are hoovered up and analyzed." ECHELON dates back to the 1980s. PRISM picks up where ECHELON left off, adding the Internet to its bag of tricks.
7. Edward Snowden expects to be extradited.
U.S. state media wonders aloud, "puzzled" at whistleblower Snowden's decision to go to Hong Kong, which routinely extradites criminal suspects to the United States. But Snowden's explanation is crystal clear. All you have to do is listen. "People who think I made a mistake in picking HK as a location misunderstand my intentions," he told a local newspaper. "I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality." Snowden could go to Ecuador, or perhaps Venezuela or Iceland. He's staying put because he wants to face trial in the U.S. And I doubt he'll cop a plea when he does. He wants a political hearing so he can put the system on trial. In the meantime, he'll use the time it'll take Obama's legal goons to process the extradition to talk to journalists. To explain himself. To make his case to the public. And, of course, to help shepherd those new revelations Greenwald mentioned.
8. Caught being evil — or collaborating with evil — Google and other tech companies are scared shitless.
And they should be. Consumers and businesses know now that when Big Brother comes calling, Big Tech doesn't do what they should do — protect their customers' privacy by calling their lawyers and fighting back. This could hurt their bottom lines. "Other countries will start routing around the U.S. information economy by developing, or even mandating, their own competing services," speculates Popular Mechanics. Europe, worried about the U.S. exploiting the NSA for industrial espionage, began working on work-around systems that avoid U.S. Internet concerns.
9. 56% of Americans trust the government's PRISM program, which the government repeatedly lied about. What people don't know should worry them.
You're not a terrorist. You don't hang out with them. So why worry? Because the data collected by the NSA isn't likely to stay locked up in Utah forever. Data wants to be free — and hackers have already proven they can access the NSA. Some want to sell it to private concerns. To insurance companies, so they can determine whether your buying habits make you a suitable risk. To banks. To security outfits, to run background checks for their clients. To marketers. Mining of Big Data can screw up your life — bad credit, can't get a job — and you'll never know what you hit you. Oh, and don't forget: governments change. Nixon abused the IRS and FBI to attack political opponents. Innocuous census data that collected religious affiliations was used by the Nazis to round up Jews when they came to power.
10. In the long run, the end of privacy will liberate us.
Everyone (who isn't boring) has a dirty secret. The way things are going, all those secrets will be as out as Dan Savage — and just as happy and self-assured. Blackmail — the nobody-talks-about-real-reason-PRISM-is-creepy — only works if most dirty secrets are hard to come by. But if everyone's got a nude photo online, if everyone's sexual deviations are searchable and indexed, the power of shame goes away as quickly as it does at a nudist colony. By the time the surveillance state plays out, we may look back at 2013 as the year when America began to move past Puritanism.
If we're not in a gulag.
(Ted Rall's website is tedrall.com. His book "After We Kill You, We Will Welcome You Back As Honored Guests: Unembedded in Afghanistan" will be released in 2014 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.)
SYNDICATED COLUMN: Investigating the InvestigatorsMay 14, 2013
IRS Targeting is a Scandal, CIA Targeting is Business as Usual
"We're fighting for you!" That's what the Democratic Party tells Democratic voters and what the Republican Party tells Republicans. But even their "battles" reveal how similar the two parties really are.
Case study: what gets investigated.
Less than a week after the news broke that the IRS engaged in ideological profiling in 2011 and 2012 — targeting Tea Party-related non-profits for checks into whether they were violating the terms of their tax-exempt status by spending donor money on political ads — top Democrats joined their GOP counterparts to demand a Congressional investigation. That's lightening quick for government work — and yet not fast for some. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida, '16 prez prospect) called for Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller to resign immediately. President Obama called the IRS' actions "outrageous" and "contrary to our traditions." The IRS has already apologized.
This all goes to show that the federal government can turn on a dime when it wants to do something. It's a matter of priorities. Millions of Americans whose homes were stolen by banks in illegal foreclosures waited five years for $600 settlement checks that bounced; the Fed gave the executives of those banks $7.77 trillion in a matter of days, no questions asked.
So it goes with what gets investigated.
Thrown under the bus in a matter of days, the IRS is already getting ground to mincemeat. Meanwhile, a spectacular panorama of Bush-era abuses have yet to draw the attention of a single Congressional subcommittee.
The 2000 stolen presidential election fiasco? Still no investigation — even though retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the swing vote in the 5-4 decision in Bush v. Gore, now agrees with constitutional lawyers who say the high court had no jurisdiction in the case and thus shouldn't have heard it.
There still hasn't been an independent investigation of 9/11.
No one has ever been questioned, much less held accountable, for the invasion of Afghanistan (ostensibly to catch Osama bin Laden, though he was already in Pakistan), the installation by the U.S. of the unpopular Hamid Karzai as a U.S. puppet, huge cash bribes paid to Karzai by Bush and now Obama, or the lies — an impeachable offense — about Saddam's WMDs used to con the public into war against Iraq.
People outraged by Bush's torture program, secret prisons, extraordinary rendition and indefinite detention of innocent people, including children, at post-9/11 gulags at places like Guantánamo, the "salt pit" at Bagram and the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia — even on prison ships on the high seas — hoped that President Obama would make good on his campaign promises to investigate these horrific crimes against international law, U.S. law and common decency. Instead, he obstructed justice — another impeachable offense — issuing a directive to his Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies to ignore them. "We need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards," he told a TV interviewer on January 12, 2009, eight days before taking office.
"At the CIA, you've got extraordinarily talented people who are working very hard to keep Americans safe," he said. "I don't want them to suddenly feel like they've got spend their all their time looking over their shoulders."
Yes. God forbid our heroic torturers should face any questions about jamming forced enemas up prisoners' butts. Sorry: I meant our extraordinarily talented torturers.
And, now a flashback to April 14, 2008 — a mere nine months earlier. Candidate Obama told The Philadelphia Inquirer: "If I found out that there were high officials who knowingly, consciously broke existing laws, engaged in cover-ups of those crimes with knowledge forefront, then I think a basic principle of our Constitution is nobody above the law."
Except the CIA. And the military. And Donald Rumsfeld and Condi Rice and Dick Cheney and John Yoo and, of course, George W. Bush, who explicitly authorized the torture and other high crimes, and is now an elder statesman with his own library and everything.
To recap:
Both parties think it's bad bad bad for the IRS to target right-wing pseudo-nonprofits for audits.
Both parties think it's perfectly fine A-OK doubleplusgood to target the buttholes of random Muslims you kidnapped from Afghanistan or Yemen or wherever.
What the IRS did was, of course, wrong. But I'd rather be audited than butt-raped. Butt-raping, especially butt-raping that occurs before illegal auditing, should be investigating before illegal auditing.
Both parties also agree that if there's ever been something that doesn't need investigating by anyone, ever, it's drones. Yes, a whopping 1.8% of Congress recently held an "unofficial hearing" (toothless PR stunt) and politely requested that Obama provide "further clarification of the legal justifications behind drone strikes."
But no one —not even Vermont's token "socialist" Bernie Sanders — has called for an investigation into a drone war that ridiculously remains "classified," a secret to everyone but the dead, the maimed and their survivors. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky, '16 prez prospect)'s filibuster merely demanded whether Obama planned to drone any U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. (Since he has already droned U.S. citizens on foreign soil, we know the answer to that.)
I'm not Suze Orman, but please let me help you save a few bucks. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, the next time you get a campaign mailer asking you to support them because they're "fighting hard for you," chuck that sucker into the recycler. The truth is, the two major parties are on the same page on just about everything.
They're not fighting for you.
They're fighting for themselves.
(Ted Rall's website is tedrall.com. His book "After We Kill You, We Will Welcome You Back As Honored Guests: Unembedded in Afghanistan" will be released in November by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.)
AL JAZEERA COLUMN: United We BlandSeptember 23, 2011
Calls for a return to post-9/11 "unity" in the US, flirt with the elementary constructs of fascism, author says.
In the days and weeks after 9/11 the slogan was everywhere: T-shirts, bumper stickers, billboards that previously read "Your Ad Here" due to the dot-com crash, inevitably next to an image of the American flag.
The phrase carried with it a dark subtext. It wasn't subtle:
United We Stand —or else.
Or, as George W. Bush, not known for his light rhetorical touch, put it: "You're either with us or against us."
"Us" was not meant to be inclusive. Le Figaro's famous "nous sommes tous américains" headline aside, non-Americans were derided on Fox News (the Bush Administration's house media organ) as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys." (Never mind that that phrase, from the TV show "The Simpsons," was conceived as derisive satire of the Right, which frequently derided the French as intellectual and thus weak and effete.)
Many Americans were disinvited from the "us" party of the early 2000s. Democrats, liberals, progressives, anyone who questioned Bush or his policies risked being smeared by Fox, right-wing talk radio hosts and their allies. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, for example, called me "the most anti-American cartoonist in America."
For a day or two after the attacks on New York and Washington, it was possible even for the most jaundiced leftist to take comfort in patriotism. We were shocked. More than that, we were puzzled. No group had claimed responsibility. (None ever did.) Who was the enemy? Sure, there was conjecture. But no facts. What did "they" want?
"We watched, stupefied—it was immediately a television event in real time—and we were bewildered; no one had the slightest idea of why it had happened or what was to come," writes Paul Theroux in the UK Telegraph. "It was a day scorched by death—flames, screams, sirens, confusion, fear and extravagant rumors ('The Golden Gate Bridge has been hit, Seattle is bracing')."
Politically, the nation reminded deeply divided by the disputed 2000 election. According to polls most voters believed that Bush was illegitimate, that he had stolen the presidential election in a judicial coup carried out by the Supreme Court. Even at the peak of Bush's popularity in November 2001—89 percent of the public approved of his performance—47 percent of respondents to the Gallup survey said that Bush had not won fair and square. During those initial hours, however, most ordinary citizens saw 9/11 as a great horrible problem to be investigated, analyzed and then solved. Flags popped up everywhere. Even liberal Democrats gussied up their rides to make their cars look like a general's staff car.
Dick Cheney and his cadre of high-level fanatics at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue were salivating over newly-drawn-up war plans. "There just aren't enough targets in Afghanistan," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell. "We need to bomb something else to prove that we're, you know, big and strong and not going to be pushed around."
AL JAZEERA COLUMN: Libya: The triumphalism of the US mediaSeptember 2, 2011
Obama and the US media are taking credit for Gaddafi's downfall, but it was the Libyan fighters who won the war.
The fall of Moammar Gaddafi was a Libyan story first and foremost. Libyans fought, killed and died to end the Colonel's 42-year reign.
No doubt, the U.S. and its NATO proxies tipped the military balance in favor of the Benghazi-based rebels. It's hard for any government to defend itself when denied the use of its own airspace as enemy missiles and bombs blast away its infrastructure over the course of more than 20,000 sorties.
Still, it was Libyans who took the biggest risks and paid the highest price. They deserve the credit. From a foreign policy standpoint, it behooves the West to give it to them. Consider a parallel, the fall 2001 bombing campaign against the Taliban. With fewer than a thousand Special Forces troops on the ground in Afghanistan to bribe tribal leaders and guide bombs to their targets, the U.S. military and CIA relied exclusively on air power to allow the Northern Alliance to advance. The premature announcement that major combat operations had ceased, followed by the installation of Hamid Karzai as de facto president—a man widely seen as a U.S. figurehead—set the stage for what would eventually become America's longest war.
As did the triumphalism of the U.S. media, who treated the "defeat" (more like the dispersing) of the Taliban as Bush's victory. The Northern Alliance was a mere afterthought, condescended to at every turn by the punditocracy. To paraphrase Bush's defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. went to war with the ally it had, not the one it would have liked to have had. America's attitude toward Karzai and his government reflected that in many ways: snipes and insults, including the suggestion that the Afghan leader was mentally ill and ought to be replaced, as well as years of funding levels too low to meet payroll and other basic needs, thus limiting its power to metro Kabul and a few other major cities. In retrospect it would have been smarter for the U.S. to have graciously credited (and funded) the Northern Alliance with its defeat over the Taliban, content to remain the power behind the throne.
Despite this experience in Afghanistan "victory" in Libya has prompted a renewal of triumphalism in the U.S. media.
Like a slightly drunken crowd at a football match giddily shouting "U-S-A," editors and producers keep thumping their chests long after it stops being attractive.
When Obama announced the anti-Gaddafi bombing campaign in March, Stephen Walt issued a relatively safe pair of predictions. "If Gaddafi is soon ousted and the rebel forces can establish a reasonably stable order there, then this operation will be judged a success and it will be high-fives all around," Walt wrote in Foreign Policy. "If a prolonged stalemate occurs, if civilian casualties soar, if the coalition splinters, or if a post-Gaddafi Libya proves to be unstable, violent, or a breeding ground for extremists…his decision will be judged a mistake."
It's only been a few days since the fall of Tripoli, but high-fives and victory dances abound.
"Rebel Victory in Libya a Vindication for Obama," screamed the headline in U.S. News & World Report.
SYNDICATED COLUMN: We Learned Nothing From 9/11August 30, 2011
Ten Years Later, Americans Still Stupid and Vulnerable
They say everything changed on 9/11. No one can dispute that. But we didn't learn anything.
Like other events that forced Americans to reassess their national priorities (the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, Sputnik) the attacks on New York and Washington were a traumatic, teachable moment.
The collective attention of the nation was finally focused upon problems that had gone neglected for many years. 9/11 was a chance to get smart—but we blew it.
First and foremost the attacks gave the United States a rare opportunity to reset its international reputation. Even countries known for anti-Americanism offered their support. "We are all Americans," ran the headline of the French newspaper Le Monde.
The century of U.S. foreign policy that led to 9/11—supporting dictators, crushing democratic movements, spreading gangster capitalism at the point of a thousand nukes—should and could have been put on hold and reassessed in the wake of 9/11.
It wasn't time to act. It was time to think.
It was time to lick our wounds, pretend to act confused, and play the victim. It was time to hope the world forgot how we supplied lists of pro-democracy activists to a young Saddam Hussein so he could collect and kill them, and forget the "Made in USA" labels on missiles shot into the Gaza Strip from U.S.-made helicopter gunships sold to Israel.
It was time, for once, to take the high road. The Bush Administration ought to have treated 9/11 as a police investigation, demanding that Pakistan extradite Osama bin Laden and other individuals wanted in connection with the attacks for prosecution by an international court.
Instead of assuming a temperate, thoughtful posture, the Bush Administration exploited 9/11 as an excuse to start two wars, both against defenseless countries that had little or nothing to do with the attacks. Bush and company legalized torture and ramped up support for unpopular dictatorships in South and Central Asia and the Middle East, all announced with bombastic cowboy talk.
Smoke 'em out! Worst of the worst! Dead or alive!
By 2003 the world hated us more than ever. A BBC poll showed that people in Jordan and Indonesia—moderate Muslim countries where Al Qaeda had killed locals with bombs—considered the U.S. a bigger security threat than the terrorist group.
In fairness to Condi Rice, Don Rumsfeld and Bush's other leading war criminals, everyone else went along with them. The media refused to question them. Democratic politicians, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, cast votes in favor of Bush's wars. Democrats and leftist activists ought to have pushed for Bush's impeachment; they were silent or supportive.
9/11 was "blowback"—proof that the U.S. can't wage its wars overseas without suffering consequences at home. But we still haven't learned that lesson. Ten years later, a "Democratic" president is fighting Bush's wars as well as new ones against Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Now he's saber-rattling against Syria.
American officials correctly inferred from 9/11 that security, particularly at airports but also in ports where container ships arrive daily from around the world, had been lax. Rather than act proactively to close gaps in transportation security, however, bureaucrats for the new Department of Homeland Security created a gauntlet of police-state harassment so onerous that it has threatened the financial health of the aviation industry.
"Aviation security is a joke, and it's only a matter of time before terrorists destroy another airplane full of innocent passengers," wrote Barbara Hollingsworth of The Washington Examiner after the 2009 "underwear bomber" scare. As Hollingsworth pointed out, the much-vaunted federal air marshals have been removed from flights because the TSA is too cheap to pay their hotel bills. (This is illegal.) What's the point of taking off your shoes, she asked, when planes are still serviced overseas in unsecured facilities? No one has provided an answer.
Ten years after 9/11, there is still no real security check when you board a passenger train or bus. Perhaps the sheer quantity of goods arriving at American ports makes it impossible to screen them all, but we're not even talking about the fact that we've basically given up on port security.
While we're on the subject of post-9/11 security, what about air defenses? On 9/11 the airspace over the Lower 48 states was assigned to a dozen "weekend warrior" air national guard jets. Every last one of them was on the ground when the attacks began, allowing hijacked planes to tool around the skies for hours after they had been identified as dangerous.
Which could easily happen again. According to a 2009 report by the federal General Accounting Office on U.S. air defenses: "The Air Force has not implemented ASA [Air Sovereignty Alert] operations in accordance with DOD, NORAD, and Air Force directives and guidance, which instruct the Air Force to establish ASA as a steady-state (ongoing and indefinite) mission. The Air Force has not implemented the 140 actions it identified to establish ASA as a steady-state mission, which included integrating ASA operations into the Air Force's planning, programming, and funding cycle. The Air Force has instead been focused on other priorities, such as overseas military operations."
Maybe if it stopped spending so much time and money killing foreigners the American government could protect Americans.
On 9/11 hundreds of firefighters and policemen died because they couldn't communicate on antiquated, segregated bandwidth. "Only one month away from the 10th anniversary of 9/11," admits FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, "our first responders still don't have an interoperable mobile broadband network for public safety. Our 911 call centers still can't handle texts or pictures or video being sent by the phones that everyone has."
Because the corporate masters of the Democratic and Republican parties love the low wage/weak labor environment created by illegal immigration, American land borders are intentionally left unguarded.
A lot changed on 9/11, but not everything.
We're still governed by corrupt idiots. And we're still putting up with them.
What does that say about us?
(Ted Rall is the author of "The Anti-American Manifesto." His website is tedrall.com.)
SYNDICATED COLUMN: Rape My Brain But Don't Touch My JunkNovember 22, 2010
Why TSA Molesters Are Striking a Nerve
"Don't touch my junk!" Will this be the battle cry of the next American Revolution?
If you think about it, it's amazing. Why this? But thinking doesn't have anything to do with it.
There's a good reason. Which we'll get to.
"This," of course, is the intrusive new security-screening regimen at 68 major U.S. airports. You can walk through one of the new "backscatter" body-image X-ray scanners, suck up 2.4 microrems of radiation, and live with the knowledge that a high-res version of your nude flabby body is being stored on some government database so that the Palin Administration will be able to kill you for food and use your cyborg doppelganger as a slave laborer in the living hell that will be the year 2015.
Or you can choose the pat-down. But think twice. By all accounts, the pat-down procedure is thorough. Extremely thorough.
"I didn't really expect her to touch my vagina through my pants," schoolteacher Kaya McLaren, an elementary schoolteacher from Washington state told The New York Times about her experience at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. What prompted this feel-up? "The body scanner detected a tissue and a hair band in her pocket," reported The Times.
Verily, the end times draw nigh. The New York Times is talking dirty.
A visit to the TSA's official blog (blog.tsa.gov) furthers the impression that the Obama Administration has jumped the security shark. One citizen asks: "Is touching the genitals a mandatory or discretionary part of the pat-down? Will the screener give notice and ask for consent prior to touching the breasts, vagina, penis or scrotum?" Another asks: "Can they spread the buttocks to feel if something is concealed between them? Can they move the penis or testicles aside to see if something is strapped to a man's leg? Can they lift up breasts to feel underneath them?"
There's something terribly wrong when a federal government website gets too racy for online parental control software.
CNN's Rosemary Fitzpatrick reported that an airport screener "ran her hands around her breasts, over her stomach, buttocks and her inner thighs, and briefly touched her crotch." In Charlotte a flight attendant was ordered to remove and display her prosthetic breast.
It's happening to guys too. Men wearing baggy pants report TSA personnel, some of whom are convicted rapists and child molesters, sticking their hands down their trousers and ferreting out their naughty bits. In a bit of surrealism recalling my "Al Kidda" cartoon (in which terrorists take advantage of the fact that children aren't required to show ID to board a plane) there are now YouTube videos showing little kids getting felt up by the TSA.
TSA workers at Miami Airport got caught passing around printed scans of a man they deemed to fall short in the male endowment department. A 61-year-old cancer survivor from Michigan wound up "humiliated, crying and covered with his own urine after an enhanced pat-down by TSA officers" at the Detroit Airport. The oafs broke the seal on his urostomy bag.
There was, naturally, no apology.
Remember the good old days of the early 2000s, when the only thing the TSA did was announce their favorite color of the day?
Of all the indignities inflicted upon the flying public since 9/11, the radiation/molestation combo strikes me as relatively minor. I'm still scarred by the sight of the young Iraq War vet in front of me at Kansas City airport security. Both of his legs had been lost in an IED blast in the Middle East. Instead of respect or a free pass at the metal detector, TSA goons repeatedly grilled and humiliated him about the titanium in his body.
Contrast this with Iran. Yes, Iran. As at security checkpoints throughout the country, I was waved past the checkpoint at Tehran's Ayatollah Kholmeni International Airport in August as soon as I presented my U.S. passport. As guests, foreigners are not subject to most bag searches. Not even citizens of the Great Satan.
Don't touch our special parts, but feel free to poke around our frontal lobes.
If Richard Nixon had been accused of listening to every American's phone calls and reading their mail, there would have been riots. But that's exactly what the National Security Agency has been doing since 9/11. Bush started it; Obama made it official. They're reading your email and listening to your phone calls and tracking your bank statements. It's a fact. And no one cares.
Personally, I'd rather have the government touch my junk than rape my brain.
Now that they're feeling up our privates at the airport—with, truth be told, considerably more justification than the NSA has for reading your Facebook status updates—the American people are freaking out.
Which should come as little surprise to Obama's pet louts at the TSA.
The United States, after all, was founded by Puritans. The folks we're celebrating this week were religious fanatics, prudes, crazy repressed and so far off the charts that they were too uptight to get along with the British. Immigration has helped loosen us up, but that's still our national culture.
I had hoped that when the revolution came, it would be about economic injustice or torture or racism. But, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, you don't revolt with the revolutionaries you wish you had. If this is the beginning of the end, so be it.
Say it all together: Don't touch my junk!
(Ted Rall is the author of "The Anti-American Manifesto." His website is tedrall.com.)


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Michael T. Jurusik graduated from Hamilton College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, and received his Juris Doctor Degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. While in law school, Mr. Jurusik was awarded the American Jurisprudence Award for outstanding academic achievement in the area of pre-trial litigation. He has been admitted to the bars of the State of Illinois, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Jurusik is a member of the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the International Municipal Lawyers Association.
Mr. Jurusik served as Secretary during 2008-2009, Vice Chair during 2009-2010 and Chair during 2010-2011 of the Illinois State Bar Association, Local Government Section Council. He is also a member of the Home Rule Attorneys Committee of the Illinois Municipal League. Mr. Jurusik serves as counsel for the Boards of Fire and Police Commissioners in the Village of Westchester, Village of Western Springs, City of Park Ridge and Village of Maywood, as Village Attorney for the Villages of Maywood and Western Springs, as Corporation Counsel for the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy and the Broadview-Westchester Joint Water Agency, Lyons Township ACCA Conventions Center, Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch center, LaSalle County Joint Emergency Telecom System Board, Vermilion Valley Regional Emergency Communications Authority, West Central Consolidated Communications as counsel to pension boards and as special counsel to several other municipalities and park districts throughout Illinois.
Mr. Jurusik's practice is concentrated on counseling local governmental entities, special districts, private corporations and individuals in the areas of contract law, employment law, library law, municipal law, utility and railroad right of way matters and zoning matters, including representing clients in civil litigation, administrative proceedings and alternative dispute resolution forums in the state and federal court systems and before the Illinois Human Rights Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
Co-Author of Education What Are Public Bodies and What Are Public Records (Illinois Freedom of Information Act).
Co-Author of Zoning Controls - Regulating Land Use.
Co-Author of Governmental Financing of Development - Illinois Land Use Law, Special Assessments.
Co-Author Special Service Areas and Business Districts.
Co-Author Finance and Taxation - Illinois Municipal Law.
Illinois Municipal League
Co-Author of the Manual on Liquor Licensing and Regulation.
Co-Author of the Financing Municipal Improvements handbook.
Co-Author of the Manual on Conflict of Interests and Liability of Illinois Elected Municipal Officials.
Co-Author of the Municipal Forms of Government handbook.
Co-Author of the Manual on Illinois "Sunshine Laws" - The Open Meetings and Freedom of Information Act.
Co-Author of the Handbook On Practice and Procedure In Police and Fire Disciplinary Matters.
Mr. Jurusik has spoken on a variety of municipal and zoning law topics at seminars and conferences conducted by the Illinois Municipal League, the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, the Illinois State Bar Association, the International Municipal Lawyer's Association, and the West Central Municipal Conference.


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Local FCCLA Members Selected for Missouri Legislative Shadowing Project
Zac Acheson, a sophomore at Cassville High School and Mary Hayse, a senior at Cassville High School participated in the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Legislative Shadowing Project on Wednesday, February 5-6, 2019. Samantha Cosper is the local chapter adviser and accompanied the students to Jefferson City. Sponsored by the Missouri Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), the program provides an opportunity for junior and senior high school students to spend a day with their state representative, senator, or other public official at the State Capitol. The students observe hearings, meetings, and other public duties. Zac had the privilege of shadowing John Ashcroft, Secretary of State while Mary had the privilege of shadowing Senator Bill White. Both students were able to spend some time with recently appointed State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick
The Legislative Shadowing Project, now in its 19th year, is conducted by Missouri FCCLA, the Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) for Family and Consumer Sciences Education. A reception and opening session was held for participants on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 Tours of the Governor's Mansion, State Capitol and Supreme Court Building also were provided.
The Legislative Shadowing Project allows students to connect their interests in law, public service, civic issues and the political process with their education. The event is designed to help students develop a better understanding of the political process and its impact on citizens.
FCCLA attempts to match students with officials from their local school districts wherever possible. The students prepare for the event by becoming familiar with their official's responsibilities and current issues. If matched with a legislator, the student becomes knowledgeable about the bills introduced and committees on which the legislator serves.
FCCLA is a nonprofit student organization for young men and women, grades 6-12, in family consumer sciences education. Missouri FCCLA has more than 9,500 members in nearly 330 local chapters, making it the fifth-largest FCCLA state association in the nation.


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Friday Favorite: This Old Blanket
I have this old blanket that I can remember having on my bed when I was as young as 3rd grade and I've used ever since. A very simple quilt, made by sewing two cotton king sized sheets together with a flannel sheet sandwiched in between. It's tufted with that multi-colored yarn that was so popular back in the day.
This quilt was made for me by a group of older ladies in the church. Every time we'd come back to the States from Colombia, they'd present us with beautiful quilts, some very intricate and pretty, other's crocheted from yarn and some plain and simple like this one.
This blanket is one of my favorite things because it's the perfect weight for summer. It provides that comfortable weight that helps me sleep better without being too heavy or too hot. It's also a great layer in winter, we usually add a heavy woolen blanket on top of it.
It's not stunning, beautiful, intricate or pretty, at least not in the usual sense. I still LOVE it and it will be on my bed until it's fallen into threads, not likely in my lifetime since it's already almost 30 years old and shows no signs of wear. No doubt, many of the ladies that worked on it are no longer living and that makes even more special. I wonder if they realized when they lovingly stitched this blanket that I'd still be using it as an adult?
Keeping it around reminds me that it's not always about surrounding yourself with beautiful things. Sometimes utility trumps beauty, and yet that makes something beautiful in it's own way! This quilt will never be in a magazine, but it's worth it's weight in gold to me for the comfort it provides.
Do you have any items like this that you love?Filed under Friday Favorites | Comments (15)
15 Comments to "Friday Favorite: This Old Blanket"
This reminded me of an old blanket I have, crocheted (sp?) for me by my great grandmother when she was about 90 and I was 9. I picked out the colors myself back then and they are a riot of pinks and purples – hardly fit for grown up decor for sure, but I love it anyway. It warms my heart to see my daughters using it now, and I remind them how special it is because their great, GREAT grandmother made it herself.
to Lori's comment
This reminds me of the Catalogne blanket a friend of my mother made for me. It is the heaviest, most durable blanket I have ever seen, and like yours, has lasted for decades so far. Unfortunately, it's sized for a twin bed, so don't use it on my bed any more, but I still have it, and use it occasionally.
to K.B.'s comment
I am right there with you on the quilt front. I have a Sesame Street quilt made out of two sheets, who knows what on the inside and bound around the edges. It was my cousin's before it was handed down to me, and I have had it as long as I can remember. I still use it daily, even though it has a few stains (what kid doesn't spill Kool Aid?). The binding around the edge is finally starting to need repair, which I plan to take on this summer. Hopefully it will hold up for MANY years to come!
to Allison's comment
I am a very sentimental person, so I have many things from my childhood that I won't get rid of.
My great grandma sewed a lot-quilts, dolls, clothes. And I still have a few items of baby dresses she made me as a toddler. I used them for baby doll clothes as a kid and I have them tucked a way in a trunk somewhere.
I have my blankie from my childhood, all ragged and worn. It wasn't homemade but I took it everywhere.
My husband often complains about me keeping every little thing but when it comes down to it he is just as sentimental as me. A few months ago I was cleaning our laundry room and we have this big, ratty, ugly orange blanket. My step son used it when he was little and that is all I knew off it. Brian saw it and apparently it was *his* blanket at his grandma's house growing up. She always tucked him in with it, especially when he stayed home sick from school….needless to say, I didn't throw it away. Isn't it amazing how the senses of old things invoke such strong memmories?
to angie h.'s comment
I wish I had something like that from my past to cherish. I am a sentimental person, in some ways, but not all. I don't mind thinning out things that don't get used anymore but I hold onto objects that either remind me or something, or that I put so much effort into that I cannot let it go.
Honestly, that blanket sounds like something we all need – a bit of comfort in these times of stress and work, hehe!. And *I* think that it's the most beautiful blanket ever. it's so lovely in it's simplcity.
to Donna B.'s comment
I know exactly what you mean! When I was 10 my grandmother made me a patchwork quilt using squares of polyester fabric from all the clothing she made, backed with a sheet and tied off with yarn. It is not the most attractive quilt by any stretch of the imagination but it was on my bed for as long as I can remember. It has stood the test of time and still looks brand new! I will never get rid of it.
to Peggy's comment
I have a whle cloth quilt like this and its about 35 yrs old and I still love it. My mother made it when I left home and I still use it on my bed.
I also have several very old, very thread bare utility quilts from my great grandmother, and I just will not part with them. They look bad but I use them on my patio furniture and they work well.
I love the simple, the utilititarian, the mundane, it works and brings peace to me.
Wonderful post today.
Have a wonderful weekend.
to Denimflyz's comment
I have a ton of blankets that are from family, some I recently just received back from storage. It is very hard for me to throw them away as well. I love to make blankets too but now I feel like I shouldn't because I'm over run with blankets!
Some of my moms are worn out from over use and others have withstood time.
to misti's comment
Yes. A lovely handstiched quilt from my brother's godmother. It was a wedding gift 30 years ago.
It's sad that the socializing of ladies' quilting bees don't exist but if I can't see myself having the time or interest, I can understand why others don't continue the tradition. Sad.
to Maybelline's comment
Yes, I do.
I love your story and the meaning it gives to old useful items. Thank you for putting it into words. Made my day.
to karen's comment
We have a collection of motley afghan throws that were made by m'honeys family members. One of them has his mom and dads entire family and grandchildrens names embroidered on it, each in a block with their birthdays and anniversaries too. It needs repaired but I keep forgetting to do it.. been forgetting for about 14 years now. ;) I will do it one of these days. We still use it in the winter time since its nice & heavy.
I have squares that I cut out with my X grandmother in law that I feel like I should send to my sister in law but Im afraid Im attached to them. We cut them out of their family material and clothing scraps so it really does say "family". I was making twin quilts for my daughters, and I got them cut out & about half of them pieced together and thats as far as I got… sigh.. Maybe I'll finish them in large throws for my sister in laws girls.. There are three of them (as opposed to my two daughters) and I think they would love having them.
Thanks for letting me think about them in this context. :)
I had a baby quilt that one of my great grandmothers made, I think originally for my sister, but that I used and loved. I can still remember it vaguely and occasionally think about it and wish I still had it. It was soft pink and was completely hand stitched, so intricately done. When I was a tot, I would look at the stitching for hours.. Guess I was easily amused. :)
to KimH's comment
Beautiful post!
to bonnie k's comment
Such a beautiful story you have shared with us about this special quilt! This gives me an idea of what a kind and loving girl you must be! I think often of the sweet little women who stiched the quilts I charish so much…I feel the same way that you do about these pricless treasures :)
to Tammey's comment
Love it but I have one question: how on earth have the tufts survived a lifetime of kittykats!? Mine would have shredded each one in turn within days :)
to louisa @ TheReallyGoodLife's comment