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Children are continually changing physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. They follow a general pattern of growth and development. Parents and teachers who are aware of common characteristics of different age-groups will be able to deal with children's behavior more appropriately and teach them more effectively.
Some children may develop faster or slower than others their age. For example, a particular six-year-old may fit more closely the age characteristics of a five-year-old or a seven-year-old. Remember also that children may temporarily revert to younger behavior during emotional stress or tension.
Church lesson manuals have been prepared with children's growth characteristics in mind. As you study and prepare each lesson, be aware of how each part of the lesson can help you meet the children's needs.
Regardless of the age-group you teach, make sure you are patient, respectful, loving, and sensitive toward each child. Do not expect children to do more than they are able.
The following descriptions and suggestions can help you better understand the children you teach.
The Eighteen-Month-Old
Characteristics of the Child
Walks, climbs, crawls, and runs. Enjoys pushing and pulling things. Is able to take things apart more easily than he or she can put them together. Is uncoordinated. Tires easily. Is usually not toilet trained.
Makes many sounds. Has developing language skills. Uses one-word phrases, particularly "mine" and "no." Gathers knowledge through sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Understands more than he or she can express.
Enjoys playing alongside other children, but often does not interact with them. Has difficulty sharing.
Cries easily, but emotions change quickly.
Suggestions for Parents and Teachers
Vary activities to keep the child's interest. Use activities that involve walking, pushing, and pulling. Use finger plays and musical activities.
Provide many opportunities for talking and participation. Teach how to be reverent during prayers. Use visuals with stories. Provide toys the child can move and experiment with, such as stacking toys, balls, simple puzzles, dolls, and figures of people and animals.
Provide toys and activities that allow the child to play alone. Help the child learn to share and get along with others.
Hold the child when he or she is upset or feels insecure.
The Two-Year-Old
Characteristics of the Child
Is very active. Jumps, walks, and runs. Can clap hands and kick a ball. Can handle small objects, but cannot button or zip clothing or care for himself or herself in other ways. Gets irritable and restless when tired.
Is able to put two or three words together in a sentence. Says "no" often, even when he or she does not mean it. Has simple, direct thoughts. Cannot reason. Can make simple choices. Enjoys repetition. Has a short attention span (two or three minutes). Is curious. Moves from one activity to another. Likes simple toys, art materials, books, short stories, and music activities.
Likes to play alone. Is developing an interest in playing with others, but is usually more interested in playing near them than with them. Often argues over toys. Has difficulty sharing and cooperating. Asks adults for things he or she wants from another child.
Is loving and affectionate. Enjoys sitting on laps and holding hands. Likes to be close to his or her mother. Uses emotional outbursts to express emotions, to get what he or she wants, and to show anger and frustration. Has moods that change quickly. Likes independence.
Likes to pray. Understands that Heavenly Father and Jesus love us, but has difficulty understanding most spiritual concepts.
Suggestions for Parents and Teachers
Use rest activities such as finger plays and those that use music. Provide activities such as beanbag tossing, marching, and jumping. Avoid activities that require skill and coordination, such as cutting and pasting.
Keep discussions simple. Help the child participate. Use repetition. Do not leave the child alone; children this age can easily get themselves into unsafe situations. Provide opportunities for the child to make choices.
Provide opportunities for the child to interact with others, but do not pressure the child to do so. Offer the choice to participate in activities. Provide warm, caring direction. Redirect misbehavior.
Show love and affection. Redirect the child's attention in order to stop undesirable behavior. Encourage the child to be self-sufficient, but provide help when necessary. Allow the child to practice making choices.
Allow the child to pray. Focus spiritual concepts on the family and the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus.
The Three-Year-Old
Characteristics of the Child
Walks and runs, but is still uncoordinated. Likes doing things with his or her hands but does them awkwardly.
Has more language skills. Likes to talk and learn new words. Has a short attention span. Is curious and inquisitive. Often misunderstands and makes comments that seem off the subject. Enjoys pretending. Likes finger plays, stories, and musical activities. Is unable to distinguish fantasy from reality.
Enjoys working alone. Does not engage in much cooperative play with others, but likes to have friends around. Is self-centered. Has difficulty sharing. Prefers to be close to adults, particularly family, because they provide security.
Wants to please adults. Needs their approval, love, and praise. Strikes out emotionally when afraid or anxious. Cries easily. Is sensitive to others' feelings. Is developing some independence. Has intense, short-lived emotions.
Is interested in simple gospel principles such as prayer and obedience. Is more aware of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and has simple faith in Them.
Suggestions for Parents and Teachers
Use activities that include jumping, skipping, walking, and bending. Use simple art activities such as pasting, molding clay, and coloring. Avoid activities that require refined skills and coordination, such as tying or cutting. Be prepared to clean up messes.
Teach ideas in a simple, clear way. Use summaries and visual materials to reinforce ideas. Encourage questions and responses to the lessons, but have the child take turns with other children. Use a variety of teaching methods such as stories, songs, discussions, dramatizations, finger plays, and simple games. Alternate between quiet and lively activities.
Provide opportunities to play with others. Use activities that encourage sharing, taking turns, and cooperating. Develop a close relationship with the child, and frequently give the child opportunities to talk about his or her family.
Show approval and confidence in the child. Avoid criticism. Emphasize the love you and the child's family have for him or her. Help the child understand others' feelings and solve conflicts. Encourage the child to be self-sufficient.
Teach the gospel in simple, concrete ways. Teach that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and are kind and loving. Share simple expressions of testimony. Help the child recognize the beauty of God's creations.
The Four-Year-Old
Characteristics of the Child
Is very active. Moves quickly. Likes to skip, jump, race, climb, and throw.
Enjoys talking and learning new words. Asks many questions. Is able to reason a little, but still has many misconceptions. Has trouble separating fact from fantasy. Has a short attention span. Uses artwork to express feelings. Enjoys pretending and role playing.
Plays more cooperatively with others. Is sometimes physically aggressive, bossy, impolite, and stubborn, but can also be friendly. Is learning to share, accept rules, and take turns. Responds to sincere praise.
Often tests people's limits. Is boastful, especially about self and family. May be agreeable one moment and quarrelsome the next. Has more self-confidence. May have fears and feelings of insecurity.
Is becoming aware of right and wrong, and usually desires to do right. Blames others for his or her wrongdoing. Has a natural love and respect for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and asks many questions about Them. Likes to pray, and wants to be good. Is becoming more interested in gospel principles.
Suggestions for Parents and Teachers
Alternate between quiet and lively activities. Help the child learn to control and be responsible for his or her actions. Teach appropriate ways to express emotions.
Use discussions and activities that will encourage thinking, such as simple riddles and guessing games. Clarify misunderstandings. Use pictures, objects, and actual experiences. Introduce new words. Have the child draw pictures that relate to lessons. Accept and encourage the child's creative efforts. Allow the child to explore his or her surroundings. Use role-playing activities.
Provide opportunities for the child to play and work cooperatively with others. Teach kindness, patience, and politeness. Help the child follow simple rules such as taking turns. Help the child learn positive social behavior without punishing or scolding him or her.
Establish and firmly follow limits. Allow the child to talk about self and family. Teach the child that he or she is special to Heavenly Father and Jesus. Express the love you and the child's parents have for him or her.
Help the child be responsible for his or her own behavior, and teach the importance of making good choices. Teach that Heavenly Father loves His children and that we can communicate with Him through prayer. Help the child discover how to be reverent at church. Teach basic gospel principles.
The Five-Year-Old
Characteristics of the Child
Is very active. Has a good sense of balance, and is becoming more coordinated. Can kick a ball, walk in a straight line, hop, skip, and march. Enjoys drawing, coloring, and participating in activities and games. Is learning to lace and tie shoes and button and zip clothing.
Recognizes some letters, numbers, and words. Likes to pretend to read and write. May be learning to read. Is talkative. Asks questions, makes comments, and gives answers that show increased understanding. Is good at problem solving. Is curious and eager for facts. Is beginning to distinguish truth from fantasy. Has a short but increasing attention span. Likes definite tasks. Enjoys jokes and tricks, but cannot laugh at himself or herself. Likes stories, singing, poetry, and dramatizations.
Is friendly and eager to please and cooperate. Is beginning to prefer being in small groups of children, but may prefer a best friend. Creates less conflict in group play. Is beginning to want to conform, and is critical of those who do not. Is beginning to understand rules, but often tries to change them for his or her benefit.
Centers interests on home and family. Is affectionate toward adults, and wants to please them. Gets embarrassed easily, especially by his or her own mistakes.
Wants to be good. Is learning the difference between right and wrong. Sometimes tells untruths or blames others for his or her own wrongdoings because of an intense desire to please adults and do what is right. Is ready to be taught spiritual principles.
Suggestions for Parents and Teachers
Engage the child in physical activities. Use simple games and other activities. Allow the child to cut and paste and to put puzzles together. Allow for independence. Express confidence in the child. Accept and encourage the child's efforts.
Allow the child to talk and ask questions. Allow him or her to read simple words and phrases. Use wordstrips for simple words. Assign simple tasks and responsibilities. Use drawing activities, true-to-life stories, and visual materials. Vary activities, using pictures, games, songs, and discussions. Use problem-solving activities such as riddles and discussion questions. Allow the child to pretend, dramatize, and use puppets. Laugh with the child.
Be sensitive to the child's need for your approval. Encourage friendship, and try to help the child if it seems that he or she does not have close friendships or does not belong to a group. Talk about how others feel when people are kind or unkind. Discuss the importance of loving others and expressing gratitude, and show the child how to do this. Help the child learn the value of individual differences.
Frequently teach the value and importance of the family. Give the child an opportunity to share feelings about his or her family. Express your love, and show affection. Give specific praise for positive behavior. Avoid activities or expressions that might embarrass the child.
Teach appropriate behavior. Do not be shocked if the child says something that is untrue or inappropriate, but still teach the importance of accepting responsibility for one's own actions. Strengthen the child's testimony by sharing your own testimony. Share stories and ideas that will strengthen the child's love for and faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and Their teachings.
The Six-Year-Old
Characteristics of the Child
Is very active. Is often noisy, restless, and exuberant. Likes to participate in activities and perform small tasks, though they still may be difficult to do. Dislikes being a spectator.
Needs concepts taught in concrete ways. Has improving memory. Is talkative, and asks many questions. Is learning to make decisions, but often is indecisive. Has an increasing attention span. Likes reading, writing, singing, hearing stories, and pretending.
Is more interested in group activities and interacting with playmates, but is still self-centered. Is sometimes bossy, aggressive, and unkind to peers. Has unstable friendships. Is concerned with how others treat him or her. Is eager for social approval.
Is boastful. Exaggerates and criticizes. Is easily excited, silly, and giggly. Can be generous, affectionate, and compatible, but mood can change easily.
Is concerned with good and bad behavior, particularly as it affects family and friends. Sometimes blames others for wrongdoings. Likes scripture stories, especially those about Jesus.
Suggestions for Parents and Teachers
Be patient with the child's abundant energy and restlessness. Use activities such as writing, coloring, cutting, pasting, and molding clay. Use games that allow the child to use his or her energy.
Use problem-solving activities such as riddles, reviews, and open-ended stories. Use pictures, flannel cutouts, and other visual materials. Introduce new words. Ask questions. Allow the child to make decisions. Discuss the importance of choosing the right, and allow the child to practice making decisions with limited choices. Provide opportunities for reading, writing, singing, hearing stories, and role playing. Plan lessons with the child's interests in mind.
Encourage sharing and participation with others. Give many opportunities for group activities. Give specific praise and approval. Focus lessons on showing love by helping others and being sensitive to others' needs. Encourage the child to participate in games and other activities.
Praise the child's specific efforts so he or she feels less need to boast. Praise honesty. Do not criticize. Laugh with him or her, but do not laugh at him or her. Encourage positive moods. By your example, teach the child calm, stable behavior.
Teach the child to be concerned with and responsible for his or her own behavior and how to improve it. Assure the child that everyone makes mistakes. Teach simple repentance. Use the scriptures to teach basic gospel principles. Help the child understand and apply the scriptures.
The Seven-Year-Old
Characteristics of the Child
Has better muscular control. Is developing interest and skills in certain games, hobbies, and activities. Gets restless and fidgety. Has nervous habits, and sometimes assumes awkward positions. Is full of energy, but tires easily.
Is eager to learn. Thinks seriously and more logically. Is able to solve problems that are more complex. Likes to be challenged, work hard, and take time completing a task. Has a good attention span. Enjoys hobbies and using skills. Likes to collect things and talk about personal projects and accomplishments.
Often plays in groups, but sometimes likes to be alone and play quietly. Interacts little with the opposite sex. Is eager to be like peers and have their approval. Is less domineering and less determined to have his or her own way. Likes more responsibility and independence. Is often worried about not doing well.
Dislikes criticism. Is more sensitive to his or her own feelings and those of other people. Is often a perfectionist, and tends to be self-critical. Is inhibited and cautious. Is less impulsive and self-centered than at earlier stages.
Is aware of right and wrong. Enjoys learning about and practicing gospel principles such as prayer and tithe paying. Understands aspects of the gospel such as the sacrament, faith, repentance, missionary work, the Holy Ghost, and temple work. Wants to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Suggestions for Parents and Teachers
Use activities that allow the child to use his or her energy. Allow the child to share his or her special skills. Be patient with annoyances and restlessness, and do not draw attention to awkwardness. Use varied techniques to help maintain the child's interest and prevent misbehavior. Compliment good behavior.
Ask thought-provoking questions. Use open-ended stories, riddles, thinking games, and discussions to stimulate thinking. Allow the child to make decisions. Give him or her plenty of time to accomplish tasks. Encourage the child to pursue hobbies and interests. Provide opportunities to read scriptures, wordstrips, and stories. Use stories and situations that deal with reality rather than fiction.
Use activities that require group play, such as games and dramatizations, but respect the child's desire to work alone occasionally. Do not force interaction with the opposite sex. Praise him or her for positive behavior such as taking turns and sharing. Give the child responsibilities and tasks that he or she can carry out, and then praise efforts and accomplishments.
Encourage concern for others. Build confidence. Instead of criticizing, look for opportunities to show approval and affection. Accept moods and aloofness. Encourage the child to express his or her feelings.
Provide opportunities for the child to practice making right choices. Help the child understand the consequences of his or her choices. Teach gospel principles in simple, concrete ways, and encourage the child to practice them in daily life. Teach from the scriptures. Prepare the child for baptism and confirmation by helping him or her understand the covenants that he or she will make.
The Eight-Year-Old
Characteristics of the Child
Is becoming more coordinated. Wiggles and squirms. Has nervous habits. Plays organized games that require physical skill. Has a good attention span. Wants to be included.
Wants to know the reasons for things. Is anxious to share his or her knowledge. Thinks he or she knows much, but is beginning to recognize that others may know even more. Is judgmental. Has heroes. Enjoys writing, reading, and pretending.
Enjoys group play with simple rules. Prefers to be with own gender in group play. Is more cooperative and less insistent on having his or her own way. Wants to have a best friend. Has a strong need for independence, but also relies on adults for guidance and security.
Is usually affectionate, helpful, cheerful, outgoing, and curious, but can also be rude, selfish, bossy, and demanding. Is sensitive to criticism. Criticizes self and others. Is sometimes giggly and silly. Experiences guilt and shame.
Is receptive to gospel teachings, but may have questions about them. Is proud of Church membership. Likes living gospel principles. Learns the gospel through concrete examples and participation.
Suggestions for Parents and Teachers
Use activities that require coordination and allow the child to use his or her energy. Be patient with clumsiness, unpleasant habits, and squirming. Alternate quiet and active periods. Praise good behavior.
Use games, stories, pictures, and problem-solving activities to encourage learning. Use reading, writing, and role playing. Help the child set realistic goals. Encourage the child to be more concerned about his or her own behavior than that of others. Provide the child with appropriate heroes such as Church leaders and other good members of the Church.
Provide opportunities for group interaction, cooperation, and sharing. Supervise activities closely. Recognize that his or her friendships can be intense. Help the child become part of the group if he or she does not have close friends. Praise the child for positive behavior. Let the child work with other children and with you to make class rules and other decisions. Allow him or her to work independently.
Help the child recognize and deal constructively with negative emotions. Show interest and enthusiasm. Praise and build self-confidence; do not criticize or compare the child with other children. Recognize the child's efforts and accomplishments. Let the child enjoy humor when appropriate, and be patient with giggling. Teach him or her that others make mistakes.
Express personal faith and testimony often. Help the child appreciate his or her Church membership and the responsibilities it brings. Challenge the child to live gospel principles. Share personal experiences, scriptures, and stories. Use activities in which the child can participate.
The Nine-Year-Old
Characteristics of the Child
Enjoys team games. Has good body control. Is interested in developing strength, skill, and speed. Likes more complicated crafts and handwork.
Is able to remain interested in subjects or activities for a longer period of time. Seeks facts; does not enjoy much fantasy. Likes memorization. Has definite interests and curiosity. Likes reading, writing, and keeping records. Is interested in the community and other cultures and peoples. Enjoys learning about the past and the present. Likes to collect things.
Enjoys being with groups of people of the same gender. Likes group adventures and cooperative play, but also likes competition. Tests authority and exercises independence. Spends much time with friends.
Has some behavior problems, especially if he or she is not accepted by others. Is becoming very independent, dependable, and trustworthy. Is concerned about being fair, and argues over fairness. Is better able to accept his or her own failures and mistakes and take responsibility for personal actions. Is sometimes silly.
Is well aware of right and wrong. Wants to do right, but sometimes rebels. Is influenced by others' testimonies. Is ready to be taught more complex gospel principles.
Suggestions for Parents and Teachers
Provide a variety of activities, including team games, to sustain interest and help the child develop skills.
Give specific information and facts rather than fantasy. Do not give all the answers; allow the child time to think about and discuss answers. Encourage him or her to memorize quotations and scriptures. Respect individual differences when making assignments and giving responsibilities. Provide opportunities for reading, writing, and record keeping. Encourage him or her to keep a journal. Teach about other people and cultures and about history.
Recognize the child's need for peer acceptance. Establish and maintain reasonable limits, but allow for independence. Teach the child how to be gracious, even when the child feels that he or she has not "won." Encourage friendships, and help the child make friends.
Let the child know that you accept him or her, even when you do not approve of certain behavior. Provide opportunities for the child to show independence and dependability. Do not ridicule the child for wrongdoing.
Express your love and support for the child often. Frequently share your testimony and testimonies of the prophets. Teach gospel principles that are more advanced.
The Ten- or Eleven-Year-Old
Characteristics of the Child
May be experiencing rapid growth. Enjoys sports that require strength, speed, and skill. Has periods of playing, pushing, wrestling, poking, and giggling. Is restless, active, and impatient. May differ from peers in physical size and coordination. Does not like to be treated like a child. Is concerned about physical appearance.
Enjoys abstract concepts and ideas. Makes conclusions based on prior learning. Likes to be challenged in mental tasks. Is decisive and reasonable. Enjoys memorization. Likes to set goals. Thinks more logically. Enjoys learning. Has a good attention span. Understands more precisely the meanings of words, and can define abstract terms. Has humor that may seem ridiculous to adults.
Is social and competitive. Possesses strong loyalty to groups. Has much positive and negative interaction with peers. Has friendships that are more complex and intense. Relies on best friends. Values peers' opinions and standards more highly than those of adults. Is sometimes critical of adults' judgments and of others' feelings. Likes to tease or play roughly. Is sometimes rude and uncooperative, and at other times is friendly and cooperative.
Is critical of self and resentful of others' criticism. May feel that everything he or she does is wrong, especially if criticized. Has worries and fears about school and friends. Is very sensitive, especially about self. Has doubts and insecurities. Is sometimes touchy and irritable, and is very conscious of being treated fairly. Is able to be polite, serious, honest, and sincere. Desires to be independent and have responsibilities.
Has a strong moral sense and conscience. Is interested in self-improvement. Does not like to admit when he or she has behaved badly. Is ready to learn more about the doctrines of the gospel.
Suggestions for Parents and Teachers
Recognize that he or she is growing and maturing. Do not force interaction with the opposite sex. Provide opportunities for him or her to participate in physical activities that provide outlets for his or her energy. Give little attention to minor misbehavior. Teach fairness and the value of participating in activities. Show interest in his or her life. Value individual differences.
Stimulate thinking by using questions, scripture stories, scripture memorization, problem-solving activities, and discussions. Allow him or her to make decisions and set goals. Use new words, and allow him or her to define and explain their meanings. Use visuals, stories, and games.
Respond to the need to belong to groups and be influenced by them. Provide activities that allow interaction with peers. Encourage group planning and group work. Teach him or her to be sensitive to those who are not accepted by others. Give responsibilities and assignments, and help ensure follow-through. Encourage service projects such as tending children, sharing talents, and sharing the gospel with others. Use examples and lessons to teach sensitivity and kindness. Praise courtesy, unselfishness, loyalty, and friendliness.
Do not compare him or her to others. Encourage him or her, and praise accomplishments. Show confidence in him or her as an individual. Reinforce positive behavior, and try to ignore negative acts of small consequence. Allow for independence and expression of personal feelings. Try to understand his or her worries and what makes him or her unhappy.
Teach specific moral concepts and values. Emphasize that true happiness and self-improvement come from keeping the commandments. Encourage him or her to commit to living gospel principles. Help him or her understand and prepare for future responsibilities and blessings. Do not ridicule him or her for wrongdoing, especially in front of friends. Teach the gospel in its fulness with scripture stories and stories from the lives of latter-day prophets. Encourage him or her to bear testimony.


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Hall of Fame baseball manager Williams dead at 82
By taking over a ninth-place team and leading it to the pennant in his first year as a big-league manager in Boston, Dick Williams earned the reputation of being a turnaround artist that he built on later in Montreal and San Diego.
By taking over an emerging powerhouse in Oakland and leading the Athletics to back-to-back World Series titles to start a dynasty in the 1970s, Williams became a Hall of Famer.
Williams, one of only two managers ever to lead three teams to the World Series, died Thursday from a ruptured aortic aneurysm at a hospital near his home in Henderson, Nev., the Hall of Fame said. He was 82.
With his brash style, mustache and public feuds with owner Charlie Finley, Williams was the ideal manager for the A's teams that won it all for him in 1972 and '73 and then again the following year after he resigned.
"He came to us at a very good time in our development and certainly for me as a young player full of talent ... ," Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said. "We were young and needed to understand how to go about winning and take the final step to become a great team. He was very important in that. He demanded excellence."
He was able to get that out of his players in many of his stops, winning pennants with the Red Sox and San Diego as well as the championships in Oakland to join Hall of Famer Bill McKechnie as the only managers ever to take three franchises to the World Series.
He also helped build the Montreal Expos team that went to the playoffs in the strike-shortened 1981 season as he built on his success turning around struggling franchises with his no-nonsense approach.
"I owe Dick a lot," said Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who played for Williams in San Diego. "The city and the Padres owe him a lot. I think a lot of fans bought right into it like the players did, like in '82, when he first took over, then '84 when we went to the World Series. I think the fans realized that his style of play, the way he wanted us to play, could be successful if we bought in, and we did."
But he had his biggest success during three tumultuous seasons in Oakland in the 1970s. Williams led the Athletics to 101 wins and a division title his first year in 1971 before being swept by Baltimore in the AL championship series.
He then won World Series titles the next two years with Hall of Famers like Jackson, Rollie Fingers and Catfish Hunter as the A's became the first team to repeat since the 1961-62 Yankees.
But fed up with Finley's meddling style of ownership, Williams resigned after the 1973 title instead of sticking around for what turned out to be a third straight championship season.
The final straw between manager and owner came during the '73 World Series. After second baseman Mike Andrews made two errors in a Game 2 loss, Finley publicly berated him and pressured him to sign an affidavit claiming he was hurt so the A's could add another player to the roster.
Williams and the A's players were outraged by the way Andrews was treated and Commissioner Bowie Kuhn blocked the roster move. Williams ended up resigning after the season.
"When Dick left, it was an odd termination," Jackson said. "That was a weird deal, the Mike Andrews situation. We knew Dick was still a heck of a manager. It was really just a disagreement with ownership over the incident in the World Series and Dick stood up for the player."
Before coming to Oakland, Williams was part of Boston's memorable "Impossible Dream" team in 1967 that won the pennant for the first time since 1946 before losing the World Series in seven games to St. Louis.
The Red Sox had finished ninth in the 10-team American League the previous year, helping form Williams' reputation as a master of the turnaround.
"One of the best managers I ever played for, Dick was very instrumental in accomplishing the Impossible Dream," Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski said in a statement released as the Red Sox hosted the Orioles.
Williams also took over a last-place team in Montreal and helped build that club into a playoff team. Williams was fired in September 1981, just before the Expos made their only playoff appearance.
He then led the Padres to their first playoff berth and first NL pennant in 1984. San Diego lost to Detroit in five games in the Series that year.
"He knew how to win," said Rangers pitching coach Andy Hawkins, who pitched for Williams on the Padres. "He got the most out of his people, he demanded the most out of his people and he got it. He handled his pitching staff real well, I ended up throwing real well for him. I liked him as a manager, I sure did. He was a tough man to break in for, but as a veteran, he was great to play for."
Gwynn said he found out the hard way that if a player made a mistake and didn't own up to it, Williams would pull him out of a game.
He said he didn't hustle on a grounder to second with a runner on third with two outs in a game at Cincinnati early in the 1984 season. The second baseman dropped the ball but picked it up and had time to throw out Gwynn.
"Dick yanked me out of game right there in the third inning. He told me to go upstairs and get dressed and wait for him in his office. I had to wait for six innings or so, wondering, 'What is he going to say?' I said, 'Hey, I screwed up, I didn't run down the line.' He said, 'You're damn right, that could have been the difference, we would have won the game, because if you were in right field, you make the play that Bobby Brown didn't that cost us the game.' It was classic Dick Williams. He wasn't afraid of anybody. He wasn't afraid if you had (service) time or success. Goose (Gossage), (Steve) Garvey, (Graig) Nettles, if he needed to say anything to anyone, he would. Again, lesson learned. That didn't happen again."
Williams had an overall record of 1,571-1,451 in 21 seasons, also spending time with the Angels and Seattle Mariners. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008 after being elected by the Veterans Committee.
"Well, he wasn't like they are today. He could raise some hell," said baseball lifer Don Zimmer, who played with Williams in Brooklyn in the 1950s. "Great manager. He really knew what he was doing."
Williams was back in Cooperstown, N.Y., last month when he managed both teams at the Hall of Fame Classic at Doubleday Field in a legends contest featuring six Hall of Famers and 20 former major league stars.
One of his former players in Montreal, Hall of Famer Andrew Dawson was there and said he was shocked when he heard the news Thursday that one of his favorite managers ever had died.
"He was just one of those guys. I respected him, I admired him for the simple reason that as a young player I didn't feel pressure underneath him," Dawson said. "He just said, 'Have fun, go out and play the game to the best of your ability.'"
There was a moment of silence with Williams' picture up on the scoreboard at Yankee Stadium before New York played Tampa Bay. Williams previously worked for the Yankees, and his son became a scout for the team.
Williams also played 13 years in the majors for the Dodgers, Orioles, Indians, A's and Red Sox. He had a .260 career average with 70 homers and 331 RBIs as mostly a part-time player. He retired after the 1964 season and soon began his career as a manager. There will be no funeral services held.

subset: commoncrawl


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This is a great time to get involved with the domain of Atlanta! Please see our calendar for the next game date!
Workshops on prop-making, approvals, and gameplay are coming in the future. Get plugged into the local mailing lists for the latest news.
"Black Dog of the Camarilla" is a collection of LARPs (short for "Live Action Role Play" games) in Atlanta, Georgia. Our games utilize the World of Darkness settings produced by White Wolf Studios. Our games are also part of a larger organization called the Mind's Eye Society, which links players and games across the nation and around the world.
Our Games: This page will introduce you to the different games we play, with links to expanded information on other sites.
Domain Officers: Look here for information on who to contact with questions and comments. Anyone listed on this page is expressly there for the purpose of helping you!
Calendar: Our Google Calendar will give you dates, times, and locations for our games.
About Us: Looking to join? Have some questions you need answers to? Or just interested in signing up for e-mail lists? All of the above can be done right here.
Useful Docs: Character sheets, prestige log template and membership handbook all right here.
Featured Game: Look here for information on our special Featured Game of the month.
Check out our links!


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George Washington Teter Obituary 1927-2013
George Washington Teter, 85, a resident of Job, departed this life Friday evening, Feb. 1, 2013, at the Elkins Rehabilitation & Care Center.
He was born Tuesday, Feb. 22, 1927, at Job, a son of the late Franklin Ray Teter and Lora Jane Kyle Teter.
On Oct. 14, 1950, he was married to the former Martha Lee Long, who preceded him in death in January of 1993.
Surviving are two sons, George "Rodney" Teter and wife, Weona, of Red Creek, Wesley Ray Teter and wife, Ronda, of Job; two daughters, Lora May Mullenax and husband, Michael, of Job, and Peggy Ann Bradburn and husband, Harry, of Elkins; five grandchildren, Christina Nelson, Malinda Hunt and husband, Bobby, Jackie Marple and husband, Jermey, Jennings Bradburn and Tabitha Teter; seven great-grandchildren, Jacob, and Marie Johnston, Denver Nelson, Shania and Addison Hunt, and Emily and Kelsey Marple; one great-great granddaughter, Raylee Cook; and several nieces and nephews.
He was the last surviving member of his immediate family of 14 children, Roy, Hughie, Stanley, Leon, Clement, Percy, Paul, Foster, Anna, Vallie Irene, Fern, Madera and Juna Sue. Also preceding him in death are one infant son, Donald Ray Teter.
He attended the schools of Job, and was a Veteran of the United States Army, during World War II in the occupational forces in Germany. After the service, he worked for Glen L. Martin Plane Factory in Baltimore, assembling fuel lines on airplanes. He then returned to West Virginia and worked for the West Virginia Department of Highways, and later joined the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Boilers of America. He worked on the West Virginia University Coliseum at Morgantown, the Canaan Valley State Park, the Mount Storm Power Plant and the Etam Earth Station. He was a charter member of the Harman V.F.W. Post 5871 and later opened Teter's Grocery Store in Job, which he operated for 25 years. He enjoyed turkey hunting, helping people and listening to bluegrass gospel music. He attended the Job United Methodist Church and the Whitmer Church of God.
The family will receive friends at the Job United Methodist Church Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m. Final Rites will be conducted at the church, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013, at 1 p.m.
The Rev. Eli Hostetler and The Rev. Earl Bible will officiate and interment will follow at the Laurel Hill Cemetery at Whitmer, where the H.W. Daniel's Post 29 American Legion, the Tygart Valley Post 3647, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the West Virginia National Guard Honor Guard will conduct full military honors.
Lohr & Barb Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements for George Washington Teter.
Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.lohrbarb funeral home.com.
George Washington Teter Obituary 1927-2013
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Are you involved in externally funded projects that require a web presence?
Do you need a stand-alone website to link into www.strath.ac.uk?
Do you need interactive tools such as discussion boards, online forms, content management, blogs, wikis, etc?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be interested in the Enhanced Web Development Service, set up to provide solutions for these needs.
We will design and brand a new website for your project to your specification, with the tools and features you need. We will manage the hosting of the site on University servers providing ongoing maintenance throughout the lifetime of the project. Also, we will decommission and mothball the site so that it remains available and usable after the end of the funded activity.
All of this can be achieved within the University web framework, ensuring that your site will conform to the legal and administrative requirements for accessibility, data protection, branding etc.
For further information you can contact us on 548 2186 or email: firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Genres: YA
Book Review: "Libertaria: Genesis" by Sabrina Peña Young
It takes a lot of work to create an opera or musical: you need a cohesive plot that can be sung, you need actors, you need costumes, and you need musicians. Award-winning composer went a different way, sourcing the entire world and putting out her opera, Libertaria, virtually. (She talks about the process a bit more in a TedX Buffalo talk.)
But Young has also taken her opera one step further, converting the show into a novel, Libertaria: Genesis, and that's what I'm going to talk about now.


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Jan. 10, 2013 -- The National Rifle Association blasted Vice President Joe Biden after a meeting Thursday afternoon with gun ownership groups, and the president of the NRA told ABC News the White House is promoting policies that will not solve the problem of gun violence but instead violate Americans' Second Amendment rights.
"We think what they're talking about are basically feel-good measures that allow them to say, 'Look, we've done this.' But none of these things are going to prevent the next school shooting," David Keene, the president of the NRA, told ABC News.
"Everything that's been proposed impinges on people who have every right to own firearms on the one hand and are legitimate honest Americans on the other, but doesn't do much about criminals," Keene said.
Following the meeting, the NRA released a stinging statement on the talks, arguing that the talks did not produce legitimate ideas about how to curb gun violence but instead went after the Second Amendment.
"We were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment," the NRA said in a statement. "While claiming that no policy proposals would be 'prejudged,' this task force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners -- honest, taxpaying, hardworking Americans."
"It is unfortunate that this Administration continues to insist on pushing failed solutions to our nation's most pressing problems," the NRA said. "We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen. Instead, we will now take our commitment and meaningful contributions to members of Congress of both parties who are interested in having an honest conversation about what works -- and what does not."
Biden, whose office released a photo of the vice president meeting with gun ownership groups Thursday, told reporters earlier in the day that he has already started putting together a list of gun-control recommendations that he plans to issue next Tuesday.
He has suggested the administration would be ready to take executive action on the issue, which would not require votes from Congress. That prospect has raised alarm bells for gun rights advocates.
Biden told reporters Thursday, during a meeting a with sportsmen, women and wildlife groups, that he would deliver the list of recommendations to the president on Jan. 15, and that an improved system for background checks has emerged as a a priority for the stakeholders he's met so far. Guns have been at the top of the White House agenda since the December shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
"I am putting together a series of recommendations for the president that will, that he will take a look at. There's a real, very tight window to do this," Biden said at the beginning of his meeting with advocates for sportsmen, sportswomen and wildlife interest groups. "I committed to him I'd have these recommendations to him by Tuesday. And it doesn't mean it's the end of the discussion, but the public wants us to act."
Biden said he has not reached any conclusions just yet but recounted the recommendations that have been made to him from the various stakeholders he's met with over the past month. The vice president said a consensus emerged from the meetings on the need to strengthen the background check system.
"So far, a surprising recurrence of suggestions that we have universal background checks, not just close the gun show loophole, but total, universal background checks, even including private sales," Biden said.
Other suggestions offered at the meetings have centered on gun safety and the responsibility that goes along with gun ownership, dealing with high capacity magazines, and the ability of federal agencies to do research on gun violence.
Biden sat down with representatives of the NRA and other supporters of gun rights on the second day of this week's meetings on gun violence.
He said at one meeting that he has "never quite heard so much talk about high-capacity magazines" as he has since the shootings in Newtown.
Biden met with gun-violence victims' groups and proponents of gun control on Wednesday. Thursday was his opportunity to get a different side of the story. Biden met with the National Rifle Association and Attorney General Eric Holder met with representatives from Wal-Mart, one of the largest sellers of firearms in the country.
"There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet, but we're compiling it all with the help the attorney general and all the rest of the cabinet members, as well as legislative action, we believe, is required," Biden said.
In addition to the NRA, sportsmen's groups, women's groups, wildlife groups and representatives of the entertainment industry were invited to meetings with Biden.
In December, the NRA called for armed officers to be placed in every school after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary.
Wal-Mart initially turned down an invitation to participate in the talks but reversed its decision after it "underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on Thursday in person," a spokesman said.
"We take this issue very seriously and are committed staying engaged in this discussion as the administration and Congress work toward a consensus on the right path forward," David Tovar, vice president of corporate communications for Wal-Mart, said.
The latest meetings come one day after Biden held a first round of talks this week with gun safety advocacy groups and victims of gun violence. Speaking to reporters before the meeting, the vice president expressed the administration's commitment to develop effective gun policy by considering all ideas.
Gun Control: Biden Includes NRA, Wal-Mart in Talks
Biden also held conference calls with 15 governors and 16 state and local elected officials Wednesday.
Shortly after the shootings in which 26 children and educators were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary last month, President Obama assigned Biden to head a task force and offer suggestions on curbing gun violence.
"Every once in a while there's something that awakens the conscience of the country, and that tragic event did in a way like nothing I've seen in my career," Biden said Wednesday.


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Google unveiled new APIs for its Buzz social networking service on Wednesday during a presentation at the company's I/O developer conference. The new APIs will make it possible for third-party developers to write software—such as desktop and mobile client applications—that can read and post content on Buzz. The Buzz APIs are built on top of open standards to enable broad compatibility with other services.
Google's Chris Chabot started the session by describing Google's vision for social networking. The Web is becoming increasingly social, he explained, but social networking is heavily fragmented due to the multitude of disparate services that are popular among users. Google hopes to unify social networking and make it a pervasive part of the Internet experience, but not at the cost of diversity and rich competition in the marketplace. The solution, said Chabot, is to facilitate interoperability through open standards. He said that Google wants Buzz to be part of a bigger ecosystem, one that includes a healthy quantity of good third-party software.
A number of compelling standards that are emerging in the social networking space have the potential to reduce fragmentation, simplify client application development, and enable competing services to work together seamlessly. (The list includes OAuth, Activity Streams, and Salmon.) With the exception of Salmon, the standards that Google has selected for Buzz are already used by some major social networking Web sites and are rapidly gaining traction.
Activity Streams, also known as Atom Activity Extensions, describes a set of enhancements to the XML-based Atom feed format that can be used to express a sequence of activities or items in a timeline. There's also a JSON-based output format that Google decided to offer alongside Atom in response to requests from application developers (I favor JSON myself because it's lighter, faster to parse, and maps cleanly to conventional hash and list containers).
As some readers might recall, we discussed Activity Streams at length when Facebook adopted the standard last year. Other prominent adopters include MySpace and TypePad. Due to the growing body of supporters, it's likely that there will eventually be Activity Streams client software that will track social messages from multiple sites in much the same way that users today run generic news readers to follow RSS and conventional Atom feeds.
Chabot said that Google's new APIs are still incomplete and subject to change. As such, the API support is currently made available as a "Labs" feature, signifying its experimental nature. He described several gaps in functionality that will prevent third-party developers from building fully-featured client applications.
For example, messages that are not public will not be accessible through the API, even in cases where an authenticated user has permission to see the message. That particular limitation exists because the company is taking a relatively conservative stance on potential privacy issues during the initial rollout of the API. It seems like Google learned some important lessons from the fallout of the high-profile privacy failures that marred Buzz's launch.
Several of Google's partners received early access to the APIs during a trial period. As a result, there are a handful of popular applications available today with built-in support for Google Buzz. During the presentation at I/O, developers from Seesmic and Socialwok gave brief demos of their Buzz-enabled software. The level of integration with the service that is offered by these third-party applications appears to be relatively strong.
After the presentation, I spent some time myself experimentally hacking Buzz support into Gwibber, my own multinetwork microblogging application. The REST APIs work reasonably well and appear to be soundly architected. My only complaint is that the OAuth-based authentication mechanism could be a lot more desktop-friendly. I'd like to see Google adopt a mechanism similar to Twitter's xAuth, which allows applications to obtain an access token by supplying the user's regular credentials (not to be confused with Meebo's XAuth, which is completely different). I'm planning to publish a Gwibber branch with preliminary Buzz support at some point this weekend. Ars will also have a programming tutorial next week.
To simplify and accelerate third-party development, Google has supplied client library implementations for several programming languages, including Python and PHP. The company has also provided a convenient command-line tool that allows developers to make API calls and see the output in the terminal. This makes it easier to experiment with the API and test the endpoints during development and debugging.
The availability of APIs will expand Buzz from a service into a platform. Google's commitment to using existing standards could be beneficial in the long run, especially as client application developers work to support more services in their software.


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The governor and the Legislature have generated headlines during their long debate over raising taxes. But a telling subplot emerged in the state's judicial branch, where the judiciary's proactive budget measures underscored state lawmakers' unwillingness to do the job they were elected to do: prioritize state spending.
In fiscal 2007, the judiciary initially received a legislative appropriation of $259 million, but the amount was later reduced by $4.1 million. In response, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, which together have administrative control of Michigan's court system, took steps to cut spending.
The Supreme Court eliminated administrative positions, suspended contractual services, reduced planned equipment purchases and lowered total payroll costs by offering employees unpaid time off. Similarly, the Michigan Court of Appeals ended a contract attorney program, continued a hiring freeze, withheld worker promotions, suspended discretionary bonuses, closed operations for eight days around holidays, and mothballed the expedited "summary disposition track" that decides certain civil cases more quickly.
These steps helped matters in the short term. Sadly, however, the Legislature has ignored judicial recommendations that would promote meaningful long-term change.
In August 2007, the Supreme Court Administrative Office, an agency created by the state Constitution and overseen by a Supreme Court-appointed supervisor, issued its biennial recommendations. The SCAO proposed the elimination of 10 specific lower-court judgeships — three in the circuit courts and seven in the district courts — after analyzing county-by-county trends in caseloads, population and other data. The reductions would not only save the state approximately $1.6 million annually, but also would match the judiciary's resources more closely to taxpayers' actual needs. The Supreme Court has since upped the ante, recommending that the Legislature eliminate a total of 20 trial court judgeships.
In addition, the SCAO recommended reducing the number of Court of Appeals judges from 28 to 24. This downsizing would save around $1.4 million annually, but would theoretically allow the same number of cases to be handled by freeing $700,000 to hire key judicial support staff.
Thus, we have a rare example of a government department attempting to reduce and reorganize its workforce in ways that save money and maintain services. The Legislature and the governor, however, have failed to act on these recommendations to reduce judgeships in areas of the state where needs have fallen, even though lawmakers are always quick to increase judgeships in areas where needs have grown. Worse, this isn't the first time lawmakers have ignored SCAO recommendations to prioritize the location of judgeships; they did the same in 2003 and 2005.
In fairness, some policymakers argue it's better to err on the side of having too many judges. Still, excess judgeships too often serve as political plums for politicians to hand to their allies in the legal profession. Lawmakers' steadfast refusal to accept any of the SCAO's judicial reduction proposals has occurred in the midst of state spending excesses and economic hardship.
Unfortunately, Lansing policymakers' failure to acknowledge priorities within the judiciary is dwarfed by their unwillingness to recognize priorities within state spending as a whole. To take just one example, the Legislature and governor continue to tolerate a state prevailing wage policy that mandates that contractors pay union wages — typically 40 percent to 60 percent above market wages, according to a recent study by the Mackinac Center — on construction projects financed or co-financed by state government.
This law adds an estimated $250 million per year to taxpayers' tab for state and local government construction costs — an amount roughly equal to the state budget for the entire Michigan judiciary. Yet the Mackinac Center study indicates that the higher construction wages don't improve construction quality, worker safety or cost-effectiveness. Rather, the law shields unions from competition and provides subsidies to construction workers who typically earn more than the state's median income.
Surely such special-interest legislation is not a core government function in comparison to adjudicating criminal cases, civil rights cases, business lawsuits and child custody disputes. Yet the governor and the Legislature have retained the prevailing wage, rejected numerous proposed spending cuts and pondered tax hikes. You don't need a black robe to judge the logic of this.
Patrick J. Wright, a former Michigan Supreme Court commissioner, is senior legal analyst at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the Center are properly cited.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a nonprofit research and educational institute that advances the principles of free markets and limited government. Through our research and education programs, we challenge government overreach and advocate for a free-market approach to public policy that frees people to realize their potential and dreams.
Please consider contributing to our work to advance a freer and more prosperous state.


text: The Klingenstein Library holds the fourth largest collection of American newspapers published before 1820; it encompasses the most complete set of colonial New York titles such as Zenger's controversial New-York Weekly Journal. For the 19th century there are nearly complete runs of commercial dailies, and some obscure publications espousing political, religious, and ethnic viewpoints. Also present are many of the principal newspapers from Northern and Southern localities up through the Civil War. The New York City dailies continue into the 20th century for which period there are also some pictorial supplements. For more information, see the Klingenstein Library's Newspaper Research Guide.


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U.S. launches second wave of airstrikes in Iraq
WASHINGTON — U.S. warplanes made a second wave of airstrikes Friday in northern Iraq against the militants who have besieged a religious group and threatened the city of Irbil, a Pentagon official said.
Rear Adm. John Kirby, spokesman for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, said the second wave of strikes used a drone to attack a mortar position while four FA-18 fighter-attack planes hit a seven-vehicle convoy outside Irbil.
In a statement, Kirby said "shortly after 10 a.m. EDT, remotely piloted aircraft struck a terrorist mortar position." When the military returned to the site, they were attacked again "and successfully eliminated."
At 11:20 a.m. EDT, the second wave struck the convoy and the mortar position, Kirby said. "The aircraft executed two planned passes. On both runs, each aircraft dropped one laser-guided bomb, making a total of eight bombs dropped on target, neutralizing the mortar and convoy."
The drones involved in the strike were Predators, armed with Hellfire missiles, according to a Pentagon official who spoke about the operation on condition of anonymity because officials were not authorized to speak publicly on those details.
Assessment of the effects of the bombs was clear cut, the official said, because pilots can see the specific targets and the effect of 500-pound bombs and Hellfire missiles is "immediate."
The aircraft from the first strikes came from the USS George H.W. Bush, an aircraft carrier operating in the Persian Gulf, according to a second Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military details.
President Obama said Thursday night that airstrikes would be used if the militants threatened Irbil, home to a U.S. consulate and a joint U.S.-Iraqi operations center.
"As the president made clear, the United States military will continue to take direct action against ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) when they threaten our personnel and facilities," Kirby said in a statement Friday morning.
Strikes could continue through the weekend. Humanitarian-aid drops will continue as well.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday afternoon he had "no operational update" on airstrikes in Iraq, but said Obama's plan is "very limited in scope."
Obama's objectives are "protection of American personnel in Iraq," Earnest said, and answering the "urgent humanitarian situation at Sinjar Mountain," where members of an Iraqi religious minority, the Yazidis, are seeking refuge.
Hundreds of Yazidi women have been taken captive by ISIL members, the spokesman for Iraq's human rights ministry said Friday. Kamil Amin said the women are below the age of 35 and some are being held in schools in Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul. He said the ministry learned of the captives from their families.
Earnest said the U.S. mission against the Islamic State will not involve combat troops and will focus on helping improve Iraq forces so that they can take the lead in the fight against the militants.
The administration had developed the Iraq plan for some time, Earnest said, and Obama discussed Iraq and the Islamic State with House and Senate leaders in a mid-June meeting
Obama, congressional leaders and members of key committees also discussed Iraq at a meeting eight days ago, Earnest said. "We certainly welcome the partnership and support" of lawmakers, he said, adding that the White House contacted key leaders Thursday before the announcement of the strikes.
The administration has no plans to seek additional appropriations for the Iraq operation, Earnest said. The administration will maintain congressional consultations, and make notifications as required under the War Powers Resolution, he said.
Earnest said the plan will be evaluated regularly and assessed based on conditions on the ground.
"The president has not laid out a specific end date," Earnest said.
Obama has been briefed by national security aides throughout the day, Earnest said. In the morning, he spoke on the telephone with Jordan's King Abdullah, a longtime U.S. ally.
There are about 650 U.S. troops in Iraq — 470 of them to protect American personnel and property at the embassy and Baghdad International Airport. The remainder are there to assess the security situation in Iraq and assist Iraqi forces in dealing with the threat from Islamic extremists who have captured key cities.
The Pentagon also has dispatched Apache attack helicopters and surveillance aircraft to the airport. The drones and other manned spy planes have been flying dozens of missions daily.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it is banning U.S. airlines and commercial carriers from flying in Iraqi airspace.


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Bob Graham's daughter, Gwen Graham, running for Congress
Daughter of former Fla. governor, U.S. senator challenging incumbent Steve Southerland
Gwen Graham, the daughter of Florida's former governor and U.S. senator, is running for Congress.
Graham announced Tuesday that she is going to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Fla.
Southerland represents the 2nd Congressional District that covers Florida's panhandle.
Graham's father, Bob Graham, served two terms as governor and spent nearly 20 years in the U.S. Senate.
Gwen Graham currently lives in Tallahassee and works for the Leon County school district.
Southerland defeated an incumbent Democrat during the tea party-inspired wave of the 2010 elections. He won re-election last year despite efforts by Democrats to defeat him.
The 2nd Congressional District stretches from Panama City to just east of Tallahassee. Southerland won nearly 53 percent of the vote last November.


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Ben Ward has designed a cool t-shirt based on the semi-ubiquitous web feed icon with the caption "Well Fed". The shirt is pretty comfortable; It's not too flimsy or heavy. And the caption has an extra level of irony for those of us who are a bit, er, soft around the middle. Order from Spreadshirt (in North America or Europe)
Pinstripe for Firefox: Now with 20% more Macintosh
This update to the stand-alone Pinstripe theme turned out to be more of a redesign than I originally intended. Stephen Horlander sent in a cool concept for the browser tabs. Check out the etched text on the inactive tabs. You'll see some of the other details in the screenshot below. The theme has some rough edges but should be usable. As always I appreciate your feedback.
Click on the thumbnail for a full screenshot.
Install the Pinstripe Theme (requires Firefox 2.0RC1 or later on Mac OS X)
Firefox 1.x Classic themes available
The Firefox 1.x classic default themes, called Pinstripe on Mac and Winstripe on Windows, are available for your installing and downloading pleasure.
These are simply stand-alone versions of the Firefox themes before the Firefox "visual refresh" landed. The themes require at least Firefox 2.0b1. I will work on them in the coming weeks to smooth out the rough spots. I tested the themes on my machines but they may be buggy. Please let me know if they don't work for you.
Install Pinstripe FF Classic (Mac only)
Install Winstripe FF Classic (Windows only)
Download Pinstripe FF Classic
Download Winstripe FF Classic
By the way, you can get the Illustrator and Photoshop files used to make these themes here.
Firefox browser UI artwork released
Designer Stephen Horlander and I are pleased to announce the availability of the toolbar and UI artwork seen in Firefox on Windows and Mac OS X.
Winstripe has been the default theme on the Windows version of Firefox for over two years. Man, how time flies. To explain the odd name, the Pinstripe project started in 2001 as an attempt to make the appearance of the Mozilla Suite fit in with the Mac OS X desktop. Icon designer Stephen Horlander joined the project and took the icon artwork to a new level of usability and polish. The Windows version of Pinstripe, dubbed "Winstripe", became the default look on the Windows version of Firefox 0.9.
I'd like to see you take the artwork and remix it, mash it up with your own projects, use the artwork as the basis for your own Firefox themes. If you're not familiar with Firefox themeing, start with the documentation at the Mozilla Dev Center. There's an active community over at the Mozillazine Themes forum that'll help you get up to speed. If creating a theme for Firefox looks daunting but you have a great idea, create a mockup of your idea and share it on the Themes forum. You might find people to help you turn your idea into a real theme. Enjoy!
Download Details
The artwork source zips contain Illustrator and Photoshop files. The majority of the icons were created by Stephen Horlander with contributions by Kevin Gerich. You can use, modify and distribute them under the Mozilla tri-license.
Pinstripe Browser Art (3.6MB)
Winstripe Browser Art (5.9MB)
Web feed icon trademark, licensing and usage guidelines
I am encouraged to read Mitchell Baker's posts (part 1, part 2) about the usage of Stephen Horlander's web feed icon which is seen in Firefox, IE7 and on an increasing number of web pages. She suggests that Mozilla should work with the web community to set usage guidelines for the icon. This is a great idea. Guidelines are necessary to avoid confusing web users about the meaning of the image.
It's puzzling that Mozilla has already applied for a trademark on the web feed icon: http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78836825. In light of Mitchell's recomendation against the formal trademark option, does this mean that the Mozilla's application will be withdrawn?
There's also the question of the icon image license. Mitchell's post implies that the feed icon is not subject to an open source license like the rest of the Firefox code. This is news to me. When Stephen Horlander and I checked in our images for Firefox and Thunderbird, we were told that they are covered by the Mozilla tri-license. In fact part of the move to replace the Qute theme before Firefox 1.0 was driven by the desire to have artwork that is free of proprietary licensing. I hope Mozilla will clear this up soon.
We should move quickly to come up with an icon kit that web sites can use and a clear set of usage guidelines. There has already been some good starts by Khoi Vinh, Matt Brett and others. I look forward to the discussion.
Update: Mitchell Baker posts details about the Mozilla Foundation's trademark application.


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I've written several times in the past about the legitimacy of phones as photographic tools My main assumptions have always been the same: that a) one does not compose any differently; a 28mm-e FOV is a 28mm-e FOV and does not change with recording format; b) you are aware of and shoot within the limits of the hardware, i.e. dynamic range, light, ability to handle motion, stability etc; c) you've almost always got it with you, so the opportunities are simply greater – especially the larger your primary hardware becomes. The number of excuses have gotten fewer too, as phone camera hardware has improved – but not as much as the processing software behind it. I'm currently on an iPhone 8 Plus, which has dual cameras (primary, 28mm-e, stabilised; secondary, 56mm-e, unstabilized, and a stop slower). I find that I use the tele camera a lot less than I'd have expected – probably given that its working envelope is very small due to the lack of stabilisation and what appears to be diffraction limits (not surprising given the extremely tiny pixels – in the 1um range or so). I'm also finding that whilst images look great at normal output sizes – say up to a moderate monitor – they really fall apart at full resolution, with perhaps even less pixel-level integrity than the earlier generation of phone sensors. I suspect this is because there's a lot more processing going on to optimise things for straight out of camera use; blame the social media generation. They also won't print well. These images either look okay as they are, or are going to present nigh on zero latitude for post processing – a fact confirmed by the surprising gulf between raw files and JPEG. Shooting RAW is a pain, requiring you to do it in LR Mobile (and very slow) – so I've only ever tried this on an experimental basis. I can't help but feel though in some ways the limitations are somewhat part of the stylisation; mostly to do with handling of deep shadows and contrast. The camera's limits do nudge you unsubtly towards shooting in a certain way; all devices do this to some extent, I suppose. Presented today is what I think of as a "scrapbook of experiments from the last six months I didn't think you could get away with doing more seriously"; somehow the compositions are a bit more minimalist or stark or whimsical than what I'd do with a larger camera, though that's not to say the results aren't interesting…MT
Visit the Teaching Store to up your photographic game – including workshop videos, and the individual Email School of Photography. You can also support the site by purchasing from B&H and Amazon – thanks!
We are also on Facebook and there is a curated reader Flickr pool.
Images and content copyright Ming Thein | mingthein.com 2012 onwards unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved


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(a) Malissa J Wrist Clutch Crossbody Shoulder Bag Matt White Leather
Brand MALISSA J
There is a reason why this leather bag is one of our best selling bags year on year. It's just such a fantastic price for a great all round multi-way bag that does everything you want. It is a clutch, a wrist, a shoulder and cross body bag. It has an attachable wrist strap, shoulder chain and leather adjustable across body strap. The front flap is magnetic closure and top zip fastening, back zip pocket, inside full width zipped divider compartment and inside zip pocket. WE LOVE THIS BAG!!
Height 13 cm Width 26 cm Depth 2 cm


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Quinn to review major decisions made by Blagojevich
Declaring that his new administration is "ready to move forward," Gov. Pat Quinn sketched out plans to focus on government reform and state finances, and he asked Illinoisans to pray for him.
"This is probably the most trying, difficult time in the history of our state," he said, citing the country's involvement in two wars and the state's fiscal troubles.
At a State Capitol news conference Thursday, Quinn said he will ask the legislature to let him deliver the governor's annual budget address a month later than planned, on March 18.
Quinn said he and aides would do "fact-finding on fiscal matters" during the next several weeks to get a handle on the state's financial picture.
Quinn said he'd also review major decisions made by Blagojevich, such as a plan to move the Illinois Department of Transportation from Springfield to southern Illinois, to decide if they should stand.
That also applies to the Blagojevich administration's plan to shutter the Pontiac Correctional Center, he said.
Quinn made it clear that because of his new job, multiple changes are on the horizon for state government.
More than a dozen shuttered state parks and historic sites that closed Nov. 30 should be reopened "with dispatch," he said. Blagojevich ordered them closed because of budget problems.
Nature-based and historic-based tourism are the fast-growing growing types of U.S. tourism, Quinn said. The dollars generated by tourism outweigh the cost of running the parks and historic sites, he said, adding that his administration somehow would find the money to reopen them.
"You squeeze a nickel and lose a half-dollar. That's not smart government," he said.
Quinn said he will "take a look" at all of the agency heads who were appointed by Blagojevich to decide whether to retain them.
"Everybody will be under review. That's the way it's going to be," he said.
Former state Rep. Kurt Granberg, the recently appointed director of the Department of Natural Resources, might not get to keep that job much longer, Quinn indicated.
"I believe it should be a natural resources professional in the Department of Natural Resources," he said.
Sustained applause and loud cheers greeted Quinn as he took the oath of office Thursday evening to become Illinois' 41st governor.
Quinn actually was sworn in twice.
The first time took place in his lieutenant governor's office to accommodate his younger son, David, who had to leave Springfield to catch a flight to London for work. The second swearing-in occurred about 5 p.m. in the House of Representatives chamber, attracting more than 100 people, including dozens of lawmakers and all of the statewide constitutional officers.
"I want to say to the people of Illinois, the ordeal is over," he said.
Quinn, who arrived in Springfield on Thursday morning as lieutenant governor, spent much of the day in his Capitol office with his family.
Blagojevich's speech at his Senate impeachment trial, which called on senators to let him keep his job, "came from the heart," but was not persuasive, Quinn said.
Quinn directed Illinois State Police to stop providing a security detail for Blagojevich once he returned to his Chicago home Thursday.
Quinn declined to say if he plans to run for governor in 2010.
"This should be the year of governance, where people really work on repairing damage and making things better," he said. "There'll be plenty of time for politics in 2010."
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias praised Quinn's ascension to the governorship, saying he has proven his abilities to work well with others and provide "ethical leadership."
"No one would ever say he's corrupt," he said.
Andy McKenna, head of the Illinois Republican Party, offered a more skeptical view about the new governor.
"He came to this role as a teammate of Rod Blagojevich, so that does color his leadership substantially," McKenna said, referring to Blagojevich's pairing with Quinn in the 2002 and 2006 general elections. "He was part of the leadership team that's put this state in a terrible financial situation."
Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 email@example.com.


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This graph from ACT's Roger Douglas illustrates John Key's duplicity in first helping to cause, then pretending to care about, youth unemployment.
National, Labour and the Greens — all parties bar ACT — voted down Roger's bill to reinstate youth rates and get kids off the couch and into work.
By refusing to allow kids to be paid less than adults, Key deliberately allowed the number of young unemployed to double.
Now he's offering a dollop of your money to any boss who pays a kid an adult's wage.
Why not just let the boss pay the kid a kid's wage, and let the kid work their way up — the way most of us did?
Excellent graph, whoever did this.


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Kanye West Confirms: 'Perfect Bitch' Is About Kim Kardashian
"I wrote the song Perfect Bitch about Kim," Kanye West tweeted today, referencing the new song he unveiled in NYC over the weekend.
"Perfect Bitch," reportedly featured on the upcoming GOOD Music compilation Cruel Summer, was rumored to be about Yeezy's current girlfriend, Kim K.
One person in attendance at PH-D Rooftop Lounge described the song thus: "(He raps) verses about his search for the perfect woman and how he has now found the 'perfect bitch.'"
The same source notes that both Kardashian and Kanye's former female companion Amber Rose are referenced in the song.
Cruel Summer is due out September 4th on GOOD.


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***This app only works with GO Launcher EX.
***Install GO Launcher free from the market first.
***How to Apply the Theme:
1.Please Do Not open directly after it's installed.
2.Back to GO Launcher EX: MENU > theme preferences.
3.Choose and apply the theme.
***Change icons:
Some devices may not change the icons automatically.
1.Tab and hold an app in desk screens.(Not available in app list.)
2.Replace > Choose the theme's icons.
Thanks for your support!


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Public toilets constructed seven years ago in an Indian village, soon fell in disrepair because the pump that provided the water supply stopped working, and did not get repaired. Now the 2,500 inhabitants of Kokkarapati village, in Trichy district, Tamil Nadu, are deprived of any sanitation facilities, IndiaUnheard reports.
The villagers have been demanding their administrators to undertake the necessary work, but their requests remain unanswered. The majority of the villagers are poor, and the public toilets were the only sanitation they could rely on, and they are now left with no other choice than defecating in the fields, or in any space where they can afford a bit of privacy.
Margaret Jeoji, a community correspondent for IndiaUnheard in the area, posted a video about the lot of the villagers, who have been left without toilets for the last 5 years. "The situation is particularly difficult for women, because they feel ashamed when have to go in the open. So they go late in the evening or very early morning," explains Margaret. "During every election campaign, politicians come to the village and promise that the toilets will be repaired, but once they are elected nothing happens," she adds. Margaret, a long time activist, is determined to make change happen. As soon as possible, she wants to show her video to the Block Development Officer, to confront him with his responsibilities, and to the villagers and local women groups, to help them mobilize to get their rights fulfilled.
Watch Margaret's video report of 22 June 2011, posted on the IndiaUnheard channel on Blip.tv


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After school Daniela Marinaro slips on a headset plugged into her laptop and greets her English tutor, Greeshma Salin. "We'll work on pronouns today," says Ms. Salin, typing "Daniela thinks that Daniela should give Daniela's horse Scarlett to Daniela's sister" into her chat window. "How can you make it better?" she asks Daniela.
Even with the use of the Web, their conversation isn't so different from today's tutoring experience. What sets this exchange apart, however, is the fact that Ms. Salin in southern India and Daniela is in southern California. Advances in online learning have meant that several for-profit tutoring companies have begun to invest in technologies such as multimedia chat rooms to connect students and tutors, while other companies cautiously consider the use of online tutoring services that employ instructors outside of North America.
Ms. Salin is part of a new wave of outsourcing to India: the tutoring of American students. Twice a week for a month now, Ms. Salin, who grew up speaking the Indian language Malayalam at home, has been tutoring Daniela in English grammar, comprehension and writing.
Using a simulated whiteboard on their computers, connected by the Internet, and a copy of Daniela's textbook in front of her, she guides the teenager through the intricacies of nouns, adjectives and verbs.
Daniela, an eighth grader at Malibu Middle School, said, "I get C's in English and I want to score A's," and added that she had given no thought to her tutor being 20,000 miles away, other than the situation feeling "a bit strange in the beginning."
Needless to say, critics have been vocal in their opposition to the offshoring, noting that the industry has few standards and employees are not closely monitored. Sensitive to such charges, online tutoring firms in the US have adopted several approaches; Tutor.com uses only instructors based in North America, while rival SmarThinking has employees in South Africa, the Philippines, India, and Chile, but ensures that only tutors in the United States provide English lessons.
However, online tutoring, according to its advocates, has the advantage of eliminating factors such as skin color and appearance. SmarThinking's chief executive and co-founder, Burck Smith, claims that the Internet makes online tutoring "more egalitarian than most classrooms." With distance learning, students in rural areas who may not have ready access to qualified teachers can now receive instruction online. Parents and students who use such services are also aware of the savings; the Marinaros say that Growing Stars costs a third of what they were paying an in-home tutor.
Though still a limited phenomenon, public school students could begin to receive similar help. Thanks to the No Child Left Behind act, students enrolled in government-identified struggling schools are eligible for free after-school help with reading and matha market that overseas companies are eager to expand into. With schools and students under increasing pressure to perform academically, the demand for such services is evident; at US$27-$30 per hour for SmarThinking, $21 per hour for Growing Stars, and US$100 a month for Tutor.com's unlimited service, low-income students who are eligible for supplemental education services under No Child Left Behind can use government funds to pay approved tutoring providers.
As someone who works in e-learning, globalization is a very real business environment for the industry. Nowadays, content can be designed in the US, then developed in India, where it can then be uploaded to a course-management system on a server in Germany before being taught by an instructor in Taiwan. The real power of the Internet as an educational medium is not in its ability to cheaply broadcast canned messages at the masses, but in its ability to network students and teachers together in a peer-to-peer model. Though both sides are acutely aware that homework outsourcing might be perfectly feasible, for-profit firms risk being embroiled in a politically charged debate. As industry analyst J. Mark Jackson notes, "The person who's not doing that work is the local teacher."


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ATLANTA -- It's fitting for the youngest franchise ever to reach a World Series to be taken there by its 38-year-old Big Unit and some valuable spare parts.
Craig Counsell, a 1997 World Series hero for Florida who was rescued off the scrap heap a year ago, was named the unlikely MVP of this NLCS, but got his greatest pleasure watching the celebration around him.
"I refuse to take any credit for what's happened with this ballclub this year. They put their egos on the back burner and decided that as a unit we were going to try to go out and do something special. I kind of sat back and watched them."
3, Braves 2
at Turner


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Hi! Just found you and saw that you are looking for blog followers. Stop by my blog http://www.chunkyandmonkeymd.com and follow GFC and leave me a comment with the link back to your page and I will follow you in return. We also run giveaways all the time so stop by for a chance to win.
Chunky and Monkey MD
Following you and I liked your facebook page.
Following you shabnamahsan on your blog & face book
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I am now following both blogs. If you could follow my blog and website I would appreciate it. Please check out my blog at http://thecryptocapersseries.blogspot.com I am a award-winning children's book author. If anyone follows me I will follow them as well. Thanks!


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PARACHINAR, Pakistan — Pakistani security officials say a U.S. drone has fired four missiles at a compound of militant commander in a northwestern tribal region, killing 10 militants.
The officials said at least 15 insurgents were wounded in Thursday's strike in Orakzai tribal region.
They said the dead and wounded men were fighters led by a militant commander, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who is based in North Waziristan.
The officials spokes on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Pakistan has often criticized the U.S. drone strikes.
Although U.S. forces often target militant hideouts in the country's north and south tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, airstrikes in the Orakzai area are rare.


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If you are a friend on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr you'll remember that I teased you with this pic about a week ago:
If you're not, then you are seeing this tree for the first time.
If you are of the second group, I suggest saving the pic, closing the tab, and ruminating about the pic a while. You need a little time to let the chaos of the tree and my unparalleled cheek germinate some of those placid internal paradigms into the epic, pretentious posings that only me and my posts are capable of producing.
Or something like that.
Or this:
Brains…I need brains….yes, indeed you do Adam.
But I regress…
Here's the tree, since we are talking about bonsai I guess:
Quite a specimen. It was purchased at Dragon Tree Nursery (www.dragontreebonsai.com) in Palm City, FL. I suggest a visit if you get the chance, Robert is one of the good men in bonsai.
I was able to pick out my tree for the demo at the zoo from Robert's nursery.
The Brevard club has a show every year at the Brevard Zoo (they also have a permanent exhibit there, an excuse to take the whole family out and for you to sneak in some bonsai at the same time…).
This is the second year they have invited me to be a demonstrator and a vendor.
The Brevard club is one of the most active clubs in Florida and probably the most active in outreach in support of spreading the art of bonsai.
Which makes one wonder what I'm doing giving a demo.
To the work.
I had my friend Yamida take some pics for me while I was working on the tree.
I kid you not, she took more than 70 pictures. It's kind of embarrassing to have that many pictures of yourself on your own iPhone.
I mean, isn't it?
Here I am getting ready-
Imagine four more pics like that, two of them scratching my butt, and you'll get the idea. How many pics do you have on your phone of you scratching your butt?
Don't answer that.
I did get a quick pic of the audience-
I swear, the guy on the left didn't change his expression the whole time, even with my best jokes.
Back to the tree.
I studied it a bit (for effect) and started to talk a bit about the species.
Which is, of course, a ficus green gem.
It's similar in growth habit to the green island ficus but the main difference is the green gem has a pointy leaf, green island, rounded leaf.
I quickly pruned out the branches I didn't need.
And proceeded to massage the tree.
No, really. Massage.
That look on my face was me answering a question from the audience about what I was doing.
I was massaging the tree.
What does that mean?
I was pre-bending the cascading branch so that when I put the wire on it and started to actually place the branch, it would be more pliable.
It works.
No one believed me in the audience either.
Here's the front of the tree
The before, if you will.
Now I begin the wiring process-
What am I looking at?
Let's just say that if that bird had been one second sooner in its release I would have been a victim.
It was a big bird too. Big bird. Big poo.
The main branch I am wiring (the cascade) is pretty thick. I end up using three of the heaviest wires they have.
Someone asked what gauge wire it is. I had no idea, maybe 5 mm?
I explain that I always prefer to use two smaller wires than one bigger one when making heavy bends because the branch always breaks where the wire isn't. And two wires cover the branch (obviously) better than one.
So….three wires-
And now it's time for me to really get to work-
Look at that concentration…those forearms….call me Popeye even.
The pic above looks like I actually know what I'm doing.
Now where did I put those wire cutters?
I must admit, I actually cracked the cascade branch three times in the bending process. Embarrassingly, it was loud enough for the audience to hear.
After skillfully explaining that,
"I'm going to crack it as many times as I need to to get it bent" I then obfuscated enough to convince them that it won't be detrimental to the health of this ficus (which it won't, truth be told).
And then I did an LBJ and held the beagle up by its ears:
At this point I also justified the contradiction of a ficus (a jungle tree) in the style of a cascade (a tree falling off a mountain).
Besides the fact that bonsai is an art and we don't really have to strictly adhere to the natural growth habits of a particular species, I explained that ficus seeds have a tendency to lodge in any crevice and sprout, often on the sides of buildings or the tops of buildings.
And that, a lá a strangler fig, the tree will throw out limbs in search of light.
Just like a tree on the side of a mountain.
The finished tree as the audience saw it.
With this being November, I won't touch those roots; it won't hurt the tree (it hasn't so far) to go through the winter like this.
Back view:
This tree will be available for raffle at the 2014 BSF convention, Memorial Day weekend in Orlando.
By that time I'll have it repotted into a nice container and it should have two more levels of growth on it.
Trunk close up:
I'll post updates on it so don't worry about that.
The final studio pic and I'll call this post done except to mention that, if you're in the Brevard County area of Florida I recommend a visit to the Bonsai Society of Brevard (bonsaisocietyofbrevard.org). They are a truly gracious bunch of bonsai people and you will be welcomed with open arms.


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Hand-sewing with Rouenneries Deux
When I first saw French General's Rouenneries Deux range my love for it was almost instant and it caused me to make a rare impetuous purchase. I saw it late on one of the last few evenings before the schools broke up and early the next morning I persuaded my husband to skip work for a few hours and come on a jaunt through the countryside with me to my nearest stockist of the range. His presence, as well as being lovely, was essential as I have no sense of direction and consequently can only drive unaccompanied within a five mile radius of our house without ending up lost and weepy in a farmer's field. When we eventually buy a car with SatNav installed it will be a very liberating thing indeed (although I've heard that can mistakenly lead you into farmer's fields too).
In my head this fabric falls within the category of 'old lady' fabric, although recently my eighty-four year old grandmother said to me 'goodness, no, I don't like that skirt at all - it looks like something an old lady might wear', which would suggest that such a term can sometimes be used in a derogatory way, but that's not the way in which I view old ladyism. I think what I actually mean is that the fabric feels traditional* and sober in a way that I adore - it feels as though it has its roots in history and as though its loveliness is timeless. When I think of this old lady I imagine soft, rose-scented powdery cheeks which beg to be kissed; a hand-held looking glass and crystal perfume bottles with puff-spray atomisers laid out on a dresser;grey hair swept up in an elegant bun; and vintage dresses hanging from a picture rail. This is the fabric my archetypal old lady would be drawn to. I have only met her a couple of times in my life. Once at a wedding as an eighteen year old where she sparkled at my dinner table, outshining youth with her beauty, another time as a seven year old, when my sister and I warned her that there was a nest of bees on the grass verge that may sting her and her small dog and she invited us to visit her for tea after school. My sister and I sat in her front room drinking cordial from beautiful glasses, before my mother told us that evening that it wasn't safe to go and visit the homes of strangers.
My husband said that the fabric reminded him of the type of thing you might find on one of the beds at Knole. Lacking our own four poster bed this quilt is intended for the room seen above, where it will increase its redness. This strange corridor of a room in the middle of our house has no name and occasionally when trying to tell someone where they may locate their missing sock/book/marble I refer to it as The Red Room, which both me and my daughter have agreed never feels quite right as we both instantly think of Jane Eyre who was sent to The Red Room by the punitive Mrs Reed for imagined misdemeanours. You can see the fabrics laid out on the chair in the photo above - I love how well they blend in with the colours.


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geopolitical strategies, Splitting Syria, Syrian borders, Syrian government, Syrian Partition, Turkey, Turkish Armed Forces, Turkish Army, Turkish plots, War by Proxy, War Crime Alert, War Criminals, War on Syria, War Strategy, Warmongers
Late on October 12, the Turkish Army started deploying troops and vehicles in Syria's Idlib province. According to reports, at least 30 Turkish vehicles entered Idlib via the Atme border crossing and deployed in an area between it and Darat Izza town.
Some sources speculated that the deployment was coordinated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) that is the most powerful group in the militant-held Idlib province. However, this has not been confirmed by any evidence so far.
It's interesting that the area of deployment allows Turkish forces to operate against both radicals Islamists in Idlib province and Kurdish militias in northern Aleppo.
Earlier, Turkish National Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli once again repeated that Ankara believes that weapons supplied to Kurdish-dominated US-backed forces in Syria will be used against Turkey.
In Deir Ezzor province, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) liberated Kusham Fawqani village and consolidated its gains north of Deir Ezzor. This allows to develop operations further in order to liberate Deir Ezzor city.
At the same time, government forces, led by the SAA Tiger Forces, further outflanked al-Maydin city and de-facto encircled it, according to pro-government sources. Clashes are ongoing in the urban area… … …
...(...read more...)... Please support the SouthFront project by PayPal: email@example.com or via: http://southfront.org/donate/ or via: https://www.patreon.com/southfront
Al-Moallem: "We will always consider
Turkey's presence in Syria as illegal"
"We still and will always consider the Turkish presence in Syria as illegal. The Turks say their presence is taking place under the Astana umbrella, but I realized today that Astana has nothing to do with this Turkish act. Therefore, any measure that is not coordinated with the Syrian government is an act of aggression, and we don't recognize its legitimacy," al-Moallem said…(…READ FULL ARTICLE IN PDF…)…