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Total number of comments: 43 (since 2013-11-28 15:36:12)
Uninformed Comment
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- Afro-Asia, Global South Reject Boycott of Iran
Uninformed Comment 02/26/2012 at 3:43 pm
Just for kicks, can you tell us which paragraphs (they're all numbered) in the IAEA's November 2011 report lead you to conclude that Iran has engaged in any nuclear-weapon development work since 2003.
I've read that report with very great care four times now. While I originally felt as you feel (or claim to feel), I've changed my mind. And so I'm curious to know why you have not.
- Gingrich Endangers US troops by Slamming Obama for Apology over Qur'an Burning
Uninformed Comment 02/25/2012 at 6:39 pm with 1 replies
Your comment suggests that burning an old Christian bible might not upset people here. Whether or not that's true, other symbolic acts might. For example, if a group of Muslims in this country burned an American flag, it might upset many Americans.
When in Afghanistan, do as the Afghanis do. They don't burn Korans.
Uninformed Comment 02/25/2012 at 6:36 pm
On the several comments about "messages" in the burned Korans:
Might it not have been more diplomatic to do something other than burn the Korans? Lock them in a file cabinet, for example?
Uninformed Comment 02/24/2012 at 3:44 pm
"But Obama's apology was intended to prevent more US troops from being killed."
I understand that political considerations require that Obama have given this reason for his apology. But if we set those political considerations aside -- as we have the luxury of doing here -- does that reason for the apology strike anyone as likely to infuriate Afghans still further? Does it not imply that no apology would have been forthcoming were Americans not exposed to possible retaliation?
- Today's Top 5 Crises in the 2011 Arab Revolutions
Uninformed Comment 07/11/2011 at 10:49 am
I'd be curious to know Juan's position on the French minister's suggestion that the rebels negotiate with the Libyan government without insisting that Qaddafi and his sons give up power before negotiations begin.
- Free Libya Forces Advance in Western Mountains
Uninformed Comment 07/08/2011 at 9:44 pm
"Of course it would be better if the people in Tripoli bundled the Qaddafis onto a plane to Caracas and then reached out to Benghazi for a political resolution. Until they do that, the war will continue."
It appears from videos of the Tripoli rally last Friday that Qaddafi may still have at least some lingering support from the people in Tripoli, though it's possible they were all forced to come out. Check out YouTube for videos of the July 1 rally, and also for the July 7 Benghazi rally for the rebels.
Uninformed Comment 07/08/2011 at 9:38 pm
For those who may not have read this, there was reportedly a large rally in Benghazi yesterday - tens of thousands of rebel supporters took to the streets. The rally was reportedly intended to counter the large rally held in Tripoli a week ago in support of Qaddafi. Some observers estimated the Tripoli crowd at 1,000,000 people, but a review of YouTube videos makes it possible to see only approximately 200,000 people (my guesstimate) because the camera wasn't able to take in more than that number in any one shot, and it's possible that other shots showed an overlap. Even so, the Tripoli crowd was quite large, as was the Benghazi crowd in yesterday's rally.
Uninformed Comment 07/08/2011 at 9:35 pm
Interesting NYT article today on the rebels' military prospects:
- The Audacity of the Gaza Flotilla
Uninformed Comment 06/26/2011 at 12:51 pm
I happen to know the daughter of James Schermerhorn, the now-82-year-old American who was on the Mavi Marmara last year and will be on the Gaza flotilla this year. She's naturally worried about her father, but reports that he is not. (I last talked to her about this 2 weeks ago, when he was on his way to Athens.)
She said that organizers were making an even more diligent effort this year to be sure that nothing was on board that could be considered a "weapon." Those who remember what sorts of things were described as "weapons" last year will appreciate that this task will not be an easy one. At the same time, the organizers have reportedly learned that the Israelis intend this year to drop attack dogs onto the flotilla ships, and so the participants are stocking up on high-frequency dog whistles that, they hope, will debilitate the Israeli attack dogs.
For what this is worth... I have no idea how much of it is accurate.
- Gates: Winding down the Wars
Uninformed Comment 06/21/2011 at 8:39 am with 1 replies
Dr. Cole writes:
"Even the Libya War, of the prosecution of which he has been bitingly critical, will turn out all right, [Gates] thinks, because NATO will stay in the fight and remain united. That is a multilateralist sentiment. It isn't what we were hearing from Washington in 2003. One has a sense of an age passing, and to the extent that the age was characterized by unilateral adventurism, its demise will benefit us all."
If I understand this correctly, what was wrong about Iraq was the US' "unilateral adventurism." What's right about Libya, of course, is that the UNSC has approved it (let's ignore the question of whether our own government has approved it).
Isn't that a rather simple-minded distinction, one that entirely ignores whether sound reasons existed for the intervention? What If, for example, Saddam Hussein really had had WMD and, to boot, had been slaughtering his people by the thousands every day, but the UNSC adopted no resolution authorizing action against him? Suppose, for example, that Bush had gone into Iraq without UNSC authorization (as occurred), and US troops then discovered all of this horrible Saddam behavior that other UNSC member countries had refused to believe. Suppose the US had promptly put an end to all of that bad behavior by Saddam. Would the US have been justified in intervening in Iraq even though the UNSC had declined to approve it?
Conversely, in Libya, if the UNSC were to have authorized attacks on Libya, as have occurred, but no evidence actually turned that Gaddafi had massacred civilians, even in recaptured cities where he'd indisputably had both the opportunity and motive, might one fairly argue that US participation in the NATO bombing was improper even though the UNSC had adopted a resolution that (at least arguably) authorized that bombing? Or would the US be honor-bound to reconsider whether the bases for that UNSC resolution had been shakier than they may have appeared at the time, and so the US should stop participating in the NATO bombing?
- Top Ten Mistakes in the Libya War
Uninformed Comment 06/21/2011 at 7:41 am with 1 replies
Dr. Cole wrote:
"There is no evidence of any real distinction between Qaddafi's personal money and the state's. When Qaddafi defied the UNSC order to stop attacking his people, and when the US joined a multi-national, UN-authorized attempt to protect those people from his thugs, it was time to expropriate his sons' Ferrari money and give it to the people."
Let's assume for the sake of argument that assets frozen in New York have not been conclusively shown to be Libyan government assets, even though that is what the Libyan government claims they are and that is what multinational financial corporations such as Goldman Sachs have treated them as being. Is that good enough to justify seizing those assets -- that they are, in effect, "guilty until proven innocent?" That, unless the Libyan government can show that those assets were not the source of funds for a Ferrari bought by one of Moammar Gaddafi's sons, the $35 billion frozen by the US may simply be taken?
Or is the burden on those who would seize the assets? Can the US government conclusively establish that no US government assets have been used for improper purpose? If not, may any foreign government simply seize US government assets and turn them over to some opponent of the US government who claims to be representing the US people?
With all due respect, and much is due, this view does not strike me as a fully developed view of how the international banking system works or ought to work.
Am I not fairly describing your views on this?
Uninformed Comment 06/20/2011 at 9:01 am with 3 replies
Though many journalists and commenters routinely refer to the frozen assets as "Gaddafi assets," careful observers will note that official pronouncements, including those from our own State Department, nearly always refer to them as "Gaddafi regime assets" or even, on rare occasions, as "Libyan government assets."
This may strike the casual observer as a pointless distinction, but it is not. Official US government pronouncements do not treat the frozen assets as the equivalent of Moammar Gaddafi's personal piggy bank that may be handed over to the rebels simply because many people in this country think they'd be better leaders and they've asked for our help. Instead, they correctly recognize them as assets of the Libyan government, which cannot be seized merely because we no longer approve of that government. That is why the rebels are finding it so difficult to get any of them released, or pledged as collateral for loans.
To simply declare that the current Libyan government -- like them or not -- has "lost legitimacy" and that, therefore, we may hand billions of dollars in Libyan government assets to some group we feel would run Libya in a way that we and its people would like better makes it difficult to argue that Libya -- or any other country, for that matter -- may not do exactly the same to us.
How difficult would it be, do you suppose, for quite a number of countries around the world to declare (or have declared in the past) that the US government has "lost legitimacy" because, say, National Guard troops had shot students at Kent State, or because Bush had stolen the 2000 election, or because Obama is bombing civilians in other countries without asking for Congressional permission, or for any one of dozens of other reasons, and thereupon seize US assets in that country?
Uninformed Comment 06/19/2011 at 10:26 pm
Setting aside for the moment a question that really ought not to be set aside, even for the sake of argument on other points -- whether NATO's actions in Libya go quite far beyond what was authorized under UNSC Resolution 1973 -- US involvement in the Libya War certainly can be distinguished from Iraq in that the UN authorized it (or at least something remotely resembling it: I just can't seem to set aside that other question). On the other hand, Iraq at least had the explicit blessing of Congress; Libya does not. One can quibble about whether Congress really authorized Bush to invade Iraq without coming back again for specific permission (though I dislike Bush, I feel he made it quite clear to Congress that it would have one and only one chance to object), but at least Bush asked.
So, in a nutshell:
1. In Iraq, the US' participation was approved by our own leaders, but not by foreign countries.
2. In Libya, the US' participation was approved by foreign countries, but not by our own leaders.
Neither combination is ideal. Which is better?
- Obama right not to Release Usama Photo
Uninformed Comment 05/06/2011 at 12:49 am
This may interest those of you who are not Google Earth addicts.
I checked out Osama bin Laden's property on Google Earth the moment his killing was reported. It included just the main house, a very small building in the back yard of that side of the compound, and the long garage-like building at the back of the property. The copyright on the Google Earth video was dated 2011.
I was puzzled because all news reports that diagrammed his property showed more buildings - some more than others, but all showed more than appeared in this 2011 Google Earth photo.
I've checked bin Laden's property at least twice per day since then. It's always appeared the same as the first time, until today.Today, Google Earth had brand-new photos of the property, with a copyright (also dated 2011, naturally) attributed to a different source. These photos showed all of the buildings that appeared in the most detailed of the diagrams accompanying news reports of bin Laden's killing.
Either Google Earth is posting photos that are a lot older than what they claim in their copyright notices, or there was quite a building spree on bin Laden's property between the first of the year and now.
I tend to think it's the former. I noticed a similar phenomenon with Iran's Fordow facility in late 2009, though that situation was a bit less clear. The photo was dated 2007, if I recall correctly, and showed very rudimentary surface features - no permanent building at all. The photo was updated shortly after the story broke, and voila: there was a bright white fully finished building of considerable size. Though two years had gone by, I remember being suspicious nonetheless that the construction had gone from nothing to fully complete in that short a time, especially since various analyses of the Fordow development had insisted that the project had been quite far along by 2007. Whether or not I ought to have been was and is unclear to me, but the recent bin Laden "update" makes me more suspicious in retrospect.
- NATO Strike on Command Center kills Qaddafi Son
Uninformed Comment 05/01/2011 at 5:41 pm
Juan writes:
"They said they meant to hit that compound because command and control had been exercised from it."
Labeling this single-family home in a residential neighborhood a "compound" arguably advances the argument, but it doesn't transform that single-family home into a "command and control center." I think it was Groucho Marx who once said: "Sometimes a single-family home in a residential neighborhood is just a single-family home in a residential neighborhood."
Certainly one could argue - Juan essentially has - that wherever Qaddafi goes is a "command and control center," at least if he's got his cell phone in his hip pocket. But wouldn't that mean NATO was "targeting an individual" if it dropped a bomb on a place for that reason?
Uninformed Comment 05/01/2011 at 5:36 pm
Juan writes:
"There is another wrinkle. Reporters who visited the bombed compound said they could not imagine that anyone who was there survived. We have no proof that Muammar Qadddafi was at the site, except his say-so."
This is hardly the only expression of skepticism about the reported event. Al-Arabiya, for example, insists that the son was killed but that none of the three grandchildren were. Other media sources echo Juan's suspicion based on the extent of the damage, which no one could have survived. This may be the only place, however - certainly the only one I've read - that questions the claim that Qaddafi was there.
It's understandable that no one else would question this claim. If Qaddafi's camp were trying to maximize the PR value of this tragic event, and it had no reservations about lying, wouldn't it be more likely to insist that Qaddafi was nowhere near the house?
- Corporate Welfare Royalty
Uninformed Comment 04/27/2011 at 10:34 pm with 2 replies
Setting aside the portion of GE's profits earned offshore, when a US corporation doesn't pay tax on its current-year US-derived income, there can be many reasons - all of which you'd find sensible, I suspect, if you were familiar with US corporate tax laws. Most likely (by a very wide margin), GE probably "carried forward" large losses from earlier years, offsetting its earnings in 2010.
The IRS has a whole team assigned to monitor the tax filings and payments of GE (and other large corporations). The IRS employees on that team undoubtedly get their performance evaluated based on how well they make sure GE doesn't dodge any taxes.
The great guy who waters the plants in my office finds all this "tax dodge" publicity very persuasive.
- Fighting Rages in Misrata despite Withdrawal Pledge
Uninformed Comment 04/24/2011 at 11:15 am with 5 replies
"[Gaddafi's troops] still hold the hospital in the west [of Misurata] that they have (quite illegally in international law) made their base."
Some observers understandably may have missed this, but the New York Times has reported that this "hospital" closed several years ago. Once a hospital always a hospital, I suppose one could argue, but the "rules of war" don't prohibit use of a building that hasn't been used as a hospital for several years.
The "rules of war" do require combatants to wear uniforms, to distinguish themselves from "civilians." Rebels claim that some Libya troops don't wear uniforms.
Ever seen a rebel soldier in a uniform?
- Free Libyan fighters exult in small Victories, as US begins Drone Strikes
Uninformed Comment 04/24/2011 at 11:20 am with 1 replies
You're correct that the 13 refers to a different matter, as I see upon rereading. Not really so for the 100 and the 200. The 100 "sought asylum" in Tunisia, while the 200 "took refuge" in Tunisia. Not sure I see the difference you mention.
Uninformed Comment 04/23/2011 at 10:37 pm with 1 replies
Here's food for thought for those who support assisting the rebels to conquer all of Libya:
Gaddafi complained over a month ago about NATO's attacks on his forces even when they were retreating from the Benghazi area. NATO's response was that Gaddafi's forces were still attacking Misurata, and so it was appropriate to attack other Libyan soldiers out in the desert, miles from any civilian, so that Gaddafi would order their comrades to stop attacking Misurata.
But what if Gaddafi's troops do stop attacking Misurata, as his spokesman claimed yesterday he has decided? There is still some fighting in southwest Libya, but what if Gaddafi's troops stop that too and just hold whatever positions they now have? Fighting has largely stopped in Ajdabiyah and Brega, so there'd be no fighting at all.
No fighting at all, unless either the rebels start it or hostile tribesmen from cities near Misurata sneak into town and start attacking the rebels guerilla-style, as reports today suggest is likely. If that occurs: (1) Gaddafi undoubtedly will claim his forces are not involved; and (2) the rebels undoubtedly will claim they are - that the so-called "civilians" resisting the rebels' "liberation" of Misurata are actually Gaddafi's soldiers out of uniform. Indeed, the rebels have announced in advance that they intend to claim just that.
It will be up to NATO to decide whether to take the rebels' word for that claim. So far, of course, NATO has always accepted the rebels' version of events, and it appears unlikely that that will change any time soon. And so it is likely that NATO will start (or never stop) bombing Misurata with Predator drones and an occasional high-altitude bomber – this time aiming at the suspect "civilians" who are challenging the rebel "liberators."
We will end up, at best, with a simmering civil war, and possibly an all-out renewal of the Misurata fighting. Though the beleaguered Misurata civilians may be grateful for the departure of the Libyan army's heavy artillery, that probably will be replaced – maybe even outdone – by stepped-up attacks from Predator drones and an occasional NATO high-altitude bomber. All of this continuing bloodshed will be justified by NATO on the ground that Gaddafi is somehow responsible for the Libyan people's failure to throw a sufficient number of flower petals at the feet of the rebels who've courageously liberated them from Gaddafi's yoke.
And how will it end? One obvious possibility is that the rebels will never subdue the guerillas, in which case the fighting will just go on and on and on. A second possibility is that the rebels eventually will subdue the guerillas and keep them suppressed, which probably will require that they put in place such a harsh police state that even their most ardent supporters will start to have second thoughts about them. Still another possibility is that the persistence of the tribesmen's challenge to the rebels, the failure of the rebels or NATO to find any real evidence that Gaddafi's military is assisting the resistance, and the surprisingly low level of flower-petal popular support for the rebel "liberators," will make the "no questions asked" backers of the rebels start to look rather foolish – and perhaps, if they are honest with themselves, even to feel rather foolish.
NATO nevertheless may (as in "probably will") continue to bomb Gaddafi in Tripoli, insisting that he's still attacking civilians even though none of his troops are openly involved in the Misurata fighting. But that rationale may wear thin with Libyans after a few weeks or months unless some actual evidence of Gaddafi's involvement in Misurata emerges. It may wear thin not only with the Tripoli residents on whose heads the NATO bombs are falling day after day, but also the Misurata residents, who every day will see open warfare in their city involving (1) rebels; (2) guerilla fighters from nearby hostile tribes who genuinely don't seem to like the rebels; and (3) Predator drones and high-altitude bombers sent by infidel countries from half a world away to help the rebels. The Libyan people's patience is especially likely to wear thin if, as nearly always happens, a few NATO bombs land on some apartment building, school or vegetable market.
Maybe those Libyan eye-witnesses will blame all of their suffering on an entirely unseen element – Gaddafi and his military. But maybe they won't. Maybe they'll blame it instead on the infidels who drop bombs on their cities every day and night, and on the rebels that those infidels are supporting. They'll remember that Misurata was peaceful enough before either the rebels or the NATO infidels showed up in town. And that observation may make them believe that Misurata will become peaceful again if they can just get rid of those two new groups. They probably will conclude that they cannot do much about the Predator drones and the NATO bombers, but that they certainly can help the people who are fighting against the rebels.
And if and when this occurs – "when," in my view – the Western countries who are spending billions of dollars of their taxpayers' money to send Predator drones and NATO bombers half a world away, to drop bombs on cities whose residents plainly have shown they would like them to stop doing that, might just decide it's time to go away. Maybe the people who live in those Western countries will start punishing politicians who resist that urge.
One can only hope they will, and the sooner the better.
Uninformed Comment 04/22/2011 at 11:28 am with 3 replies
"The news agency said 13 of the Libyan soldiers, including a colonel and two commanders, had been detained, while a rebel spokesman in the eastern city of Benghazi asserted that more than 100 had sought asylum."
"In the west on the Tunisian border, Berber rebel troops have taken a checkpoint and chased away 200 Qaddafi loyalists, who took refuge in Tunisia."
13? More than 100? 200?
It's only hours after the story was reported. By dinner time, we could have ourselves a serious exodus here.
- Misrata's People under Siege
Uninformed Comment 04/15/2011 at 4:42 pm
Little RichardJohn,
An essential point you're missing here: I'm saying that those, like you, who want to prolong the war are the barbarians. You're saying that those, like me, who want to end the war are barbarians.
You should acknowledge that, absent any reason to think otherwise, continuing the war will cause more civilian suffering. But you counter that there indeed IS a reason to think otherwise: if we don't arm and train the rebels, and do whatever else it takes to defeat Gaddafi and drive him from the country, he will massacre civilians.
I then respond: If one accepts your assumptions, you're probably correct. But why, why should anyone simply accept your assumptions? What reason do we really have to believe that Gaddafi would willingly - not as "collateral damage," but willingly - go into Benghazi and start hacking women and children? What shred of evidence do you have to believe that would occur, other than the insistent word of a bunch of no-name incompetent rebels who've indisputably lied about a great deal?
You seem to think that there's no harm in taking the rebels' word for it, that it won't matter if it turns out you've been duped. Better safe than sorry, you might argue: if it turns out that Gaddafi wouldn't have butchered his people after all, it will still have been a fun adventure.
The problem with that "better safe than sorry" argument is that many more civilians will get killed, by both sides, while we're waiting to find out whether the rebels' claims are really valid. Why not avoid all that by asking for some evidence now? Certainly we have injured civilians - on both sides - but do we really have any evidence at all to think that either side would intentionally slaughter civilians? And if not, should we not end this pointless fighting now?
Uninformed Comment 04/15/2011 at 1:14 am
No need to look outside this blog for an example of what I mean by unsubstantiated claims. Professor Cole writes, in this very piece:
"Qaddafi is also bombarding Ajdabiya without regard to civilian life:"
He then embeds a video. Have any of you watched that video? It shows a funeral procession, with one casket, whose occupant is described by relatives as rebel fighter who died for the cause. A second casket is shown later in the video and, once again, relatives or friends describe the deceased as a rebel fighter. The video later shows, from a distance, what appear to be 4-6 caskets resting in the ground in an area of a cemetery that a rebel fighter describes as "Martyr's Row." He does not say that any civilians are buried there, and one gets the clear impression that the area is reserved for rebel fighters who've been killed in battle. Neither the video, nor the narrator, nor any of the people interviewed even suggest that Gaddafi troops attacked civilians in Ajdabiyah.
This is exactly the sort of thing that, unfortunately, passes for "evidence" among those who've decided that the best thing to do is continue this war until Gaddafi is driven out of Libya. No evidence at all appears in this video, and yet it's presented here as evidence.
Uninformed Comment 04/15/2011 at 12:45 am
Joe from Lowell:
Here's another example, this one from C.J. Chivers' piece today in the NY Times, reporting on the fighting in Misrata. The article mentions that a 6-year old girl was injured in today's fighting. A photo in a linked collection of photos shows a girl on a hospital operating table who I easily can believe is 6 years old.
How was this girl injured?
Turns out there are two answers to that question. Here is the caption for the photo of the girl that appeared in a collection of photos attached to Mr. Chivers' Times article:
"A doctor at Misurata Hospital worked [successfully, thank goodness] to save the life of a 6-year-old girl who was shot in the chest by Qaddafi forces. She also sustained a neck wound from shrapnel during the fighting."
According to the caption, then, this poor girl was both (1) shot in the chest, which suggests someone fairly close to her shot her with a hand gun or a rifle; and (2) wounded by shrapnel, which suggests she was hit by an incoming missile or mortar shell, presumably fired from far away. In other words, Gaddafi's forces were shelling an area in which their own comrades were fighting with rifles or hand-guns.
Possible? Yes. Plausible? You tell me. I don't think so, and I suspect Mr. Chivers shared my skepticism. His article did not even claim the girl had been shot - by anyone. All of her wounds, according to Mr. Chivers, were caused by shrapnel.
While this example suggests exaggeration or fabrication by the caption writer, it nonetheless does strike me as solid evidence that a 6-year old girl indeed was seriously wounded by shrapnel from a missile or mortar shell fired by the Libyan military. This is the sort of evidence that does support claims that Gaddafi's attacks are killing or wounding innocent civilians - the first I've seen, but evidence nonetheless. I readily concede that, and concede that it's better evidence than much (not all) of what is offered by the Libyan government to show that NATO bombings in Tripoli have been killing civilians. Nevertheless, most Western journalists physically based in Tripoli appear now to agree that civilians are dying from the NATO strikes on the city. Some civilian deaths indeed are occurring, even though I strongly suspect that the pilots who drop those bombs on Tripoli, and the Libyan troops who fire mortars into Misrata, sincerely hope that they won't kill or injure any 6-year old girls.
There is no question that war is very hard on civilians. The sooner a war ends, the better for civilians. You and others who press for more assistance to the rebels, so that they can continue this war, should bear that clearly in mind. It's worth repeating, since it plainly doesn't seem to have sunk in yet: Setting aside the question of which side wins, the longer this war lasts, the harder it will be on civilians. That is why the US should have allowed negotiations to occur before sending in the bombers. That is why it should have allowed Libya to seat the first, or at least the second, of its designated UN representatives so that the matter could be debated in the UN - and possibly even resolved there; that, after all, is what the UN is supposed to be good at. That is why NATO should have allowed the African Union to send in its negotiators right from the start. And that is why the US should now consider a solution that doesn't require, as an absolute non-negotiable starting point, that Gaddafi and his sons leave the country. That simply is not a responsible position, especially in light of the parties' relative positions on the battlefield. What leader in his right mind would simply give up when he's not only winning, but winning with only minimal resistance from enemy troops for whom the label "Keystone Kops" would be an entirely undeserved compliment?
You, and everyone else who presses for military aid to the rebels, may indeed be "saving lives" if, as you claim, Gaddafi would otherwise roll into Benghazi and start hacking up innocent women and children. The analysis indeed would be different if we really had evidence - rather than baseless conjecture - to believe that would happen.
But even this very sad story about the 6-year old girl doesn't provide evidence that Gaddafi has done that or would do that - any more than it proves the US would do that when a NATO bomber drops a bomb on a civilian area in Tripoli, as it's indisputably done. What the story of this 6-year old girl does show, however, is that continuing a war unnecessarily results in unnecessary civilian deaths.
That we know for sure. What you claim - that helping the rebels to prolong this senseless fighting would "save lives" - is, by contrast, irresponsible conjecture.
Uninformed Comment 04/14/2011 at 7:41 pm
Joe from Lowell:
The US used "diplomacy" in Libya? Please.
The US refused even to issue a visa to Libya's designated UN representative so he could go to the UN in New York to try a little diplomatting. When Libya selected another UN representative, he flew to Tunisia in a clever but unsuccessful effort to present his credentials to the UN Secretary General, who happened to be in Tunisia at the time, but he too was rebuffed. When the African Union asked to send negotiators to Tripoli to try to settle the matter peacefully, they were refused fly-over permission by NATO (until recently: they finally were permitted to land after several weeks of refusals).
Hillary's "diplomacy" has amounted to nothing but a demand that Gaddafi leave - not what one might characterize as a "diplomatic" demand to make to a leader who is, after all, winning handily on the battlefield, and a demand which, if accepted, would eliminate entirely the need for any "diplomacy" whatsoever.
That is the sort of "diplomacy" that Hitler employed shortly before he invaded Poland. How can you seriously claim it's anything more than that?
As far as your assertion that "a massive crime against humanity was hours from being committed," you're simply accepting that on blind faith from rebel leaders who've lied repeatedly even when the truth would have done just as well. Gaddafi never said he was going to massacre innocent civilians. As anyone who heard those remarks (by his son, actually) understood, he was referring to the rebels who had illegally seized Libyan government arsenals and taken over many Libyan cities. Nor did he say he was going to kill them - merely that he was going to show them "no mercy." I can guarantee, Joe, that if you or I seize some US military arsenal and take over Chicago, the US government is likely to react in a very similar manner, quite possibly including a threat to show us "no mercy." This will happen even if we're the nicest guys in the world and deserve to take over the government of the United States. If that happens (and it's up to you, Joe - count me out on that one), I won't interpret such a remark to mean that the US government intends to slaughter the innocent residents of Chicago.
You believe what you want to believe, of course, as I suppose we all do. But you ought at least to acknowledge that you're accepting it all on faith. Gaddafi has had many opportunities to massacre civilians. Other than unsubstantiated claims of the rebels, have you seen or heard any evidence whatsoever that he's actually done so? if he's killed 8,000 innocent civilians, as some have estimated (and that was several weeks back), surely there must be at least one photo or video that shows this clearly.
I invite you to do what I did when Professor Cole posted a link several weeks back to a video that "proved" Gaddafi's brutality: actually click on the link, watch the video, ask yourself whether it really shows what you'd expected or anything close to it, and, finally, wonder why something better than that video can't be found to prove the rebels' "civilian massacre" allegations.
You, like many others, simply work backwards from your conclusion to find (or fabricate out of whole cloth) assumptions that support those conclusions.
Your thinking is supposed to move in the opposite direction.
Uninformed Comment 04/14/2011 at 12:13 am with 2 replies
It's often surprising how irony appears only with the passage of time.
At least those of us who live in the US will recall vividly the September 2008 "Saturday Night Live" skit featuring a mock joint appearance by "Sarah Palin" (played by Tina Fey) and "Hillary Clinton" (played by Amy Poehler). Here is the best-known exchange from this extremely well-watched video:
Hillary Clinton: I believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy.
Sarah Palin: And I can see Russia from my house!
As all who saw this video will remember well, Hillary's line was received in respectful silence, while Palin's response brought down the house. It was perhaps the single funniest line of the 2008 US Presidential campaign.
In light of Hillary Clinton's subsequent "Bomb first, ask questions later" approach to US relations with Libya – carried to the absurd extent of denying a visa to Libya's designated representative to the UN, and refusing to allow would-be African Union negotiators to land in Tripoli, whose statement strikes you as more humorous now?
- Impatient Rebels Critique NATO Aid
Uninformed Comment 04/06/2011 at 5:10 pm
"Jordan is now delivering relief supplies to Misrata by airlift."
One wonders why Western countries didn't do this several weeks ago. They've had total control of the skies for over two weeks.
- Westbrook: Half-Measures in Libya will Fail
Uninformed Comment 04/04/2011 at 11:46 pm
Several comments have more or less expressed this thought, but each has principally made another (equally worthwhile) point, so I'll express the thought here. I seriously doubt it will make it past Dr. Cole's thick red editing pencil, but it's been fun writing it nonetheless (as this remark undoubtedly indicates, I've written this sentence after finishing the comment).
I doubt any of us would dispute that the US simply can't afford to intervene in every foreign dispute merely because we conclude that doing so probably would save lives. Indeed, if God told us that we could certainly save, say, 500 lives by intervening in another foreign war but that we'd certainly lose, say, 450 American soldiers' lives and $20 billion in the process, I'm confident we'd say "Gosh, we'd like to help, but no thanks."
Any disagreement on that?
If not, then I think we all should frankly admit that we don't just intervene on humanitarian grounds. We still run the cost-benefit analyses. We figure out first how much it will cost us in blood and treasure - exactly as any sane and rational human being would do. And, frankly, the drawing of a line short of "boots on the ground" means to me that we're not really willing to commit much in the way of "blood" to act on our humanitarian impulses.
But here's where the analysis falls short in the Libya War. If we tote up the American blood and treasure on the "cost" side, presumably we are also toting up the "saved Libyan lives" on the "benefit" side. Presumably there is no disagreement on that.
Are we toting up those "saved Libyan lives" with the same careful scrutiny we devote to toting up the blood-and-treasure costs? Far from it, in my view. Some of us feel that the numbers we plug into our cost-benefit analysis for "saved Libyan lives" may appropriately be based on whatever numbers we happen to receive from the Libyan rebels - rebels who tell us in one breath that 8,000 civilians have already been killed, and in the next breath that they've recaptured Sirte when they're in fact 100 miles away (among many other misstatements).
Others of us (I'm one of them) say this: Before the US spends "blood and treasure" to support a bunch of people we've never heard of, in a country that - let's face it - none of has given a damn about before all of this hullabaloo arose, the beneficiaries of our blood and treasure - the lives of our sons and daughters - ought to show us some actual evidence that what they're claiming is in fact happening - not merely that they think it would be very useful to them if we were to expend some dollars, sons, daughters and weapons on their behalf. Not just "eye-witness reports," but actual photos and videos. If thousands of people really have died, certainly there must be pictures, videos, killing fields. I've looked very hard, and have yet to find any - not to mention enough that I'd consider sending my son or daughter to die.
In short, my message to the Libyan rebels is this: We Americans are very nice people, with strong humanitarian impulses. We'd like to help, but show us first why we should risk the lives of our children for you.
Uninformed Comment 04/03/2011 at 9:34 pm
David Westbrook writes:
This at the beginning:
"Let me suggest a rule of thumb: we should not undertake the moral burden of killing when we are unwilling to undertake the existential risk of dying."
And much the same at the end:
"Hence my rule of thumb: if we are serious, we should be willing to put troops on the ground and fight."
Two comments:
1. Good for Mr. Westbrook for pointing this out. I've been more than a little perplexed at all those who've argued the US should jump into this war for humanitarian reasons, only to insist in the next breath that we should draw a clear line at "boots on the ground." Why? If we conclude it's our moral duty to intervene, why should we NOT put boots on the ground? Mr. Westbrook makes the same point.
2. Mr. Westbrook leaves unclear whether he thinks the US to get more involved or not. This may well reflect humility: He is merely explaining that the US must acknowledge that it is at war and, therefore, decide whether it is going to do it right – i.e. put boots on the ground – or pull out.
Though it may be unfair to Mr. Westbrook to speculate on his personal views – and, he might properly argue, irrelevant in any case – I see hints in his writing here that he believes the US has already made an irrevocable decision to enter this war and thus has only one real choice: stay the course, and expand the US' involvement if necessary – that to not do so would be irresponsible.
If that is Mr. Westbrook believes (and if he does not, my apology to him: let my finger point instead to those readers who do believe that; I have no doubt there are same), I disagree. It does not necessarily follow from a country's admission that it is at war that the country is morally obliged to stay in that war, much less to expand its involvement.
In some wars, that is true; in other wars, it is not. If the US' entry into this war had somehow exposed one side or the other to greater risk than if the US had not entered the war (such as when we encouraged Iraqi Shiites to undertake a rebellion in 1991 that they probably would not have undertaken absent our encouragement), arguably we'd have a moral duty to stand by whichever side we'd exposed to more risk by entering the war.
But I don't believe that happened this time. If the US just pulled out right now, I doubt the rebels would be in any worse a position than they'd have been in if the US had never intervened in the first place. Indeed, they probably would be better off, since Gaddafi would think twice before carrying out any massacre, knowing full well that the US was still keeping a careful eye on things and had already intervened once without any massacre even having occurred.
In short, the US has not made an irrevocable decision that it must now make the best of. Instead, it's faced with a new decision each day: Should it stay or should it go?
I'll be less circumspect than Mr. Westbrook in answering that question: It should go.
- Women's Rallies in Libya Protest Rape
Uninformed Comment 04/01/2011 at 12:02 am
The young woman may be dead or jailed. Or she may be alive and out of jail. She may have been raped again. She may not have been.
It's all just idle speculation. I may have been raped, or maybe not. The same for you, or anyone.
I must say I'm surprised and disappointed that everyone seems to be ducking the question I've posed, which seems to me compelling: In a country where a man's word often counts for more than a woman's word, and where men usually decide whether the man or the woman is telling the truth, why in the world would any woman - a woman who's already claimed to have been raped in front of the entire world, and thus has no reservations about reporting what happened to her - pass up what really amounts to her one and only opportunity to establish her claim by independent medical evidence? She could have insisted that a doctor of her choice monitor the whole procedure, and complained loudly if the Libyan government refused. But she didn't.
I suppose it's obvious by now that I have a tentative answer to that question, but I'd certainly like to hear another answer from others. It's certainly a question that cries out for an answer.
Uninformed Comment 03/31/2011 at 8:42 am
"There are so many reasons why this may be so, but the fact that you assume all women who are raped automatically want to tell the world about it, shows you know very little about the subject."
Actually, I do know quite a bit about the subject, but we're not trying to show who knows more here about rape. Most 5-year olds know enough to understand that a woman may be unwilling to "tell the world" she's been raped, but I think we can agree this particular woman had overcome that hurdle. She burst into the lobby of a hotel occupied by journalists and photographers covering the most-watched story in the world.
You certainly may speculate that any medical exam would have been a cover-up, but I have no doubt whatsoever that, had one occurred and the woman had requested, Western journalists would gladly have arranged for the whole process to be monitored by trusted, independent physicians.
You also may speculate that the examination might not have turned up any evidence. Sometimes that is the case. Usually not - especially when the woman openly has asserted that 15 men forcibly raped her and that several also urinated and defecated on her. Nearly always, there is evidence of physical injury that can't be attributed to some other cause. In the vast majority of cases, DNA evidence will be available as well. I'd be extremely surprised if something hadn't turned up.
Perhaps a physician reading this can "referee" our disagreement on what a physical exam would have turned up. But for those who are familiar enough with that narrow subject to accept that my view is sound, the question still remains entirely unanswered:
Why, why did this woman refuse a medical examination, thereby passing up a golden opportunity to establish independent proof that she was telling the truth about this horrible rape?
Uninformed Comment 03/30/2011 at 10:59 pm with 1 replies
I don't understand this. The Libyan government claims the woman refuses to allow a medical examination. Neither she nor any family member denies this.
Why? Why would she not accept an opportunity to establish independent proof of this heinous crime? Without it, it's just her word against that of the men she's accused. She could have proven her case to the whole world. It can't be that she's reluctant to seek publicity.
Why, why, did she pass up this opportunity? It just doesn't make sense to me. Does anyone have any theories about this?
Uninformed Comment 03/29/2011 at 11:34 am with 1 replies
To Barbara Rice:
"Also, is there any truth to the rumor that Gaddafi is using Serb nationals as mercenaries?"
Of course. If it's alleged, it's true.
- An Open Letter to the Left on Libya
Uninformed Comment 04/02/2011 at 8:38 pm with 2 replies
Interesting to see that the Red Cross has sent in teams to monitor the killing in Cote D'Ivoire, where they've reported seeing hundreds of dead bodies and have estimated 800 deaths.
Juan Cole mentions the rebels' estimate of 8,000 civilian deaths in Libya. That's a lot more than in Cote D'Ivoire. I'm surprised that the Red Cross hasn't sent a team to Benghazi to check out the situation. Perhaps it should re-examine its priorities.
- Top Ten Ways that Libya 2011 is Not Iraq 2003
Uninformed Comment 04/02/2011 at 8:46 pm
John Mullen wrote:
"If Western intervention was meant to reinforce people's power in Libya, how come Hillary Clinton is flying into London to discuss with other Westerners the future government of Libya?"
That's a very good question, John. I have no idea what the answer is.
- Qaddafi threatens to Join al-Qaeda as his Forces advance on Rebel Strongholds
Uninformed Comment 03/15/2011 at 5:48 pm with 2 replies
I agree entirely with Steve from Virginia. I expect that the uprising will yield some benefits to the Libyan people, so that dead rebels will not have died in vain: Gaddafi is likely to accept much of the long-standing "reform" advice offered by his son, Saif.
This may not happen, of course, but whether it does or not, further bloodshed won't change the answer to that question. The conflict indeed could get bloodier if the rebels insist on defending Benghazi and the other coastal eastern cities. In addition, the scope of any possible amnesty deal will shrink the longer this conflict continues, and many Libyans will unnecessarily suffer even after the dust clears if Gaddafi is left with carte blanche to hunt down any and all rebels.
Time for the rebels to call it a day, strike the best deal they can, and then push very hard for some real reforms. I may be naive, but I don't think so: some good will come from this; reforms will be made - all without US intervention.
- Earthquake/Tsunami reminds us of Futility of War
Uninformed Comment 03/12/2011 at 1:01 am
An odd juxtaposition of posts, eh? A post encouraging the reader not to give up on the Libyan rebels armed struggle against Gaddafi, followed by a piece stressing the "futility of war."
- Mubarak Defies a Humiliated America, Emulating Netanyahu
Uninformed Comment 02/03/2011 at 12:01 pm
To Bonnie McFadden,
You wrote:
"Superb analysis, superb writing. This article deserves a Pulitzer."
I agree entirely. Unfortunately, because your first sentence is true, your second sentence will be ignored by those who dole out Pulitzers.
Uninformed Comment 02/03/2011 at 11:51 am
This is a very impressive piece of writing, which should be recommended to as many people as possible, and maybe given a special front-page-archive position by Juan so readers can click on it for a quick refresher weeks, months or even years from now. In many passionate writings, the passion inevitably transforms truths into exaggerations, blunting the force of the writer's message. Not so here: Juan's passion merely makes the truth more sharp and clear.
- DOJ Subpoenas Twitter Account of Wikileaks Volunteer and now Iceland MP
Uninformed Comment 01/10/2011 at 9:45 am
Whether or not Twitter fights these subpoenas probably won't prevent the DOJ from getting the information. (I'm a lawyer, and would find it highly doubtful that the DOJ wouldn't have nailed down the answer to this question before the subpoenas went out.) For that reason, ironically, Twitter's effort is likely only to draw people's attention more clearly to the lamentable (but obvious) fact that Twitter (and Facebook, etc.) communications can be and will be obtained by the US government.
That's why I don't use Twitter, and why I use Facebook only under an alias and with a very small number of "friends." Even then, I post nothing on Facebook that would give away my identity, and have asked my few "friends" not to do so either. In addition, I've learned that one can delete most posts on discussion threads within Facebook applications (Scrabble, in my case), and I spent an hour yesterday doing just that. If you were the person who started the discussion topic, however, Facebook (or maybe it's the specific application) won't allow you to delete your first post on the discussion topic.
Others might consider some effort to "scrub" their Facebook record a bit. Certainly it's all there in the archives, but I nevertheless think it will protect your privacy a bit from snooping eyes to delete those old posts and think long and hard about what, if anything, you put in new ones.
With just a few exceptions, the Wikileaks cables have actually been "published" by one or more of the several newspapers to which Assange has delivered them, in most or all cases with editing by the newspaper after learning directly or indirectly of the US government's specific preferences concerning the cable. Whether this additional filter relieves Assange of liability is one question, but another important question it raises is whether each newspaper is liable as well. No one held a gun to the newspaper's head to force publication, and it's fair to assume the newspaper's cooperation with Assange was at least as "active" as Assange's cooperation with Pvt. Manning.
- Iran's Oily Revenge on US Drivers, US Troops
Uninformed Comment 01/06/2011 at 5:02 pm
Iran may chair OPEC, but OPEC chairs don't set quotas or prices. It works by consensus. This article suggests Ahmadinejad has control over things over which he has no control at all. Being pleased with something (higher oil prices) does not mean one has caused it to happen.
Uninformed Comment 01/06/2011 at 4:59 pm
Rather than a "petty act of revenge," it may be that Iran stopped shipping gasoline to Afghanistan because it needs it in Iran.


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The February 2010 issue of the American Planning Association's magazine, Planning, gives a brief postmortem on the 2016 bid. The article asks the questions that no one in Chicago seemingly wants to face:
"What does a city gain, or lose, by hosting the Olympics? Did Chicago lose? Or did it win?" The author then goes on to tell his readers what No Games Chicago had been saying all along:
"Unfortunately, hosting the Games gets no medals as an urban development strategy. Host efforts tend to be over promised and underfunded, and seldom achieve the goals local organizers set out." Download the full article.
Aren't there some members of the American Planning Association in Chicago? Where were they when the bid was being proposed and marketed to the citizens of Chicago and the rest of Illinois?

subset: commoncrawl


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From the outset, President Trump's response to allegations that his campaign team might have colluded with Russian actors to sway the 2016 election has been consistent. There was no collusion, he has said, time and again, an unwavering insistence that there was nothing that his campaign had done to work with any Russians who, by the way, actually wanted Hillary Clinton to win.
That insistence is based on two things. The first is that "collusion" is a vague descriptor that can be defined to exclude particular inconvenient things. The second is that Trump is skipping over particular inconvenient things.
On Monday, the House Intelligence Committee released a transcript of its interview with former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. That interview was part of its investigation into Russian meddling and was released at Page's request.
Among the details included in that testimony was this exchange with ranking Democrat Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.).
SCHIFF: Following your meeting, your trip to Russia, did you send a memo back to the campaign that conveyed the results of your trip to Russia?
PAGE: I did offer some thoughts about some of my takeaways and experiences there, yes.
SCHIFF: And in that document, Dr. Page, didn't you state, on Thursday and Friday, July 7 and 8, 2016: "Campaign Adviser Carter Page" — you're referring to yourself in the third person — "presented before gatherings at the New Economic School, NES, in Moscow, including their 2006 commencement ceremony. Russian Deputy Prime Minister and NES Board Member Arkadiy Dvorkovich also spoke before the event. In a private conversation, Dvorkovich expressed strong support for Mr. Trump and a desire to work together toward devising better solutions in response to the vast range of current international problems" ? …
PAGE: I did. It was a general sentiment of, you know, hope for the future. That's all he expressed in that brief hello.
Emphasis added. There's a vagueness to what "support" means here, but in the context of July 2016 it implies support for his candidacy.
Schiff was quick to note that Page had just testified that he'd had no private meeting with Dvorkovich. Page's explanation? In addition to saying a quick hello to the deputy prime minister, Page was also basing his description of Dvorkovich's "express[ing] strong support for Mr. Trump" on listening to a speech that Dvorkovich gave while Page was in Moscow.
Schiff also pressed Page on another email in which Page described having received "incredible insights and outreach" from Russian legislators and "senior members, plural" of the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Page insisted that this was still just a reference to that Dvorkovich speech.
That debate aside, the exchange highlights a recurring theme that's emerged over the past few months: Perceptions from members of Trump's team that the Russians were supportive of his campaign and/or wanted to help him win.
"Dvorkovich expressed strong support for Mr. Trump," Page wrote in an email unearthed only after the investigations were underway, referring to a senior member of Putin's administration. Taken by itself, it could be interpreted as Page trying to present a stronger case for his own importance than is warranted. But we don't have to take it by itself.
Last week, the Justice Department unsealed a plea agreement with George Papadopoulos who, like Page, served the Trump campaign as an adviser on its foreign policy team. That team seems to have been created and mostly abandoned in short order, whipped together to give Trump's primary campaign a greater sense of heft but then not doing much.
The plea agreement with Papadopoulos included a description of the charges he faced — lying to authorities — and a timeline of how that crime unfolded. In short, Papadopoulos offered untrue statements to the FBI. Among them, Papadopoulos claimed that his introduction to a London-based professor who tried to connect him to Russian actors preceded his work with the campaign, which wasn't true. In fact, the professor became interested in Papadopoulos only after learning that he was linked to the Trump campaign. At a private meeting, the professor, identified by The Post as Joseph Mifsud, introduced Papadopoulos to a woman claiming to be Putin's niece.
What's important here, though, is what Papadopoulos thought he was offering the Trump campaign. There were his repeated attempts to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin, leveraging this professor and another man linked to Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). But Papadopoulos was presented with other information, too.
"On or about April 26, 2016, defendant PAPADOPOULOS met the Professor for breakfast at a London hotel. During this meeting, the Professor told defendant PAPADOPOULOS that he had just returned from a trip to Moscow where he had met with high-level Russian government officials," the Justice Department document reads. "The Professor told defendant PAPADOPOULOS that on that trip he (the Professor) learned that the Russians had obtained 'dirt' on then-candidate Clinton. The Professor told defendant PAPADOPOULOS, as defendant PAPADOPOULOS later described to the FBI, that 'They [the Russians] have dirt on her'; 'the Russians had emails of Clinton'; 'they have thousands of emails.'"
It's not clear what messages these might be. April 2016 was well before the emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee or Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta were public but after each was compromised.
The next day, Papadopoulos emailed an unidentified senior campaign official, telling that person that he had "some interesting messages coming in from Moscow about a trip when the time is right."
Later, the man with the contacts at the MFA reached out separately.
On or about May 4, 2016, the Russian MFA Connection sent an email (the "May 4 MFA Email" ) to defendant PAPADOPOULOS and the Professor that stated: "I have just talked to my colleagues from the MFA. The[y] are open for cooperation. One of the options is to make a meeting for you at the North America Desk, if you are in Moscow." Defendant PAPADOPOULOS responded that he was "[g]lad the MFA is interested."
Emphasis added. That cooperation entailed at least establishing a meeting between Trump and Putin, the focus of most of Papadopoulos' efforts.
Papadopoulos had much more contact with senior Trump campaign staffers over the course of 2016 than did Page, it seems. But few people had more access to the upper echelon of the campaign than Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., who was involved in one of the most obvious efforts by the Russian government to aid Trump's election.
That, of course, came in the form of a proposed meeting at Trump Tower with a Kremlin-linked lawyer. In an email sent to Trump Jr. on June 3, 2016, music promoter Rob Goldstone — who worked for Emin Agalarov, the son of prominent Moscow developer Aras Agalarov — reached out to set up a meeting.
"The Crown prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father," Goldstone wrote. "This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump – helped along by Aras and Emin."
Trump Jr.'s response? "[I]f it's what you say I love it."
The meeting happened about a week later, involving a woman identified by Goldstone as a "Russian government attorney." This week, that attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, gave an interview to Bloomberg in which she offered new details about what happened in the meeting. She claims that Trump Jr. offered to revisit the issue of sanctions (Veselnitskaya's main concern) if his father won the election and asked that she provide documentation of allegations that Clinton had received campaign contributions from individuals who'd evaded paying federal taxes.
"Collusion" doesn't describe a federal crime, as has been pointed out frequently. Papadopoulos didn't cop to illegal collusion; he admitted lying to federal authorities. No matter what emerges, there won't be "collusion" charges filed against members of Trump's campaign team.
Bearing that in mind, though, there's clearly a pattern of members of Trump's campaign team being approached by Russian nationals and people close to Russia with offers of support or references to possible assistance. In each case, the Trump team members seemed amenable to the outreach.
None of this suggests that Trump was aware of a high-level effort by Russia to influence the election on his behalf or that he encouraged such an effort. But it does suggest that Trump's insistence that there was no collusion are more nuanced than he might present.


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Using ADO to Execute SQLXML 4.0 Queries
In previous versions of SQLXML, HTTP-based query execution was supported using SQLXML IIS virtual directories and the SQLXML ISAPI filter. In SQLXML 4.0, these components have been removed as similar and overlapping functionality is provided with native XML Web services beginning in SQL Server 2005 (9.x).
As an alternative, you can execute queries and use SQLXML 4.0 with your COM-based applications, by leveraging the SQLXML extensions to ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) that were first introduced in Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.6 and later.
This topic demonstrates using SQLXML and ADO as part of a Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) application (a script with the .vbs file name extension). It provides initial setup procedures to help you recreate and test query samples in the SQLXML 4.0 documentation.
Creating the SQLXML 4.0 Test Script
In this procedure, you create a VBScript (.vbs) file, Sqlxml4test.vbs, which can be used to execute SQLXML queries by leveraging the SQLXML ADO extensions in ADO 2.6 and later.
To create the SQLXML 4.0 query tester using ADO (VBScript).
Copy the code below and paste it into a text file. Save the file as Sqlxml4test.vbs.
WScript.Echo "Query process may take a few seconds to complete. Please be patient." ' Note that for SQL Server Native Client to be used as the data provider, ' it needs to be installed on the client computer first. Also, SQLXML extensions ' for ADO are used and available in MDAC 2.6 or later. 'Set script variables. inputFile = "@@FILE_NAME@@" strServer = "@@SERVER_NAME@@" strDatabase = "@@DATABASE_NAME@@" dbGuid = "{5d531cb2-e6ed-11d2-b252-00c04f681b71}" ' Establish ADO connection to SQL Server and ' create an instance of the ADO Command object. Set conn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") Set cmd = CreateObject("ADODB.Command") conn.Open "Provider=SQLXMLOLEDB.4.0;Data Provider=SQLNCLI11;Server=" & strServer & _ ";Database=" & strDatabase & ";Integrated Security=SSPI" Set cmd.ActiveConnection = conn ' Create the input stream as an instance of the ADO Stream object. Set inStream = CreateObject("ADODB.Stream") inStream.Open inStream.Charset = "utf-8" inStream.LoadFromFile inputFile ' Set ADO Command instance to use input stream. Set cmd.CommandStream = inStream ' Set the command dialect. cmd.Dialect = dbGuid ' Set a second ADO Stream instance for use as a results stream. Set outStream = CreateObject("ADODB.Stream") outStream.Open ' Set dynamic properties used by the SQLXML ADO command instance. cmd.Properties("XML Root").Value = "ROOT" cmd.Properties("Output Encoding").Value = "UTF-8" ' Connect the results stream to the command instance and execute the command. cmd.Properties("Output Stream").Value = outStream cmd.Execute , , 1024 ' Echo cropped/partial results to console. WScript.Echo Left(outStream.ReadText, 1023) inStream.Close outStream.Close
Update the following script values for the sample you are trying to test and your test environment.
Find "
@@FILE_NAME@@" and replace it with the name of your template file.
Find "
@@SERVER_NAME@@" and replace it with the name of your SQL Server instance (for example, "
(local)" if SQL Server is running locally).
Find "
@@DATABASE_NAME@@" and replace it with the name of the database (for example, either "
AdventureWorks2012" or "
Update any other values if mentioned in the specific instructions for the example you are attempting to recreate locally on your computer.
Save the file and close it.
Verify that you have created any additional files, such as XML templates or schemas that are part of the sample you are attempting to recreate locally on your computer. These files should be located in the same directory where you have saved the test script file (Sqlxml4test.vbs).
Follow the instructions in the next section for how to use the SQLXML 4.0 test script.
Using the SQLXML 4.0 Test Script
The following procedure describes how to use the Sqlxml4test.vbs files to test the example queries provided in this documentation.
To use the SQLXML 4.0 query tester
Verify that SQL Server Native Client is installed, as follows:
From the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
In Control Panel, open Add or Remove Programs
In the list of currently installed programs, verify that Microsoft SQL Server Native Client appears in the list.
If you need to install SQL Server Native Client, see Installing SQL Server Native Client.
Verify that the version of MDAC installed for the client computer is 2.6 or later. If you need to verify MDAC version information, you can use the MDAC Component Checker tool, which is provided as free download from the Microsoft Web site (www.microsoft.com). Fore more information, search on "MDAC Component Checker" on the Microsoft Web site.
Execute the script.
You can execute the VBScript file either at the command line using Cscript.exe or by double-clicking Sqlxml4test.vbs file to invoke the Windows Script Host (WScript.exe).
When executed, the script should display a message to alert you that the script might take a few moments to execute before returning and displaying query results as script output. When the output appears, compare its contents to the expected results for the sample.


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Hi All,
I know I'm a pretty paranoid person. I have been using personal computers ever since I stop using my abacus. I am very fearful of a crash and losing all my work. Right now it totals about 250 gb of files I have a second drive I backup to when I import the pics and I also have a raid 1 g-tech outboard setup that is hooked up to the time machine. I am now thinking I should somehow archive the files on some sort of disk. I just read about a new disk that is suppose to last 1000 yrs but it seems the size is only a standard 4.7 gb dvd. Which would mean I would need some 50+ disks and god knows how long to do the job.
I would like to know what the other paranoid photographers are doing to protect their work from the digital gremlins that inhabit our computers. Please keep in mind whatever system I use I will most likely need to buy some sort of outboard burner and software (Mac user)to accomplish the mission which I'm willing to do.
I hope to hear anybody's thoughts on the subject.


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Hope Quotes
Quotations on Hope
The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.
Francis Bacon
All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope.
Alexandre Dumas
Hope is independent of the apparatus of logic.
Norman Cousins
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
Dale Carnegie
Once you choose hope, anything's possible.
Christopher Reeve
Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity.
Robert G. Ingersoll
He who has never hoped can never despair.
George Bernard Shaw
Things which you do not hope happen more frequently than things which you do hope.
Titus Maccius Plautus
In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?
Barack Obama
Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, not to oust them.
Vincent McNabb
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Albert Einstein
There is hope for the future because God has a sense of humor and we are funny to God.
Bill Cosby
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
Albert Einstein
I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.
Walt Disney
I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.
George Washington
I hope my tongue in prune juice smothers, If I belittle dogs and mothers.
Ogden Nash
Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope.
Beware how you take away hope from another human being.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.
Martin Luther
Those who hope for no other life are dead even for this.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Selfishness must always be forgiven you know, because there is no hope of a cure.
Jane Austen
Hope travels through, nor quits us when we die.
Alexander Pope
I hope for the day when everyone can speak again of God without embarrassment.
Paul Tillich
Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.
Samuel Smiles
All kids need is a little help, a little hope and somebody who believes in them.
Magic Johnson
While there's life, there's hope.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Where there is no vision, there is no hope.
George Washington Carver
I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.
He who despairs of the human condition is a coward, but he who has hope for it is a fool.
Albert Camus
Hope of ill gain is the beginning of loss.
Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.
Lin Yutang
Hope is like peace. It is not a gift from God. It is a gift only we can give one another.
Elie Wiesel
Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man.
Victor Hugo
What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence.
Samuel Johnson
Litigant. A person about to give up his skin for the hope of retaining his bones.
Ambrose Bierce
Not without hope we suffer and we mourn.
William Wordsworth
I think if there's a great depression there might be some hope.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The youth is the hope of our future.
Jose Rizal
It is a vain hope to make people happy by politics.
Thomas Carlyle
He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.
Thomas Carlyle
Love, we say, is life; but love without hope and faith is agonizing death.
Elbert Hubbard
But what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.
George Eliot
A propensity to hope and joy is real riches; one to fear and sorrow real poverty.
David Hume
I hope to bring people to God with my songs.
Mahalia Jackson
It is a long lane that has no turning.
An old saying
I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.
Nikos Kazantzakis
Hope is the poor man's bread.
George Herbert
Don't give up. Don't lose hope. Don't sell out.
Christopher Reeve
He who does not hope to win has already lost.
Jose Joaquin Olmedo
Before you give up hope, turn back and read the attacks that were made on Lincoln.
Bruce Barton
We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.
John F. Kennedy
Hope is the last thing ever lost.
Italian proverb
Hope is the last thing to abandon the unhappy.
A leader is a dealer in hope.
Napoleon Bonaparte
The miserable have no medicine but hope.
William Shakespeare
Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory.
Norman Vincent Peale
To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.
Mother Teresa
We judge a man's wisdom by his hope.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
A ship ought not to be held by one anchor, nor life by a singe hope.
Great hopes make great men.
Thomas Fuller
Hope is a waking dream.
He, who has health, has hope; and he who has hope has everything.
Arabian Proverb
Things never go so well that one should have no fear, and never so ill that one should have no hope.
Turkish proverb
Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast.
Alexander Pope
At first we hope too much; later on, not enough.
Joesph Roux
In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.
Robert Ingersoll
Our greatest good, and what we least can spare, is hope.
Abraham Cowley
The first task of a leader is to keep hope alive.
Joe Batten
A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.
John Barrymore
When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.
Thomas Jefferson
All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
It's a lot better to hope than not to.
Benjamin J. Stein
Nor dread nor hope attend a dying animal; a man awaits his end dreading and hoping all.
William Butler Yeats
Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die.
Daniel Burnham
Hope is patience with the lamp lit.
Read dream quotes here. Please leave your comments below, thank you!


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|Photo by Jane Cockman on Flickr
Anyway, one of the main things I look for in an app is how much it will improve my daily life. Makes sense, right? A lot of time I expand this philosophy so that it includes apps that will help me grow as a writer.
A fantastic app I discovered recently is Pocket. Like other bookmarking apps, Pocket lets you save articles to read at your convenience. "When you find something you want to view later, put it in Pocket," says the website. Simple enough. You'd be surprised how useful Pocket can be for writers.
What I've noticed most with Pocket is that it has allowed me to do a lot more reading. Articles I usually skip over online now go into my queue. I read them before bed, in the bathroom, while waiting in line - you name it. Most of the stories aren't long, but they're long enough to keep me from jumping it right away. With Pocket, I'm almost guaranteed to read whatever I save. It's fantastic.
Another wonderful thing about Pocket is that it syncs across most devices. There are apps, browser extensions, and website integration tools to ensure you have the best experience possible. You can even enable Pocket on Twitter to save the articles that people tweet.
If you use Pocket, you'll read more articles. Try it and see.
What do you think of Pocket? What other apps would you recommend to writers?


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By Per Ake Persson
It appears that undefeated British/Commonwealth heavyweight champion Tyson Fury´s next fight will be against undefeated 6'5 Norwegian Leif Dolonen Larsen (14-0, 11KOs), who in the past have been playing American football in the N F L. Larsen, 36, later turned to boxing and made his pro debut in 2003 and since then racked up 14 straight wins in an on and off career. Fury (15-0, 10KOs) was expexted to fight Martin Rogan on this date but that matchup fell through over money. Fury returns on September 17th at Kings Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland.


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Wed, 30 June 2010 at 8:50 am
Will.i.am Fights Back Against Burglars
- Will.i.am recovers most all of his property after his Bentley was burglarized last week – TMZ
- Emily Osment and Allstar Weekend perform during Taste of Chicago – Just Jared Jr
- Is this Jackie Kennedy or Katie Holmes? – Us Weekly
- Ed Westwick is dirty while down under – Lainey Gossip
- Do you think Lindsay Lohan's new role will save her career? – The Superficial
- Maroon 5 gives a behind-the-scenes tour of their new music video – MTV Buzz
- Dev Patel and Freida Pinto are not engaged – Access Hollywood
- Ryan Phillippe goes out with his kids in L.A.- Popsugar
- Carrie Underwood has bachelorette party in Vegas – theFABlife
- Kim Kardashian gives a sneak peek of her wax clone – E! online Mon-Partygirl
- Paris Hilton wears a very colorful ensemble – Trendmill
- Vanessa Hudgens opens up to Glamour magazine – OK
- Aerosmith arrives in Paris for a concert – PCN
- Russell Brand hangs out on the set of Arthur in NYC – Splash
Just Jared on Facebook


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Your Selection
mykind Organics B-Complex is a whole food B-Complex formula that's both Certified USDA Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified.
In a convenient, once-daily tablet, mykind Organics B-Complex is made from 25 real Organic powdered fruits, vegetables and herbs and supplies 100% DV or more of all eight of the essential B vitamins.
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mykind Organics B-Complex is free from synthetic pesticides and fertilisers, contains no artificial colours or preservatives and is Gluten Free & Vegan.
Additional Information:
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We use Eco Flow packaging in all of our parcels, Eco Flow, which is made from GM free starch, is 100% biodegradable. Unlike all other loose fills on the market, Eco Flo is compostable (EN13432) and independently proven to offer better all round protection than polystyrene loose fill.


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Home > Machinery & Tooling > Used Tooling > Scaffold Tower
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We offer an Absolute Money Back Guarantee on all machines that we either Refurbish or Recondition and also our prime stock machines (i.e. modern or little-used) superior quality requiring no more than cleaning and servicing. And we'll give you it in writing so that we're contractually bound by it…… (not that we need to be!)
All 'prime' machines go through an intensive Multi-Point pre-despatch inspection.
We will only sell something if we are able to: - Save you time, increase your profits, or solve a production or other problem and provide you with a real solution. We never ever sell just to get Rondean a sale!
We also offer Fully Powered Demonstrations: Please make an appointment to bring your materials along to 'try-before-you-buy'.
We can provide a Fully insured delivery insurance option we use specialist tried-and-tested- hauliers (as opposed to the some hauliers where a loss is calculated usually at only current scrap value)
Within reason we can haul, move, lift, install, locate, equip, and service most machines.
For more information and price please call us on +44 (0)191 410 5886, or send us an enquiry via our online form, or by Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp.


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Brazil were an absolute shambles against Germany last night - and David Luiz was exposed as a liability.
That's the verdict of our chief sports writer Oliver Holt after witnessing one of the most astonishing games in football history.
Germany were spellbinding in their 7-1 win, reaching the World Cup final in the most destructive way imaginable.
"One of the most astonishing games I've ever witnessed," our man says. "It's an amazing thing to witness."
Watch what else he had to say in the big match video verdict above.


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Benitez joins the Italian Job…less
December 21, 2010 6 Comments
After just 6 months into his managerial role Rafael Benitez has been sacked by his club Inter Milan. This comes after days of speculation from the media regarding Benitez's position. On Monday morning many of the tabloid papers in Italy printed headlines saying that the Spaniard had been sacked, and it was only when Benitez spoke with a Spanish radio station saying, "I have not been fired" that the situation was cleared up, well sort of. It looks like this was only delaying the inevitable, with his departure expected to be officially announced within the next 48 hours.
It seems very strange to me that any manager should have to deny that his Club has sacked him. But that is exactly the circumstances Rafael Benitez found himself in on Monday concerning his position at Inter Milan. When Inter President Massimo Morrati was asked about Benitez's future he refused to comment, which can't have filled the manager with much confidence. I thought that it would have been fairly simple for Morrati to say he has, or he hasn't fired Benitez. It is this ambiguous reaction from the President of Inter that clearly showed there was trouble at' mill.
Benitez's tenure at Inter had been a turbulent affair, with not much going his way. To start with, he had to fill the gap vacated by none other than Jose Mourinho, after he left for Real Madrid. This would not only be hard for Benitez to follow on the pitch, but also off it. Mourinho is instantly a fan favorite wherever he goes; simply because of the success he brings the clubs he manages, so many fans at Inter were dubious that Benitez could emulate this success. Just look at the skepticism that has followed the appointment of Chelsea managers post Mourinho.
Secondly the injury list did little to ease Benitez into his new job. Diego Milito, Wesley Sneijder, Maicon, Walter Samuel, Julio Cesar and Samuel Eto'o were some, among many, of the injury problems that he had to deal with. Not only that, but he was also blamed for them by some figures connected with Inter. Former fitness coach at Milan Rui Faria has blamed Benitez's training methods for the injuries, "The players, medical staff and Italian football in general are the same as last year. Only one thing has changed…" This is a direct attack on a manager who, I'm sure can be hard on players, but would never push players to the point of injuring themselves. It seems that an intense previous seasons football and a World Cup over the summer months were not even taken into account when discussing the extensive injury list.
Another factor that, combined with the injuries, contributed towards Inter's poor start to the season was the lack of funds made available for Benitez to buy players. Last year Mourinho spent €80 on transfers, Benitez on the other hand spent €0 while at the club. Most managers when entering a new club, especially during the transfer window, seem to want to make at least one landmark signing to stamp their mark on the squad, and make it their own. Mourinho certainly did this at Real Madrid. Surely Inter were in a healthy financial position having won the Serie A and the Champions League last year, I don't see why funds were not used to strengthen the squad. That is one of the reasons why a great football club will stay successful, continual development and investment, generated by their accomplishments.
Not progressing the squad meant that Benitez's Inter were taken over by other clubs in Serie A who have improved this season. This includes bitter rivals AC Milan who now top the group, also Napoli, Lazio and Juventus have all had strong starts to the season. Inter are now placed 7th in the league, after only six wins in fifteen matches, leaving them a significant thirteen points a drift of 1st place. The only saving grace has been winning the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, but with the trophy having little prestige in Europe, It helped little with the demise of Benitez's position.
I was not the biggest fan of Benitez when he was in England, but there was no doubt that while he had the support of the club and the fans at Liverpool, he was successful. This seems to be the complete opposite of what has happened at Inter Milan. There wasn't any confidence in him from the club, especially from the President Moratti. It has to be said though that Benitez did not help his precarious position, the comments he made after the Club World Cup final demanding funds for the demanding funds for the January transfer window, provided Moratti with more ammo to use against him. I feel these comments, although strong, were just, and the reaction to them sum up how he was treated in his reign as Inter Milan manager.
What could be next for Rafa then? According to some sources in is pay-off from Inter there will be a clause forbidding him from managing another club in the next six months. So after his holiday could a return to England be on the cards. Liverpool may be looking for a manager soon!
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Length: 00:14:43
Lesson Summary: In this lesson, we are going to take a look at differences between Chef Enterprise and OpenSource Chef. We are also going to look at the role of the server as it relates to our Chef environment.
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Now, I think we can question her patriotism.
Leaders: Rep. Nancy Pelosi has her own "grapes of wrath" scenario going on. Is her opposition to enhanced border security due to the fact that the House Democratic leader personally profits from a steady supply of cheap foreign labor?
If Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives, the San Francisco Democrat will not only be the first female speaker, but also the richest. The liberal Center for Responsive Politics puts her net worth as high as $55 million.
There is no record of Pelosi's ever returning her portion of those "tax cuts for the rich" to the U.S. Treasury. Or any record, for that matter, of using her (dare we use the word?) windfall to give the workers at her Napa Valley vineyards a raise.
As Peter Schweizer notes in his best-selling expose of liberal hypocrisy, "Do As I Say (Not As I Do)," part of the fortune of this defender of the working man is a Napa Valley vineyard worth $25 million that she owns with her husband. The vineyard produces expensive grapes for high-end wines. Napa grapes bring up to $4,000 a ton compared with $300 a ton for, say, San Joaquin grapes.
But Pelosi, winner of the 2003 Cesar Chavez award from the United Farm Workers, hires only nonunion workers and sells these grapes to nonunion wineries. Schweizer places Pelosi in a chapter titled "Workers of the World Unite Somewhere Else." UFW members need not apply at the Pelosi family vineyards.
Which makes Pelosi's steadfast opposition to any attempts to enhance border security and stem the flow of illegal immigration into the U.S. all the more interesting since she seems to be among those rich employers who financially benefit from a steady supply of cheap foreign labor.
She led the opposition and voted against the Secure Fence Act of 2006 recently signed into law by President Bush to build a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.
She opposed the Real ID Act of 2005, a valuable anti-terror tool, while bragging that Democrats under her leadership "defeated Republican attempts to restrict the easily forged Matricula Consular card" issued by the Mexican government.
She voted against a bill to make employers such as herself financially liable for hospital costs if undocumented employees seek medical attention, preferring that either taxpayers foot the bill or that hospitals close under the burden, as many are doing throughout the Southwest.
In 2005 she voted against barring the issuance of driver's licenses to illegal aliens and against a requirement that businesses use an electronic system to verify whether new hires have the legal right to work in the U.S.
Nor has Pelosi been a fan of employer sanctions against the hiring of illegal aliens. In 2003, she accused immigration officers of conducting "terrorizing raids" on Wal-Mart stores that led to the arrest of more than 300 illegal aliens.
Loraine Stewart, a farmworker advocate with Napa Valley Community Housing, in a 2004 San Francisco Chronicle article estimated that half of the migrant labor force in the valley consisted of undocumented workers, without whom "not one bottle of wine would get made here."
The people coming across our southern border aren't just seeking better lives. They're joined by drug smugglers and an assortment of people with criminal records. There are also what Immigration and Customs Enforcement calls OTMs (Other Than Mexicans) among whom potential terrorists could sneak in undetected.
Pelosi apparently puts her financial interests above the security of this nation and the safety of its citizens, exploiting undocumented workers in the process. If the people at Immigration and Customs are looking for an employer to check out, we know this little vineyard in the Napa Valley.
This year, vote like your life depends on it. Because it does.


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What They Are
A CCRC, also referred to as a life-care community, combines residential accommodations with health services. The purpose of a CCRC is to allow residents to receive the appropriate care across a continuum, from independent living to assisted living and skilled nursing care, as their needs change, without having to leave the retirement community. This ensures that residents will be cared for through end-of-life. CCRCs usually charge residents an entrance fee as well as a monthly payment. The entrance fee may include the cost of purchasing a unit, or it may be a one-time fee in order to join the community.
What to Expect
Continuing care retirement communities span a continuum of care according to the needs of senior residents. Services range from assisted living (which provides some housekeeping, social activities, supervision and assistance with basic activities like personal hygiene, dressing, eating and walking) through skilled nursing care for seniors requiring medical care prescribed by a physician. CCRCs usually charge residents an entrance fee as well as a monthly payment. The community provides housing and defined long-term care services for the life of the resident. Residents may select different options, which are noted in their contracts.
Paying for a CCRC
Paying for a CCRC is decided by the level of care that you require, and where you reside, from independent living to assisted living and skilled nursing care. In independent living, the only option is private payment. Assisted living is not be covered by Medicare, Medigap, Managed Care and Medicaid, but is covered by certain long-term care policies (LTCI) and Veterans Benefits. Skilled nursing is covered by Medicare, Managed Care, Medigap, Medicaid, long-term care insurance (LTCI) and Veterans Benefits.
Read more details on assisted living facility coverage.
Read more details about skilled nursing facility coverage.
Read a detailed description of all types of reimbursements.
Finding and Assessing a CCRC
Gilbert Guide provides national CCRC listings along with information on how to assess assisted living and skilled nursingsections so that you can find a CCRC that will best fit your needs both now and in the future.


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|The Layout.
|Legionarios advancing with the UNL35
|Spanish Coppers of the Guardia Civil variety
|Dakka Dakka
|Hiding Militia hold the village.
|Nationalist commander, Stuart
|Caught in the open, but the UNL35 fails to spot!!
|The Fuzz again
|Legionarios move to occupy a house, they die horribly later on!!
|Sneaking out on the flank.
|The Militia storm a building
|The Duel on the road, ends in disaster for the Militia
The rules work quite well for the period, we need to have a few more games to allow them to sink in a bit, plus a few tweaks will help to balance things out.
I do need to make a lot more terrain though, as our options were fairly limited.
It was great to get all the stuff out again, and I now have a lot more enthusiasm to get some more work done.


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Hey Guys
I know that I said that was not going to purchase nail polish this year. I have decided that I am going to limit the amount that I can purchase instead due to the fact that I don't think that I can go the whole year without purchasing polish. In the month of January I have done well I have only purchased 5 polishes which all were from Nail Inc from the Gel Effect range and managed to pick them in TK Maxx for £4.99 each instead of £14.
I have made so much progress on some of my nail polishes which are in my project polish which you can read all about here there will be an update next week on my progress, Anyway on to the shades which I picked up in this haul.
I picked up 5 polishes all in shades which I think that are so easy to wear. The first polish is Downtown which is a really neon pink shade in the bottle I just think this is going to look amazing in the summer months.
The bright blue shade is Mercer Street which again I purchased because of the fact that I thought it would be an amazing again the the summer months I realised I have a lot of dark colours in my collection at the moment so I would purchase some summer ones so I have a combination of both.
Old Bond street is one which I could not say no to due to the fact that I really love purple nails. This shade looks amazing at any time of year I can say, It will look amazing on my nails at this time of year and then would look nice on my toe nails later in the year when it becomes a bit warmer,
Regents Place is a beautiful pale blue shade which will look amazing on the finger nails in the summer it is not like any other shades which I seem to own. This is one which I think would be perfect to use for nail art.
Finally I have the shade Bond Street which is a dark plum colour which will look beautiful in the autumn months which is why I picked it up because I know that when it comes to that time of year I will not be able to find it again so that is why I picked it up this time. However I may not use it till then.
What shades do you love from the nail inc gel effect range?


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Introductionary Skyrealms of Jorune Adventure for 4 Characters.
It takes the characters directly from their home village into the adventure of becoming drenn.
The book consists of a loose cover made from heavy paper with full color art outside and adventure maps in the inside. The softcover module was placed in this cover.
Review of boardgames ant RPG items


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By Rafael Contreras
Cuba Free Press
Pinar Del Rio. – It is said that Monterroso's short story is the shortest one ever written. Textually it reads: "When he awoke, the dinosaur was still there."
It is true that it is very short, what I fail to understand is why people insist on calling it a story. But let's leave it at that, it isn't my intention to discuss this very famous, and very short, story.
I intend to write about the most frustrated, and short, individual in this world; at least that's how those of us who have suffered through his bouts of frustration and quirkiness have come to see him.
This malcontent had one thousand and one opportunities to gain notoriety but never did. He was a mediocre magician, and also tried to be an actor. He was a policeman, a bad artist, a deficient art teacher, even tried to be a gigolo, but lacked the looks. Then, he found out that there were dissidents in Cuba, and understood that somehow, he could achieve fame.
He searched and dug around in a thousand places, and understood that by being a dissident, he could get people somewhere to talk about him. He became an independent journalist.
One can very easily become an independent journalist, the best thing about it is that you don't have to be a journalist at all, and by either luck or misfortune, what you say can be read or heard nearly anywhere.
In this, the frustrated man was pleased. Some of his mediocrities were read or heard overseas, but pleasing a frustrated individual is a difficult thing, and he wanted more. He was not satisfied with the sporadic mentions he received in the radio; his occasional appearances in Miami newspapers did not satiate his thirst for fame; he aspired to so much more recognition. He decided to become the most famous dissident in his province, but not by working, he would achieve his fame as a professional schemer.
He turned his house into the Devil's cauldron. Gallons of café were consumed and tons of nicotine inhaled in an insecure and damaging blend of gossip and intrigue directed at the very brothers at arms of Cuban dissidence. Now, the frustrated man is famous. Every scandal that surfaces against someone is born there, in the macabre and obscene social events elaborated by himself and his unconditionally manipulated supporters. Discrepancies among members of organizations, dissolution of political movements, arguments, and disappearances of projects created with fine intentions are the fruit of the labor, and the shame of this individual.
Now, nearly every one of us fear his entanglements, and the truth is that what we have become is a group of frightened and confused brothers, and that brings me pain.
I hope this story serves as a warning, and maybe it will become the shortest story in the world, but I can't write anymore about such a frustrated man. Fear not, for there is always hope remaining for us, even in spite of those who seek to do us harm.
But it is very sad however, every morning when we awake, the dinosaur is still there.


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Resonance Raman characterization of proteorhodopsin's chromophore environment
Article Abstract:
Resonance Raman spectra of proteorhodopsin (pR) excited with 532-nm light indicate that there are two subpopulations of pR within the sample solubilized in octylglucoside detergent and maintained in a light-adapted state in a spinning Raman cell. The two populations exhibit two distinct chromophore environments, as evidenced by two sets of split peaks.
Publication Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry B
Subject: Chemicals, plastics and rubber industries
Year: 2003
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Elastic constants and related mechanical properties of the monoclinic polymorph of the carbamazepine molecular crystal
Article Abstract:
Brillouin scattering is used for probing the acoustic constants and elastic constant tensors of the monoclinic polymorph of the drug carbamazepine (CBZ III). Cauchy's ratio from the elastic constants has suggested that many-body forces of dispersive interactions have contributed to the lattice anharmonicity of CBZ III.
Publication Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry B
Subject: Chemicals, plastics and rubber industries
Year: 2008
User Contributions:
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- Abstracts: Direct synthesis and characterization of hydrophobic aluminum-free Ti-beta zeolite. Synthesis and characterization of acidic high-silica faujasite-type gallosilicates
- Abstracts: Synthesis and characterization of colloidal CuInS2 nanoparticles from a molecular single-source precursor. Synthesis of ferromagnetic Mn-Pt nanoparticles from organometallic precursors
- Abstracts: Effects of ionization, metal cationization and protonation on 2'-deoxyguanosine: Changes on sugar puckering and stability of the N-glycosidic bond
- Abstracts: Importance of phase change of aluminum in oxidation of aluminum nanoparticles
- Abstracts: Organic beam epitaxy using controlled PMDA-ODA coupling reactions on Cu{110}. Chemical reactions in CF2Cl2/water (ice) films induced by X-ray radiation