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Iceland: back to its old conservative roots?
"Epic success! There are a lot of coalition possibilities" tweeted elated newly elected Pirate MP Smári McCarthy the morning after polling day. Quite true, the Pirates did well, though less well than opinion polls had indicated. Two of the four old parties, the Left Greens and the Independence Party could also claim success. The other two oldies, the Progressives and the Social Democrats, suffered losses. Quite true, with Bright Future and the new-comer Viðreisn, Revival, in total seven instead of earlier six parties, there are plenty of theoretical coalition possibilities. But so far, the party leaders have been eliminating them one by one leaving decidedly few tangible ones. Unless the new forces manage to gain seats in a coalition government Iceland might be heading towards a conservative future in line with its political history.
In spite of the unruly Pirates and other new parties the elections October 29 went against the myth of Iceland abroad as a country rebelling against old powers – the myth of a country that lost most of its financial system in a few days in October 2008 instead of a bailout, then set about to crowd-write a new constitution, investigate its banks and bankers and jailing some of them and is now, somehow as a result of all of this, doing extremely well.
True, Iceland is doing well – mostly due to pure luck: low oil prices, high fish prices on international markets and being the darling of discerning well-heeled tourists. No new constitution so far and at a closer scrutiny the elections results show a strong conservative trend, in line with the strong conservative historical trend in Icelandic history: during the 72 years since the founding of the Icelandic republic in 1944 the Independence Party has been in government for 57 years, most often leading a coalition and never more than two to three years in opposition except when the recent left government kept the party out in the cold for four years, 2009 to 2013.
The results: historic shift to new parties
(From Iceland Monitor)
With 63 MPs the minimum majority is 32 MPs.
Of the seven parties now in Alþingi four are seen as the old parties – Independence Party, Left Green, Progressives and the social democrats – in Iceland often called the "Four-party." Their share of the votes was 62%, the lowest ever and down from 75% in the 2013 elections, meaning that the new parties grabbed 38%. A historic shift since the old parties have for decades captured 80-90% of the votes. The Four-party now has 42 seats, the new-comers 21 seats.
The left government 2009 to 2013: an exception rather than a new direction
As strongly as the Nordic countries have been social democratic Iceland has been conservative. And still is. Iceland is not living up to its radical image and the left government of 2009 to 2013 was more the exception than a change of direction. The present outcome shows no left swing but the swing to the new parties may prove to be a game changer in Icelandic politics.
The left parties, Left Green and the social democrats, now have thirteen seats, compared to sixteen in 2013, the centre/neither-left-nor-right Bright Future, the Pirates and the Progressives have 22 seats, 28 in 2013 but the right/conservative parties, the Independence Party and Revival, are the largest faction with 28 seats, up from nineteen in 2013. – As I heard it put recently in Iceland there are Progressive-like conservatives in all parties and the Progressives tend to strengthen the worst sides of the Independence Party, such as illiberal cronyism.
With seven parties in Alþingi, the Icelandic Parliament, up from six during recent parliamentary term, the party game of guessing the possible coalition, both in terms of number of MPs and political synergies, is now on in Iceland.
A right centre outcome seems more likely than a left one
It's the role of the president to decide which leader gets the mandate to form a government, normally the leader of the largest party but other leaders are however free to try. The task facing the newly elected president Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, a historian with the Icelandic presidency as his field of expertise, seems a tad complicated.
The president followed the traditional approach and gave the mandate to Bjarni Benediktsson leader of the largest party, the Independence Party who first met with the Progressive's Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson who lead the Progressive-Independence coalition that has just resigned. The two parties now only have 29 seats between them. – Given the right-leaning/conservative weight in Alþingi a right-centre government might seem more likely than a left government.
The leader of Bright Future Óttar Proppé, seen as a possible coalition partner for the conservatives, seemed surprisingly unenthusiastic: to him a coalition with the Independence Party and Revival "doesn't seem like an exciting option," adding that there is a large distance policy-wise between his party and the largest one.
Proppé had earlier suggested to the president that Revival's leader Benedikt Jóhannesson be given the mandate; Jóhannesson has already suggested he's better poised to form a government than Benediktsson since Revival can appeal both to left and right.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir leader of the Left Green has stated that her party would be willing to attempt forming a five party centre-left coalition, i.e. all parties except the Independence Party and the Progressives, a rather messy option. The Pirates leader Birgitta Jónsdóttir has said her party could defend a minority left government.
Four winners
Since the founding of the Republic of Iceland in 1944 the Independence Party has always been the country's largest party and the one most often in government. Its worst ever result was in the 2009 elections, when it got only 16 seats. Getting 19 in 2013 and 21 seats now may seem good but it's well below the now unreachable well over 30% in earlier decades. Yet, gaining two seats now makes the party a winner.
Its leader Bjarni Benediktsson sees himself as the obvious choice to form a coalition, given the support of his party but it will strongly test his negotiation skills. In the media he comes across as rather wooden but he's popular among colleagues, which might make his task easier though he can't erase policy issues unpopular with the other parties such as the parties anti-EU stance and being the watchdog of the fishing industry.
The Left Green Movement was formed in 1999 when left social democrats split from the old party and joined forces with environmentalists. The Left Green has always been the small left party but is now the largest left party next to the crippled social democrats. The elf-like petite Katrín Jakobsdóttir has imbued the party with fresh energy. Her popularity, far greater than the results of the party, no doubt helped secure a last minute swing against predictions. She has been the obvious candidate to lead a left-leaning government, now an elusive opportunity.
Viðreisn, Revival, is a new centre right party, running for the first time but founded in disgust and anger by liberal conservatives from the business community. In general they felt the Independence Party was turning too illiberal, too close to the fishing industry so as to lose sight of other businesses.
But most of all the Revivalists were angered by the broken promises of the Independence Party in 2013 regarding EU membership. During the 2013 campaign the party tried to ease out of taking a stance on EU by promising to hold a referendum asking if EU membership negotiations should be continued. Once in government the Independence Party broke this promise causing weeks of protests and widespread anger some of which Revival captured.
Revival's founder Benedikt Jóhannesson was seen as an unlikely leader and admitted as much to begin with but has proved an adept leader, also by attracting some strong and well-known candidates from the Icelandic business community. Getting seven MPs in its first run spells good for the party but history has shown that getting elected is the easy part compared to keeping a new party functioning in harmony. However, the Revival's energetic start has for the first time in decades given the Independence Party a credible competition on the right wing.
The outcome has made Jóhannesson flush with success and he was quick to put his name forward as the right person to form and lead a centre right government. Revival did no doubt capture some Independence party voters but many of them had already defected to the social democrats now leaving that party for Revival.
The Pirate Party is the winner who lost the great support shown earlier in opinion polls, probably never a likely outcome; growing from three MPs to ten is the success McCarthy tweeted about. The party rose out of protests and demonstrations after the 2008 calamities and ran for the first time in 2013, winning three seats.
Their feisty leader Birgitta Jónsdóttir, with 32.000 Twitter followers and foreign fame for her involvement with Wikileaks and Iceland as a data protection haven, is unlikely to be the first Pirate prime minister in the world. Given that the party has had some in-house friction to deal with – they had to call in an occupational psychologist to restore working relations – the unity of the parliamentary group might be in question, making the party less appealing for others as a coalition partner.
Two losers and one survivor
The Social Democrats suffered a crushing defeat, even worse than the opinion polls had predicted and worse than the dismal outcome in 2013. As parties consumed with infighting – the UK Labour Party springs to mind – the energy of the Social Democrats has been wasted on infighting at the cost of a constructive election campaign. Common to other sister parties in Europe the Icelandic Social Democrats have not been able to come up with a convincing policy and its standing with young people is low.
Party leader Oddný Harðardóttir struggled with her speech on election night when all she seemed to be able to think of was that the party once had a good cause; the long list of helping hands she named sounded like each and every of the few voters left. Harðardóttir has now inevitably resigned, giving space for more destructive infighting. Some wonder if the party will survive, others speculate its remains will unite with the Left Green and restore unity and strength on the left wing. Historically seen, the Icelandic left has always split when it grew, adding strength to the right wing and the indomitable Independence Party.
The Progressive Party has lost its incredible upswing of nineteen MPs in 2013 to a much more plausible eight MPs. Plausible, because its upswing to 24% in 2013 was built on cheap promises made by its leader Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson that brought him all the way into the Prime Minster's office. But the votes had hardly been counted in 2013 when voters started to lose faith in the party: it has been on a downward slide towards a more natural, in a historical perspective, just over 10% shares of votes.
This old agrarian centre party, sister party of other old Nordic centre parties of similar origin, has traditionally been related to the Icelandic now mostly defunct cooperative movement and still close to certain special interests in agriculture and fishing. Its strength was to appeal to both the left and the right but under Gunnlaugsson it turned more nationalistic/right-leaning, trying to appeal equally to urbanistas and racists and not only old farmers. His successor, representing more traditional Progressive policies might revert to the old party roots, yet needing to find a modern twist for an old party slowly losing ground.
The Panama Papers exposed Gunnlaugsson as a cheat – he had kept quiet about the infamous Wintris, the offshore company he owned with his wife, meaning the couple had huge assets abroad as Icelanders were locked inside capital controls – and a liar as he tried to ease out of the story. He lost his office and then lost his leadership of the party only shortly before the elections. After the elections he claimed to have had a campaign plan, which would have taken the party to 19%. "A bad loser" commented one Progressive ex-MP. Gunnlaugsson's successor Sigurður Ingi Jóhansson dryly said Gunnlaugsson had not shared this plan with the party leadership.
Bright Future is one of several parties that rose out of protests following the 2008 banking collapse, partially an offspring of the group close to Jón Gnarr the comedian-turned-mayor of Reykjavík 2010 to 2014. It was the new political darling in 2013, securing six MPs. Seen as a centre left liberal party its leader Óttar Proppé is a soft-spoken intelligent politician. The party has recently been hovering around the 5% limit needed to secure a seat in Alþingi but did in the end better than forecasted, losing only two of six seats. Consequently, the party still has a future in Icelandic politics and possibly even a bright one as it might be essential whatever part of the political spectre a coalition will cover.
Scrabbling with numbers – the eliminated options
Juggling parties and numbers of MPs – the minimum majority is 32 MPs – there are in total seventeen possible combinations for a coalition. Although the Progressives have traditionally been a true centre party appealing to left and right, the first elimination seems to be the Progressive Party, unless a path is found around one specific hindrance: the former party leader.
Were the Progressives offered to be in a coalition and given that Gunnlaugsson is an MP it's almost unthinkable to form a government without him as a minister; but it seems equally unthinkable that the other parties would want to be in government with him. His career as a prime minster has given all but his ardent admirers the feeling that he is shifty and untrustworthy. His admirers will say that opponents fear his toughness.
In spite of losses the Progressive leadership is eager to get into government but Progressive leader Jóhannsson has so far evaded answering if the party could join a coalition without Gunnlaugsson as a minister. There are speculations that the parliamentary group is split: some support Gunnlaugsson, others his successor but some are now speculating that the party would indeed willingly sacrifice Gunnlaugsson in order to get into government again.
Both Left Green Katrín Jakobsdóttir and the Pirates' Birgitta Jónsdóttir have excluded joining a government with or lead by the Independence Party. When Jónsdóttir went to meet Benediktsson, holding court to hear views of all the parties, she said she doubted that his party was interested in fighting corruption, a key Pirate issue.
Revival's Benedikt Jóhannesson excluded reviving the present government of Progressives and the Independence Party by joining them. – Thus, the realistic possibilities seem quite fewer than the theoretical ones.
Scrabbling with numbers – the realistic options
Out of the flurry of the first days and considering parties and policies the most realistic combination seemed to be a government with the Independence Party, Bright Future and Revival. That poses an existential dilemma for Revival: though ideologically close to the Independence Party there is this one marked exception – the EU stance.
In the same vein as the British conservatives, to whom the Independence Party is much more similar than to its Nordic sister parties, the anti-EU sentiments have over the years gradually grown stronger. Bjarni Benediksson was on the pro-EU line around ten years ago but not any longer. The lack of EU option on the right was indeed the single most important reason why Revival was founded as mentioned above.
Jóhannesson is a former fairly influential member of the Independence Party – and a close relative of Benediktsson in a country where blood is always much thicker than water and family-relations matter. One of the party's MPs, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, was a minister for the Independence Party in 2003 to 2009 but left politics after the banking collapse, tainted by her husband's high position with Kaupthing, at the time the largest bank in Iceland.
The question most often put to Revival candidates during the election campaign was if the party wasn't just the Independence Party under another name. Going into government simply to help the Independence Party stay in power would be unwise as Revival would risk to be seen as exactly that what it's claimed to be: the Independence Party under another name.
Fishing quota – and EU: a lukewarm topic but possibly a political dividing line
Revival will have to take up the EU matter, i.e. in a coalition with the Independence Party it would have to get that party to fulfil its 2013 promise to hold a referendum on the EU negotiations started under the Left government in summer of 2009. At the time EU membership was driven by the social democrats in spite of the Left Green anti-EU stance: the social democrats had for years campaigned for EU membership, also in the 2009 spring election, and once in government felt they had the mandate to open membership negotiations. The plan was to put a finalised membership agreement to a referendum on membership. Ever since the negotiations started anti-EU forces have claimed it was without a mandate.
The attempts of the Progressive-Independence coalition after it came to power in 2013 to end the negotiation turned into a farce: the two parties didn't want to bring it up in Alþingi where it risked being voted down and the EU didn't want to accept a termination unless supported by a parliamentary vote.
Forcing a referendum on the membership negotiation would fulfil Revival's EU promises and it could most likely count on the support of Bright Future. For the Independence Party it would be a very bitter pill to swallow. Opinion polls have always shown a majority for negotiating though there rarely has been a majority for joining the EU. Event though EU membership isn't an issue in Icelandic politics it could well draw certain insuperable lines in the coalition talks.
If Revival's Jóhannesson should be given the mandate to form a government as Bright Future's Proppé has suggested it would certainly strengthen Jóhannesson's agenda.
Apart from EU policy Revival has fought for a new agriculture policy, away from the old Progressive emphasis on state aid and most of all for a new way to allocate fishing quota, a hugely contentious issue in Icelandic policies. The two old former coalition partners are dead against any changes whereas all the other parties have presented more or less radical policies to change the present fishery system.
Left government in a conservative country
Ever since the 2013 elections, which ended the left government in power since 2009, the opposition parties have aired the idea of joining political forces against the Progressive-Independence coalition.
Few days before the elections the Pirate leader Birgitta Jónsdóttir called the opposition to a meeting to prepare some sort of a pre-elections alliance or as she stated to clarify the options for a coalition. Revival didn't accept the invitation and Bright Future wasn't keen. The Independence Party claimed this was a first step towards a left government and by stoking left fears this Pirate initiative might indeed have driven voters to the conservatives.
Jónsdóttir is now peddling a more simple solution: a minority government of Revival, Bright Future and Left Greens that the Pirates, together with the remains of the Social Democrats, would support. Five parties in a government sounds chaotic – coalitions of three parties have never sat a full term in Iceland. And given the alleged tension in the Pirate Party the other parties might be wary of fastening their colours to the Pirate mast, inside or outside a government.
Minority governments have been rare in Iceland contrary to the other Nordic countries and suggesting this solution as politicians are only starting to explore coalition options will hardly tempt anyone until possibilities of a majority government have been exhausted.
Supporting a government but not being in it would be a plum position for the Pirates. The party has pledged to finish the new constitution, in making since 2008. A new constitution needs to be ratified by a new parliament and the Pirates had called for the coming parliament to sit only for s short period, pass a new constitution and then call elections again. No other party is keen on this and there has been only a limp political drive to finalise a radical rewrite of the constitution.
There are those who dream of a government spanning the Independence Party and the Left Green; this government would however need the third party to have majority. For anti-EU forces this is the ideal government since it would most likely prevent any EU move. But as stated: Left Green Jakobsdóttir has so far claimed the distance between the parties is too great, leaving no basis for such a coalition.
Discontent in a boom without xenophobia and racism
In a certain sense all the new parties are protest parties but not with the sheen of demagogy seen in many other recent European protest parties. The response to the banking crisis and the ensuing massive fall in living standards was certainly a protest against the four old parties giving rise to various new parties of which Bright Future and the Pirates are the only ones now in Alþingi.
The only real touch of demagogy with a tone of xenophobia didn't come from any of these parties but from the Progressive Party under the leadership of Gunnlaugsson in the 2013 elections and the 2014 local council elections. However, there has so far never been any real appetite in Iceland for this agenda. The Icelandic Popular Front, lingering on the fringe of Icelandic politics for years and the only party offering a pure xenophobic racist agenda, this time got the grand sum of 303 votes or 0.16%.
Compared to the political environment in Europe the real political sensation in Iceland, so far, is that there is no sign of the xenophobia and outright racism in the main parties. Yes, people lost jobs following the 2008 collapse but there wasn't the sense that foreigners were taking jobs or that foreigners were to blame. As so clear from the debate on foreigners, inter alia in Britain, sentiments normally override facts and figures. These sentiments can be heard rumbling in Iceland but have so far not flourished.
Although the economy has been growing since 2011 following the sharp downturn the previous years and is now booming the discontent is still palpable. Very much directed towards politicians based on a sense of cronyism and the sense that politicians, especially from the old parties, are there to guard and aid special interests such as the fishing industry and wealthy individuals with political ties.
Gunnlaugsson with his Panama connections was ousted. But both Bjarni Benediktsson and Ólöf Nordal his deputy chairman, named in the Panama Papers, have brushed it off easily. Nordal was linked to Panama through her husband, working for Alcoa, but claimed the company was just an old story. Benediktsson owned an offshore company related to failed investments in Dubai and also claimed it was an old story, causing remarkably little curiosity and coverage in Iceland.
The left government, in power 2009 to 2013, did in many ways tackle the ever-present cronyism in Iceland by using stringent criteria and gender balance for hiring people on boards, leading jobs in the public sector etc. Yet, it earned little gratitude for this. One of the most noticeable changes when the Progressive-Independence coalition came to power in 2013 was its reverting back to the bad habits of former times. Over the last few years sales of certain state assets have also raised some questions. Sales of the two now state-owned banks and other state assets on the agenda these will again test the Icelandic hang to cronyism and corruption.
The underlying discontent in booming Iceland possibly shows that it's not only the economy that matters. But it also shows that after a severe shock it takes time for the political powers to gain trust. The coming four years will be a further test. As one voter said: "I would have liked to see all parties acknowledge the events in 2008 and come forth with a plan as to how to how to avoid the kind of political behaviour that led to the 2008 demise – but there was no such comprehensive plan."
– – –
The new Alþingi: The new gathering of MPs has a greater number of women than ever before: 30 MPs of 63 are women. The tree youngest MPs are born in 1990, the oldest, and newly elected, is born in 1948. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, born in 1976, is one of seven MPs voted into Alþingi before 2008. Following the three last elections a large number of MPs have left and new ones coming in. As prime minister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson said it's good to get new energy into the austere halls of Alþingi but it's equally worrying to lose competence, knowledge and experience: 22 have never sat in Parliament before, ten are new but with some parliamentary experience, in total 32 out of 63 MPs.
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One Response to 'Iceland: back to its old conservative roots?'
Does your law allow grand juries to be formed to investigate corruption? The common law over rides "Law Of Corporations".
I hope to visit your magnificent Nation someday!!!!


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Technology is around us from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed. With the increase in the amount of exposure that children have with technology, there are many questions and ideas about what is appropriate. How much screen time is too much? What apps will help my child's development? Children get enough technology at home, should I even have it in the classroom? These are just a few questions that come to mind.
There are millions of apps available for download to smartphones and tablets. When we look at these apps, we must consider several different features in order to choose quality apps that will enhance children's development rather than just passively exposing them to screen time.
App Features to Consider
We want to look at apps that offer a divergent path and choice making opportunitiesfor children to be able to actively engagewith the app. Think of the choose your own adventure books that you may have read as a child; these books gave you the opportunity to make your own choice during the story and then see what happens because of that choice. When we think of apps that offer a divergent path, they provide that same opportunity for decision making, problem-solving, and exploring what happens next.
Children will go through stages of development when using apps, just like they do with real materials. First, the children will tap and explore cause and effect. Through exploring, children will develop the confidence and skills to make certain things happen within the app. Finally, children will be able to use the app as it was intended to be used.
So, with that in mind, we want to offer apps that are open ended and invite the children to explorethe features of the app in a non-threatening environment. Find apps that children can tap and explore in any way that they choose, and there is not a wrong way to use the app. Some apps that offer this feature are the Toca Boca apps. There are several available where children can discover on their own what will happen as the interact with the screen.
Apps will never take the place of real-life experiences, so when you are choosing apps, try to find ones that will enhance hands on experiencesor children's knowledge about the real world. Give them a chance to take pictures and edit those pictures with games, such as Toca Hair Salon. You can also find apps that allow children to take pictures of their artwork – the Keepy App with do this, or even create their own stories and save them as a PDF, such as Storybook. Find apps that will be relevant to the children's experiences.
We want to keep in mind that when we are giving children the opportunity to use apps with smartphones or tablets, that choosing a quality app is not enough when we look at the appropriate use of technology with young children. We want to think about how we are interacting with the children as they use the app. Are we there with the children as they play, to help facilitate and guide the child on how to use the app? Are we there to encourage conversations and questions about how the app connects to the real world?
Technology is here to stay. Model appropriate use of technology with children as you use it and children use it. Children are always watching what we are doing, and they will learn from the example you set.
Bridget Meis, M.S. Ed, is an Early Childhood Resource Specialist for STARnet Regions I & III. During her time with STARnet, she has presented on a variety of topics including: Apps and Assistive Technology, Social/Emotional development, Creative Curriculum, Teaching Strategies GOLD, Portfolios, Lesson Planning, Mathematics in Early Childhood, Science and Mathematics, STEAM and Family Engagement. Bridget has worked in the field of Early Childhood Education since 2003. She received her Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from Illinois State University and her Master's degree in Early Childhood Education from Erikson Institute. Bridget has worked in a variety of early childhood programs with diverse groups of children from as young as six weeks old to children in fifth grade. Bridget has served children and families in private childcare programs and most recently with Head Start.

subset: commoncrawl


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Christmas is coming!
I love the festive season and I sometimes find it hard to know when to stop buying presents!
I don't know about you but I find it tricky to buy presents for my husband, dad and brother.
Hopefully my choices will give you some inspiration.
Here are my top picks for gift ideas for the guys this Christmas. You can see more Christmas present ideas here.
Happy shopping!
1.What is it? The Ministry of Sound headphones
How much? £39.99
Where to buy? HMV, www.amazon.co.uk and www.ministryofsound.com
Why not buy the man in your life a pair of these cool looking Ministry of Sound headphones. The high-grade anodised aluminium cups in these stylish headphones house two 50mm drivers that deliver unparalleled audio quality. The soft foam-coated split headband and classic sliding loop adjustment system work together to offer supreme comfort while maintaining a fresh urban look. A soft-touch/anti-tangle cable with curled accent blends functionality and style to complete this unique package. Available in four colours (black, silver/black gunmetal/black, gunmetal/orange).
2.What is it? Wireless TV Sender
How much? £59.99
Where to buy? Currys, PC World and www.amazon.co.uk
I don't know about you but when it comes to things to do with our TV, I leave that to my husband! I like the sound of the Wireless TV Sender, and not having to pay a subscription to watch our satellite/cable channels in another room, saving us money!
One For All has a range of handy accessories to brighten up your TV viewing this Christmas. Want to watch satellite/cable or a late night DVD in bed, but your set-top box is in the lounge? The Wireless TV Sender distributes signals around your home without the need for messy cabling or a second receiver. The remote control will work in the bedroom too - so you can pause, rewind and record as normal, without going near the main TV. This is one very clever gadget!
3.What is it? Dremel tool set
How much? £44.99
Where to buy?www.dremel-direct.com and www.amazon.co.uk
For hobbyists and crafters, look no further than the Dremel 7700 Decorating Kit (£44.99 from dremel-direct.com and amazon.co.uk). Ideal for creating home decorations, crafts or light DIY tasks, the kit includes the compact and lightweight Dremel 7700 cordless dual-speed multi-tool. There are also 20 multi-purpose accessories, five engraving accessories and three creative engraving templates, all packaged in an attractive tool box. It's going to be a busy and creative New Year!
4.What is it? Superdry Christmas Gift set for him
How much? £29.50
Where to buy? Superdry stores, online at www.superdry.com, larger Debenhams stores, larger Boots stores and selected independent department stores.
Superdry debuts Christmas gift sets for him and for her. The stylish collections of four colognes are the perfect gift for the modern man about town. The sleek bold lines and embossed coloured glass bottles combined with the soft touch packaging, reflect the attention to detail synonymous with the Superdry Brand. All four colognes are bound together with a Superdry branded festival band.
5.What is it? Amplified Motley Crue 'Girls, Girls, Girls' Crew Neck T-Shirt
How much? £22.99
Where to buy?www.il2l.com
All the rock dads out there will love this slim fit, raw edged T-shirt featuring '87 tour 'Girls, Girls, Girls' iconic print artwork. Choose from Iron Maiden, Rolling Stones, Judas Priest to the Beatles, Oasis and many more. There's something for every guy who loves rock.
6.What is it? Garmin Nuvi 50LM Sat Nav
How much? £129.99
Where to buy?www.halfords.com
Ok, so gone are the days when dads wouldn't ask for directions if they were lost! Now they don't have to worry about that anymore. This Sat Nav from Garmin has a nice big 5" extra widescreen and provides accurate, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names. Get Turn-by-Turn Directions with the Nuvi 50LM's intuitive interface greets you with two simple choices: 'Where To?' and 'View Map.' Touch the screen to easily look up addresses and services and to be guided to your destination with voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names. The very latest maps are available to download up to four times a year with no subscription or update fees.
7. What is it? Marshall Classic Amp Shoulder Bag
How much? £29.99
Where to buy?www.menkind.co.uk
If your first question about this bag is, does it go up to eleven, then this is the perfect gift for you. Designed to replicate the famous Marshall Amplifier speaker made famous by Jim Marshall and beloved of rockers all over, this Marshall Shoulder Bag is ideal for the music lover. Comprises one large compartment with one inner zipped compartment. Plus it has a small pouch for your mobile phone or iPod and a hole for your headphone jack to thread through so you can listen to your iPod whilst it's tucked securely away out of sight.
8.What is it? RoadTrip Handsfree in-car kit
How much? £34.99
Where to buy? Carphone Warehouse
We all spend more time in our cars, this is a great gift for that person who spends lots of time driving. Mount, charge, play your iPod and iPhone, make handsfree calls from your smartphone. This little gadget is a must-have. RoadTrip uses a powerful FM transmitter to send the music wirelessly to your car's FM radio, so you and the whole car can enjoy it through your stereo speakers. And while you're enjoying the music, your iPod or iPhone is enjoying a battery charge. When a call comes in on your iPhone or smartphone, RoadTrip becomes a handsfree speakerphone in your car. RoadTrip's high-sensitivity built-in microphone picks up your voice, and your caller's voice plays through your stereo speakers. RoadTrip's handsfree phone features work with iPhone and other Bluetooth-enabled phones.
For more family life blogs visit: www.ourfamilylife.co.uk


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text: Sony Wonder and Golden Books Family Entertainment Home Video will bring thebeloved children's holiday film, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, to DVD forthe first time. The adventures of the shunned reindeer will be available forUS$19.98. For the holidays, Sony Wonder will also re-release ELMO SAVESCHRISTMAS on DVD and more favorite Sesame Street titles for $19.98.


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Whenever we publish a sponsored post, we'll let you know with the hashtag #ad -- like this! We were either compensated for our time in exchange for this post, or we received complimentary product in exchange for this post, but we weren't required to write a positive review. All opinions are our own. This post may include affiliate links. | This page is not endorsed by or affiliated with Target Corporation or any of its subsidiaries. The content and opinions that are expressed are solely that of the owner and contributors of this account/webpage.
This page is not endorsed by or affiliated with Target Corporation or any of its subsidiaries. The content and opinions that are expressed are solely that of the owner and contributors of this account/webpage.
As a mother to three very active boys, I am often pulling out our me4kidz Medibag First Aid Kit. We now live on about thirteen acres and bumps, bruises and scrapes always come up. The Medibag has been a lifesaver (no joke) because it's a compact bag and is full of everything you could ever need for all those unforseen accidents! From bandaids, gauze, hand sanitizers, tweezer, cotton tip applicator swabs and it even comes with kid-friendly fun stickers.
me4kidz makes an array of product and is manufactured in the USA. It is a family owned business and earth friendly as they use recycled plastic, non-toxic, bpa free products!
If that is not enough, each purcahse gives back – employing people with special needs. They are a multiple award winning company and pediatrician recommended. We love supporting amazing companies with big hearts!
You can find these products at your local Target too!
Here are a few of our favorite products.
Mediaid First Aid & Wellness Kit : We love this because it's a compact kit that could easily stay in the car, take to your kiddos sports games and more! It comes with over 100 items that you would find in your typical first aid kit and comes with 3 sampler essential oils (including peppermint, lavender and germ defense). This is a HUGE sell for us and such a great thing to have handy!
Medibag First Aid Kit : We love this compact kit because it's super cute and cleverly designed! Made of recycled plastic and once it's empty is the perfect bag that could be used for hours of play. Inside, you will find 117 first aid items that are great for use for the whole family.
Metallic Tattoo Bandages (4 pk) 80 bandages : How cool are these? Super fun take on the original bandaids and perfect for the teen in your life!
Little Buddy Antibacterial Wipes (comes in 2 designs) + Medibuddy First Aid Kit : I now carry these two around in my purse! The anitbacterial wipes include 32 gentle antibacterial wipes that are perfect for cleaning all kinds of owies and it kills 99% of germs without the sting and strong ordor of typical wipes.
The Medibuddy First Aid Kit contains 50 items and perfect for your purse, diaper bag, backpacks and more!
Cool It Buddy : Comes in a pack of two and is also great for on the go!
Medipro Baby First Aid Kit : I love this kit so much! I am actually gifting it this year to all my friends that are expecting. This kit includes 105 items and is the perfect kit to include in a diaper bag, car and on the go!
To learn more about me4kidz | Website | Instagram | Facebook


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|Review: Amorphead - Psychotic
Label: Independent
Year released: 2009
Duration: 21:21
Tracks: 6
Genre: Unclassifiable
Rating: 0.25/5
Review online: February 3, 2010
Reviewed by: Larry Griffin
Rated 2/5 (40%) (2 Votes)
It is amazing how low the human brain can pander in its search for worthlessness and stupidity. You could be fooled into thinking I am speaking about the band I'm reviewing today, Amorphead, but I'm not – I'm talking about myself for continually getting into reviewing horrible, heinous shitpilings of records like this one. Shouldn't I know better by now? Shouldn't I have learned not to keep digging myself into holes where I'm all but forced to do it? Apparently not. So let's go ahead and forsake every last shred of dignity we have to review the worthless sack of ass otherwise known as Amorphead's debut EP Psychotic.
I mean, what the fuck is this shit? Amorphead sound kind of like melodic death metal bands in the vein of Vehemence or Amoral, but that isn't the predominant influence here – no, rather it is filled with unbelievably horrible groovy mallcore slime, infested with riffs so vile that I'd like to puke, and tuneless, hardcoreish yapping from the vocals that is so awful that I'm inclined to believe they came from an ape with sore testicles. The problem isn't something subtle or difficult to see; it's just that this band blows. The first song, after the dubiously pointless intro, is the title track, kicking off with stop-start riffs that are about as articulate as a rusty pipe stuck in a set of train tracks. Completely disgusting! If there was a way to rate an album just by the first few notes, I would do it. Because I know they say you can't judge a book by its cover, but that's the thing: in this case, the cover of the book really does define the rest of it. Those first few notes really do tell you what this is going to be like.
The rest of the song is full of groovy, squeamish guitars and even a few parts that sound vaguely inspired by electronic/techno music. All of these songs are just like that. Sure, there are a few parts where they break into a decent solo section, but who listens to shitty music just to maybe hear good solos? Nobody I know of. The guitars jangle and the vocalist belches and the whole thing is just...unfathomably worthless. I mean, what, there's nothing you guys can possibly do to make this enjoyable? Nothing at all?
And they just keep going on and on for what feels like forever, even though it's just like twenty five minutes. It's boring, it's monotonous and it's annoying as hell. Who actually likes hearing things like this? I'm having a hard time discerning an audience.
Oh wait...it's coming to me...gremlins. That must be it. Gremlins that are deaf in one ear and use this music to make travelers fall off bridges to be slowly cannibalized. That makes sense. Because in all other respects, I believe that this is the Worst EP Ever. There's nothing enjoyable about this! I can't even find one redeeming factor. Worth every single random obscenity you can possibly muster.
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Each of our payment gateways charges us various fees. For example, we have both PayPal and Authorize.net CIM. For PayPal we might want to set the minimum to $7 and for Authorize.net $5. If they pay by check or cash there would not be a minimum amount.
If they owe less than the minimum the remaining should be added to their account as a credit.
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|Acasă » Jocuri online » Căutarea obiectelor
The Treasures Of Mystery Island
|Total comentarii : 0
|Acasă » Jocuri online » Căutarea obiectelor
|Break the curse of an angry god and find hidden treasure of unimaginable worth in this thrilling new hidden object adventure! Your seek-and-find skills will be challenged as never before as you beat one thrilling episode after another!
Rating: 0.0/0
|Contoare: 420/1/188
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After falling short yesterday, Alastair and Lani discuss whether the journey or the destination matters more, and how to get your mojo back.
Today's Fat Orange Cat: a long-secret love is revealed.
Download the .mp3 here, or subscribe via RSS, find us on iTunes, YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook or Stitcher — or, of course, right here on StoryWonk.com!
Our theme music is by the fantastic Josh Woodward. StoryWonk NaNo is a StoryWonk production by Lani Diane Rich and Alastair Stephens, and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Sharealike license.
Thanks for listening!


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There seems to be a lot of stuff going on in February.
Feb. 7 is the Super Bowl. Go Colts! Go Saints! That's the end of my enthusiasm. I'm not a football fan. But I know the Super Bowl is good for business (TVs, home theatre, restaurants, grocery stores, spirits, travel, etc.) so that's a good thing for economic stimulus.
If you're a non Super Bowl fan, check out this great idea.
Here's a recipe for healthy guacamole and fast & healthy Super Bowl recipes.
Last year in Tucson some Comcast customers were treated to 10 to 15 seconds of porn. Some Comcastic mistake happened and families observed a prominent male body part swinging in the wind. It made the previous year of Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction look like Alice in Wonderland. Hey, whatever happened to that FBI investigation anyway?
In Tucson we have the Gem & Mineral Show going on now until mid Feb which brings thousands of people and millions of dollars to the Old Pueblo. Then the Rodeo happens at the end of the month.
Then of course, there's Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year on Feb. 14, Presidents Day, and Ash Wednesday when some people will give up meat or alcohol or sugar or something that has meaning to them.
Stay tuned as it will all be addressed here except maybe not the rodeo because I'm not a fan of animal cruelty.


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Ultimate Recovery$ 79
Advanced repair cream 30ml
The Medik8 Ultimate Recovery Cream is formulated to restore dry and compromised skin. Perfect for post-treatment or severely dry skin, this intensive moisturizer helps to restore the skin's barrier function, encouraging natural skin healing while helping to reduces redness and irritation.
- Promotes the natural skin healing process
- Helps reduce redness, irritation and skin discomfort
- Perfect post treatment eg. peels, needling, lasers
- Perfect for daily use by those with very dry skin
- Intense regenerative and hydrating treatment
Aqua (Water), C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Cera Microcristallina, Squalane, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Jojoba Esters, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Crambe Abyssinica Seed Oil, Petrolatum, Propylene Glycol, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Saccharide Isomerate, Acacia Decurrens Flower Cera, Zinc Oxide, Serica (Silk) Powder, Tocopheryl Acetate, Dimethicone, Methoxy PEG-22/Dodecyl Glycol Copolymer, PEG-12 Dimethicone, Sesamum Indicum Seed Oil, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Leaf Extract, Butylene Glycol, Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Chloride, Polyglyceryl-2 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Sodium Benzoate, beta-Glucan, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Cera, Perfluorodecalin, Alcohol Denat., Epigallocatechin Gallate, Benzoic Acid, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Dehydroacetic Acid, Polyglycerin-3 , Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate.
Apply twice daily or as often as needed a small amount of Ultimate Recovery directly to the skin. Leave to absorb for 2-3 minutes. Follow with application of Physical Sunscreen SPF30.


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Alberta's Premier says she has met with insurance companies and thanked those who have stepped up to help Albertans in need.
But Alison Redford says she has also urged them to be as clear as possible with their customers.
Redford issued a news release Wednesday after meeting in Toronto with the Insurance Bureau of Canada and various CEOs of insurance companies.
She says she told them the water may have receded after June's devastating floods, but life is "anything but back to normal."
She says the focus now is on rebuilding, and for many that means working with insurance companies to determine the extent of the damage and settling claims.
She says she thanked the insurance companies on behalf of all Albertans.
"In many ways, this unprecedented disaster has brought out the very best in people and organizations," Redford said in the release.
"That said, I know Albertans want clarity when they're trying to make decisions about the future of their homes and businesses. Today, I urged insurers to continue working directly with their clients and provide clear information to homeowners and business owners. They need to assist Albertans in the most sensitive and helpful way possible."
Some homeowners caught in the flood were surprised to find out their policies do not cover overland flooding.
Others were angry when their companies denied coverage for sewer backups because the companies said that damage was also the result of overland flooding.
However, some companies, including TD Insurance, AMA and RBC Insurance, later backed off that stance and said they will pay for sewer backup losses within the limits of individual policies.


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Figment Challenge #3 Met – Meet Other Industrial Minerals
December 21st, 2011
When we issued Figment Challenge #3 we had no idea who would accept the challenge or what kind band bio entries we would receive. If you remember, we asked you to create a band bio for the fake band called Other Industrial Minerals. We supplied the name, we were looking for you to supply everything else about them. The challenge was to write a bio that really gave us an essence of the band and made us want to become a fan. In the end, we didn't get that many entries, but maybe that was a blessing, because it was a hard challenge, not only to accept but to judge as well! The Top 3 picks were all different, but we decided in the end that the winner had that little something special that made us want to see where this player could take Other Industrial Minerals, and that was a clear indication that we were fans. But enough about our thought process for now, we'll provide you with more detail on our decision at the end, in the meantime please enjoy reading the winning bio and the 2 runners up because they're all good:
Winning Bio:
It was a dark and stormy night. And by dark and stormy, I mean sunny and two in the afternoon, but I digress.
The band's story begins on September 7th, 1987, with the birth of brothers Michael and Aaron Koltz, but no one cares about this. Fast forward to 2006, and the brothers are living in a studio apartment on the outskirts of London. It's a simple means of existence, 'cause neither of the boys are really good at anything, even dropping out of university, but they do know a thing or two about music…and cheeto's. Anyway, about the music; Michael got a job as a waiter to pay for some mics and other equipment to teach himself to sing like his heroes, Greg Lake and Geoff Tate. Aaron took a simpler path, stealing a bass, because, well the guitars were too well guarded. Making the best out of the situation, he taught himself how to play it. One day they were jamming in their apartment, doing nothing in particular but making noise, ("No officer, I can't think of why anyone would file a noise complaint against us."), when out of nowhere came a loud, metallic bang. Thinking nothing of it, the boys continued to smash away, however, the banging intensified. Michael said to Aaron, "That's kind of catchy." Aaron's reply was, "I don't care, it's a nuisance, I'm not causing it, I'm shutting this guy up." So, Aaron kicks down the door, (Did I mention Aaron has anger management issues?), and storms toward the source of the banging, which is coming from a neighboring apartment. Aaron is about to Chuck Norris the door off its hinges, when he notices, by means of kicking it, that it's a 3 inch thick steel door, that appears to be stolen from a military cache, and that it's the source of the banging. The door suddenly opens, gull wing style, nearly knocking Aaron over the balcony, (They're on the second floor), and there stands a short guy, twirling drumsticks in his hands. Aaron, regaining his composure, and Michael, once he's finished laughing his ass off, both ask the same question, "And you would be?" The short man replies, "I am Dane Wiley, drummer of the Dave Wiley Extravaganza and Milkshake Emporium Experience, and you guys are the Industrial Dicks who were interrupting my daytime tele." To which Aaron angrily responds, "Well, you're a Mineral!" Both Michael and Dave shout, "What does that even mean?" Being unable to explain himself, Aaron gives up and starts sulking. Michael meanwhile was intrigued by the 5 foot 2 inch man infront of him, who has just managed to shut his brother up, something he has failed at for the last 19 years. "So you're a drummer, eh?" "Yeah." "And that's why you were banging out that sweet stuff on your door?" "You thought it sounded good?" "Yeah, tell you what, come over and jam with us, let's see if we can make something happen." That was the beginning. Dave and the brothers jammed together over the next two years, until in 2008, they decided to expand. So, they posted a video of one of their jam sessions, (aptly titled, jam to find some person to jam with us), and added a disclaimer which asked for interested responders to add their music over the video to see if it fit. They got a grand total of 3 responses: Austin Alexson, a Boston-based keyboard teacher and self described Pink Floyd Historian; Devin Zając, a blind Polish Canadian guitar whiz (how he found the youtube video has still never been fully explained); and Darryl Styx, a singer from London. They managed to all fly to London (except Darryl, who just walked), and the band was formed. As for the name, Aaron and Dave thought back to that faithful first encounter, and decided on Industrial Minerals. Devin, however, thought that Other Industrial Minerals had a better ring to it, and the name stuck. So with two singers, a keyboardist, a perpetually angry bassist, a very short drummer, and a blind guitarist, the band took off for the sure fire success that they had been told would be granted to them by a Magic 8-Ball, and two horoscopes.
Bio by: algoreyou
1st Runner Up:
Other Industrial Minerals
Genre – Rock…(obviously)
Tag Line – Girls love Diamonds, Artists love Marble, we are…
The origins of Other Industrial Minerals can be traced back to the summer of 2007 when frontman Pete Moss formed Slag Aggregate, a noise-pop band in Grand Forks, North Dakota. By December they had become a favorite at college bars and frat parties on the UND campus, but as May approached, egos and musical differences caused a fissure in the band. They split up and Moss, along with drummer Al Unite, headed south east to the musical Valhalla of the Twin Cities where they played, both together and separately, in numerous bands over the next few years.
In the summer of 2010, Unite was drumming in a bizarre ethereal blues collective Fuller's Earth when he met up with Moss again at the Jundland Club. At the time the various members of Fuller's Earth were becoming more and more tied to other bands and Unite wanted out. They started jamming and writing and as Fuller's Earth was disintegrating, Moss and Unite's goals solidified.
Initially, they worked as a combo – guitar and drums, but eventually they wanted to flesh out their sound a bit and recruited bassist Kay Olin from Gypsum, a funk jazz project that was wowing crowds every Thursday night at the Cabooz. Newly christened Other Industrial Minerals, the three recorded an EP/demo "Diatomite!" with Olin's boyfriend Mica Feldspar on keyboards and assorted percussion.
By this time they had caught the attention of a certain nameless Twin Cities music icon and their fate was sealed. They started playing small clubs like the Entry and the 400 Bar, but as the crowds grew, the need for larger venues grew with it. After placing 4th in the 2011 City Pages Picked to Click list of best new bands in the Twin Cities, their show at the Turf Club had reveler's crowding the sidewalk outside the club trying to catch a glimpse through the front window, if just to say "I was there when…".
Their sound, (at it's core 70's guitar rock, but with decidedly spacy, jazzy undertones) was just what the Twin Cities music scene was looking for. They continued to play to packed houses and eventually graduated to the Main Room (First Ave.) and ultimately the Jundland Club. In January they will enter the Bassment to record their debut full length with plans for an extensive road trip to bring their show to the rest of the country.
Line up:
Pete Moss = Guitar, Vox
Kay Olin = Bass, Vox
Al Unite = Drums
Mica Feldspar = Keys, Congas, Shakers and other noise makers
Bio by: theHoseman
2nd Runner Up:
Some people are born to be stars. Other people study stars and hope to see one be born. Such is the case with Mark Lovedale, PHD.
Before becoming the lead guitarist and driving force behind Austin's own, OTHER INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, Lovedale was the youngest person ever accepted into NASA's space program at just 19 years old. Then again, Lovedale graduated with a PHD in Astrophysics from the University of Arizona by the time he was 18 years old.
Think Doogie Howser in space. But with a hard-on for Jimmy Page and Randy Rhodes.
That's right, not only is Lovedale a gifted scientist, but a cracker-jack guitarist with balls the size of Uranus.
After dropping out of the space program (what?!!) at the age of 21, Lovedale formed OTHER INDUSTRIAL MINERALS with college buddy and bassist, Ryan Winthrop. It was only a matter of time before they found their band's voice in auto-mechanic turned lead vocalist, Trevor Prout. Drummer, "Grand" Stan Babbitt lived upstairs from Prout and went from keeping him up at nights to keeping him up at nights with a crowd of screaming fans.
OTHER INDUSTRIAL MINERALS quickly skyrocketed to fame on the Austin music scene and all but reinvented the hard rock genre with their use of double-kick-drum ferocity and harmonizing guitar sounds.
This band is shooting straight for the stars. The only question that remains is: can their audience hold on tight enough to follow them through the Heavens?
OTHER INDUSTRIAL MINERALS are:
Trevor Prout – Vocalist
Ryan Winthrop – Bassist
Stan Babbitt – Drummer
Mark Lovedale – Guitarist
Bio by: Raybo
So now that you've read all three, let us explain our decision. We chose algoreyou's bio because it grabbed our interest, and ultimately because it was, for lack of a better word, cheeky. While theHoseman and Raybo provided us with more conventional bio's, algoreyou went for a back story approach that was more story than background and in doing so made the band more personal and yet elusive at the same time. While it may have been a little more scattershot in format than the other two finalists' entries, it made us want to find out more, to wonder what the band's first album would be called or imagine what their cover art would look like. That's what a good bio should do, it should make you want to seek out a band, and algoreyou's did. Plus you gotta love the line "So with two singers, a keyboardist, a perpetually angry bassist, a very short drummer, and a blind guitarist, the band took off for the sure fire success that they had been told would be granted to them by a Magic 8-Ball, and two horoscopes."
Now that's not to say that theHoseman or Raybo didn't create good bio's too, because they did. We chose thehoseman as our second runner up because his bio had such great detail on how the band came together and because we all had to admit that we'd love to see Slag Aggregate get back together! Great name. But I digress…
Raybo's bio was also good and quite funny, but we felt it read a bit too much like a press release and less like a bio per se. I know splitting hairs, but hey that's what you have to do when you're judging these things…it's not as easy as it looks you know. We also LOVED the line "Think Doogie Howser in space. But with a hard-on for Jimmy Page and Randy Rhodes." Now that's a tag line! Raybo, stay tuned because a tag line Challenge is on it's way!
So congratulations to algoreyou for accepting and winning Figment Challenge #3. We will be crediting his account with 5,000 pieces of lucre and he has the right to create "Other Industrial Minerals" on Figment. theHoseman will be receiving 3,000 pieces of Lucre for finishing 2nd, and Raybo will receive 1,500 pieces of Lucre for finishing 3rd. Thanks to all who entered and stay tuned for the next Figment Challenge!
2 Responses to "Figment Challenge #3 Met – Meet Other Industrial Minerals"
theHoseman Says:
December 21st, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Nice work algoreyou & raybo! Diggin both of your efforts. Algoreyou, you write in a quirky, stream of consciousness style that I always enjoy. Can't wait to see Other Industrial Minerals come to life on Figment thru your hands.
Raybo Says:
December 21st, 2011 at 8:08 pm
That was fun. I wish I hadn't scrawled the thing on the back of a cocktail napkin and actually used the appropriate vessel for such an endeavor: groupie cleavage.
I want a rematch. I can do better.
Way to go, gentlemen. Way to go.
PS I love Figment almost as much as I love toasted strawberry Pop-Tarts. Almost.


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Excess Arts™, The New Character of Innovation.
Starting 22nd March 2011, MY SHEIL Arts, MY Computer Corporation's best subsidiary on 2010 converting their concept and innovation to the next step. In the other hand, they changed their branding name also for the last time to MY Excess Arts and will be well known as Excess Arts.
Further notice of implementation will be available soon.


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How to Get Dirt off a Latex Wall
Certain spots on walls, such as around light switches, tend to gather dirt. You can maintain a freshly painted look by keeping these areas free of grime. Before cleaning, determine your wall paint's finish, if possible. This is helpful to know because although latex paint is washable, different paint finishes vary as to how scrubbable they are. Gloss and semigloss finishes can handle more vigorous cleaning. A matte or flat finish is delicate, so these walls demand greater care when removing dirt. Walls painted with deep shades also require special handling. You can expect some of the color to rub off when the wall is washed, particularly if it has a matte finish, so avoid scrubbing too hard. Once the surface dries, the wall's appearance should return to normal.
Dust the walls before cleaning them, using a duster or specially treated dust cloth on an extendable pole. Work from the ceiling down. This will remove any loose dirt on the walls and help prevent dirty streaks from forming when you clean.
Place a towel beneath the section of wall you are cleaning to catch any drips.
Spot-clean the wall with plain water, if there are only a few smudges. Wring out a cellulose sponge in water, then rub it in a circular movement over the dirty section of the wall. Allow the wall to dry, then decide if further cleaning is necessary.
Treat the wall with a cleaning agent if the wall is quite dirty or if plain water does not remove the dirt. Fill a bucket with warm water and add a small amount of gentle dish-washing liquid or a vegetable oil-based cleaner. Fill another bucket with plain water to use for rinsing. Wring out a sponge in the cleaning solution and rub the wall gently, starting from the bottom and working up. If you are cleaning the entire wall, cover only a small section -- about 3 feet by 3 feet -- at a time. Dip a second, clean sponge in the rinse water and use it to wipe the wall clean. Dry with a soft, clean cloth. Continue with this method until the wall is clean, changing the water in the buckets when it becomes dirty.
Advance to a stronger alkali cleaner for tough dirt on walls. Add either 2 tablespoons of ammonia or 2 tablespoons of laundry detergent to a gallon bucket of warm water. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands. Test the cleaner on the wall in an inconspicuous spot, since powerful cleaners can remove the paint's pigment. If after rinsing and drying the test area appears undamaged, you can continue using the cleaner on the entire wall.
Things Needed
- Duster or dust cloth on extendable pole
- Towel
- 2 cellulose sponges
- 2 buckets
- Gentle dish-washing liquid or vegetable oil-based cleaner
- Soft cloth
- Ammonia or laundry detergent
- Rubber gloves
- Never use glass cleaner or a household spray cleaner on painted walls because they contain chemicals that can damage the paint's finish.
- If you discover streaks after the wall has dried, wipe them with a sponge dipped in plain water.
Photo Credits
- Burke/Triolo Productions/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images


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Hey assholes, it's me! Gruff Rhys! Yeah, I'm wearing a striped shirt today -- what's all the fuss, fatty? You think you're so fucking tough, don't you, slammin' to the sounds of Kevin Drumm and, what, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock? Yeah, you're a total bad-ass; you can go throw up into a bucket with all your friends, you little fairy. You want to see real strength? You want to see a one-man, a one-MAN show that'll blow your undies all the way up to your neck? You're lookin' at him. You're not even lookin' at him; you're just sorta glancin' in my general direction because you know my stare is as harsh as fuckin' ice-nine.
Welcome to your own personal hell, my friends, because I am planning 12 dates in North American cities, and you better call your mayors, because when I'm done with those cities, I am done with them, as in they will be no more, understand? I will be entering, let's say Brooklyn, voted the #3 place to raise a family in the United States, and I'll set up my acoustic guitar and lean into the mic, saying "This next one's off my latest album, Candylion, and I hope you like it," and before your little girlfriend can squeeze your hand in excitement and secret lust, I'll jump back on the mic and be like, "and if you don't," and then make that X motion over my package that they do in wrestling. I'm telling you, there's going to be riots in the street, in homes, after I slam my way through that song. Then I'll take a break for a sip of water and say something about how the next Super Furry Animals album is on its way August 27, and then I'll go into another song, but everyone will be like, "Wait, what's it called?" and I'll act like I can't hear them until they start chanting my name, and then I'll be like, "HEY VENUS!" and everyone will start cheering as some chick named Venus comes up on stage and we mack it, and I don't even have that strong of feelings for her.
And then I'll move on to the next city, trail of smoke wafting behind me. Yeah... they'll be pretty short sets.
$ Ulrich Schnauss
$$ Her Space Holiday


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Paintsil earned a four-year contract as part of a deal worth up to £1m after impressing in a pre-season trial.
"I'm so happy to have signed. It was one of the easiest decisions I've ever made," he told the club website.
"My dream has always been to play in the Premiership as I watched English football when I was growing up."
Paintsil played in all four of Ghana's games at this year's World Cup, in his preferred position of right back and in central defence.
West Ham boss Alan Pardew has been looking for a permanent right-back since the departure of Tomas Repka in January, with loan signing Lionel Scaloni filling in for the second half of the season.


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Call 208.821.8236 or email us today to book a free consultation
Lori Woodbury, PA-C
Owner of BellaDea Aesthetics,LLC
Our ambition is to assist our clients in embracing their inner "Timeless Beauty" by providing affordable medical grade aesthetic procedures and products.
We provide treatments for acne, fine lines, wrinkles, scars, dark spots and improving skin texture.
We offer an opportunity for the natural beauty of women and men of all ages to emanate!
Our Philosophy
Our Story
Lori and I have been on a mutual quest now for nearly 20 years. This quest encompasses many aspects of the human experience, but one of the most significant to us is the recognition of our inner or Timeless Beauty, and then embracing and nurturing that aspect of ourselves.
Our quest has taken us to many beautiful and exciting places. On a trip to the Mediterranean, we discovered the timeless element of beauty in the art work, architecture, and the relaxed life style in Italy, Croatia, and other old-world destinations. The people we met in small towns and major metropolitan centers embraced the inner good-ness and beauty that exists within us all, hence BellaDea – ("Beautiful Goddess" in Italian) and our strive to bring Timeless Beauty to our clients, these are the primary elements of our business and our business philosophy.
We are very selective in the products and services that we provide. They have withstood the test of time and they enhance the basic element(s) of inner "timeless" beauty that is within all of us. Our quest or search for BellaDea – Timeless Beauty continues. Please come and join us as you pursue your quest for embracing and enhancing YOUR Beautiful Goddess.
Martin Woodbury – BellaDea Owner/Business Manager
Lori Woodbury received her degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Idaho State University. She trained in Family Practice with an emphasis in women's health.
Lori is a member of the American Association of Physician Assistants and the International Society of Clinical Densitometrists. Lori enjoys working with women in all phases of their life.
Lori discovered a passion for medical aesthetics while working for Rosemark Women Care Specialists in Idaho Falls, ID. She utilizing neuro toxins, dermal fillers, micro-needling, chemical peels and medical grade facial products to help create a natural, more youthful appearance.
She enjoys helping those, at all stages in life, find their Timeless Beauty!
Dr. Barbara Nelson is a native of Idaho Falls. She graduated from Idaho Falls High School and attended Ricks College. After graduating from Utah State University, she attended Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.
She specialized in OB/ GYN/ Infertility in a residency program in Phoenix, AZ.
Dr. Nelson enjoys treating patients with aesthetic services such as dermal injections Juvederm, Radiesse, Dysport, and Botox as well as in office liposuction procedures using the Smartlipo system, through Rosemark Women Care Specialists Facility in Idaho Falls.
Dr. Nelson has worked closely with Lori Woodbury for 14 years with a shared passion in aesthetics.
Dr. Barbara Nelson
Medical Director
Book Your Initial Consultation
Call 208.821.8236 or email us email@example.com to book a free consultation with our skin care professionals.


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This isn't a story about some dude who impales his pals, don't worry.
There's this big divide between work and hobby projects. The one is forced, rigid, sometimes unpleasant. The other is entirely optional, droppable, always fun. But the former pays the bills, the latter just keeps you sane. As is the case with most opposites, there doesn't seem to be a middle road. But, maybe I've found one. A very thin and practically useless one, but a middle road nonetheless.
A good and dear friend of mine has been running her own one-man company for a while now, and she wanted to up her self-presentation game. No better way to do that than to overhaul her fairly standard WordPress.com website, right? I proposed doing the programming stuff for her, because let's face it, she can't be reasonably expected to pay whatever exorbitant fee those "slap a custom template over it" web developers would be charging. She got in touch with some design students, had them spew out something decent for practically free, and now I'm going to be doing more or less the same.
Except it's a custom build, a cute little content management system tailored exactly to fit her needs. It's going to be a good place for her to show off her work, it'll make a nice addition to my portfolio, and best of all: it'll be fun to make! "A chocolate bar and a few coins" isn't going to help me pay the rent and the satisfaction won't either, but they'll both still be nice to have around.
This is going off my Urbit development time though, so that's kinda sad. (^:
~ Fang


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State of Denial examines how the Bush administration avoided telling the truth about Iraq to the public, to Congress, and often to themselves. Two days after the May report, the Pentagon told Congress, in a report required by law, that the "appeal and motivation for continued violent action will begin to wane in early 2007."
In this detailed inside story of a war-torn White House, Bob Woodward reveals how White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, with the indirect support of other high officials, tried for 18 months to get Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld replaced. The president and Vice President Cheney refused. At the beginning of Bush's second term, Stephen Hadley, who replaced Condoleezza Rice as national security adviser, gave the administration a "D minus" on implementing its policies. A SECRET report to the new Secretary of State Rice from her counselor stated that, nearly two years after the invasion, Iraq was a "failed state."
State of Denial reveals that at the urging of Vice President Cheney and Rumsfeld, the most frequent outside visitor and Iraq adviser to President Bush is former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who, haunted still by the loss in Vietnam, emerges as a hidden and potent voice.
Woodward reveals that the secretary of defense himself believes that the system of coordination among departments and agencies is broken, and in a SECRET May 1, 2006, memo, Rumsfeld stated, "the current system of government makes competence next to impossible."
State of Denial answers the core questions: What happened after the invasion of Iraq? Why? How does Bush make decisions and manage a war that he chose to define his presidency? And is there an achievable plan for victory?
Bob Woodward's third book on President Bush is a sweeping narrative -- from the first days George W. Bush thought seriously about running for president through the recruitment of his national security team, the war in Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the struggle for political survival in the second term.
After more than three decades of reporting on national security decision making -- including his two #1 national bestsellers on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush at War (2002) and Plan of Attack (2004) -- Woodward provides the fullest account, and explanation, of the road Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and the White House staff have walked.
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About the Author
Hometown:Washington, D.C.
Date of Birth:March 26, 1943
Place of Birth:Geneva, Illinois
Education:B.A., Yale University, 1965
Read an Excerpt
In the fall of 1997, former President George H. W. Bush, then age 74 and five years out of the White House, phoned one of his closest friends, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the longtime Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States.
"Bandar," Bush said, "W. would like to talk to you if you have time. Can you come by and talk to him?" His eldest son and namesake, George W. Bush, who had been governor of Texas for nearly three years, was consulting a handful of people about an important decision and wanted to have a private talk.
Bandar's life was built around such private talks. He didn't ask why, though there had been ample media speculation that W. was thinking of running for president. Bandar, 49, had been the Saudi ambassador for 15 years, and had an extraordinary position in Washington. His intensity and networking were probably matched only by former President Bush.
They had built a bond in the 1980s. Bush, the vice president living in the shadow of President Ronald Reagan, was widely dismissed as weak and a wimp, but Bandar treated him with the respect, attention and seriousness due a future president. He gave a big party for Bush at his palatial estate overlooking the Potomac River with singer Roberta Flack providing the entertainment, and went fishing with him at Bush's vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine -- Bandar's least favorite pastime but something Bush loved. The essence of their relationship was constant contact, by phone and in person.
Like good intelligence officers -- Bush had been CIA director and Bandar had close ties to the world's important spy services -- they had recruited each other. The friendship was both useful and genuine, and the utility and authenticity reinforced each other. During Bush's 1991 Gulf War to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait and prevent him from invading neighboring Saudi Arabia, Bandar had been virtually a member of the Bush war cabinet.
At about 4 A.M. on election day 1992, when it looked as if Bush was going to fail in his bid for a second term, Bandar had dispatched a private letter to him saying, You're my friend for life. You saved our country. I feel like one of your family, you are like one of our own. And you know what, Mr. President? You win either way. You should win. You deserve to. But if you lose, you are in good company with Winston Churchill, who won the war and lost the election.
Bush called Bandar later that day, about 1 P.M., and said, "Buddy, all day the only good news I've had was your letter." About 12 hours later, in the early hours of the day after the election, Bush called again and said, "It's over."
Bandar became Bush's case officer, rescuing him from his cocoon of near depression. He was the first to visit Bush at Kennebunkport as a guest after he left the White House, and later visited him there twice more. He flew friends in from England to see Bush in Houston. In January 1993 he took Bush to his 32-room mansion in Aspen, Colorado. When the ex-president walked in he found a "Desert Storm Corner," named after the U.S.-led military operation in the Gulf War. Bush's picture was in the middle. Bandar played tennis and other sports with Bush, anything to keep the former president engaged.
Profane, ruthless, smooth, Bandar was almost a fifth estate in Washington, working the political and media circles attentively and obsessively. But as ambassador his chief focus was the presidency, whoever held it, ensuring the door was open for Saudi Arabia, which had the world's largest oil reserves but did not have a powerful military in the volatile Middle East. When Michael Deaver, one of President Reagan's top White House aides, left the White House to become a lobbyist, First Lady Nancy Reagan, another close Bandar friend, called and asked him to help Deaver. Bandar gave Deaver a $500,000 consulting contract and never saw him again.
Bandar was on hand election night in 1994 when two of Bush's sons, George W. and Jeb, ran for the governorships of Texas and Florida. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush thought that Jeb would win in Florida and George W. would lose in Texas. Bandar was astonished as the election results poured in that night to watch Bush sitting there with four pages of names and telephone numbers -- two pages for Texas and two for Florida. Like an experienced Vegas bookie, Bush worked the phones the whole evening, calling, making inquiries and thanking everybody -- collecting and paying. He gave equal time and attention to those who supported the new Texas governor and the failed effort in Florida.
Bandar realized that Bush knew he could collect on all his relationships. It was done with such a light, human touch that it never seemed predatory or grasping. Fred Dutton, an old Kennedy hand in the 1960s and Bandar's Washington lawyer and lobbyist, said that it was the way Old Man Kennedy, the ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, had operated, though Kennedy's style had been anything but light.
Bandar planned his 1997 visit with the Texas governor around a trip to a home football game of his beloved Dallas Cowboys. That would give him "cover," as he called it. He wanted the meeting to be very discreet, and ordered his private jet to stop in Austin.
When they landed, Bandar's chief of staff came running up to say the governor was already there outside the plane. Bandar walked down the aisle to go outside.
"Hi, how are you?" greeted George W. Bush, standing at the door before Bandar could even get off the plane. He was eager to talk.
"Here?" inquired Bandar, expecting they would go to the governor's mansion or office.
"Yes, I prefer it here."
Bandar had been a Saudi fighter pilot for 17 years and was a favorite of King Fahd; his father was the Saudi defense minister, Prince Sultan. Bush had been a jet pilot in the Texas Air National Guard. They had met, but to Bandar, George W. was just another of the former president's four sons, and not the most distinguished one.
"I'm thinking of running for president," said Bush, then 52. He had hardly begun his campaign for reelection as governor of Texas. He had been walking gingerly for months, trying not to dampen his appeal as a potential presidential candidate while not peaking too early, or giving Texas voters the impression he was looking past them.
Bush told Bandar he had clear ideas of what needed to be done with national domestic policy. But, he added, "I don't have the foggiest idea about what I think about international, foreign policy.
"My dad told me before I make up my mind, go and talk to Bandar. One, he's our friend. Our means America, not just the Bush family. Number two, he knows everyone around the world who counts. And number three, he will give you his view on what he sees happening in the world. Maybe he can set up meetings for you with people around the world."
"Governor," Bandar said, "number one, I am humbled you ask me this question." It was a tall order. "Number two," Bandar continued, "are you sure you want to do this?" His father's victory, running as the sitting vice president to succeed the popular Reagan in the 1988 presidential election was one thing, but taking over the White House from President Bill Clinton and the Democrats, who likely would nominate Vice President Al Gore, would be another. Of Clinton, Bandar added, "This president is the real Teflon, not Reagan."
Bush's eyes lit up! It was almost as if the younger George Bush wanted to avenge his father's loss to Clinton. It was an electric moment. Bandar thought it was as if the son was saying, "I want to go after this guy and show who is better."
"All right," Bandar said, getting the message. Bush junior wanted a fight. "What do you want to know?"
Bush said Bandar should pick what was important, so Bandar provided a tour of the world. As the oil-rich Saudi kingdom's ambassador to the United States, he had access to world leaders and was regularly dispatched by King Fahd on secret missions, an international Mr. Fix-It, often on Mission Impossible tasks. He had personal relationships with the leaders of Russia, China, Syria, Great Britain, even Israel. Bandar spoke candidly about leaders in the Middle East, the Far East, Russia, China and Europe. He recounted some of his personal meetings, such as his contacts with Mikhail Gorbachev working on the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. He spoke of Maggie Thatcher and the current British prime minister, Tony Blair. Bandar described the Saudi role working with the Pope and Reagan to keep the Communists in check. Diplomacy often made strange bedfellows.
"There are people who are your enemies in this country," Bush said, "who also think my dad is your friend."
"So?" asked Bandar, not asking who, though the reference was obviously to supporters of Israel, among others.
Bush said in so many words that the people who didn't want his dad to win in 1992 would also be against him if he ran. They were the same people who didn't like Bandar.
"Can I give you one advice?" Bandar asked.
"Mr. Governor, tell me you really want to be president of the United States."
Bush said yes.
"And if you tell me that, I want to tell you one thing: To hell with Saudi Arabia or who likes Saudi Arabia or who doesn't, who likes Bandar or doesn't. Anyone who you think hates your dad or your friend who can be important to make a difference in winning, swallow your pride and make friends of them. And I can help you. I can help you out and complain about you, make sure they understood that, and that will make sure they help you."
Bush recognized the Godfather's advice: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. But he seemed uncomfortable and remarked that that wasn't particularly honest.
"Never mind if you really want to be honest," Bandar said. "This is not a confession booth. If you really want to stick to that, just enjoy this term and go do something fun. In the big boys' game, it's cutthroat, it's bloody and it's not pleasant."
Bandar changed the subject. "I was going to tell you something that has nothing to do with international. When I was flying F-102s in Sherman, Texas, Perrin Air Force Base, you were flying F-102s down the road at another Texas base. Our destiny linked us a long time ago by flying, without knowing each other." He said he wanted to suggest another idea.
"If you still remember what they taught you in the Air Force. I remember it because I spent 17 years. You only spent a few years. Keep your eye on the ball. When I am flying that jet and my life is on the line, and I pick up that enemy aircraft, I don't care if everything around me dies. I will keep my eye on that aircraft, and I will do whatever it takes. I'll never take my eye off."
Former President Bush continued in his efforts to expand his son's horizons and perhaps recruit future staff.
"George W., as you know, is thinking about what he might want to do," he told Condoleezza Rice, the 43-year-old provost of Stanford and one of his favorite junior National Security Council staffers from his White House years. "He's going to be out at Kennebunkport. You want to come to Kennebunkport for the weekend?"
It was August 1998. The former president was proposing a policy seminar for his son.
Rice had been the senior Russia expert on the NSC, and she had met George W. in a White House receiving line. She had seen him next in 1995, when she had been in Houston for a board meeting of Chevron, on which she served, and Bush senior invited her to Austin, where W. had just been sworn in as governor. She talked with the new governor about family and sports for an hour and then felt like a potted plant as she and the former president sat through a lunch Bush junior had with the Texas House speaker and lieutenant governor.
The Kennebunkport weekend was only one of many Thursday-to-Sunday August getaways at Camp Bush with breakfast, lunch, dinner, fishing, horseshoes and other competitions.
"I don't have any idea about foreign affairs," Governor Bush told Rice. "This isn't what I do."
Rice felt that he was wondering, Should I do this? Or probably, Can I do this? Out on the boat as father and son fished, the younger Bush asked her to talk about China, then Russia. His questions flowed all weekend -- what about this country, this leader, this issue, what might it mean, and what was the angle for U.S. policy.
Early the next year, after he was reelected Texas governor and before he formally announced his presidential candidacy, Rice was summoned to Austin again. She was about to step down as Stanford provost and was thinking of taking a year off or going into investment banking for a couple of years.
"I want you to run my foreign policy for me," Bush said. She should recruit a team of experts.
"Well, that would be interesting," Rice said, and accepted. It was a sure shot at a top foreign policy post if he were to win.
Bush raised an important issue with his close adviser Karen Hughes, then 43, a former television reporter who had worked for five years as his communications czar in Texas.
He said he needed to articulate why he wanted to be president. "You know, there has to be a reason," he said. "There has to be a compelling reason to run."
Hughes set out to come up with a central campaign theme. She knew Bush had three policy passions. First, there were the so-called faith-based initiatives -- plans to push more government money to social programs affiliated with religious groups. That enthusiasm was real, but it couldn't be the backbone of a presidential campaign.
Second, Bush cared about education. But America's schools are run at the state and local level. It would be tough to run for president on a national education platform.
Bush's third belief, in tax cuts, held promise. It could provide the rationale. The campaign autobiography Hughes wrote with Bush -- A Charge to Keep, released in November 1999 -- included 19 provisions about "education" and 17 entries under "taxes." "Faith-based organizations" are mentioned three times. The phrase "foreign policy" occurs twice, both in the context of free trade. There was a single reference to Iraq, no mention of Saddam Hussein, terrorists or terrorism.
During one of the 2000 primaries, Bush called Al Hubbard, a former deputy chief of staff to his father's vice president, J. Danforth Quayle, and one of a group of advisers the elder Bush had recruited to tutor his son on economic issues.
"Hubbard," Bush exclaimed. "Can you believe this is what I'm running on! This tax cut!"
Bush invited Richard L. Armitage, a former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration, to join his team of foreign policy advisers. Armitage, 54, was Colin Powell's best friend. Barrel-chested with a shaved head, a weight-lifting addict who could bench-press 330 pounds, Armitage was a 1967 graduate of the Naval Academy. He signed on because he believed that the Clinton administration had no theory or underlying principle for its foreign and defense policies. It was ad hoc. The Republicans had a chance of getting it right. Armitage was an admirer of Bush senior, who he felt understood the necessity of a strong foreign policy tempered by restraint.
The U.S. military was preeminent in the world and could dominate or stabilize any situation, in Armitage's view. Clinton and his team had failed to develop adequate exit strategies for getting out of foreign entanglements such as Bosnia or Kosovo in the Balkans.
A big job for the next president, he thought, was no less than figuring out the purpose of American foreign policy. Rice's team called themselves the Vulcans. The name started out in jest because Rice's hometown, Birmingham, Alabama, known for its steel mills, had a giant statue of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metal. But the group, which included Paul Wolfowitz, the undersecretary for policy in Cheney's Pentagon, liked the image of toughness, and Vulcans soon became their self-description.
In 1999, Armitage attended five meetings with Bush and various Vulcans. He found good news and bad news. The best news was that Bush wanted Powell to be his secretary of state.
At the first Vulcan meeting in February 1999, Bush had asked, "Is defense going to be an issue in the 2000 campaign?" The advisers said they didn't think it would. Bush said he wanted to make defense an issue. He said he wanted to transform the military, to put it in a position to deal with new and emerging threats.
To do that, the advisers said, the military would need new equipment to make it more mobile and modern, and more advanced training and intelligence gathering. This might take 15 to 20 years before the real advantages would be realized. It would certainly be beyond a Bush presidency, maybe not in their lifetimes.
Bush indicated he was willing to make that investment. Armitage and the others worked on a speech that Bush gave at The Citadel, the South Carolina public military university, on September 23, 1999.
"I will defend the American people against missiles and terror," Bush said, "And I will begin creating the military of the next century.... Homeland defense has become an urgent duty." He cited the potential "threat of biological, chemical and nuclear terrorism.... Every group or nation must know, if they sponsor such attacks, our response will be devastating.
"Even if I am elected, I will not command the new military we create. That will be left to a president who comes after me. The results of our effort will not be seen for many years."
Armitage was pleased to see realism in a presidential campaign. He thought that terrorism, and potential actions by rogue states such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea, could be trouble, but not lethal. The big issues in defense policy were the great power relationships with Russia, China and India.
But there was also bad news about Bush. "For some reason, he thinks he's going to be president," Armitage told Powell. It was like there was some feeling of destiny. Bush talked as if it was a certainty, saying, "When I'm president..." Though not unusual for candidates to talk this way in speeches, Bush spoke that way privately with his advisers. It was as if Bush were trying to talk himself into it.
And there was Bush's smirk, Armitage said.
The big problem, Armitage thought, was that he was not sure Bush filled the suit required of a president. He had a dreadful lack of experience. Armitage told his wife and Powell that he was not sure Governor Bush understood the implications of the United States as a world power.
Copyright © 2006 by Bob Woodward


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An Introduction to Tarot Cards:
Tarot cards have been read and interpreted since the 18th century and arguably existed as far back as ancient Egypt. Their purposes vary but often inspire those that receive proper tarot cards readings to meditate and reflect on an insight that is applicable to their current life. They have been known to produce stirring and thought-provoking inspirations for the person getting the reading and come in a few different forms. The most significant fact to remember about tarot cards is no reading is ever inherently good or bad, friendly or evil. With proper tarot cards reading you can gain a motivating insight into your psyche and the events surrounding you, and this is only possible with the help of a professional tarot reader
The Major Arcana Tarot Cards:
The major arcana cards, often called trump cards, are representations of life's journey. The first eleven cards revolve around your journey into the world while the latter eleven are more focused on your own personal self-awareness. As an example, the number 0 card is known as The Fool and is usually associated with innocence and carefree bliss. Their purpose is to bring your attention to a specific issue or area in your life and to keep you focused on accomplishing a positive outcome.
The Minor Arcana Tarot Cards:
There are 56 different cards most commonly suited in a page, knight, queen, and king form that support and work in hand with the major arcana cards. The numbered minor arcana cards usually have images, or pips, on them, and come from four signs of the zodiac. The first sign is called Wands (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), which is associated with an action. The second sign is Pentacles (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), which is associated with material success. The third sign is Cups (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), which is associated with feelings. And the fourth sign is Swords (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius), which is associated with thoughts.
Tarot Cards Reading:
With a professional tarot reader we are able to receive a clearer vision of the mysteries that surround these images of wisdom. Robin Petit-Leoni is a professional psychic medium and angel intuitive that empowers her clients and promotes awareness and raises energy levels so that you can continue to grow in a positive manner. For a tarot cards reading, enlightenment, and insight reach out to Robin at the provided link here: Robin Petit-Leoni.
If you want to find out more about Robin visit her website at Robin Petit-Leoni or visit her Contact Us page to get in touch with her personally. You can also follow her on Facebook and Instagram under Robin Petit-Leoni.


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This flavorful roast can be served hot with roasted carrots and savory pan drippings or cold, thinly sliced for sandwiches. Pair with your favorite Temecula Valley Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon.
2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder roast, tied, trimmed of excess fat and seasoned well with salt and pepper
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, minced
1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves, minced
1 (2-inch) sprig of rosemary, leaves removed and finely chopped
6 fresh large sage leaves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
12 whole baby carrots, cleaned with stems removed
1/3 cup Temecula Valley Zinfandel
Preheat oven to 275 F (135 C).
Mix the herbs and garlic in a small bowl. Rub the herb mixture evenly over the pork and into the crevices. Put the pork in a roasting pan. Roast uncovered for 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, toss olive oil, carrots and shallots in a large bowl.
After 90 minutes, add the carrots and shallots to the pan and pour the Zinfandel over the pork. Cook for an additional 90 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice the pork and serve with carrots and drizzle with the pan juices.
Serves 4
Recipe Courtesy of the Wine Institute of California
Suggested Pairings:
Baily Winery ~ 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon – Warm, rich tones with subtle, herbaceous qualities and a hint of mint.
Doffo Winery ~ 2013 Zinfandel – Full of black cherry jam, raspberry, black berry and allspice aromas, with luscious notes of boysenberry, ripe plums and toasted oak.
Lorenzi Estate Vineyards & Winery ~ 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon – Aged in New French oak for 18 months and expresses itself with a depth and complexity you should expect from a Cabernet Sauvignon.
Maurice Car'rie Vineyard & Winery ~ 2012 Van Roekel Estate Zinfandel – Aromas of raspberry jam, Red Delicious apples and finishes off with toasted black pepper.
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