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Interesting Product for Diabetic Feet
I wanted to make people aware of an interesting new product that's been added to the Find Solutions section. It's a foot cream designed to help heal and protect at-risk skin. The early feedback we've received is that it's great for diabetic feet.
And best of all, the offer is for a free sample. It would be great if some of the members here who have problems with their feet could get a free sample and let us know what you think of it.
The cream is made by a company called Cooper Labs.
NOTE: We've met the quota for this month for Cooper Labs so the offer has been taken down for right now. But we're making arrangements to get the offer back up on Find Solutions. Keep checking.
14 replies
I too went over to that site, I hardly use. I did order my free samples. Thanks John…Debe
Go over to the side and go under Find Solution. It is a cream for your feet. You will get the info there…Debe
Once I get my sample, I'm going to see about getting some for my dad, if it works. He is 75, and broke his ankle. He believes the swelling in his foot, his skin is really dry and splitting. He's tried Gold Bond, to no avail. I gave him the heads up on this, and told him I would give it a try, then let him know about it!
ordered some myself.. will update how it helps later. I have been haveing a terrible time with my feet. Always cracked bad to the point they bleed from time to time before my podiatrist visits. currently use urea cream 40% on them. but willing to give this a try to see if it helps better. Thanks for posting.
Thank you John. I will definitely check it out. Love & Light, Pat
just ordered my sample thanks John
I just ordered my free sample! Can't wait til it arrives, thank you John!!
I sent for my sample. This is a GREAT part of the site. I am getting my CPAP supplies way cheaper from a company I found in this section.
thank you, i ordered my free sample!
Next Discussion: Understanding test results »


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Our new Public Lead Mandy Henk introduces herself
Kia ora koutou New Zealand! I'm Mandy Henk, the new Public Lead for Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand.
Getting involved with copyright is a bit like joining the mafia–once you're in, you're in. There's no way out. I was first inducted back in 2004. Back then, I worked for Vanderbilt Law Library. As the Access Services Librarian, I was in charge of a smart new service–electronic reserves. Student readings! Delivered on the internet! It was easier for students, easier for instructors … there was just one little issue we had to sort out. It was then and there that I started my journey around copyright, fair use, the public domain, orphan works … and all the rest.
Here's the thing about copyright–I've spent my career hearing regular groans and exclamations of frustration when the topic comes up. Which it does–we live in an era where written communication has taken on the ease and informality of verbal communication, one where copying is as easy as clicking–but one with the legal infrastructure of an earlier era. The thing though is that copyright is important and relevant for all of us–whether we are artists or scholars or teachers or students. Copyright matters to us because democracy matters, because creativity matters, and because the rule of law matters.
We need a legal infrastructure that supports innovation, that supports artists, and that supports the work of teaching and learning. I am so privileged to have the opportunity to work for Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand where we are working hard to develop and advocate for a healthy and vibrant legal Commons. One where we all respect and follow the law, because the law makes sense for how we live and work and supports what we need to do.
If you're here reading this and you don't yet know how to use and apply one of the six free licences we support, have a read. If you aren't even quite sure what a copyright licence is, that is OK! We can help with that. I'm here to make this easy for you, to make it easy for your audience, and to work with you to showcase for the world what an amazing community we are here at the bottom of the world. New Zealand is a small place, but we are at the leading edge of developing a healthy and vibrant legal Commons.
If you want to be a part of this work, get in touch with us–we want to work with you to build a legal Commons for all Kiwis. One that enables business innovation, supports a thriving arts and cultural sector, and one where teachers and learners can share material freely, without feeling intimidated or frustrated.
I'm looking forward to working with all of you.

subset: commoncrawl


text: With a population of more than 250,000, Fort Wayne is the second largest city in Indiana. Renowned for its affordable cost of living and high quality of life, Fort Wayne's vibrant downtown features the Grand Wayne Convention Center, two adjoined full-service hotels, an easy accessible skywalk system, and 20 restaurants and bars located within four blocks of the convention center. For larger groups and tournaments, the massive Allen County War Memorial Coliseum is the best option for multi-day events, featuring 1 million sq. feet of meeting space, 152,000 sq. ft. of exhibition halls, a 13,000-seat arena, new conference center (opened January 2016) and 5,000 parking spaces. Nearly equidistant from Chicago, Cincinnati, and Detroit, it has historically served as a transportation and communications center for Northeast Indiana, and an incubator for many products and companies.


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Nothing from Something
Sometimes I think a mini-apocalypse would be just the thing we need.
Nothing that lasts too long. Nothing that trips us past the collapse point.
Just a nice few days were we are forced to stop and ponder what might come next if the plates are not-spun.
Ideally it wouldn't be our fault. An agnostic third-party would be ideal. Zombies, Aliens, Mole-men.
The apathetic all assume it will be us, but someone else trying to do it is a different matter. Someone outside our contract, that would be best.
Gazing backwards, I see a path of progress towards blunting the power of the most powerful so that it is something other than absolute.
So it seems unintuitive that the future would seem so dismal.
We take so much for granted, and the abundance is layered so deep and hidden in complex machinations that it would take decades of dedicated study from the smartest of us to even list it all.
But I think just a few days of fighting against the Moleman King and his molten minions in each of our backyards might give us all an honorary phd in appreciation of civilization.
For when the last giant molerat is impaled upon a makeshift lance attached to the front of a family sedan, even the mixed smell of muted sulfur and rotting rodentia won't be able to cover the musk of progress and accomplishment.
Only then in that moment will we truly be able to appreciate the scale of the gift that we have. The wondrous, colossal edifice of silent cooperation between the millions of greedy, petty bipeds that we all spin upon.


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Kendra James is the Founder & CEO of The Finance Femme, a premier financial consulting firm for women entrepreneurs. Kendra integrates her corporate experience, extensive entrepreneurial knowledge, and business finance acumen to help a myriad of women run their businesses with the confidence of having a full time CFO.
Kendra started her love of Business Finance while attending Clemson University, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Corporate Finance and a minor in Accounting. Upon graduating she moved to NYC where she began her career in finance. She spent 10+ years climbing the corporate ladder, working for companies like GE managing over 2 billion in sales and 200 million in expenses. She spent thousands of hours inside, or preparing for, Executive Boardroom meetings. During that time,Kendra realized her passion was in helping small business owners and that is when she created The Finance Femme and her signature service The Boardroom Experience™. The Finance Femme reaches many entrepreneurs via Social Media and a growing email subscriber list. With over 11,000 active social media followers, many entrepreneurs follow to learn more about everything from funding their start-up to managing their cash flow. Additionally, Kendra has expanded her business to mentor other small businesses in the finance, accounting and tax space – assisting with everything from brand building to client acquisition & retention.


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SOURCE: Genius.com
June 22, 2010 08:08 ET
BMA Recognizes Marketing Software Provider for Its Unique, Community-Based Communications Program
SAN MATEO, CA--(Marketwire - June 22, 2010) - Genius.com Incorporated®, ranked Number 1 in marketing automation and a leading on-demand provider of B2B lead management and demand generation solutions, has been honored with two 'B2' awards by the Business Marketing Association (BMA). The BMA, the preeminent service organization for business-to-business marketing and communications professionals, selected Genius.com as a winner within the Integrated Communications and Social Media categories.
Genius.com's Connected Marketer blog, launched earlier this year to serve as an educational resource and networking community for B2B marketers, was honored in the 'Corporate Blog, Single' category. Genius.com's 2010 customer engagement strategy, titled "Ditching the Pitch to Connect with Marketers," was chosen as the best entry within the 'Integrated Marketing Communications' category.
"We wanted our new communications strategy to embrace our community as a resource for shared knowledge versus the often off-putting 'pitch-at-them' approach that is still widely used. This meant integrating social elements and delivering more empathetic, community-focused information into all our customer-facing channels," said Parker H. Trewin, director of marketing communications for Genius.com. "These awards from a prestigious organization like the BMA are frosting on the cake; the real win is the end result: a more vibrant and active community that shares diverse opinions, ideas and rich content."
The B2 awards, which evolved this year from the BMA's prior Pro-Comm awards, recognize the work business marketers and agencies do "2" engage employees, sales forces, channel partners, government and even consumers. The B2 Awards also encompass other marketing responsibilities, including strategy, and give marketers a way to be recognized for non-marcom achievements. An all-marketer judging panel made up exclusively of senior-level business executives selected Genius.com from a competitive group of entries submitted by marketers and agencies across the U.S.
"The B2 awards recognize marketing excellence -- creativity, execution and results," said Patrick Farrey, executive director of the BMA. "Genius.com impressed the judges with its campaigns in the integrated marketing and best blog divisions with their peer-based initiatives that creatively delivered upon objectives."
Complete details about the BMA awards and its winners can be found at http://www.marketing.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=5151.
About Genius.com®
Genius.com is the No. 1 provider of social marketing automation, sales lead management and demand generation solutions that enable both marketing and sales users to quickly identify and connect with their best prospects, without IT. With hundreds of corporate customers who use Genius solutions to automate email marketing and lead nurturing campaigns, B2B marketers are proving their impact on revenue by delivering the most qualified leads directly to their frontline sales reps, so they can immediately follow-up on their best opportunities and close more deals.
Genius.com is a privately held company funded by Accel Partners, Deep Fork Capital, Emergence Capital, Mohr Davidow Ventures, and Walden International, with headquarters in San Mateo, CA. For more information, visit www.genius.com or email Info at Genius.
Contact: Parker Trewin 415-740-4329 firstname.lastname@example.com Catherine Koo 415-992-4400 email@example.com
Contact: Parker Trewin 415-740-4329 firstname.lastname@example.com Catherine Koo 415-992-4400 firstname.lastname@example.com
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Contact Tizzie
The Save Our Sleep HUB:
Shop 5, 350 Pakington Street
Newtown VIC 3220
Parking available at the rear
Opening hours:
- Monday 10 am to 5 pm
- Tuesday 10 am to 6 pm
- Wednesday 10 am to 5 pm
- Thursday 10 am to 5 pm
- Friday 10 to 3 pm
- Saturday 10 to 2 pm
- Sundays and evening's by appointment (email email@example.com )
The Save Our Sleep Destination Store:
7 Sykes Place
Ocean Grove VIC 3226
Opening hours:
- Monday to Friday 9:30 am to 4 pm.
Online store enquiries: 0439 691 353
HUB and Destination Store enquiries: 03 5255 3463
*Please note these numbers are for general enquiries and order enquiries only.
No advice regarding your baby can be offered over the phone. If you have a question about your baby please join our Facebook Support Group.
- Contact Us
- To contact Tizzie Hall or Save Our Sleep® for technical or media queries only please email email@example.com .
- If you have questions about the whereabouts of your purchase please read the Online Shop Shipping page.
- If you have questions about baby sleep problems or other parenting issues, please check to see if they're answered on our frequently asked questions (FAQ) page.
- Would you like to thank Tizzie? You can start a thread in this area of our community to say thank you to Tizzie. You do not need to be an online advice member to post in or read this thread.


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Gary Stoddard provides leadership on the business strategy and development of Nitor. He provides clients with expertise across the Source-to-Pay spectrum including: spend assessment, category management, strategic sourcing, contract negotiations, supplier management and procurement transformation projects.
Gary has over 20 years of procurement experience across many industries. Prior to joining Nitor, Gary had a 10-year career at Rolls-Royce where he held management positions in global procurement, supply chain operations and customer business. Gary then managed a procurement consulting firm specializing in strategy, sourcing and cost savings. Gary has extensive international experience, including managing projects in Italy, Spain, France, Israel, South Africa, England and the Americas. He has delivered significant procurement transformation programs that have improved performance, increased supply chain resilience, and delivered over $800MM in sustainable savings.
Gary holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in Business Economics from Nottingham Trent University in England.


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
Learn about upcoming events, programs, public meetings and programs occurring in the City of Glen Rose.
Check out breaking news and timely updates from the City of Glen Rose.
Make your voice heard in various forums on the City of Glen Rose focused on City initiatives, programs, and ideas.


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Only four men have averaged 60-plus with the bat after 50 Test matches. One was Don Bradman. The other two were the Englishmen Herbert Sutcliffe and Jack Hobbs. To that list you can now add Australian captain Steve Smith.
An interesting aspect of Smith's record is that he's amassed the highest average of anyone who's played 90 innings or more. Don Bradman is regarded as the greatest batsman of all-time, and will likely remain so forever with his Test average of 99.94. But the Don played just 80 Test innings in a career punctuated by WWII.
Smith was out -- ironically enough for 59 -- a run short of his average of 60.15 in Australia's second innings in the third Test between Australia and Pakistan at the SCG.
But he'd done his part to ensure his place in cricket history, and more importantly, added super quick runs to ensure his team has every chance of bowling out Pakistan as Australia chases a 3-0 clean sweep.
Smith declared Australia's second innings closed at 2/241, leaving Pakistan 16 overs to bat on day four, 90 on Saturday (weather permitting) and a mountainous 465 required for victory.
Usman Khawaja was not out 79 and Peter Handscomb not out 40. And everyone got excited about Khawaja's "dab" celebration upon reaching 50.
Rate it or hate it? Uzzie's fifty celebration lit up social media!— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) 6 de janeiro de 2017
WATCH: https://t.co/0Em7VIDouz #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/ucAMWgzr41
At stumps Pakistan was 1-55, still requiring another 410 runs to win. Nathan Lyon grabbed the wicket of Sharjeel Khan for 40, after enticing a false stroke of a nicely lofted delivery.
Dave Warner just went bananas, berserk, ballistic, bonkers -- and a whole lot of other words that may or may not start with b -- in Australia's second innings of the third Test between Australia and Pakistan at the SCG. Again.
In reaching 50 from 23 balls, Warner made the second fastest 50 in the history of Test cricket. Only current Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has gone quicker, racking up 50 off 21 balls against Australia two years ago.
Warner made 113 in the first innings of this Test, a record knock which was the first time a batsman in Australia had made a century before lunch. And then he showed that he was still in the mood. A highlight was when the 30-year-old leftie swiped two successive sixes over long-on off Yasir Shah's second over.
Kaboom! #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/3rPZwVpXn1— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) 6 de janeiro de 2017
They landed within a metre of each other.
Kaboom: The Sequel! #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/DaoL8qvet0— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) 6 de janeiro de 2017
He then cut a ball for four and followed up with a reverse sweep to the boundary, in what felt like like the artistic swirl at the end of a signature.
Warner reached 44 off 21 balls after hitting four fours in four balls. Yeah, you read that right. Then raced to 50 off 23 with a six the following over. Because was he ever going to bring up 50 any other way with his tally on 44?
At tea, Australia was 1/117. Usman Khawaja was on 30 and Steve Smith on 25. The skipper looked like he might just be getting into a Warner sort of mood.
Smith launches a six to finish the session with Australia 1-117, leading by 340 runs #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/VK6kzTTMO5— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) 6 de janeiro de 2017
Pakistan were bowled out for 315 on day four of the third Test between Australia and Pakistan at the SCG.
Play took a while to get underway, due to early morning rain and a weird period of an hour or so when the pitch sat there in the sunshine waiting to be "inspected" even though a man with a blindfold facing the other way could tell it was ready to play on.
When we finally had some cricket, Pakistan scored freely, centurion Younus Khan adding 39 to his overnight score before he was stranded on 175 not out as Josh Hazlewood snared the last two wickets.
Australia has now commenced its innings. Dave Warner nonchalantly flicked the first ball he faced for four. He has been joined in the middle by Usman Khawaja due to the unavailability of Matt Renshaw, who has been ruled out of the rest of this match with concussion.
Pakistan elected to bowl leg spinner Yasir Shah in just the second over of the innings, which no one saw coming.
Matt Renshaw made a mature, measured 184 in the first innings, but the 20-year-old opener has been forced out of the third Test due to concussion.
Renshaw was struck on the helmet twice in three days. His initial blow came via a bouncer on the first day of the Test.
Here's a look at the damage to Matt Renshaw's helmet from the Amir bouncer earlier.— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) 3 de janeiro de 2017
REPLAY: https://t.co/Ew5iICYG8f #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/Ci55ybHvtf
The second knock occurred while he was fielding at short leg on Thursday.
Another new helmet for Matt Renshaw after being hit fielding in close. He's fine to stay out there #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/ynrL4OW0FN— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) 5 de janeiro de 2017
It was the second one that caused concussion, which prompted Australian team medical staff to rule him out of the Test as a precautionary measure.
"Matthew Renshaw was struck on the helmet fielding close-in on Thursday afternoon and came off complaining of a headache," said team doctor Peter Brukner.
"He rested in the dressing room and then, when we returned to the hotel, we performed concussion tests and his cognitive, balance, co-ordination and reaction times were all within normal limits.
"However, on Friday morning he was still symptomatic and so we have taken the decision to withdraw him from the match as he is suffering from concussion. We will continue to monitor him over the coming days and work with him to produce a gradual return to play."
In better news, the rain appears to have cleared in Sydney, and play is expected to resume in the early afternoon. Pakistan are 8-271, still 267 in arrears of Australia's first innings of 8 (declared) for 538.
This is day four of the Test, but as the Melbourne Test showed, anything can happen on the fifth day of play. We'll update this story during the day. Live scores are here.


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These 4 Strategies Will Strengthen Your College Degree's ROI
You are about to invest a lot of money for a college education with the expectation that a degree will land you employment after graduation. How will you best assure a return on this investment (ROI)? News flash! In today's global workplace a degree alone is no longer a direct ticket to a professional job. Students must engage strategically outside the classroom as early as freshman year to become successful in landing employment after graduation. This means leveraging a whole new set of strategies not taught in the traditional college classroom.
Related: 3 Ways To Emphasize Your ROI On Your Resume
By the year 2020 over 40% of jobs will be contract work (The Intuit 2020 report). As more companies downsize full time employees and replace them with contract employees, the job search process will change considerably. Fewer companies will utilize placement offices at colleges and universities in order to find candidates. Instead, job seekers will rely more and more on social media, professional connections and professional referrals to locate work. Therefore, college students must start building and nurturing strong professional relationships the minute they step foot on campus. And, here are four strategies to get started.
1. Complete Your First Year's Core Courses At A Community College.
Then transfer to a public, in state four-year institution and complete your degree. With the money you save, invest it each summer by participating in a professional experience. These experiences-internships-are every bit as important as the coursework you complete! And these "outside the classroom" experiences will help you build professional relationships and establish the sought after professional skill sets desired by today's employers.
2. Begin Working With The College Career Center Immediately.
This office will assist you in leveraging the strategies necessary to become employable. Establish a strong relationship with a career coach, meet with him/her often and set goals for each semester.
3. Choose A Major That Truly Interests You.
Remember. Higher education is just as much about studying what you love as it is about becoming employable. And, for majors that do not easily translate into job titles (i.e. english, philosophy, history, etc.), be strategic. Add a second major or minor in business, establish competencies in the use of technology, and leverage internship experiences. Your coursework will teach you the basics of how to think, write and problem solve whereas the "outside the classroom" experiences will allow you to practice and master these sought after skill sets.
4. Participate In An Internship Every Summer.
Internships are the best way to master sought after skill sets, professional relationships and realistic work expectations-especially for those studying majors that don't easily translate into job titles. Now that companies are relying more on employee referrals and interns for new hires, it is imperative that students begin internships as early as freshman year. For each year after, establish a progressively higher-level, mentored based internship experience with the final year's internship at a company of top interest.
Using these strategies will greatly benefit your ROI. Do you have a strategy to add to this list? Share your thoughts here and check out the available courses through workitdaily. Then work with me to strengthen your brand. #workitdaily
Photo Credit: Bigstock


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Faithful, like the trees./
The other evening, during my favorite time of day, I found these lovely wildflowers sprouting up on the grassy strand in front of our yard. It made me happy. As a golden glow was cast on our lawn, I watched my husband contentedly care for our small piece of land. It's not much, but it's ours. It's our one piece of nature to care for and maintain. There is something fulfilling about that...
Lately, all of this creation sprouting around me has whispered one thing: be faithful. I know "faithful" is what I want to be in my marriage or in my friendships, but what does it mean as an overwhelming purpose? "Blessed is the man...whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."
Here we go again with nature being the perfect parallel to life.
What I'm learning is that faithfulness is simply about being who I was created to be. A tree does not wake up with a to-do list. It is simply a tree, and that is its job...every day. It is deeply rooted in the soil, straight down to the nutrient it needs to survive. It is just faithful being a tree, flowering in season and existing for the reason it was created. It does not worry what each day will bring or whether it will be ready when a wintry season comes to strip its bark and its leaves. It is ready.
What if....I just concentrated today on being a women of God and nothing else? Would everything else not fall into place? Will I not see that there truly is "a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven"? (Ecclesiastes 3)
To this day, I've never heard someone say they were more stressed after spending time in nature. This is why people seek out retreats in the mountains, build dream homes by the sea, and nurture flower gardens on urban patios. There is something beautifully calming about standing in a forest, gazing up at redwoods with tops too high to see. Trees are simply doing what they are supposed to do - GROW. No...I don't know a single person who isn't quieted by standing among a forest of trees. And I think it will always be that way, because nature was created to quiet our soul, to show us our purpose, and to show us God.
~Hamlin Garland, McClure's, February 1899
Today, I will simply concentrate on being a faithful tree. And I will rest in knowing that my roots are reaching down just a little bit closer to their source of Life.


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|Savita Halappanavar: her death has
prompted fierce debate on abortion
legislation in Ireland
Alongside the timeline of these tragic events, the Fine Gael / Labour coalition government on the back of their Programme for Government had agreed to legislate for the X-Case. In that case, a young girl who had been the victim of rape was deemed to have a right to an abortion if there was "a real and substantial risk" to her life. Crucially, that risk included the risk of suicide. While the government, and the population generally, are of a view that the "real and substantial risk" test was appropriate, the question of suicide was for many a step too far. Some argued that no one could clinically diagnose such a risk, that it was entirely within the gift of the woman herself to declare such a risk, and therefore such a provision would be wide open to abuse.
Over the weekend, it emerged that a Fine Gael position had been floated where suicide could be accepted as grounds where two obstetricians and four psychiatrists would have to agree in advance. Labour thought that was insane, and one 'leading perinatal psychiatrist' (there are apparently three of those in the country, so I guess we don't have any 'middling' or 'poor' ones) went so far as to call it abusive.
There is a fundamental and unspoken philosophical problem at the heart of all of this, and it is one which goes to the heart of neoliberal thinking. At what point do we stop operating as a society or a group, and at what point do we begin operating as individuals? Most of us have been raised and trained to think as individuals, in that late twentieth century quasi-aspirational, post-feudal thing, "you can be anything you want to be, if you put your mind to it!" Each of us has our own personal freedom, our own capacity, into which the State shall not interfere, save in the protection of the rights of others, in the protection of the State itself, or in the enforcement of contract.
Leave aside for the moment the rights of the unborn child, which is in itself an ethical issue of some depth. Much of the current discussion has focused on whether the mother can make a decision on her own accord, by herself. In that state - pregnant and not wanting the baby, possibly miscarrying and wanting to give up hope for her child, hormonal (!) - is the woman in an appropriate state to make a decision? I would argue that she is.
Presuming that some cabal of doctors can make the decision for her, can determine what her state of mind is, is abdicating to the state the freedom to think. We cannot begin to presume to know more about what's in a person's mind, what's in a person's heart, when they are making these decisions. To do so would be to create an entirely unacceptable principle that learned men (and possibly learned women!) are better served to dictate what is in some sense the objectively right thing to do.
"The institutionalized misogyny of the Catholic Church cannot now be allowed to reassert itself"Now, on the one hand we have a similar principle established in our judiciary - as societies, we appoint people - and juries - to pass judgement on our fellow citizens in order that we determine an appropriate course of action should our laws be compromised. But on ethical, quasi-religious ground the state should have no say. That Ireland died with deValera and McQuaid, and that appalling righteousness that accompanied the vestments of authority. The institutionalized misogyny of the Catholic Church cannot now be allowed to reassert itself so that Fine Gael might wrest one last election victory from the hands of senior voters who think that their Ireland of the 1950s is what we need right now.


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Your search for Cherry Blossoms
SSSG - Crystal Hunter Cherry BlossomsCategory: Puzzle Games
Tags: crystals, find, hidden, search, hunter, sssg, super, sneaky, melting-mindz, crystal hunter, cherry, blossoms, photo, game, hidden object, flowers
Help Super Sneaky Spy Guy find all of the missing crystals in the beautiful cherry blossoms! Find all 100 hidden crystals as fa...
Lucky PandasCategory: Casino Games
Tags: Free Slots, Free Slot Machine, Slot Machine, Slots, Cherry Blossoms, Yin Yang, Japanese Goldfish, Shrine, Dragonfly, Bonsai Tree, Bamboo Muching Panda, Panda Reading A Book, Panda Holding Flowers, Red Tassle, Chinese, Pandas
Lucky Pandas is a FREE slot machine set in a bamboo forest full of cute pandas, cherry blossoms, and shrines. In the Bamboo Bon...


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|the Galaxy Samsung S3
The successor to the Galaxy S2, first rival of the iPhone, was presented to the press Thursday in London. Scheduled for the month of June, he combines design and performance. With original features. The presentation was particularly expected in the high-tech world. Become the number one global mobile to Nokia and Apple, Samsung presented Thursday night in London its new flagship, Galaxy S3 model.
Return to rounded for the Galaxy S3 of Samsung new design: a beautiful curved lines and the back housing bubble which is inevitably think of the latest Smartphone from HTC, the X One. With a slightly larger 4.8-inch super Amoled screen, that is distinguished by its superb contrast and excellent accuracy in the details view in 720 x 1080 and its resolution of 306 DPI (almost as the iPhone 4 S and its 326 DPI). "Inspired by the nature, designed for humans", announces the slogan of the constructor. Galaxy S3 13.6 x 7 cm to 8.6 mm thick and weighs 133 g.
-Use more natural:
Galaxy S3 knows what you want to do, said a spokesman for the company. Thus, the face detection to keep the active screen when you look at, avoiding that he goes to sleep. The proximity sensor, whenever it detects a movement to the ear, won without the need to press a button or dials the number of the contact displayed on the screen. Equally dramatic, the function S Beam to easily share files between two Galaxy S3: touch other device and the content will be transmitted automatically by NFC or Wi-Fi depending on the size of the file.
-L' eye and ear
S Voice speech recognition system allows Samsung compete with Siri on iPhone 4 S: can now of course talking on the phone to ask him to take a photo, call contact, schedule an alarm, dictate text, to obtain weather or to control the music player. The camera, he recognizes the faces of the persons concerned and proposes to deliver images by MMS or e-mail. Better: by pointing the finger at a face on a picture, can be the Facebook and Google + the subject profile.
-Photos and videos galore:
Equipped with a 1.9 megapixel for video telephony and, rear camera, sensor of 8 Megapixels particularly reactive (no delay between onset and the capture of a photo), the new Galaxy offers an automatic scene mode. He may even recommend the best snapshot among several shots. The screen allows to Watch Full HD movies in full definition, but also knows transfer wireless display on a large screen compatible DLNA. It also provides access to the contents of other devices from a wireless network.
-The price of power:
Compatible 3 G + (HSDPA + 21) and 4 G (LTE), Galaxy S3 is also very powerful with its quad processor. It especially to continue watching a video in a sticker while performing another task on the phone. Available in blue or white, and 16, 32, or 64 GB, Galaxy S3 will be distributed in France in June. First Prize: 649€.


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Glaser & Weiner, LLP
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Contract Litigation
Partnership and Business Disputes
Landlord-Tenant Disputes
Real Estate
University of Michigan, Bachelor of Music
New York Law School, Juris Doctor
New York and Connecticut State Bars
United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
Todd is a veteran trial lawyer and has successfully represented clients in all phases of complex commercial litigation, including at trial and on appeal. Todd has experience with a variety of matters including breach of contract litigation, Article 78 proceedings, healthcare vendor disputes, landlord-tenant disputes, real estate litigation, co-op and condominium disputes, broker disputes and construction litigation. Todd has represented home care agencies in disputes with New York City agencies, including the Human Resources Administration, and in wage and hour disputes. Todd provides counsel to his clients in a wide range of business disputes, including partnership breakups and corporate dissolutions. Todd's aggressive and creative litigation techniques led one adversary to refer to Attorney Lamb as a "wolf in sheep's clothing" in court papers, a comment Mr. Lamb considers the best compliment ever received with respect to his litigation skills.
Todd also has experience with transactional matters. Having spent nearly two decades reviewing and litigating the meaning of condominium and cooperative offering plans, declarations, by-laws and board minutes as well as litigating complex landlord-tenant disputes involving commercial leases, the Rent Stabilization Law and Rent Control Law, there are few people better equipped to perform the due diligence required prior to the purchase of property in New York City. Todd provides solid and trustworthy counsel walking his clients through every aspect of a real estate transaction from the accepted offer through contract negotiations, due diligence and closing. Having a transactional attorney who understands the complexity of this relationship will not only facilitate a smooth closing, but will also put the client in the best position possible to develop a successful long term relationship with the client's new cooperative or condominium community.
Todd spent nearly two decades with several of Manhattan's most venerable law firms. Todd is a member of the New York County Lawyers' Association, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Law Association of Greater New York and the Association of Small Claims Court Arbitrators.
60 Cutter Mill Road, Suite 608
Great Neck, NY 11021
Phone: (516) 304-5858
Fax: (516) 304-5855


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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
full of grace
This past weekend I took myself on a date to the local movie theater for The September Issue. It was two hours of Vogue Magazine come to life. I enjoyed every behind the scenes minute. And I left with a new girl crush-Grace Coddington. Though I was half aware of Grace's contributions to fashion, and specifically to Vogue, I was not aware that most of my favorite editorials were styled by the brilliant Ms. Coddington. After seeing her work in action it all came together-her vision is something I so appreciate. The movie also touched on her interesting back story-to which I was unaware.
Grace was originally born in Anglesey, a remote Welsh island, in 1941. She won British Vogue's young model competition at eighteen, and for the next decade lived the life of a cover girl. Her career as a fashion model was cut short after she survived a serious car accident and plastic surgery. In 1968, she joined British Vogue as a fashion editor; along with Anna Wintor, and there she remained until 1987 when Calvin Klein hired her to be his design director. She went to American Vogue the following year. Grace became Vogue's creative director in 1995, a title that she holds to this day.
1 comment:
- hmw said...
i loved grace too. great post.
- Thu Sep 17, 09:38:00 PM
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Tue, 6 June 2017
This episode Steve and Sean are joined by guest bartender Stephen Webb of The Coal Hill A/V Club podcast, who chose quote the morsel for them to suck on and ingest: "The Ultimate Foe", the final Sixth Doctor story.
True, it's only two episodes long, but there is so so soooo much to talk about here. Is "The Ultimate Foe" a cacophony of style and celebration? Or is it just an old, dried-up piece of hard candy, dropped on the carpet and covered with hair and ants? Listen in and find out?
Email us stuff at email@example.com, check out out growing-more-popular-by-the-year Facebook page, and follow Sean on Twitter every other week via @tardistavern. You can also follow Stephen Webb via @geeklectic.
Direct download: TARDIS_Tavern_Episode_163.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:19pm CST


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Happy Stamping
Oh wow!! Doesn't that card look amazing in blue. Love it!!ReplyDelete
Just beautiful!! I love this card!!ReplyDelete
Monique your CASE is so much nicer than the original. I just love your colour combo and the DSP as the second layer looks fantastic! That little bit of washi tape I can see on the inside just finishes it off beautifully!ReplyDelete
Great feature of the DSP and followed through to the stamping of the wreath.ReplyDelete
Ooh your CASE is so pretty Monique! The blue & white of the DSP blends perfectly with your wreath.ReplyDelete
Wow. I love your colouring of the wreath. It looks amazing. You're right, the tone on tone looks fab with this card.ReplyDelete
Your beautiful card makes me want to get out my Circle of Spring stamp set and give this a try .... L-O-V-E your idea of stamping the bow with the white StayzOn!ReplyDelete
Oh wow, you nailed this CASE Monique. Your white & Navy card looks so pretty and elegant. For me, this is why I love CTC - the catalogue image doesn't really say wow to me, but your CASE jumps right out and says "you want this stamp set"!ReplyDelete
OH this is super sweet. Lovely card and so much nicer than the originalReplyDelete


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My mother came across this sweater in her workroom the other day and gave it to me to finish. It's an Elizabeth Zimmerman Original Baby Surprise Jacket, made several years ago from acrylic worsted and never sewed together.
She even found the pattern-from Knitter's Magazine Issue 14 Spring 1989. What wonderful articles! I must try this pattern and knit several of these. I wove in the ends from the stripes while watching tv and found some nice buttons for it.
After working on the Jamie Blankie Project, I just had to make more mitered squares, so I'm working on a baby afghan of my own.
The first two squares are complete, just 58 more to go. This is a great project to work on when you feel like knitting in front of the tv, or when you're nursing a cold. These are made from Lion Cotton and Plymouth Wildflower DK.
I found the circular needle I was missing and the project it was attached to. I had forgotten all about that box of yarn, so I started taking inventory of my yarn stash. I need to have a list to refer to, the stuff is crammed into nooks and crannies all over the house.
Oh, that project? It was a sweater for my middle son from about 5 years ago. He's outgrown it. Project cancelled, it's on the frog pile. The yarn is Lion Homespun in Rococo, Ranch and Colonial.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
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Business advocacy organizations in Mississippi are heavily involved with this year's campaign season because the outcome has a big impact on a large number of issues affecting the viability of businesses in the state.
The NFIB (the National Federation of Independent Business) gives small- and independent-business owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business, said NFIB state director Ron Aldridge.
"NFIB's powerful network of grassroots activists sends its views directly to state and federal lawmakers through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America's free enterprise system," Aldridge said. "NFIB's mission is to promote and protect the right of our members to own, operate and grow their businesses. Based on that mission, NFIB knows that if we don't get involved in the election process, then those who get elected will certainly get involved in our business. Our members know we must have elected legislators who know what burdens are incurred for those who sign the front of a paycheck."
He added that this year's elections are critical as they relate to wealthy plaintiff oriented trial lawyer candidates and their involvement in down races in order to possibly effect a reversal of previously successful tort reform legislation.
"NFIB/MS must be vigilant and involved in the election process to insure election of candidates who understand and are open to solving the problems of small business, not turning back the clock to the days of jackpot justice," Therefore NFIB makes endorsements and involves our members at the grassroots, having members in most every county of our state. NFIB's endorsements are important for each candidate. Small-business owners and their employees vote in high numbers, and they are known for actively recruiting their friends, family members and acquaintances to go to the polls. NFIB has pledged to those it endorses that it will activate its grassroots network on their behalf."
NFIB plans to send one or more election publications to their members prior to the election and will keep them informed on their Website at www.nfib.com/ms. In statewide races they will also be letting non-member small businesses know who's "Best for Small Business" based on their evaluation of the candidates and the key issues.
"In our effort to be accountable to our members, we seek out candidates' beliefs in regard to several issues, which our members have told us are important to them and which are current issues for our state's legislative process," Aldridge said. "Another key thing we do is compile a four-year voting record of current legislators on all the small business issues we promoted during the term. This is a critical information for our members to have so they have an accurate picture is whether what candidates say they are for or against actually complies with what they have actually done."
NFIB and other business groups active in the election campaign said a top goal is to protect the significant tort reform passed in 2004 which has helped restore the economic, legal, and medical health of the state.
"The trial lawyers have a track record in every other state of making every effort to undo any major tort reform either through the legislative process or the courts," Aldridge said. "Their huge involvement in this year's elections is by design and their underlying cause is for that very purpose. They've proven that in numerous other states and in their own trial lawyer literature.
"Also of extreme importance is to hold the line on tax and fee increases that would be an inordinate burden on the backs of small businesses. One key unfair, discriminatory and antiquated tax that needs to be done away with is the annual inventory tax and personal property tax on a business' furniture, fixtures and equipment."
Aldridge said the cost of health insurance is still small businesses' number one concern, and whatever can be done at the state level will help ease the difficulty of making it more affordable and accessible. Mississippi has one of the highest insurance premium taxes in the nation. Reducing that could immediately lower insurance premiums, thus providing some relief to every consumer. It would also give more economic incentive for insurance companies to do business here.
Another issue of extreme importance is the need to fully protect private property rights in the aftermath of the Kelo decision. Aldridge said. No government should be able to take a person's private property for the benefit of another private entity.
"Other issues that our small businesses are concerned about include: making sure we don't establish a separate state department of labor with further regulatory burdens on small business; other labor and employment issues related to unemployment taxes and workforce training; unfair government regulations and competition; workers' compensation insurance reform; and, establishing a performance review process of state government," he said.
The NFIB has endorsed the following in the statewide race: Haley Barbour for governor, Phil Bryant for lieutenant governor, Al Hopkins for attorney general and Mike Chaney for insurance commissioner.
Protecting tort reform progress a priority
The Mississippi Manufacturers Association (MMA) has endorsed the same candidates listed above and Delbert Hosemann for secretary of state. MMA also believes it is important to protect tort reform victories.
Mark Leggett, director of government affairs for the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, said it has been shown in other states that when the business community isn't involved in maintaining tort reform, trial lawyers tend to be more motivated and run candidates. Then tort reforms can be watered down or repealed.
"We have seen that in a number of other states where there is a drop off in interest in elections after tort reform," Leggett said. "We can't let that happen. We don't think that ought to happen so that is why we are involved in letting our members know about the importance of this election."
MMA considers this one of the most important elections long term and in fact calls it a 14-year election. That is because U.S. Census numbers will come out in late 2010 or 2011. The legislators elected this term will draw the districts for the next 10 years from 2011 to 2021.
"So what people decide on November 6 has consequences out 14 years in who will be in the legislature," Leggett said.
Workforce training and availability
Two primary interests are workforce training and availability. Those go together. A lot of Mississippi manufacturers are having trouble getting enough workers.
"We want to make sure they protect the workforce training funds that are there, and that they continue with the systems we have gotten refined over the past four years," Leggett said. "Another issue we have related to that is immigration. We don't want to the employer to have the burden of enforcing federal law or bear any of the sanction of not being able to do something that some law might require. There are laws that have been proposed that say you have to use the Social Security Web site to check on someone's employability. Yet you go the Social Security Web site and it says, 'Do not use this for checking employment status.'
"We don't support anyone knowingly hiring illegal aliens and flouting federal law. But we don't think the employer should be the one to enforce the federal law and bear that burden. We feel that is a federal issue. Almost every time states have gone into this, it has been overturned. Congress tried twice last year to do something and wasn't able to move on it. That increases the desire to do something at the state level even if it would be overruled."
Another important issue regards the state's tax system. MMA believes the state's tax system needs to be competitive because Mississippi manufacturers are vying not only with manufacturers in other states, but other countries such as China, too."
MMA also supports regular performance reviews of state government. That could help save money and keep taxes low. And another issue is the Private Attorney Retention Sunshine Act, which would provide some oversight into the selection of private attorneys who contract with the attorney general's offices so attorney generals don't hire their friends or campaign contributors behind closed doors.
Marty Milstead, executive vice president of the Homebuilders Association of Mississippi, said the homebuilders are interested in electing representative who focus on business and are interested in helping build a better Mississippi.
"We want legislators who want to create jobs, make a better business climate and who are interesting in working with us in housing Mississippians," Milstead said.
The HBAM has endorsed Barbour, Bryant, incumbent Attorney General Jim Hood, Stacey Pickering for state auditor and Hosemann for secretary of state.
Contact MBJ contributing writer Becky Gillette at email@example.com.
… we'd like to ask for your support. More people are reading the Mississippi Business Journal than ever before, but advertising revenues for all conventional media are falling fast. Unlike many, we do not use a pay wall, because we want to continue providing Mississippi's most comprehensive business news each and every day. But that takes time, money and hard work. We do it because it is important to us … and equally important to you, if you value the flow of trustworthy news and information which have always kept America strong and free for more than 200 years.
If those who read our content will help fund it, we can continue to bring you the very best in news and information. Please consider joining us as a valued member, or if you prefer, make a one-time contribution.Click for more info


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When we received the puzzle to try out, C was so excited because as much as he loves Lighning McQueen, he has taken a liking to Jackson Storm and so he was thrilled to see him included on the puzzle too. There are 60 pieces and C can sometimes feel a little thrown in at the deep end when the pieces are small, but because this is classed as a 'giant' floor puzzle, each piece is about the size of his hand and the finished picture is large too.
It is recommended for children aged 4+, C will be 5 in September and this is probably the first puzzle that he's needed minimal help from me with. I gave him prompts such as finding all the pieces with blue and yellow on or "can you find the rest of Lightning McQueen's eyes?" but all in all, he was able to do the majority of it himself and boy, was he proud of himself!
The familiar characters definitely helped and I think they made him enjoy it more. Even though he could see what the puzzle would look like on the box, he couldn't wait to complete it and see it for himself. The puzzle pieces are bright and colourful and it's perfect for any Disney Cars fans!
The Car 3 Giant Floor Puzzle retails at £9.99 and can be purchased from Amazon and all major retailers. You can find out more at the Ravensburger website and you can keep up to date on Twitter.
(We received this puzzle for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)


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"Hello, this the the Hyundai Department of Motor Vehicles. How may I help you?"
(From Irregular Webcomic. Click on the link for full sized branding!)
In his annotations, Morgan-Mar says that he's surprised governments haven't already done this. I guess I'm surprised too. Still, given he uses his Nigerian Treasury Ministry strips to hit every corporate Get Rich Quick scheme and internet scam, I think the juxtaposition here is hilarious.
I also want to point out an amenity that will mean nothing to any of you, but is an absolute freaking Godsend to people with websites like mine. In his navigation tool (which remains a best of breed in terms of functionality), he includes a link that's standard for Blogs and almost unknown for Webcomics: "this strip's permanent URL: http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/cgi-bin/comic.pl?comic=624" Sure. This may seem obvious to you, sitting there in your chair, but there's a lot of steps I need to take to craft the fine, precision blathering you're reading here. I have to identify a strip I want to Snark, download the graphic, upload-and-thumbnail it on my site, and identify a permanent link for the thumbnail link. See, I don't want to just point you to their website: my snarks are typically about specific strips in their archive, so it makes sense to link to that archive page.
Only for the most part, the archive page URL is different from the main page URL, but in many cases the archive page isn't readily available until the next strip comes out. So, I have to trick the site into giving me a URL that I can use -- generally by going to the last strip in the archive, then incrementing it up. Generally, that will either give me the archive page or will default back to the main page for the day, but either way it's a link I can put in.
(In some rare cases, it returns a 404, and I have to delay that snark until the next time the strip updates. Only I don't tend to like snarking the archive instead of the current strip, so in a practical sense it means I don't snark that webcomic.)
Morgan-Mar takes all that away. I just copy, paste and am done. Life is good.
I am praying that when Web Comics Nation rolls out, it does something like this automatically. Praying!


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I am going to try to move forward, though I know that this sadness will stay with me for some time, hiding in the back of my mind. I hope that you too will keep your thoughts and prayers with the members of the Sandy Hook community. As I attempt to maintain the consistency of my everyday life, please know that it is not without sorrow and mourning for the lives affected by this catastrophe.
This week we were gingerbread crazy in our room! Gingerbread week is one of my favorite each year :) I'll have to post about the gingerbread fun tomorrow, I have to bake 6 dozen cookies for our school cookie exchange tonight - sheesh!!
So for now I will rewind back to snow week briefly and share a messy, but awesome activity we did! If you intend to try it, please heed my warning: put something down under the bowl. ALSO, use a bowl that is big enough to contain everything. Unfortunately, I made both of these mistakes and ended up with a snow day in our room - ahem, my poor custodian! So here's what we made: FROSTY FLUFF!! Below is the recipe to make it. To grab your Frosty Fluff FREEBIE, just click the picture below!
|Oh what a beautiful mess we made! Had to switch bowls midway through because it was too small, sigh.
|They were so excited when I let them squish their hands in it too! Luckily one of my kindies seems to have a future in photography. How awesome is this picture for a 5 year old?!
|Here's how it looks when it is all done! It is just soooo soft and fluffy. It's also moldable. The kids LOVED making snowballs and snowmen with it!
|After making our snow, I filled a baggy full for each child and stapled the recipe to it. I sent it home so they could play in the snow with their families!


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Friday, November 12, 2010
39 weeks!
8 comments:
- The Mustard Seed said...
Congratulations!! The baby will be here any day now! I am a fan of your work and wish I could crochet and knit! Praying for a quick and healthy delivery for you and your new little bebe!
I think it's going to be a boy ;-)
- November 13, 2010 at 12:18 AM
- Nathania said...
i bet you're anxious and excited! Pamper yourself!
- November 13, 2010 at 12:25 AM
- Miss Madison's Mommy said...
Walk that baby out girl! Can't wait to see pics of a brand spankin' new baby!! Good luck!
- November 13, 2010 at 6:20 AM
- Noelle said...
Yay, can't wait to see a picture of your little cutie. Get in as much pampering as possible. I wasn't named until I was 4 days old. My parents couldn't agree on a name either but in the end it all worked out. =)
- November 13, 2010 at 7:00 AM
- rose said...
my little granddaughter was called baby for 5 days. she was born at home and finally the midwife came and said enough is enough! so isabelle rosemarie was called baby for 5 days and no one would dare to put baby in the corner!
best wishes and an easy delivery to you!
- November 18, 2010 at 11:19 PM
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, may all your wishes come true!
- December 14, 2010 at 2:18 AM
- Erectile Dysfunction said...
I really liked your article.
- December 28, 2011 at 4:30 AM
There are times when things like this begin to have global expansion and frustration. I will be back soon and follow up with a response.
- November 19, 2012 at 12:39 PM


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About Ukraine – History, science
Ukraine in 1990 – how we managed to devide from the USSR
The student's Revolution on the granite in Kyiv in 1990… Further it became a reason for the ukrainian government not to sign the new agreement for the "NEW USSR"… It was the first victory of the democracy in Ukraine… There were three democtratic revolutions in Ukraine during 1990-2015, but due to the nature tolerance and peaceful character of ukrainian people the country is still under the power of former system… Only this year 2015 the law against communist symbols was passed, many members of the today's government are "from the USSR" communists leaders… What ukrainians want? – They want to change their big country in a peaceful way… Who are against this? – The Russian leaders, the most memebers of the today's government "from the former USSR"… Does the Ukraine has the chance for changes? – Yes, ukrainians are one of the most peaceful nations, but they love the freedome most of all… And now they struggle for the democracy in their peaceful way…
The Ukrainian Question in 1935, Lancelot Lawton, House Of Commons, 29-May-1935
In "Mein Kampf," Hitler plainly said that Germany must turn away from the West, and that her first aim must be to expand Eastwards into Russian lands. Since he came to power all his declarations and many of his actions have been in harmony with the passage cited. One of his chief lieutenants, Rosenberg, himself a Baltic German, is an open advocate of annexing Ukraine to Germany. — Lancelot Lawton
Finally, it is noteworthy that in Mr. Lawton's 1935 address, at least some British parliamentarians can be seen to be fully aware of Hitler's intentions towards Ukraine, a little more than six years before he began to implement them in operation Barbarossa starting 22-Jun-1941.
For the time being, "an Appendix containing extracts from International treaties and agreements defining the juridicial position of Ukraine" has not been reproduced below.
and its
ADDRESS given by Mr. LANCELOT LAWTON
in a COMMITTEE ROOM of the HOUSE OF COMMONS on May 29th, 1935.
In the Chair:— The Rt. Hon. JOHN HILLS, P.C., M.P.
Published for:— ANGLO-UKRAINIAN COMMITTEE,
Hon. Sec.:— F. ASHE LINCOLN, Esq.1, Essex Court, Temple, London, E.C.4.
LONDON: THE SERJEANTS PRESS, LTD., 164, Aldersgate Street, E.C.1. 1935
An Anglo-Ukrainian Committee has been formed in London and has issued the following statement:
"The position of the Ukrainians in Eastern Europe merits the earnest attention of the British public."
"The ethnographically Ukrainian peoples occupy a more or less ocntiguous block of territory (greater than that of France and Great Britain) now divided between the U.S.S.R., Poland, Czechoslovakia and Rumania."
"Very few attempts have been made to give justice to the Ukrainians and the continued neglect of this complicated question may ultimately involve all Europe."
"The undersigned have therefore formed a Committee to be known as the Anglo-Ukrainian Committee to watch the situation and to take any action which may be necessary."
The signatories include:—
The Rt. Hon. Lord Dickinson, P.C.
Mrs. Dugdale
Dr. G. P. Gooch, M.A., F.B.A.
The Rt. Hon. John W. Hills, P.C., M.P.
Mr. Lancelot Lawton
Mr. C. A. Macartney
Mr. Geoffrey le M. Mander, M.P.
Sir Walter Napier
The Rt. Hon. Lord Noel-Buxton, P.C.
Professor R. W. Seton-Watson, D.Litt., F.B.A.
Miss Mary Sheepshanks
Col. The Rt. Hon. J. C. Wedgwood, D.S.O., M.P.
Mr. F. Ashe Lincoln, M.A., B.C.L. )Hon.
Lt.-Col. C. L'Estrange Malone, F.R.Ae.S. )Secs.
The Ukrainian Question.
The chief problem in Europe today is the Ukrainian problem. Of deep concern to this country because of its effect upon European peace and diplomacy, it is at the same time closely bound with British interests of a very vital nature. To an extent unrealized by most people, it has been a root of European strife during the last quarter of a century. That so little has been heard of it is not surprising; for suppression of Ukrainian Nationality has been persistently accompanied by obliteration of the very word Ukraine and concealment of the very existence of Ukrainians.
So successfully was this erasure effected that over the greater part of the world, Ukraine only survived in poetry and legend, and invariably it was thought that if ever it existed, it had long been buried in the cemetery of dead and forgotten nations.
That in a period of highly-developed communication and conspicuous intellectual attainment it should have been possible to create the illusion that a nation still vigorously living had never been born or alternatively that if born it had centuries ago perished, would be astounding but for the fact that in our own time we have had abundant experience of the repressive efficacy of autocracies. The Ukrainian problem, therefore, constitutes one of the major political deceptions of history; it concerns a land which though not at all remote is almost as unknown to us as were, at one time, the exotic lands of Asia and Africa.
Ethnographical Ukraine is from three to four times the size of Great Britain and extends in one continuous whole from the Carpathians to the Caucasus. Of this territory more than two-thirds lie in Soviet Russia; one-sixth in Poland; the rest belongs to Rumania and Czechoslovakia. Thus, Ukraine dismembered, is divided among four States; before the war she was divided between two–Russia and Austria Hungary. The number of Ukrainians in Ukraine is 38 millions, of which 31 millions are in Soviet Ukraine and 5 millions in Polish Ukraine. In addition, many Ukrainians live outside Ukraine; altogether, the total number of Ukrainians in the world is not less than 45 millions. We have, therefore, to deal with a nationality which is as numerous as the British; and as we have seen with a territory much larger than Great Britain. Indeed, if Ukraine were to be reunited and freed, excluding Russia, it would be the largest and most numerously populated State of Eastern Europe. Nor would it be an exaggeration to say that in such circumstances Ukraine would be richer in resource than any other State in Eastern Europe; it must, of course, be understood here that I am including in the comparison only Russia in Europe, that is without Siberia.
The Ukrainian problem is not a problem of a petty Minority with grievances of recent growth. It is rooted in antiquity. I feel, therefore, that I must deal briefly with history before coming to present conditions; for an understanding of the historical background is essential to an appreciation of the present situation.
How did the Ukrainian Nation come into existence? When we think of the ancient pre-European World we have always particularly in mind Greece and Rome. We forget that what is now called Ukraine was, too, one of the World's most significant and most coveted territories. Here among the Scythians eight hundred years before Christ were established thriving Greek commercial colonies on the banks of the river now known as the Dnieper, one at its mouth being called "the prosperous" city. Of this river, Herodotus wrote that because of the vast quantity and variety of its fish and the rich fertility of the land through which it flowed, it was, with the exception of the Nile, the most productive of all rivers in the world. Here at later periods from the banks of the Dnieper various peoples originating from the East, with names famous in history, spread Westwards and some of these were among the most formidable foes of the Roman Empire. Historians differ as to how from these movements and minglings the Slavonic race emerged. But none, I think, deny that in Russia the Slavonic race first manifested itself in Ukraine.
How was it then that the Eastern Slavs divided into two branches; Ukrainian and Russian or Great Russian? From the ninth century invaders came from the West as before they had set out from the East. These invaders were the Varangians, consisting of Swedes, Danes, Frisians, Angles and Normans, who made their way to the South. Here they found Kiev already established, a prosperous tributary of the powerful and cultured Chozar Empire, whose people had embraced the Hebrew Faith and whose capital was at the mouth of the distant Volga. The Varangians came to trade with Slavs and Finns; and remained to rule. Hence rose the Principality of Kiev or in the language of later time, Ukraine.
Maintaining constant intercourse with foreign lands, it was a nation among nations, strong and respected. Contemporary Germans rated its cultural achievement as not below that of Byzantium with whom it was in close relationship; and foreigners who visited the country before its conversion to Christianity came across translations of the New Testament.
The Ukrainians rightly look back to Kievan "Russ" as the true embryo of their nation. It was in fact from the twelfth century that this territory was commonly called Ukraine, the meaning of which was outpost or frontier. Ukraine was a frontier-State, the last outpost of Europe before Asia was reached. For several centuries it kept at bay fiercely attacking Asiatic hordes, only to fall ultimately under Tartar domination.
And now we come to a development of supreme importance. It is of supreme importance because most Russians are very unscientific and unintelligent about Ukraine and do not want to admit that there is such a people as Ukrainians. Owing to unsettled conditions resulting from war and invasion, in the twelfth century an efflux from the fertile steppe of Ukraine set in during the twelfth century. This efflux proceeded in two streams, one to the North and East, the other to the West–to Galicia and Volhynia, called "Little Russia" by the newcomers, a name now heard for the first time.
Such divergence left Kievan Russ, or Ukraine as it came to be called, in the Middle Ages, much as it was but led to the creation of semi-Asiatic Muscovy. From then on, in spite of all attempts to Muscovise the Ukrainians, the two nations lived distinct and separate lives. The historical development thus described originated in this way.
To the North and East there was nothing but forest and swamp inhabited by degenerate Mongol-Finnish tribes with whom the migrants of the first-mentioned stream freely inter-married. From their fusion the Russian and Great Russian stock emerged, typically Eurasian both in appearance and mentality.
Even Kluchevski, the classic Russian historian, ascribes to it a special National Character, and says that the physiognomy of the Great Russian does not by any means reproduce everyone of the features generally characteristic of the Slavs. Thus he distinguishes it definitely from the Southern Russian Ukrainian stock.
In later years descendants of the refugees who fled to the West returned to Ukraine. The chief point to be borne in mind here is that from the beginning of authentic history Ukrainians have preserved the non-Mongolian or Western European quality of their race, and with it a strong consciousness of nationhood.
It was Platonov, a Russian not a Ukrainian historian, who said that because Southern Russia was further away from the capital of the Tartars on the Volga it felt their oppression less than did North-Eastern Russia. Yet it must no be forgotten that it was because of this Ukrainian barrier that Europe was able to build up its Medieval civilisation, free from Mongol menace.
While the Tartars were still in Ukraine two powerful neighbours, Poland and Lithuania, encroached upon her; no sooner were the Mongol invaders driven out than they fasted their hold upon her territories, a conquest cemented and extended by the union between them in 1569. At this time, too, the estuaries of all the rivers flowing into the Black Sea were held by forces of the Crimean Khan who was under the protection of the Turks. In the North the semi-Asiatic State of Muscovy, which proclaimed itself to be the third and last Rome, was growing in might, and was also stretching out towards Ukrainian lands. Thus, then as now, much desired Ukraine was conquered and beset on all sides. From this strife the Cossacks emerged. Fierce, fanatically brave, clean-living, and not infrequently opportunist, called brigands by their foes and knights by their friends, they asserted in vigorous picturesque manner the freedom-loving not less than the stubborn spirit of the Ukrainian race.
A Polish King, Stephan Batory, said of them: "They are against a union of Poland and Ukraine," and then he added wistfully and prophetically, "Some day an independant State will spring from this scum." On fortified islands below the cataracts of the Dnieper they founded a democratic military republic, one of the earliest manifestations of national self-determination. Authority reposed in a General Assembly, whose decisions were enforced by elective officers, the Chief of whom was called Hetman. Desperately they fought to avoid the serfage which the Poles sought to rivet upon them. Then in the middle of the seventeenth century they found a great leader, Bohdan Khmelnitzki, who gained successive victories over the Poles and compelled them to withdraw from Ukraine.
This period marked the full realization of Ukrainian nationality. All Europe rang with news of the exploits of Ukrainian arms. Khmelnitzki was compared with Cromwell who among other rulers sent an ambassador to him. In marked contrast with the primitive backwardness of Muscovy, the intellectual attainments of Ukraine were high. An academy of learning had been established at Kiev and ordinary schools were scattered up and down the country. A distinguished Arab scholar, Paul of Aleppo, who visited these parts about the time wrote: "Although a stranger I felt myself at home in the Ukraine. But in Muscovy my heart felt heavy, for wherever I went no one was even a little free…. Those who want to shorten their life by fifteen years must go to the land of Muscovy. In Ukraine I found joy in life, freedom and civilisation. The Ukrainians are learned. They like science and study the law. They know rhetoric, logic and philosophy. Practically all the inhabitants can read and write. Their wives and daughters know the liturgy and religious singing. And their children, even orphans, learn to read and write."
Peace was short-lived. In 1651, the struggle between the Poles and the Cossacks was renewed. Hard pressed the Cossacks sought an alliance with Muscovy. A treaty was concluded which recognized the independence of Ukraine with but one reservation; she could not have dealings either with the King of Poland or the Sultan of Turkey without knowledge of Moscow. But soon the Tsar sent large forces into Ukraine and after a severe struggle annexed it. The Cossack revolt continuing, he resolved in turn to seek the aid of Poland and divided the Ukraine with that country. Still the resistance of the Cossacks went on notably under Mazeppa; until finally at Poltava in 1709 the Swedes, with whom they had made common cause, were crushed by Peter the Great. Despotic Russia, believing herself to be the heir to Byzantium, could not tolerate the existence of a free Cossack or Ukrainian State which formed a barrier to the Black Sea littoral.
There were further abortive Cossack risings and in 1764 Catherine the Great finally abolished the Hetmanship and deprived the Cossacks of what privileges remained to them. In the several partitions of Poland which took place between 1772 and 1795, Ukraine too was partitioned; Galicia went to Austria, and the greater part of Ukraine was left to Russia.
We have seen that Ukrainian Nationality is a Reality with at least a thousand years of authentic history behind it. No nation has struggled more valiantly to assert its independence than it has done; the soil of Ukraine is soaked in blood. Because of its gifts, its lovely climate and its unique situation on one of the world's great cross-roads, it has been continually invaded and oppressed; dismembered and divided. Allying itself first with this nation and then with that in the hope that it might survive it has always been betrayed.
Throughout the nineteenth and the early part of the present century up to the War, the Ukrainians found no relief from their sufferings. Persistently they were slandered by their neighbours. Professor Clark of Cambridge University who visited these parts in 1800 related that he was told by Russians that the Ukrainians were unprincipled, but when he went to Ukraine he found, to use his own words, that "the Ukrainians are superior to the Russians in everything that can exalt one man above another," and that they were distinguished for their scrupulous cleanliness and high artistic qualities. In 1812 the Ukrainian problem occupied Napoleon who was counselled by Talleyrand to create a Ukrainian State under the name Napoleoneed.
The first Ukrainian National Movement of modern times which began in 1846 had modest federalist aims but it was mercilessly suppressed by the Russian Police, its leaders being arrested and sent into exile. From the beginning crude attempts were made to uproot Nationality from the hearts of the people. Ukrainian literature and to a large extent also the Ukrainian language, were prescribed, and even adherence to simple national customs was forbidden. As late as February 24, 1914, Miliukov, the Russian Statesman, was moved to protest. "In reality," he said, "we have here to deal with a National Movement, the object of which is autonomy, the rebuilding of Russia on federalistic lines…. The Ukrainian Movement is thoroughly democratic. It is impossible to crush it."
The deliberate policy of Russia was to avoid and discourage mention of Ukraine abroad. From the Middle Ages down to the eighteenth century Ukraine figured largely in European literature. But after the first half of the nineteenth century the West was made to forget that there was or had been such a nation.
The fate of the Ukrainians in Galicia under Austria-Hungary was also not too happy; but it was better than that of Ukrainians in Autocratic Russia. They were permitted to use their own language, and although they were handed over to their hereditary enemy, the Polish aristocracy, their Nationality was allowed for, and a basis for its progressive recognition was secured.
Each of the two great Powers between whom Ukraine was divided stimulated the National Movement in the territory of the other. In particular, Russia was alarmed at the awakening of Ukrainian Nationality in Galicia. Her semi-official newspapers pointed out that its effect was to render all the more difficult the suppression of the Ukrainian National Movement within Russia. Thereupon a hypocritical agitation began for the liberation of the millions of Ukrainians languishing in Galicia under a heavy foreign yoke.
A fact not so widely known as it should be is that one of the major causes of the War was the conflict between Russia and Austria over the Ukrainian question. Another fact also not generally recognised, is that the discontent of the Ukrainians contributed largely to bring about the defeat and downfall of Russia.
Beginning with the first rising against the Tsarist Government, as far back as 1825, that of the Decembrists, they have been active participators in all revolutionary movements, associating at different times with groups of Russians, Poles, Caucasians, or any other Nationality who sought to overthrow the Autocracy, and not infrequently masquerading as revolutionary socialists that they might thereby further their Nationalist aims. During the Crimean War they made an attempt to revive their ancient Cossack military organization, with a view to taking the field against the Tsar's forces; and they gave support to the Polish Rising in 1831.
Their heart was not in the Great War for which their whole man power was conscripted and which was fought for the self-determination of Nationalities but not of the Ukrainian. And, finally, it was their implacable hostility to the Chauvinistic slogan of a one and indivisible Russia that was directly responsible for the collapse of the White Armies in the Civil War, that followed the Bolshevik seizure of power.
After the revolution the Ukrainians proclaimed their independence, set up a National Assembly, and fought desperately against Whites and Reds, being eventually overcome by Bolshevik Muscovy. The Treaty of Versailles effected the dismemberment of Ukraine outside Soviet Russia and, while agreeing to the independence of Poland, handed over the Ukrainians in Galicia to the rule of their ancient enemy. An old Cossack proverb says: "As long as the Dnieper flows friendship between Cossack and Pole will be impossible," a sentiment re-echoed by Mazeppa in these words: "As long as the world will be the world, Pole will not know how to be brother to Ukrainian."
In 1923, the Council of Ambassadors affirmed what Poland herself had already recognised that as far as Eastern Galicia was concerned the ethnographical conditions necessitated an autonomous regime; so far, in spite of frequent respresentations to the League of Nations and other quarters, nothing has been done to give effect to this decision. The point of view of the Poles now appears to be that there is no such thing as a Ukrainian, and that Poles and Ukrainians are and always have been one. As attempts were once made to Russify them which they resisted with all their strength, so they are striving to Polonize the Ukrainians, and alternately to depress and submerge them by starving them of educational, land-acquisition and other facilities; and the Ukrainians too are resisting with all their strength.
Nor does repression of Ukrainians always take such open forms. By various subtle and subterranean devices it is conveyed to minor officials as, for instance, railway employees, that if they do not change their religion from the Ukrainian Uniate Church to the Polish Roman Catholic Church they will lose their posts, and consequently they and their families will become destitute. One instance of the effect of this pressure may be cited form the town of Lemberg. From 1926 to 1930 the number of Ukrainians who reluctantly abandoned the Faith of their people to adopt that of their rulers increased from 174 to 586, and each year there was a steady rise.
Deeds such as I have mentioned are of course contrary to the Treat of Versailles, which was intended to safeguard the rights of Minorities; and they have been the subject of many petitions to the League of Nations. But so far that body has not been able to take any steps to secure justice for the Ukrainians.
At the meeting of the Assembly of the League of Nations on September 13th, 1934, M. Beck, speaking on behalf of Poland, repudiated her obligations under the Minority treaties. The actual words he used were that the Polish Government
|"finds itself compelled to refuse as from to-day all co-operation with the international organizations in the matter of the supervision of the application by Poland of the system of Minority protection."
To which the British representative, I am glad to say, replied with a strong protest. Yet it would appear that the Polish government is living up to M. Beck's repudiation, for at a later meeting of the Council, the Polish delegate walked out when a Minority question was being discussed.
Lastly, it is deliberately sought to eliminate the Ukrainians as a political factor. Recently a fundamental measure frankly discriminating against the Ukrainians was introduced by the Polish Government. It took the form of a new Constitution, the effect of which will be practically to exclude the Minorities as such from representation in the Polish Parliament, and any Ukrainian representation will be at the discretion of the Polish authorities.
Methods of struggle which the Poles regarded as virtuous when they themselves employed them against the Tsarist Government they now condemn when they are used by Ukrainians. These methods have been at times conspiratorical and even terroristic. But how else can the Ukrainians act since they are abandoned by the rest of the world? It should be noted that the Poles, too, were frequently unwise, cruel and aggressive.
Nor in Rumania are the Ukrainians any better off. In spite of the safeguards of the Minorities Treaty signed at Paris in December 9th, 1919, these members of a proud and gifted Nation are treated as a despised community. Their schools have been closed; and they are prohibited from speaking their own language, one of the most beautiful of all Slav tongues.
The Ukrainians in Czechoslovakia are probably better treated than in any other country. This assertion was, I think, borne out in the article written by Dr. Hugh Dalton, late Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in the "New Statesman and Nation" of May 18th, 1935.
Lastly we come to Soviet Ukraine where two-thirds of the total Ukrainian population live. Here the question will be asked: Is there really a Ukrainian National Movement under Bolshevism? It is one that may best be answered in the words of the Soviet leaders themselves. At the seventeenth Congress of the Communist Party held in January, 1934, Stalin used these words:
|"Only very recently in the Ukraine the deviation towards Ukrainian Nationalism did not represent the major danger; but when we ceased to fight against it and enabled it to grow to the extent that it joined up with the interventionists this deviation became the major danger."
and still later in a speech reported on February 14th of this year, Lubchenko, Chairman of the Council of Commisars of the Ukraine said:
|"There was a period when the Ukrainian Nationalists carried on their work in the Ukraine not without success. This was in 1931-32. Taking advantage of the weakening of class vigilance the nationalist elements, enemies of the Ukrainian people, wormed their way at that time into the collective farms, the agrarian organs and the system of public education. They came into close alliance with the adherents of the nationalist deviators within the Party who were led by Skrypnik. They came out in a united front with the white-guards, the Trotskyites and the Rights, having united on a platform of secession of the Ukraine from the Soviet Union."
In the year alluded to it was discovered that numerous Ukrainian Communists were Nationalists in disguise, and that they had got control of newspapers and important institutions, including the Commissariats of Education and Agriculture, the only two departments of consequence left to the Ukrainians. Mass executions followed.
I have given but one example of the assertion of the National spirit in Soviet Ukraine. Actually, ever since the Revolution this spirit has been in revolt against a tyranny much more cruel than that of which it was the successor. No one knows how many Ukrainian patriots have been shot or exiled; but there is reason to believe that the number is very large.
Nor must it be supposed that Nationalism was manifested only by the educated classes. Ninety per cent of the Ukrainian population consists of peasantry; and to them Western Europe is indebted for having saved it from Bolshevism.
Before the Revolution the Ukrainian peasants were for the most part individual farmers and, unlike the peasants of Russia, did not belong to the primitive commune which Marx foresaw might serve as a starting point for World Communism and revolution. It was thanks chiefly to this national peculiarity that after the Revolution they resisted so vigorously the Government requisitioning of grain, of which Ukraine was the chief source of supply. The deep and widespread impoverishment which resulted was an effectual frustration of the malevolent aims of Bolshevism. Millions of lives were lost in the struggle; and in 1932-33 a great famine desolated Ukraine. Of this famine the Soviet Government denied the existence, though the evidence of its occurrence and severity was overwhelming. It was clear that, when the enormous growth of the population of the Soviet Union–three millions annually–was taken into account, when also the officially admitted heavy losses of grain during and subsequent to harvesting–from thirty to fifty percent were considered, then severe hunger was bound to occur. It could not be otherwise.
The MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, which certainly cannot be considered an anti-Soviet organ, in a leading article on December 27th, 1934, referring to the famine said:
|"For a long time the Russian Dictatorship was able to conceal from the eyes of the world what was incomparably the biggest economic calamity that had afflicted Europe for more than a decade."
Some idea of the extent of the calamity may be gained from the evidence of Mr. W. H. Chamberlin, for many years and until recently Moscow Correspondent of the "Christian Science Monitor." Writing in that paper on May 29th, 1934, he said:–
|"It would seem highly probable that in 1932-33, between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 people over and above the normal mortality rate, lost their lives from hunger and related causes."
At the acutest period the central authority took no relief measures; thus the conclusion appeared to be unavoidable that this indifference of Red Moscow was a reprisal to the Nationalism of Ukraine, and it is strengthened by the statement made at the time by Kalinin (President of the Central Executive Committee of the U.S.S.R.): "The peasants have this year passed through a good school. For some this school was quite ruthless."
Yet according to the terms of its Constitution Soviet Ukraine is an independent and sovereign State. In treaty relations with it even the Moscow Government recognized it as such, but that did not deter them from reducing it to vassalage, and thus repeating the great Muscovite treachery of the seventeenth century. As in the Tsarist epoch everything is done that can be done to bind Ukraine to Russia. Ukrainian enterprises have been incorporated in All-Union Trusts, with headquarters at Moscow. The Donetz coal region has been connected with Moscow by a main line, and a continuous system of waterways is being created from Leningrad to the Black Sea.
Moscow says to-day as it said in the days of the Tsars: "We cannot live without Ukraine. It is the most fertile part of the Soviet Union. It feeds us. Moreover, we depend upon it for coal and iron."
We need not stop to discover whether in this era one Nation is justified in crushing another because it has need of its resources; for there are other means of gaining access to minerals and grain than by conquest. In the Urals and Siberia, Soviet Russia possesses enormous reserves of coal and iron-ore; which she is now exploiting on a great scale; and as for grain supplies it is necessary only to quote this passage from the speech which Stalin delivered at the Seventeenth Congress of the Communist Party last year: "First of all," he said, "we must bear in mind that the old division of our regions into industrial regions and consuming regions has now become obsolete. This year consuming regions like the Moscow and Gorky regions delivered nearly 80,000,000 poods of grain to the State. This, of course, is not a bagatelle. In the so-called Consuming zone there are about 5,000,000 hectares of soil. If this land were cleared of scrub it would be possible to obtain a supply of commodity-grain not less than now produced in the Lower and Middle Volga. Finally, there is the question of combating drought in the Trans-Volga region. We must have a large and stable grain-base on the Volga capable of producing 200,000,000 poods yearly. This is absolutely necessary in view of the growth of towns on the Volga on the one hand, and the possibilities of complications in the sphere of international relations on the other."
Can it be that Moscow fears that the day may come when she will be forced to withdraw her army of occupation from Ukraine and that she is making preparation to survive as a great Eurasian Power?
The apprehension of Stalin is based upon what is common knowledge, that Germany and Poland have designs upon Ukraine, and that they will be ready to march Eastwards before the Red Army is prepared to march into Europe in the still cherished cause of World Revolution.
In "Mein Kampf," Hitler plainly said that Germany must turn away from the West, and that her first aim must be to expand Eastwards into Russian lands. Since he came to power all his declarations and many of his actions have been in harmony with the passage cited. One of his chief lieutenants, Rosenberg, himself a Baltic German, is an open advocate of annexing Ukraine to Germany. Then support is given to General Skoropadsky, formerly A.D.C. to the Tsar and Commander of an Imperial Russian Army Corps, whose forefather was set up as Hetman by Peter the Great after Mazeppa's attempt to free Ukraine from Russian domination; rather similarly General Skoropadsky was set up as Hetman under the protection of the invading German armies in 1918, a position to which he aspires again at the present time. What then occurred is fully described in an official handbook prepared under the direction of the Foreign Office and published by the Stationery Office.
It appears to me that any purely German sphere of influence of Ukraine would be contrary to the political and economic interest of the British Commonwealth of Nations. If I interpret Ukrainian Nationalism rightly it desires a democratic regime and real independence not dictatorship and tutelage. It is of the West and has always longed to be with the West. I imagine that our sympathies will be with these aspirations. Half-a-million Ukrainians are British subjects in Canada, and 10,000 of them voluntarily enlisted in the Great War. But apart from sentiment, important British interests are involved in the Ukrainian problem. Ukraine with its coast-line on the Black Sea lies on the last stretch of the highway from the North to South of Europe. Through it also passes the nearest land route from Central Europe to Persia and India. The possession of Ukraine enabled Tsarist Russia to cast eyes upon the Balkans and the Straits, to threaten Turkey, control the Caucasus and bring pressure upon Persia.
England is not concerned to play the role of a conspiratorial power backing an irredentist effort. But the conditions in Ukraine, where the independence movement has assumed great proportions, are such that something is bound to happen. Many times in the past years, as I have shown, Ukraine has proved the danger spot of Europe. It has again become so. Britain must therefore be informed and have ready a policy to meet her own interests in any emergency which may arise. She must not be caught unawares.
Thus it would be hypocrisy to deny that an independent Ukraine is as essential to this country as to the tranquility of the world. Merely because it is inconvenient to consider it and highly so to attempt its solution, the problem has too long been ignored. But it is a problem which has deep and intricate roots in history and in its modern form has assumed extreme urgency. Voltaire noted admiringly the persistence with which Ukrainians aspired to freedom and remarked that being surrounded by hostile lands, they were doomed to search for a Protector.
Until they are assured of liberty they will be faithless to whichever State they are bound and will continue freely to shed their own blood and that of their conquerors. So long, too, as this situation continues other nations will be tempted to exploit it. What then is the use of pretending that there is peace when there is no peace? Nor will there be any until this Ukrainian question is satisfactorily disposed of.


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I was so excited to decorate for Christmas this year! In anticipation I pinned a gazillion pins on Pinterest and I don't think I did any of them...but in my defense it got to the point where I could either buy Christmas decorations or buy Christmas gifts, so we all know which I decided to do.
Even though my decorations aren't where I hope they'd be, I'm still pretty pleased with what I was able to come up with this year.
Let's start first with my front door. I considered making a wreath, but after my Halloween wreath fail, I decided to just put up the wreath I got on sale at Michael's last year.
In the entryway I have a few little stand-alone decorations set-up and one of three Christmas signs.
My little entry table with my basket of Christmas cards and my Christmas bokeh photo.
Next up: My shelves and their decorations. Plus I have my hatbox I picked up at Goodwill to hold my Christmas books and magazines. On the shelves I have various printables I found on Pinterest, as well as my own photos that I've framed.
A close-up
My two other shelves: Mostly more Christmas photos, figurines
My Christmas trees are on top. The one on the left is from Poland, the one on the right from Italy and the middle on is just from Wal-Mart with some of my ornaments inside.
A few close-ups of some of my fave photos I put out.
The dining area: I did it in a retro vibe. I framed a couple of older records, did a white tree complete with pink, silver and white ornaments to complement my Barbie ornaments I put on there. My tablescape is pink, blue and green. I got silver chargers, put white plates I found at Goodwill and bought some cheap pink and blue ornaments from Hobby Lobby as decorations on the plate.
Last, but not least, my trees! The green one is in our living room and the white one (as mentioned) is hanging out in our dining room. It's the first year I've been able to put up the green tree, as it's been at my parents' house the last few years. I actually have another tree, but didn't put it up this year. In the future it will probably become a travel tree.
There you have it, my Christmas decorations! I still have a lot of work to do before I have the amount of decorations I want in my house at Christmas time, but I feel like it's a nice start.


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The City of Austin Information Technology organization and the Chief Information Officer have placed a focus on green computing this year. The City has placed a great level of importance on ensuring that all of the City's practices are sustainable as well. This includes looking at our computing and IT infrastructure.
Just this past year there has been an increased emphasis places on ensuring that the amount the City prints is reduced and what paper we do use, is done in more environmentally friendly manner. On June 26 last year, the City Council approved a program to replace all desktop printers, faxes, scanners and standalone copiers/printers with multifunction devices. This project supports the Sustainable Printer and Paper Policy Administrative Bulletin signed by the City Manager. The goals of this program are to reduce the number of printers and the amount of paper used. The combined result of this program will save energy, natural resources, and money.
The City Manager recently issued a goal to reduce commuting during peak hours by City employees by 20 percent. Options to meet this goal include: alternative schedules; riding public transit; riding a bike to work; or teleworking either all day or during peak times. CTM has done significant work to make tools available to telework. The Communication and Technology Management Department has invested in the tools and infrastructure to ensure that City employees can be productive when not at their normal work location.
We continue to maintain some of our best managed programs that help reduce our impact on the environment. We are also exploring ways that lessen that impact on a day to day basis. We would encourage you to share with us the ways you or your business are helping keep your IT green and share with us the ways you think the City could improve.
To find out more about the City's sustainability efforts as a whole, visit: http://www.austintexas.gov/department/sustainability/programs