text:
Story highlights
The NSA director says intel programs have stopped 54 terrorist attacks worldwide
Gen. Keith Alexander spoke Wednesday at the Black Hat computer-security conference
Alexander: Data-surveillance program does not apply to people in the U.S.
Alexander faced some hecklers during his hourlong talk
The National Security Agency's controversial intelligence-gathering programs have prevented 54 terrorist attacks around the world, including 13 in the United States, according to Gen. Keith Alexander, NSA director.
Speaking before a capacity crowd of hackers and security experts Wednesday at the Black Hat computer-security conference, Alexander defended the NSA's embattled programs, which collect phone metadata and online communications in an effort to root out potential terrorists. The secret programs have come under fire since their existence was revealed in June by former CIA contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked details about them to several newspapers.
"I promise you the truth – what we know, what we're doing, and what I cannot tell you because we don't want to jeopardize our future defense," Alexander told the audience, which included a few hecklers who shouted profanities and accused him of lying.
He then gave a partial recap, using PowerPoint slides, of how the two intelligence programs work. Alexander said the NSA can collect metadata on phone calls in the United States, including the date and time of the call, the numbers involved and the length of the conversations. He made a special point of saying the NSA does not have access to the content of citizens' calls or text messages.
Top senator questions need to collect phone records
Alexander said the NSA's PRISM surveillance program, which probes digital activity such as e-mail, instant messaging and Web searches, focuses on foreign actors and does not apply to people in the United States. He said the phone and Internet data is necessary to "connect the dots" and identify potential terrorists before they act.
Alexander attempted to reassure the audience that NSA officials are not abusing access to the databases to intrude on Americans' privacy.
"The assumption is that people are out there just wheeling and dealing (users' information), and nothing could be further from the truth," he said. "We have tremendous oversight and compliance in these programs."
Congress and courts make sure the programs operate within the bounds of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and internal auditing systems are in place to prevent any abuse by employees, Alexander said. He added that only 35 analysts are authorized to run queries on the phone metadata.
Alexander made no mention of a report in Wednesday's Guardian newspaper about the existence of another secret NSA program, called XKeyscore. According to documents provided to the Guardian by Snowden, XKeyscore allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing e-mails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of people.
CNNMoney: NSA chief to hackers: If you don't like what we do, change it
Alexander denied accusations that the NSA programs allow the government to collect all online data on everyone.
"We can't afford to and don't want to collect everything," he said.
"I have four daughters. Can I go and intercept their e-mails? The answer is no," said the security chief before looking out at the auditorium thick with hackers and joking, "You may be able to."
Aside from a couple jokes, Alexander's words were serious and measured, and he seemed unfazed by a smattering of heckling from the audience during his hourlong talk.
Ex-NSA chief: Safeguards exist to protect Americans' privacy
"You lied to Congress. Why would we believe you're not lying to us right now?" yelled one person.
Alexander replied that people were basing opinions on what was "written in the press" without looking at facts and urged the heckler read his congressional testimony.
During a Q&A session consisting of prescreened questions, Alexander said that one reason terrorists target the United States is a desire by people in the Middle East to run governments under Islamic law. But another attendee disagreed, shouting, "They want to attack us because we're bombing them."
Another yell of "bulls—!" inspired the general to cap his explanation of the programs by saying "And that's no bulls—, those are facts."
Overall, the reception to Alexander's talk seemed mostly positive. Black Hat attendees are primarily corporate-security types, interested in protecting their networks and warding off cyber attacks. The looser, hacker-centric Def Con conference, which starts here Thursday, could likely give him a more hostile reception.
Alexander solicited advice on how to better balance security with civil liberties and put up an e-mail address so the room of tech experts could share their ideas with the NSA.
He also hinted at possible damage resulting from the Snowden leaks, and wondered aloud whether the government will have the same success preventing terrorist attacks in the next 10 years as it has in the past decade.
"If we tell everyone exactly what we're doing, then the adversaries will know exactly how to get through our defenses," he said.


text:
epithet used by the Iranian government, referring to the United States
The Great Satan (Persian شيطان بزرگ Shaytan-e Bozorg, Arabic الشيطان الأكبر Al-Shaytan Al-Akbar) is a common epithet for the United States of America in Iranian foreign policy statements, popularized by Imam Khomeini. Death to America is another closely linked propaganda phrase.
- As you know, the biggest problem of the Islamic world today is global Zionism and the Great Satan America. They are our enemies, especially the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They do not understand [the language of] reason, they do not follow international law, nor do they follow moral and humane laws. They have no religion and they do not accept God. They are a bunch of profane people, but seemingly, some are called Christians and some are called Jews.
- Imam [Khomeini] taught us to reject injustice, and to never accept the barbaric America, which is trying to take over the world. Many people have come up with terms to describe America. But let me be frank with you, I haven't found any term more beautiful, lofty, and noble than the term "the Great Satan" to describe America.
External linksEdit
- Media related to America is the Great Satan on Wikimedia Commons
- Deputy Secretary-General of Hizbullah Sheik Naim Qassem: America Is the Great Satan June 2007

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|Thread Tools
|Display Modes
New and need some tips :)
Hello there
I am new here. I enjoy photography as a hobby. I am here trying to learn more about it, and hopefully rely less on some auto settings in the camera.
I enjoy animal photography the most I have a couple of dogs who I love to photograph. I especially enjoy taking action shots of them because these sort of photos speak so much about their personalities.
I took the bellow two photos with my nikon D3
This is Snowy.
and this is Crystal
I also recently got the Nikon D7000 which I am loving so far.
The thing is, I don't like for the camera to do most of the work. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be able to get the full control over it. Why? because pictures like these always require at least 10-20 clicks to get the FULL FOCUS on my subjects (my small dogs) while running. Some will come out nicely, but not the sharpness of the subject that I would love to have (the ones that I posted above, is something that I love, but don't get very often). That said, I know that I need to use the manual mode, but I would really appreciate some tips on the best or good settings on the camera to use for such images. I take these sort of photos outdoors all the time, so I rely on natural lighting.
Any tips? Insight? Please feel free to share with me. I will really appreciate that!
Welcome katkoota!
D3 is an awesome camera!
For moving subjects, stay away from manual mode which in general is a GREAT mode for learning but terrible for tracking a moving subject.
Shutter priority mode is the way to go and my minimum shutter speed would be 1/250 and more likely 1/500 or 1/1000.
Hope that helps!
Please tactfully EDUCATE or IGNORE posters you don't agree with.
Please PM me & Include URLs and post #'s for any issues and it's my pleasure to help.
I'm firm - but fair. Mind the Rules and enjoy your stay.
Newcomers FAQ - How do I post on this BB?
Pet facebook group
Check out the Pet podcast
Follow me on Twitter
I have a Nikon D90--not sure how different the setting might be for you, Katkoota, but there is an S setting on the dial that stands for shutter speed. If I put my camera in 'S' mode, it allows me to pre-set the shutter speed. The camera still takes care of the focus, ISO and the aperture. If the light is low, you may need to bump up the ISO a bit (which is a separate setting on my camera--I have to do that through the menu). Still, I've found that if the shutter speed is faster than 1/800, I need a really bright sunny day to get a good image, even at higher ISOs. I'm primarily using a longer zoom lens with a fairly small max aperture--if your aperture is larger you can push the envelope a little more...
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."
"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"
"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."
One feature I love on my Canon 40D is the "Custom Function" settings, where you can store all your current settings (and I mean, ALL the current camera settings) for quick access - I have one pre-set for general dog-park photos, and one for action shots.
In both cases, I start with 400 ISO (dropped down to 200 ISO in the summer, when the light is better), and aperture-priority ("Av" on the Canon), then store the setting using my 50mm f/1.8, wide-open, so the camera will always default to the widest aperture with whichever lens I use, then provide the fastest shutter possible.
For the action shots, I set the metering to "partial" (exposure based mainly on about 15% of the center of the frame - especially useful with dark-colored dogs), and the focus type to "AI SERVO", which continually tracks moving objects, along with locking the center focus
point to make sure it tracks the dog and not the background as I pan across.
For the non-action setting, I use "Centerweighted Averaging" for the meter mode, and standard "AI FOCUS" with all focus points turned on as the default.
Great thing with this camera is I can then switch back and forth between the two defaults with a quick twist of the dial
Works fairly well most of the time... this is shot with my buddy's 100-400 F4-5.6L
|Thread Tools
|Display Modes
Linear Mode


text:
I was honored this week to have been "tagged" by blogger Christina Wehner. I enjoy reading Christina's blogs because she writes interesting pieces about classic movies, musicals, old books, and the great American Songbook; all topics that I enjoy learning more about!
How does a Movie Shelf Tag work exactly? Here are the rules: Answer each question and then tag 5 other people to participate in the Movie Shelf Tag. Previous blogs have mentioned that it is a good idea to tell the person who tagged you when you put up your post so they can find it and read your answers. If you want to turn it back into a Book Shelf Tag, feel free to do so. Just substitute the words book for movie and watch or see for read.
1. Is there a movie that you really want to see but haven't because you know it will make you cry? The Joy Luck Club. I'm a mom of twin daughters and any movie that has a flashback of a mother having to abandon her twin baby daughters in order to flee the invading Japanese in Kweilin-Oh I'm just tearing up writing this answer!!!!!!!!
2. Pick one movie that helped introduce you to a new genre. Film Noir was a term created by the French to describe stylish films coming out of Hollywood that were about the criminal underworld. Stylishly filmed stories, with anti-heroes and femme fatales(dangerous women), and many started being produced during and especially after World War II. Murder, My Sweet is the film that introduced me to this genre. A Raymond Chandler novel, this excellent movie was made in 1944 starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, and Anne Shirley. Excellent direction by Edward Dmytryk. Powell was wanting to shed his clean, All-American boy image and this role did the trick. Clair Trevor is great as the sizzling femme fatale and Anne Shirley is the cynical, yet more wholesome of the two women in this movie. The plot is simple, then gets twisted up: Private detective Philip Marlowe(Powell) has been hired to find ex-con Moose Malloy's missing girlfriend, Velma.
3. A movie that you want to re-watch. Since I love classic movies and like to convince my kids to watch them with me, one is currently waiting on our dvr: D.O.A. Made in 1950, starring Edmund O'Brien. He's Frank Bigelow, an insurance agent. He's been mysteriously poisoned, only has 3 days to live, and is determined to find out who's poisoned him and why!!! It's a tense film,well-acted, well-paced. If you've only seen the remake from 1988 that starred Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, you really should see the 1950 original.
4. Is there a movie series(or tv series) that you saw and now wish you hadn't? When our oldest(who will be 23 soon!!) was a newborn baby and needed those 2 am feedings, TVLand became my friend. I liked watching Dobie Gillis, but there was another sitcom that was aired that I suffered through, The Patty Duke Show. Identical cousins???? Really?????????? American and British???????? Ridiculous fluff and how could ABC have foisted that on the American public???? My apologies to Ms. Duke(an otherwise fine actress.)
5. If your house were on fire and all of your family and pets were outside and safe, which movie would you run back into the house and save? The Searchers-John Wayne gives one of his best performances in this film. His character is a tormented man. Tormented by the unspoken love he has for his sister-in-law. Tormented by the anger and revenge seething inside of him towards the Comanches who have killed this sister-in-law and the rest of her family and kidnapped her two daughters, later killing the older one and keeping the younger one. Tormented by the search he has undertaken to find that child. Tormented by racism. If he finds the child, should he let her live? She'll have been fully assimilated into the Commanches by now, or is there a small chance that she can revert back to civilized life? A very nuanced performance by Wayne, and great support from Ward Bond, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Natalie Wood, and many others who usually acted in director John Ford's movies. Bonus: the beautiful outdoor scenes of the West, their vistas shot in glorious technicolor.
6. Is there one movie on your movie shelf that brings back fond memories? Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. A fun musical romp that our entire family loves. My 3 daughters have watched it and rewatched it and each has their "favorite" brother. My sons have all enjoyed Russ Tamblyn's scene as baby brother Gideon, meowing like a cat in order to lure his girl out of her family home but only succeeding in luring out her town boyfriend! It's fun to hear my kids rewatch it and share which song is their favorite and they've now learned about and watched other films that Tamblyn, Howard Keel, Jane Powell, Jacques d'Amboise, and Jeff Richards have been in. In fact, when they watched West Side Story for the first time, they kept calling Russ Tamblyn, "Gideon" instead of "Riff"!
7. Find a movie that has inspired you the most. I was a teacher before I started my stay at home mom career with my 7 kids. So, it's not surprising to say that teacher films inspire me. It's hard to pick just one, so here's a list of some I enjoy: Good-Bye, Mr. Chips, To Sir, with Love, The Blackboard Jungle, Up the Down Staircase, Stand and Deliver.
8. Do you have any autographed movies? No.
9. Find the movie you have owned the longest. A VHS of Aladdin. My husband and I saw it when our oldest was a mere baby. I bought it for his future viewings. Now it seems especially poignant as it contains the wonderful voicework of the late Robin Williams as the Genie of the lamp.
10. Is there a movie with an actor( or by a director) that you never imagined you would watch or enjoy? Our oldest is a Will Ferrell fan and he kept telling his Dad and I to watch the comedy film, Stepbrothers. Hubby and I kept putting it off and finally, when our oldest was home on leave from the Marines, we gave in and watched Stepbrothers. I had to overlook the foul language and some other antics, but did find it funny. My two favorite scenes: when the two adult stepbrothers are whining about missing shark week because Dad has taken away the tv as a punishment, and when Dad, finally exasperated with these two grown men's lack of maturity, spanks them!
Here is my list of blogs that I have tagged for either the Movie Shelf or Book Shelf Tag.
Nerd in the Brain-excellent blog written by an extraordinary homeschooling mom who's philosophy is that Life is about Learning.
Classic Movie Night-a nice blog that gives great information daily about classic movies not to miss and lists of entertainment industry folks who would be or are, celebrating a birthday; great pictures with this blog, too.
TitusLive-Titus Benton is a really cool guy. A former youth minister to our oldest when we lived in Florissant, MO. When we moved to Rolla, he also moved to a new ministering job near Houston, TX. An excellent writer (he's published 2 books!), a great speaker, and a heart to helping Missions overseas and in this country reach their goals, check out a great blog where you'll be inspired and challenged how to give back to your world, your community, and often get great tips on raising teens.
Vienna's Classic Hollywood-a sweet blog about classic movies that I enjoy.
Lancelot Schaubert-a gifted young man, married to a sweetheart of a girl, who's family we've known since she was a mere 7 year old! Recently transplanted to Brooklyn from Joplin, MO. A servant's heart with a flair for writing, editing, and a ton of other literary doings. Author of an innovative photonovel, Cold Brewed, a film noirish story, shot in and around the Joplin, MO area.


text:
Just before Christmas, RIA Novosti took a cut at identifying the big military stories of 2014.
A daunting, but intriguing task. Here's what it came up with:
- Acceptance of proyekt 955 Borey-class SSBN Vladimir Monomakh. That's unit three. RIAN also puts five pending Bulava SLBM launches, including from Monomakh, on its list.
- Acceptance of the lead unit of proyekt 885 Yasen-class SSN Severodvinsk.
- Construction of a new National Command and Control Center for State Defense.
- Acceptance of the Ratnik future soldier system.
- One-Time Monetary Payments (or YeDV) for servicemen owed permanent apartments. It's supposed to end the housing line forever.
- Flexible pricing in the State Defense Order. Starting in 2014, some contracts may be for a fixed price while others will be figured on what was actually spent to produce end items.
- Formation of an aerobatic flying group with new Yak-130 trainers.
- State acceptance testing for the T-50 / PAK FA.
- Continued, gradual rearmament to the level of 30 percent modern weapons and equipment in all forces.
- Formation of 16 new medical companies (to expand to 50 over the next 18 months). A special mobile medical (medevac) brigade will be formed in each military district.
- Conscripts from reestablished sports companies slated to compete in the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
By way of context, here's what RIAN predicted for the big stories of 2013: end of explosive destruction of old munitions, Bulava / Borey / Yasen, Vikramaditya [ex-Gorshkov] handover, Putin's promise to end the military's housing problem, Shoygu's pledge to turn MOD property matters over to Rosimushchestvo, Armata tank and related platforms, T-50 / PAK FA testing, creation of Concern "Kalashnikov" and the new AK-12, the Russian DARPA — Fund for Future Research, Oboronservis criminal cases in court, and Zapad-2013.
Interesting to consider how much (or how little) movement occurred on these issues last year.


text:
Services reach out to growing elderly population
- The population of Americans 45 to 64 grew 31.5% from 2000 to 2010
Frank Thornton said he decided to get help from a pro when he became the official guardian for his aunt, 86-year-old Doris Cleveland, and realized he was drowning in paperwork.
"We needed an expert," said the 68-year-old Hartwell, Ga., resident who described himself as an "old bachelor."
Thornton said he wanted a bookkeeper who could handle the financial logistics. But not just any bookkeeper — someone with savvy and compassion.
He found it in Greenville, S.C., he said, in Amy Carrick, who provides daily money management services, primarily for seniors.
"I think she's got a heart for it," said Thornton, who turned over the financial management for both his aunt and himself to Carrick.
Part of a growing industry of businesses gearing their services toward the elderly population, Carrick said her focus not only made good business sense but also offered a more rewarding path than her previous 30 years in the corporate world.
As the "silver tsunami" of people approaching or passing retirement age grows, so too do the businesses that cater to the expanding needs and desires of an active and independent elderly population.
The population of Americans age 45 to 64 grew 31.5% from 2000 to 2010, according to the U.S. Census, while growth in the number of people 65 and older also outpaced most younger population groups, with a 15.1% increase
"Often in this day and age families are spread across the country," says Jullie Gray, president-elect of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers and a principal of Aging Wisdom, a care management company with offices in Seattle and Bellevue, Wash. "Often they will turn to a geriatric care manager to help bridge that gap."
Her company provides everything from someone who takes the client grocery shopping to cooking in their home and providing companionship. It uses case managers to oversee those services.
At Elder Options, a similar company in Hollywood, Fla., care managers help clients find appropriate caregivers and coordinate their efforts.
"Certainly as our population is aging, particularly as the Baby Boomers age, the need for these kinds of services are growing exponentially as well," said Stephanie Swerdlow, director of Elder Options.
Demand for more and increasingly specialized services for seniors has created a "golden" opportunity for businesses to find and fill market niches.
"Today's senior is more savvy, and their Baby Boomer children certainly are more savvy about what it is they need and how you meet that need," said Gail Stokes, editor of All About Seniors, a magazine based in Charlotte, N.C.
"I'm not sure there was ever really an industry that served seniors like we are doing now," she said.
Carrick said the idea for her business came from her own experiences of helping her dad get his finances in order.
"He was starting to spend way too much time staring at the computer to pay bills. And I said, 'Why don't I help you?'" she said.
She realized it was a service she could turn into a business model, so three years ago she left the corporate world to start Carrick Consulting from her home.
Golden Years Moving, a Greenville, S.C., business owned by Donna Van Norden and Alison Longenecker, assists seniors making a move, for example from a larger house to a smaller one or into a retirement community.
Van Norden and Longenecker said they take the time to help sort through what may be decades of accumulated things, separating what stays and what goes and helping lead clients through difficult decisions about long-cherished mementos.
"We all know at any age that moving is extremely stressful," Van Norden said. "We're just trying to make a difficult situation easier for them in any aspect that we can."
Angela Black, co-owner of Be of Good Cheer, an in-home care company based in Taylors, S.C., said she doesn't have the take-home pay she used to have, but she finds her new line of work much more rewarding. A dentist for years, Black decided to leave active practice after growing disappointed with the state of medicine.
"I don't like medicine becoming so much about the profit and less about the people," she said.
She recalled going through family memorabilia soon after settling on the plan for her new business and coming across the last letter she ever received from her grandmother before her death.
"In that letter, she mentioned she was waiting for in-home care to start on Tuesday," Black said. "I was like, 'Wow, this really is needed more than I realized.'"
Burns and Barnett also report for The Greenville News


text:
Exam Board: OCRLevel & Subject: GCSE Combined ScienceFirst teaching: September 2016 Next exams: June 2023 OCR endorsed GCSE Science is changing and OCR Gateway GCSE (9-1) Chemistry for Combined Science from Collins has been developed to embed the skills your students need to succeed in all three assessment objectives, while providing a clear and supportive route through the new, more challenging GCSE content. Each spread starts with language and ideas at a lower level and increases in complexity, engaging students of all ability levelsKey concept spreads highlight knowledge that students must grasp before they can move onDedicated pages on analysing, interpreting and evaluating practicals, so students are fully prepared for the indirect assessment.Maths activities at the appropriate level are embedded throughout, along with Maths skills pages that focus on developing the skills needed for each topicPrepare students for the demands of the new specification with differentiated questions, worked examples and lots of opportunities to practiceCo-teach both Foundation and Higher tier with a single book (the Higher-only content is clearly flagged).
OCR Gateway GCSE Chemistry for Combined Science 9-1 Student Book
2954900553990163 Educational


text: Skin conditions that lasers can treat The future is bright for these cutting-edge treatments, including light therapy. When it comes to the use of laser technology in skin care, the future is now. Concepts that were once reserved for science fiction stories have catapulted skin care into a new age.Read more


text:
Baltimore police responded to a report of an armed person inside Under Armour's headquarters in Locust Point Sunday but later determined that the 911 call was a hoax, officials said.
About a dozen Under Armour workers were evacuated after the call came in at 2:18 p.m. Sunday, police said. Police barricaded streets surrounding the company's campus for hours while a SWAT team swept each building room by room.
Investigators said they believe the caller was not an Under Armour employee and had no association with the company. Police said they were determined to make an arrest in the case.
"We're going to make sure somebody goes to jail," police spokesman Eric Kowalczyk said, noting that significant police resources were used investigating the threat. "This call put lives at risk."
Kowalczyk said police generally don't comment on how many officers are used in such responses. It wasn't clear how much the hoax call cost taxpayers.
Under Armour sent an email to employees Sunday evening to tell them the company would be open Monday morning.
Jeff Doyle, who has worked at Under Armour's call center for two years and lives nearby in Locust Point, heard about the situation via text messages from co-workers. He saw police cars outside and went out to see what had happened.
The police presence was unusual, neighbors said, for what they consider one of Baltimore's safest neighborhoods.
In August, Oriole Park at Camden Yards was the target of bomb threat that turned out to be hoax. As in the Under Armour case, the call to the ballpark came on a day when most of the stadium's employees and visitors were not there. The anonymous caller warned of an explosive device in a bathroom, but police found no evidence of a bomb.
Police wouldn't say whether the two calls are connected.
Ryan Kirby, of Bel Air, had parked next to one of the Under Armour buildings Sunday afternoon before heading to the Ravens-Bengals game; he returned to find a police barricade between him and his car.
Kirby, a junior at the University of Maryland, had left the football game at the end of the third quarter to make it back to College Park in time to finish a 10-page criminal-justice paper.
Instead of witnessing a thrilling, overtime Ravens victory, he and a friend sipped Royal Farms coffee and waited with a handful of Locust Point residents for officers to wave them through.
The prospects for Kirby's paper weren't looking good as the hours passed.
"I just hope my teacher understands the situation," he said.


text:
Midwestern State (13-0, 6-0 Lone Star Conference) at ENMU (9-7, 2-5)
• When: 4 p.m. today at Greyhound Arena
• Radio: KSEL-FM 105.9.
• Last time out: The Mustangs, ranked 11th in NCAA Division II, erased a double-figure deficit for the third time this season on Wednesday, edging West Texas A&M 66-60 in overtime at Wichita Falls, Texas. The Greyhounds lost to Cameron 72-57 on Wednesday at Lawton, Okla.
• Last season: MSU extended its winning streak over the Hounds to nine, winning 89-69 at Wichita Falls and 81-79 at Greyhound Arena. ENMU's last win in the series came in 2007 at Wichita Falls.
• Of note: MSU, which trailed WT by 12 points with seven minutes left, matched the best start in school history (2009-10). The Mustangs entered the week as one of four unbeaten NCAA Division II men's teams. … MSU leads the all-time series 21-14, including 9-8 at Portales. … The Hounds, who face WT twice next week, have lost four in a row. … Anthony Harris, a 6-foot-7 senior F, leads three Mustangs averaging in double figures for the season at 12.3 ppg. Others are 6-3 junior G JaMichael Rivers (11.9) and 6-1 senior G Michael Loyd (11.8). … Loyd, a transfer from BYU, played in 36 games with two starts for the Cougars in 2007-08. His younger brother, Kevin, is also on the team, while a third brother, Johnathan, is a freshman at Oregon. … Loyd is the team leader in minutes played (24.9 per game), but had to go 42 against WT. … Senior G Reggie Nelson, ENMU's leading scorer (13.8 ppg), is second in the LSC in FT shooting at 91 percent (60-of-66). He trails only Division II national leader Ashton Brown of Texas A&M-Kingsville (97 percent, 83-of-86).


text:
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following information to post about a local opera production that is both exciting and an inspired choice to mark February as Black History Month:
Madison Opera will present the Midwest premiere of "Charlie Parker's Yardbird" on 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10, and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 12, in the Capitol Theater at Overture Center for the Arts.
For more information about the cast and the production as well as about purchasing tickets ($25-$114), go to:
With music by Swiss composer Daniel Schnyder (below top) and a libretto by writer and poet Bridgette A. Wimberly (below bottom), the acclaimed opera "Charlie Parker's Yardbird" tells of the legendary jazz musician and the people closest to him.
The opera, which melds jazz and opera, is set on the day that saxophone great Charlie Parker died in 1955. As his body lies unclaimed in a New York City morgue, Parker returns in spirit to the jazz club Birdland, determined to compose a final masterpiece. Family and friends blend in and out of his memories, including his three wives, his mother, his friend Dizzy Gillespie and even his drug dealer.
Charlie Parker's Yardbird premiered in June 2015 at Opera Philadelphia (below is tenor Lawrence Brownlee, in a photo by Dominic Mercier, in the title role of Charlie Parker in the Philadelphia production) and was subsequently presented by the company at the Apollo Theater in New York City in April 2016. (You can hear an excerpt in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The New York Times praised it for its "pulsing, jazz-infused score," while the Wall Street Journal said, "its rhythms snap and swing, its melodies – including real arias – seize the ear, its ensembles crackle with energy."
Madison Opera will be only the second company to present this work, which is sung in English with projected text and runs 90 minutes without an intermission.
"I saw Charlie Parker's Yardbird when it premiered in Philadelphia and instantly knew it would be a perfect opera for Madison," says Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill), Madison Opera's general director. "The very American story and the exciting jazz-inflected music fit perfectly into our ever-expanding range of repertoire."
She adds, "It's not a straightforward narrative of Parker's life, but rather elements of his life as refracted through his memories and imagination, and particularly his relationships with the women in his life."
Madison Opera's cast includes both debuts and returning favorites, as well as a number of singers who created their roles in the world premiere.
Joshua Stewart (below), a young American tenor who has sung at La Scala, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Opera de Lausanne, debuts in the tour de force role of Charlie Parker.
Angela Brown (below) returns following her performance at Opera in the Park 2016 as Addie Parker, Charlie's mother, a role she created in Philadelphia.
Will Liverman, who sang Figaro in Rossini's The Barber of Seville here in 2015, sings jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie, a role he created in Philadelphia.
Krysty Swann debuts as Rebecca Parker, Charlie's first wife. Angela Mortellaro, who sang Galatea in Handel's Acis and Galatea in 2013, returns as Doris Parker, Charlie's third wife, a role she created in Philadelphia.
Rachel Sterrenberg debuts as Chan Parker, his final wife, a role she created in Philadelphia. Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, in whose hotel suite Parker died, is sung by Julie Miller in her Madison Opera debut.
Directing this production is Ron Daniels (below), who staged the world premiere and was the opera's dramaturge, involved in the creation and workshop process.
John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad) conducts, with members of the Madison Symphony Orchestra in the pit.
DeMain says: "I am so happy to be a part of Madison Opera's Midwest premiere of Charlie Parker's Yardbird. Parker was consumed with music, breathing it day and night. All of us who are passionate about performing and listening to music can identify with this phenomenal musician and will not want to miss this jazz-infused opera, the perfect expression of Parker's range and depth as a musician."
Composer Daniel Schnyder will attend the opening night performance and join Smith for the Pre-Opera Talk that evening at 7 p.m. in the Wisconsin Studio.
In addition to the performances, Madison Opera and its community partners are hosting a series of related events, collectively known as "Extending the Stage," which culminate in a concert of Charlie Parker's music with composer Daniel Schnyder and the UW-Madison's Blue Note Ensemble.
These events include Opera Novice; community previews; Opera Up Close; discussions of the life and music of Charlie Parker (below); and presentations of rare jazz films.
All events are open to the public and the majority are free of charge.
Opera Novice: Jazz Opera? Friday, Jan. 20 | 6-7 p.m. The Margaret C. Winston Madison Opera Center, 335 W. Mifflin Street. FREE and open to the public
New to opera? Passionate about Puccini, but not sure about a jazz opera? Join General Director Kathryn Smith for a short, fun, and informative evening exploring the history of jazz and opera, including a live performance of an aria from Charlie Parker's Yardbird. With plenty of time to ask questions, it's the perfect jump-start for the opera-curious.
Community Preview of Charlie Parker's Yardbird, Tuesday, Jan. 24 | 7-8 p.m. Capitol Lakes Retirement Community, 333 W. Main St. FREE and open to the public
Join a Madison Opera staff member for a multimedia look at Charlie Parker's life, the history of the opera Charlie Parker's Yardbird, and some insights into Madison Opera's production.
Opera Up Close, Sunday, Feb. 5 | 1-3 p.m. The Margaret C. Winston Madison Opera Center, 335 West Mifflin Street. Admission: $20; free for full-season subscribers and full-time students with ID; $10 for two-show subscribers. Tickets available at the door.
Come even closer with a behind-the-scenes preview of Charlie Parker's Yardbird. A multimedia presentation on Charlie Parker and the history of this opera will be followed by a roundtable discussion with the leading artists of Madison Opera's production. There is no better way to get "up close" to this acclaimed new opera.
A Charlie Parker Concert and Discussion with Daniel Schnyder and the Blue Note Ensemble Thursday, Feb. 9 | 7:30 p.m. Morphy Recital Hall, UW-Madison. FREE and open to the public
Composer Daniel Schnyder joins UW-Madison's Blue Note Ensemble for an evening featuring music by Charlie Parker, with solos performed by both Schnyder and UW-Madison saxophone students. The evening includes an aria from Charlie Parker's Yardbird and a discussion about Parker and the opera with Schnyder, UW-Madison Professor of Saxophone Les Thimmig, and General Director Kathryn Smith.
Pre-Opera Talks: Friday, Feb. 10 |7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 12 | 1:30 p.m. Wisconsin Studio at Overture Center. FREE to ticket holders
Attend an entertaining introduction to Charlie Parker's Yardbird one hour prior to curtain. On Friday night, composer Daniel Schnyder will join General Director Kathryn Smith to talk about the piece. Be sure to arrive early, as space is limited.
An Evening of Rare Jazz Films: Alicia Ashman Library. Friday, Feb. 3 | 7 p.m.; Goodman South Madison Library. Tuesday, April 11 | 6 p.m. FREE and open to the public (Below is footage of Charlie Parker playing and of people discussing the man and his artistic achievement.)
Jazz archivist Gary Alderman will present and explain films of the historically significant innovators of modern jazz, including the only two known existing videos with sound of Charlie Parker.
Among the other musicians shown will be those relevant to Parker's music and career, including Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis.
The Life and Music of Charlie Parker: DeForest Area Public Library: Monday, Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m.; Alicia Ashman Library: Friday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m.; Fitchburg Public Library: Sunday, Feb. 26, 2 p.m.; Oregon Public Library: Friday, March 10, 6:30 p.m. FREE and open to the public
UW-Madison Professor of Saxophone Les Thimmig (below) will talk about Charlie Parker's life and music, as well as the history of bebop.
More information is available at www.madisonopera.org/education.


text:
The shale gas revolution that has captured the media's attention worldwide is also spreading to China, a major natural gas importer. Now the Middle Kingdom is on the verge of its own energy boom and wants to duplicate North America's success and meet a significant part of its own fast growing energy needs.
Until recently, China had little incentive to develop its natural gas resources, either conventional or non-conventional. China was natural gas self sufficient until 2006 when it started importing LNG. By the next year, China's natural gas consumption increased 23.8 percent and attained 69.5 billion cubic meters (bcm). Since then China has become one of the world's top countries in terms of natural gas consumption. In June the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report stating that global demand for natural gas will likely grow 17 percent over the next five years while Chinese consumption doubles. China's demand for natural gas should expand 13 percent a year through 2017; US consumption is projected to also grow at 13 percent while Europe's demand is forecast to grow at 7.9 percent, the report states.
"Asia will be by far the fastest growing region, driven primarily by China which will emerge as the third largest gas user by 2013," the IEA report said.
In the last few years, China has tried to meet its rising gas demand by increasing investment in its natural gas infrastructure, including building the West-East Pipeline from western China to the eastern and southern parts of the country. They have invested in the Central Asian Pipeline to transport 30 bcm of gas from Turkmenistan, via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. They are also investing in a gas pipeline from Myanmar. China currently has four LNG terminals in operation with several others in the planning stages.
But the best news for China's energy sector came earlier this year. In March, the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources announced that China has 25.08 trillion cubic meters (tcm) or (886 trillion cubic feet) of exploitable onshore shale-gas reserves. The resources are part of an estimated 134.42 tcm of total reserves of the gas in the country. Shale gas has been discovered in 880,000 square kilometers (340,000 square miles) of exploration blocks that contain 15.95 tcm of the fuel that can be extracted.
Since the March announcement, China's shale gas rights have opened for bidding. In May, Xinhua news agency and the China Daily newspaper, both official mouthpieces for the Communist Party, reported that more than 200 domestic companies registered for the country's second auction of shale gas exploration rights. China's Ministry of Land and Resources however later denied the report's accuracy, claiming that the figure was "greatly exaggerated." But the fact remains that China's shale gas industry is now open for business, even though the number of companies bidding may be in dispute.
However, China has excluded foreign firms from bidding in its second tender for shale gas blocks except for a deal between Royal Dutch Shell and China National Petroleum Corporation that will develop shale gas blocks in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Clearly, the shale gas disclosure is welcome news for such an energy deficient country as China. However, it's still not time to celebrate in the streets of Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai.
To date, China has never produced shale gas commercially and several challenges must be meet before it can do so. According to Chinese energy experts, tough geographical conditions, lack of pipeline infrastructure and lack of exploration technology are the main hurdles to be met for China's fledgling shale gas industry. Many claim that Chinese gas is buried deeper, and the formation age is older than shale deposits in the US.
Since much of the technology for shale gas extraction is from the US, China will either have to pay American firms for this expertise, look for partnerships with foreign firms to acquire the technology or develop it themselves, which could be a drag on its shale gas development.
Recently, a senior Chinese official acknowledged these limitations. On June 25 the China Daily reported that Liu Tienan, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, called for the country to speed up mass production of shale gas with its own technologies to ensure adequate energy supply.
"Efforts must be made to achieve early breakthrough in the appraisal, exploration and development of shale gas resources, as well as to come up with measures to ensure environmental safety," Tienan said.
Other challenges facing China's nascent shale gas industry are governmental, including the need to develop a business model for the industry, as well as the even larger problem of water resource management. To begin to meet the governmental challenge, Chinese media reported in June that government departments are working to roll out beneficial policies such as tax and fiscal incentives to encourage shale gas development. However this takes time to formulate and implement.
Yet the larger problem on the horizon for China's shale gas ambitions may be one of water supply. Fracking is water intensive, and will be problematic for China's already dwindling water resources. From 2000 to 2009, total water reserves in China dropped 13 percent. According to research by The World Economic Forum many countries are already extracting groundwater faster than it can be replenished (Mexico by 25%, India by 56% and China by 25%.)
Last year, in China's latest draft of its new 12th Five-Year Plan, the government set new targets on energy intensity in order to spur efficiency and conservation measures. But it also envisions record high levels of water use, which is expected to rise to 620 billion cubic meters (163 trillion gallons) by 2015 – up from 599 billion cubic meters (158 trillion gallons) in 2010, and as much as 670 billion cubic meters (177 trillion gallons) by the end of the decade. How this plays out in regard to the country's shale gas future remains to be seen.
Liu Yijun, a professor with the China University of Petroleum summarized China's shale gas future on Monday in an interview with Xinhua. He said that China's shale gas development is still in a "primary stage, and has a long way to go towards mass commercial use."
Yet the nation's insatiable appetite for energy, its robust economy and its distinct drive and self-determination dictates that this story is one that is just starting to unfold and will gain momentum in the months and years to come.


text:
Beers from Harpoon, Samuel Adams, Widmer sampled
It's been a good week as far as beer drinking goes – I got to try new beers from Harpoon, Long Trail, Samuel Adams, Stochasticity Project and Widmer – and I enjoyed several of them.
Here's a look at the new beers.
First up is the new Harpoon Brewery's 100-Barrel Series #49, the Brown IPA.
OK, first off, this is not a brown ale and an IPA blended. It's an IPA, but it has the essence of a good brown ale.
The first thing you'll smell is the big, piney hops with some citrusy notes, but it's followed by a sweet smell of caramel. The beer looks like a lighter brown ale, but it tastes like a relatively hoppy IPA – more pine and grapefruit.
But this is when the "brown" part of the beer kicks in – you get a nice sweet backbone from the caramel malts with a hint of dark chocolate. The flavors really work together instead of contrasting each other, making this a really well balanced, easy drinking beer.
It's worth seeking out.
Next up is the new Long Trail Brewing Company Limbo, a 7.5 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) IPA.
I've been hearing a lot of good things about this beer, but for some reason, I just couldn't find it despite it being widely available.
Despite the search, I finally got my hands on it on Thursday and gave it a try.
If you enjoy the smell of hops, this is the beer for you. This beer is a pleasure to smell – a big citrusy smell with a hints of freshly cut pine.
When you drink it, you get both the citrus and pine, but you also get some peach and grass in there too, with a slight biscuit malt finish. If this beer has any negative, it was a little lighter than I expected.
Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed this beer, and I'm glad I have five more to drink.
Now, taking a break from hoppy beers, let's take a look at the Samuel Adams limited-release spring beer, Escape Route. (Brewery-provided sample).
Escape Route is a Kolsch. If you have been following my blog for a while, I have been beating the drum for more breweries to brew Kolsches as summer beers instead of the standard wheat ales.
The Escape Route is a good interpretation of the style. It's light, but has nice fruity flavors with just a touch of honey and sweet bready maltiness. It is one of those beers that are so easy drinking you don't realize how fast you were drinking it until your glass is empty.
If you're a fan of light, flavorful beers, you could do a lot worse than this.
OK, back to the hops with Stone's, err, I mean Stochasticity Project's inaugural beer, the Grapefruit Slam IPA. (Brewery provided sample)
First, the good. I loved how it smelled. It had such a strong smell of grapefruit, I was amazed. They used grapefruit zest to add to the grapefruit. And the first sip wasn't bad.
Then, it started going down hill for me. I like the hint of grapefruit that hops can provide to a good IPA/Double IPA, but the more I drank this beer, the more it started reminding me of grapefruit juice instead of beer. The grapefruit really started to dominate the rest of the flavors the more I drank this beer. I discovered that too much grapefruit is not for me.
However, if you're a fan of grapefruit (I was talking to a friend who said grapefruit is to him how coconut it to me) you'll love this beer. It is the most grapefruity a beer can ever be.
And last, and not least, is the new Widmer Brothers Brewing's Upheaval IPA. (Brewery provided sample).
This beer has a big upfront hoppy aroma – pine and citrus with a little melon.
When you first take a sip it's like there's something missing – it was good, but I expected more of a punch based on the aroma. But, it was more mellow than expected. You get the nice citrusy flavors, but I was left wanting more.
OK, time to start drinking stuff for next week's reviews.


text:
|HOME | SUBMIT A JOB | UPCOMING EVENTS | CLASSIFIEDS | SUB-BIDS | PUBLIC NOTICES | SERVICE DIRECTORY AD | ADVERTISING | Tour DJC
Sub Bids Wanted
Business Service Directory
Resource Center
Already a paid subscriber? Register for online access by clicking here.
Forgot your password?
Charlie Reagin, Vice President/Directory of Surety
BancorpSouth Insurance Service Inc.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana


text:
Clinic infects 95 patients with hepatitis C injections
Chinese state media say 95 people have been hospitalized after a private clinic gave them injections suspected to be contaminated with hepatitis C.
The official Xinhua News Agency says 120 patients who received treatment at the clinic in Liaoning province were traced and screened for the disease and 95 of those are suspected to have been infected with hepatitis C.
It said Tuesday that local authorities were tipped off that patients who had received varicose vein treatment could be infected. It says the case is being investigated.
The hepatitis C virus causes a liver disease which can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong condition that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer.
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.


text:
Issue: MACRO-SUBFORMS-TOP-LEVEL-P
References: EVAL-WHEN, COMPILE-FILE,
all macros defined in the standard
Related issues: EVAL-WHEN-NON-TOP-LEVEL
Category: CLARIFICATION
Edit history: v1, 13 Feb 1991, Sandra Loosemore
v2, 11 Mar 1991, Sandra Loosemore
Problem description:
The compilation model defined by issue EVAL-WHEN-NON-TOP-LEVEL specifies
that expansions of macros inherit "top-level-ness" from the macro call.
This makes sense for user-defined macros, but users have no control
over what the expansions of macros defined in the standard are, since
they're provided by the Lisp implementation. The semantics of a macro
call form can depend on whether or not its subforms appear at top-level
in the expansion, so the standard ought to place some constraints
on what the standard macros can expand into.
Proposal (MACRO-SUBFORMS-TOP-LEVEL-P:ADD-CONSTRAINTS):
Clarify that no subforms of calls to macros defined in the standard
inherit "top-level-ness" from the macro call unless explicitly stated
Clarify that no macros now in the standard pass on "top-level-ness"
to their subforms.
Clarify that even if a macro is normally treated as a special form by
the file compiler, both its handling as a special form and its normal
macro expansion must still satisfy these constraints.
Clarify that compiler-macro functions must ensure that expansions
have the same semantics regarding inheritance of top-level-ness
as the normal function or macro definition of the form.
It fixes the problem.
Current Practice:
Probably many implementations currently return macro expansions that
violate these rules.
Cost to Implementors:
Implementors will have to examine the definitions of all macros they
provide to make sure that they conform to these rules. Some
"optimizations" currently performed may turn out to be invalid;
for example, (and <form>)
could expand into (let () <form>)
but not (locally <form>)
or (progn <form>)
or <form>
Cost to Users:
Probably none.
Cost of non-adoption:
User programs will behave differently in different implementations.
Performance impact:
Probably small.
The cost of non-adoption is avoided.
The whole business of "top-level-ness" is kind of ugly.
It doesn't appear that any of the ~90 macros defined in the standard
require special exceptions from the rule. Certainly none of the
binding, conditional, or iteration macros ought to pass "top-level-ness"


text:
Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
Snowfall rises and records drop in the nation's midsection. George Howell reports.
RELATED STORY: Storm subsides, but misery not over yet
You must be logged in to post a comment.


text:
by Andy Worthington
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
9 Sept. 2009
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson served in the US military for 31 years and was Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell from August 2002 until January 2005, two months after Powell's resignation, when he left the State Department. He is now the chairman of the New America Foundation's US-Cuba 21st Century Policy Initiative.
In the first part of this interview, Col. Wilkerson discussed fears within the State Department that war crimes were taking place in Afghanistan, how he suspected that the British Overseas Territory of Diego Garcia (leased to the US) was used to hold prisoners in the "War on Terror," and, perhaps most significantly, how he had recently become convinced that the administration's fear of another terrorist attack (which was, essentially, used to justify the implementation of "extraordinary rendition" and torture) subsided more rapidly than has been previously acknowledged, as the drive for war in Iraq took over.
The second part of the interview begins with further discussion of the significance of Col. Wilkerson's statement that no more than a couple of dozen of the prisoners at Guantánamo had any serious intelligence value, and also includes reflections on how former Vice President Dick Cheney is "crazy," how the Democrats have no spine and the mainstream media has no principles, and how the US had no Arabic experts at the time of the 9/11 attacks except a handful in the FBI who were promptly sidelined.
Col. Wilkerson also spoke about how the investigation into the CIA's destruction of 92 videotapes recording the interrogations of "high-value detainees", which is being conducted by federal prosecutor John Durham (who was recently appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the abuse of prisoners held by the CIA) could be explosive, described the crucial role played by Cheney's closest advisors, his legal counsel David Addington and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby (who resigned as Chief of Staff in October 2005 after being indicted in the Valerie Plame scandal, was convicted but had his sentence dismissed by President Bush in July 2007), and concluded by admitting that, until January 2004, he had no idea of the extent to which the State Department had been excluded from the machinations of Cheney's "war cabinet."
Andy Worthington: I've watched these figures over the years — suggesting that only somewhere between two dozen and 40 of the prisoners had any connection with terrorism — so it was great for me when you raised that issue in March, in your article for The Washington Note, and I wondered what you thought about what's happening with the Obama administration. They seem to be listening to a certain amount of scaremongering — as when Robert Gates suddenly popped up in April and started talking about legislating for a new preventive detention policy for 50 to 100 of the prisoners. Now to me, even the notion of introducing preventive detention legally, if you like — the Bush administration having done it illegally, as I regard it — is a terrifying prospect, having to think that they should even be contemplating doing that, but it also suggests that they're reading too much into the significance of the prisoners, and I wondered what your thoughts were on that.
Lawrence Wilkerson: Well, to keep it brief, I think the problem is that this is a national security issue, and there are so many more challenging issues — as one official put it to me the other day — on which the President has already shown some ankle, whether it's about talking to Iran or whether it's his rather pronounced silence vis-à-vis North Korea, or whether it's something as minuscule as lifting some travel restrictions on Cuban Americans for Cuba. They don't believe they can show another square centimeter of ankle on national security, because the Republicans will eat their lunch, and every time I'm told this I die laughing. I say, your guys are captured by the Sith Lord, Dick Cheney, you're captured by Rush Limbaugh, whose real radio audience is about 2.2 million, and whose employer, Clear Channel, lost $3.7 billion in the second quarter of this year. I said, when are you gonna wake up? These are kooks. And Cheney is the kook leader. But [Nancy] Pelosi and [Harry] Reid are such feckless leaders they haven't got any spine. We have no leadership in the legislative branch on either side of the aisle.
Andy Worthington: I agree with you absolutely there …
Lawrence Wilkerson: I become exasperated. There's just no courage, there's no moral courage whatsoever in the Democratic Party.
Andy Worthington: Unfortunately, when it comes to getting rid of Guantánamo after all these long years, somebody's going to have to come up with some courage at some point, because this question of the prisoners' significance is the crucial issue to me. The hardest thing should be coming up with countries to take some of the men, not still sitting around discussing whether it's still worth holding them. We should be focusing on the — whatever it is, two dozen, three dozen, four dozen at most — and doing everything in our power to get the rest of those guys out of there, to close the place down.
Lawrence Wilkerson: I agree, and from what my diplomatic colleagues tell me now, it's difficult to get countries to accept them because we've taken such a hard stance with the Congress not approving the money and not wanting anyone even imprisoned in our maximum-security prisons in this country, which is preposterous.
Andy Worthington: Yes, exactly. I mean, how safe do you think your prisons have to be?
Lawrence Wilkerson: Another part of this that I discovered — it shouldn't have shocked me, but it did surprise me — was that when 9/11 went down there was no interrogation capability in the United States, other than in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There was none. Everything the military had was geared still to the Cold War, everything the CIA had had been dismantled, and the FBI had maybe — the best figures I've been able to get my hands on of people who were fluent in Arabic or Farsi or maybe both, and they also were culturally sensitive, knew something about the region from which the detainee might come, knew something about his tribal affiliations and so forth — there were maybe two dozen. Here we have this attack, and then we captured people, and we had no interrogation capability other than a small contingent in the Bureau.
Andy Worthington: And they were sidelined …
Lawrence Wilkerson: Yes, after they proved their worth, they were sidelined.
Andy Worthington: To me that's still the biggest shock about the whole story, and it's the clearest example of why disregarding that experience in the FBI was such a disaster.
Lawrence Wilkerson: But it was something this administration almost made a cult of doing — not just on interrogation, but on almost everything, whether it was Iraq, whether it was the Middle East in general, whether it was North Korea. The attitude was: Don't talk to me from a position of expertise, talk to me from a position of fixed religious adamancy, you know.
Andy Worthington: Exactly. And again, that was the story that impressed me in Jane Mayer's book, The Dark Side, when, after understanding that there were so many "Mickey Mouse prisoners," as General Dunlavey called them, John Bellinger, who, at the time, was the National Security Council's Legal Advisor, went to try and have a meeting with Alberto Gonzales, when he was still Bush's Counsel, and found David Addington there, and Addington said, we're not bothered about what you've got to say about innocence and guilt. The President has said they're all guilty on capture, that's the end of the story, nobody's reviewing it. You know, it's an example of justifying actions on the basis of executive power, and as you said as well, if you're going to get into the details of why on earth are you doing it, it's because they thought they could very slowly build this "mosaic" of intelligence that would take forever, of every terrorist movement, every insurgent movement ever, and who knows how many people that would involve? I think the number of people in US custody throughout the Bush years is over 80,000, isn't it?
Lawrence Wilkerson: The figures I came across for Iraq, Afghanistan, secret prisons, Guantánamo, people who were being held in prisons in other countries on our behalf — the highest figure I ever came to was about 65,000, but it could have well been more than that.
Andy Worthington: And I get the feeling that they would just have gone on forever if they could …
Lawrence Wilkerson: Well, I mean, that was it, it's a hard slog, it's war, and therefore, if we say it's never over then they're always detained. I remember [Colin] Powell and Taft — Taft was his legal advisor, Will Taft — asking a question, something to the effect of, "What's final disposition?" and [Donald] Rumsfeld's response was something like, "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
Andy Worthington: That's another thing, really, is that at no point did they ever seem to have any concept of how something might end. They started things and had no idea what their ultimate plan was. What, you really intend to hold people forever without charging them with anything? You really want to kidnap people on an industrial scale and have secret prisons and — you don't know what you're going to do at the end of this, do you? Everything was started with no thought for how it might possibly be concluded.
Lawrence Wilkerson: I think the principal figure in this — Vice President Cheney — would say, in response to what you've just said, "So what?" I mean, I really do. I wouldn't have said that a couple of years ago, but now I've come to the conclusion that the man truly is — whether he was that way when I knew him before, when he was Secretary of Defense, I don't know, that's not at issue with me any more — the man now is just crazy.
Andy Worthington: Yes, well, I'm glad you said that. In March you called him evil. Crazy is — you know, he just seems to be a deranged man, I'm surprised he's been getting so much air time.
Lawrence Wilkerson: It's our media. Our media loves to keep it going. They love to throw him out there and, you know, stoke the fires. I asked a couple of people fairly high up in our media world, "Why in the world do you continue to give him and Limbaugh an audience? Why? Why do you even put them on the same plane as the President of the United States? Why do you have these dueling speeches? You guys made them dueling speeches, not the two principals." Well, you know, they're running out of business. People are canceling their newspaper subscriptions every day. They want news.
Andy Worthington: And they're more interested in hearing this than they are in hearing that this madman was the driver of manufacturing false intelligence through torture to justify the invasion of Iraq.
Lawrence Wilkerson: Well, they helped in that.
Andy Worthington: Of course, that's why they don't want to talk about it.
Lawrence Wilkerson: With the exception of Knight Ridder, now McClatchy, they just about all helped.
Andy Worthington: Yes, it's true, but I'm still shocked at how that's underreported in the Cheney story, because he's just been allowed too much time to carry on trying to sell his own version of it: that torture saved us from some attack that we're not allowed to find out about, that nobody can seem to find any evidence for, but maybe the more it goes on — I mean, he really does seem like a crazy man. He had the chance to relax and he doesn't know how to do it.
Lawrence Wilkerson: Yep. He even got his family out there.
Andy Worthington: Well, how else would you deal with him, I suppose, if you were related to him?
Lawrence Wilkerson: I do think there's some fear in it too. I think there's some folks realizing that there may be, at a minimum, some problems with traveling, and at a maximum, there may even be — I just don't think there's a political will in this country to do anything truly dramatic to bring some accountability to this, but I do think that these people, much the way that military people do still, count their reputation and their legacy and how the history books are going to look at them as something significant, and as they grow older it grows in importance, so that, you know, they don't want to be tarnished, and I think Cheney's seriously concerned about where he's going to go in the history books.
Andy Worthington: Well, I understand that. I think it ought to be more serious than that, but I've felt all along that, although prosecutions ought to happen because, you know, torture statutes have been broken, but apparently nobody is going to be held ultimately responsible, that's really not an acceptable position. The position taken by Obama, it seems, is to say, well, OK, we're going to clean up our act but we're not going to hold these people to account, but whichever way you look at it, it certainly doesn't leave Cheney in the clear …
Lawrence Wilkerson: No. My wife thinks that ultimately there's going to be something. I'm a little more cynical than she, but she's convinced that this investigation that's been going on [by John Durham] — very low-key, the guy's very persistent, he's very determined, he reminds me of [Patrick] Fitzgerald on the Valerie Plame case, and his starting point is the destruction of the videotapes, and I'm told he's got a plan, and he's following that plan, and I'm told that plan is bigger than I think.
Andy Worthington: Well, I'm quite encouraged by that, because I've not heard too much about that investigation. I've heard more about the long-awaited Justice Department investigation into the lawyers at the Office of Legal Counsel who wrote the torture memos, and from what I've heard about that investigation, it seemed to involve establishing concrete, irrefutable connections between Dick Cheney's office and the Office of Legal Counsel, because the torture memos have come out, and somehow still it's as if the lawyers did it themselves …
Lawrence Wilkerson: Yep.
Andy Worthington: And what's needed is: no, the lawyers were told what to do, they agreed that they would not think independently, and they would make the advice what was required, and if a chain leads infallibly up to that particular office, then how can they wriggle out of it? I understand that Dick Cheney was, I think, driven mad after 9/11 by his fear and his paranoia, and a lot of his unsavory impulses took over what may have been left of his humanity, and he became consumed by it, and I don't think anybody doubts that in some ways they were motivated by the fear of another attack, but when you break the law, which is what they did, is it enough to be able to leave office and your crimes go with you? Is that enough?
Lawrence Wilkerson: Well, you know, I've read some of the language in the International Convention Against Torture, and in the document that President Clinton had to submit finally to the Senate, and I've read the Senate's qualification of that document too, but, you know, this is in order to become a signatory to the treaty, to promise to the treaty holder that you will do as necessary, to make your domestic law conform to the law encased in the treaty, and it's pretty clear that there is no national emergency "out," there's no exit.
Andy Worthington: No, there isn't. It's Article 2.2 of the Convention, which says, "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."
Lawrence Wilkerson: And that's not something we qualified, that's not something where we said, "Oh, that's a little part of it we don't agree with, but we'll still be a signatory."
Andy Worthington: And that, of course, explains why it was crucial in the OLC memos to redefine torture so that torture wasn't happening.
Lawrence Wilkerson: Right.
Andy Worthington: I mean, why would you do that unless you know that it was illegal?
Lawrence Wilkerson: Yes, and to me that's why so many people kept saying, "We don't torture." They had to get that on the record that this is what they believed, because that was the legal opinion that they had. Now the man who, to me, brings all of this together more than Cheney himself, because he has one foot in the legal camp — and I must admit it's a fairly brilliant foot — and he has one foot in the operator camp, that's David Addington. That is to say, Addington was very influential, maybe to the point of maximally influential with that idiot Gonzales, and everything that flowed from Gonzales, both when he was Bush's Counsel and when he was Attorney General, and was also influential through his connection with Libby, and Libby's ability to coordinate the interagency group that essentially worked for the Vice President — not for the President but for the Vice President. Addington was both the Zawahiri and the bin Laden.
Andy Worthington: What a fabulous analogy that is.
Lawrence Wilkerson: David's a strange person. When he was working for Cheney, when Cheney was Secretary of Defense, we in the uniformed military used to refer to him as "Weird David."
Andy Worthington: Yes, well he was just in the right place to push everything where it shouldn't have gone after 9/11,wasn't he?
Lawrence Wilkerson: He was perfectly placed. He and Libby both. They were perfectly placed.
Andy Worthington: But it is extraordinary the lack of public accountability and the absolute significance of Addington's role in all those years. I mean, I can't think of another period in American history when somebody who was working for the Vice President so often actually seemed to be running the show.
Lawrence Wilkerson: It is extraordinary with regard to the Office of the Vice President. I mean, it's hard to go back and find anybody ever in that position who gathered to himself as much power as Dick Cheney did.
Andy Worthington: Sure.
Lawrence Wilkerson: I mean, I can find places where Alexander Hamilton as aide-de-camp to George Washington was as influential as George Washington was during a specific instance at a specific time or a specific date, but it wasn't something that pertained throughout Washington's command of the continental armies or his Presidency.
Andy Worthington: And I think earlier, when you were saying about Colin Powell telling the President in January 2005 –
Lawrence Wilkerson: January 13, 2005.
Andy Worthington: — that he had no idea of the scale of what was going on, that was an insight for me into how the President really didn't know who was actually running the show.
Lawrence Wilkerson: The sad thing is that, until early January 2004, I'm not sure we did either. I understood that there was a team, I understood it was highly placed and probably under the Vice President, I understood that it was membered in almost every aspect of the interagency group that dealt with national security, I understood they had a strategy, I understood they were ruthless in carrying out that strategy, and I understood that I was a day late and a dollar short, because they'd beaten me to the marketplace. But it took me a while to figure that out. I even figured out that they were reading my emails, but I wasn't reading theirs.
Andy Worthington: Well, I'm sure, but I suppose why wouldn't it when they were so obsessively secretive? And on that note, I guess I'll let you get on. It's been a real pleasure meeting you here on the phone and talking to you, and I'm sure those who read this interview will be grateful that you took the time to do so.
As published exclusively on the website of the Future of Freedom Foundation.
Andy Worthington is the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK). To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to my RSS feed, and see here for my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, published in March 2009. Visit his website at: www.andyworthington.co.uk.
An Interview With Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (Part One) by Andy Worthington
Spanish judge resumes torture case against six senior Bush lawyers by Andy Worthington


text:
Audi will unveil the 2012 S6 sedan and wagon (Avant in Audi-speak), S7 Sportback and range-topping S8 ultra-luxury performance sedan. At the heart of all three new models—four if you include the S6 Avant—is a new turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 engine that produces up to 520 bhp.
Audi calls the S6 sedan and S6 Avant "sports cars for everyday use." Powered by a 420-bhp version of the new twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter TFSI V-8 engine, both come with a 7-speed S tronic transmission and standard Quattro all-wheel drive. An adaptive air suspension allows the driver to choose from among five different settings. There are seven choices of alloy wheels available, all 19s or 20s. According to Audi, the S6 sedan sprints from 0 to 62 mph in 4.8 seconds. The S6 Avant takes only a fraction longer—4.9 sec. Both cars are electronically limited to a top speed of 155 mph.
Externally, the 2012 Audi S6 and S6 Avant are fractionally longer than the standard A6 sedan or wagon. The single-frame grille has aluminum highlights and chromed horizontal double bars. The exterior mirrors have "aluminum-look" housings, and the side sills are unique to each model. The biggest visual giveaways are toward the rear, with the S6 sedan's trunk-mounted spoiler (roof-mounted on the Avant), four chrome-tipped tailpipes and platinum gray diffuser.
The same powertrain in the S6 also makes its way into the gorgeous S7 Sportback. We've already raved about this car's sleek styling, and upping power from the standard 310-bhp 3.0-liter V-6 will only make this a more appealing package. Some might be turned off by the hatchback design (notice Audi's clever use of the Sportback name). Yet even with the rear seats not folded, there's 18.9 cu ft. of luggage space in the back. Drop those seats and you have a cavernous 49 cu ft. of room.
This means you'll be able to haul more than, well, you get the idea. Audi says the all-wheel-drive S7 Sportback will reach 62 mph in 4.9 seconds, and has a top speed limited to 155 mph. At highway speeds, a subtle rear spoiler extends from the roof for added aero grip. Carbon-ceramic disc brakes are available as an option. And for anyone who really hates stopping (for gasoline), Audi's "cylinder on demand" technology tempers the twin-turbo V-8's thirst for fuel, allowing the S7 to average 24.2 mpg. EPA numbers will likely be lower, but this nevertheless is impressive. Like the S6, the S7 Sportback has unique alloy wheels, revised front and rear bumpers, and aluminum-look coverings on the side mirrors. (more)
Keep Reading: Audi S Models at Frankfurt >>
Photos: New Audi S Models >>
Related posts:


text:
Stephan Poag is my favourite OSR illustrator. I contacted him, asked if he'd like to draw a cover for AFG, details were supplied, then he quickly produced an early sketch, feedback was exchanged and acted on.
Then, delivery of what can be only described as "100% faithful to actual game content":
There's something about purchasing original art for your game that makes it more real: probably the fact that your pet-project starts to have a material cost, I'm not sure. Working with Stephan has been a pleasure and I hope to do more of the same in the future.
Oh, I almost forgot: AFG will be available soon in two formats: digital and print+digital bundle.
The Digital format will be 4.50£ and will give you early access not only to the PDF of the final version and the early versions, but also to the LaTeX source files in case you want to annotate or modify it. Yes, you get the source files. And on top a 4.50£ discount on the Print+Digital version, so when you decide to upgrade you will pay only the difference.
The Print+Digital bundle details are yet to be perfectly finalized, but will set you off 12£ + s/h for a softcover version of the final release of AFG, an A4 64-pages staple-bound book with colour cover and b/w interiors.
In both cases you get to have an early view of the game, test it and give feedback. I've been at the same time writing and playtesting AFG for more than a year now, but I can always use more feedback. You deserve not less than the best. 🙂


text:
There Will Never Be Another 'Montauk Monster'
Public Service Announcement to all you hardy adventurers, beachcombers, and cryptozoologists out there: no, you did not just find another Montauk Monster. You're not even in Montauk.
The latest news from the site Montauk-monster.com is this photo, which came with the following email:
1. Allow us to draw your attention to the second sentence: "My husband and I were walking on Silver Sands Beach in Milford, CT today and we found a Montauk Monster." Think about it.
2. The Montauk Monster—Monty—washed ashore in Montauk in the summer of 2008. He was made famous by Richard Lawson, and he's long since returned to the puddle of goo from whence he came. There have been other monsters. But there will never be another Montauk Monster*. May we allow him to rest in peace.
*Unless another monster is found in Montauk. In which case, email us.


text:
Christie 'nervous' when scandal linked to aides
TRENTON – Gov. Chris Christie was "nervous" about the possibility more of his aides were involved in a politically motivated traffic jam scandal, according to interview notes released Monday by lawyers the governor's office hired to conduct an internal investigation.
The interview notes compiled by Gibson, Dunn & Cruthers lawyers form the basis of a 344-page, taxpayer-funded report exonerating Christie and blaming two loyalists — a former Port Authority official and a now-fired aide — for lane closures that caused tie-ups approaching the George Washington Bridge. A legislative panel investigating the matter had demanded the notes.
Christie was one of 75 people interviewed for his office's probe into the lane closings, which caused four days of traffic mayhem in Fort Lee, the town at the base of the heavily traveled span linking New Jersey and New York. The investigation by the governor's office found the closures targeted the town's Democratic mayor.
Five people close to Christie have been fired or resigned amid the scandal, which has been a major distraction for Christie as he contemplates a 2016 presidential run.
The documents from the investigation, which concluded former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official David Wildstein and ex-Christie aide Bridget Kelly were behind the closures, provide no surprises. But they do give some insight into the governor's state of mind as the scandal enveloped his administration and how his office decided to handle it.
The interview notes show Christie pulled together key members of his government and political teams after the scandal broke in January. Christie's top political strategists, chief counsel and brother were among those called to the governor's mansion to find out if anyone else was involved and discuss how to handle the matter. Christie ally David Samson, then chairman of the agency that runs the bridge, also participated, according to the notes. Tapes or transcripts of the interviews have not been made public.
Christie, who was interviewed three times in February and March, also denied allegations that members of his administration threatened to withhold Superstorm Sandy recovery funds to Hoboken unless the mayor approved a certain re-development project. The city on the Hudson River sustained severe flooding during the October 2012 storm.
Christie said he did not direct his lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno, to "deliver a message" to Mayor Dawn Zimmer about the Hoboken redevelopment project. The redeveloper, the Rockefeller Group, was being represented by Samson's law firm, Wolff & Samson.
Two of the people the mayor says issued the funding threats — Marc Ferzan, who runs the state's Superstorm Sandy recovery office, and Guadagno — both denied Zimmer's claims in separate interviews. Zimmer declined to be interviewed for the internal investigation.
Ferzan told interviewers Zimmer was "all over the place," asking for fast and special aid and frequently changing her mind on the programs she wanted. "It was not even clear that what she wanted on any given day was in the state's, let alone Hoboken's, best interests," the notes say, summarizing Ferzan's words.
Guadagno, who keeps a picture of herself with Zimmer in her office, said Zimmer talked only about Hoboken, "did not know how to compromise, complained about everything." The interview memo also says Guadagno thought Zimmer may have been "in over her head" regarding economic development. The lawyers also say Guadagno told Zimmer that Sandy aid and real estate development were not connected.
The notes also show Christie deciding to sever ties with two-time campaign manager Bill Stepien over the objection of political strategist Mike DuHaime, and that Stepien felt wronged because there was no evidence linking him to planning the lane closures. The lawyers' report concluded that Stepien knew of the operation while it was going on, but there was no evidence that he believed it to be more than a traffic study.
DuHaime said Wildstein told him that Stepien and Kelly both knew about the closures beforehand.
Kelly was fired after Christie learned she sent Wildstein the message, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." Wildstein resigned.
Wildstein, Stepien and Kelly all refused to be interviewed by the attorneys.
The U.S. attorney's office is also conducting its own investigation.
Associated Press reporter Geoff Mulvihill contributed from Haddonfield, N.J.


text:
Homemade Mondays week 37
Homemade Mondays
is a series for people that are on a journey to better living, via healthier eating and a more natural lifestyle. We realize that there are different paths that we all take to get to that place, and this bloghop celebrates that. Whether you're a seasoned raw foodist who has banned all things unnatural, or a rookie who is starting out by cutting out junk food, we'd love to hear from you! Link up with your favorite recipes, projects, crafts, or rants and raves.
The Hosts
Sarah of
Being Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity
Aubrey of
Homegrown & Healthy
How to
Homemade Mondays
will open every Monday. You have until Thursday to make your submissions. We will share our favorite posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and shout it from the rooftops.
Link up.
Use the submission form below to add your blog posts to our gallery below. You can add as many links as you'd like, as long as they're on topic.
What's eligible?
Recipes, crafts, DIY projects, gardening, fitness, green ideas or just plain old advice.
We're pretty open.
Tell us about yourselves.
Leave a comment telling us a little about your site and what you've shared. Of course this isn't mandatory, but it's a good way to stand out.
Link back.
Share the love by adding a link back to this party with your readers so they can see all of
Homemade Mondays


text:
The First And Last Duck Face Date
I went to the Black Angels concert at The Metro last night with this chick Duck Face that I work with. The background is that on my 3rd day here she got a new puppy and wanted to show me pictures of it. She gave me her iPhone and "accidentally" showed me a full frontal picture of herself. Of course I asked her out ON THE SPOT.


text:
A couple of weeks back the looming question in the minds of many Galaxy fans was whether the club remained capable of capturing the Western Conference crown.
Today, some are wondering whether the Galaxy could miss the MLS playoffs altogether.
And if that occurs a club that specialized in winning games by the slimmest of margins en route to back-to-back MLS championships will have evolved into a team that is now narrowly losing by them.
Conventional wisdom suggests the Galaxy will need to win at least three of its final four games to ensure a post-season appearance.
"There's 12 points, obviously, to still get," striker Robbie Keane said after Saturday's 1-0 road loss in rainy Portland. "We certainly need to start kicking right now because there's not much time left. So if we keep conceding from set pieces, we can forget about getting to the playoffs."
Keane was referring to the decisive Portland goal, which came from a 52nd minute corner kick.
But the inability to capitalize on set pieces at the other end of the field was just as crucial in Saturday's defeat and Keane was culpable for that at game's end.
Replays showed he was clearly offside after seemingly snatching an equalizer from a second half stoppage time free kick, leaving a frustrated Galaxy to lob F-bombs on national television.
For the Galaxy, the devil is in the details this season with small setbacks accumulating as the year wears on, as Galaxy playmaker Landon Donovan observed.
"They had one half-chance all night and they scored a goal," he said. "We had a few OK chances and we didn't get the goal.
"But we can't keep giving up goals like the one we did today," Donovan said. "As the season gets toward the end and gets tighter, those are the plays that matter and we need to make sure that we're on the positive end of those, not the negative."
Especially with four points separating the four teams jockeying for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference.
The San Jose win over flailing Chivas Sunday night in Carson illustrated yet again just how much the little things matter.
The Earthquakes won on a lone goal three minutes from the end of regulation despite being down to 10 men to hand Chivas USA a potentially debilitating loss just ahead of Sunday's SuperClasico in Carson.
The result meant the sixth-place Earthquakes, whose season looked all but finished a few weeks ago, hauled themselves to within a solitary point of the Galaxy with the two teams facing each other Oct. 20 at StubHub Center.
"It's close, obviously," summed up Arena of the playoff race.
Renters vs. landlords
Two deflated teams will face each other in what will be a battle of wills as much as skills Sunday at StubHub Center in the third and final SuperClasico of the season (2 p.m. live on UniMas and Time Warner Cable).
But the (13-11-6) Galaxy come into the game winless in their last four MLS games, their worst stretch of the season. Chivas USA (6-17-8), in contrast, picked up a win and a tie in consecutive games before recording two losses.
And that represents a danger sign for the Galaxy. With their season already over yet again the Goats have absolutely nothing to lose and are relishing their spoiler role.
"We're at a point in the season where we're trying to improve and trying to play spoiler," goalkeeper Dan Kennedy told the league's website earlier this month.
Big games in the UEFA Champions league this week include Celtic clashing with Barcelona (11:30 a.m. today Fox Sports 1) and Shakhtar Donetsk facing struggling Manchester United (11:30 a.m. Wednesday Fox Sports 1). … Reacting to what it said were incorrect media reports, U.S Soccer said Monday that "minor" knee issues do not mean midfielder Jermaine Jones will have surgery this week and miss the final two U.S. World Cup qualifiers. The Bundesliga veteran said he remains available for selection if called into camp that begins Sunday ahead of the Oct. 11 game against Jamaica.


text:
Taste&Create IX: Hummus and Pita ChipsMay 23, 2008 at 6:42 pm | Posted in events, savory things | 10 Comments
With pita or raw veggies, in a fried egg sandwich on Turkish pide, or on a bagel…hummus if so good. I know it's ridiculously easy to make, but it's something I never do myself. You know, I make my own baba ghanoush, and opening up a can of chick peas is certainly less involved than roasting an eggplant, so what's the excuse? In Brooklyn, it was perhaps understandable because I was spoiled by having Sahadi's and their amazing hummus practically around the corner (then I would skip up the block to Damascus Bakery for fresh pita!). Now there's no Sahadi's, so there's also no excuse.
Min from The Bad Girl's Kitchen is my partner in crime for this month's edition of Taste&Create. I'm making Middle Eastern food for dinner tonight, and I found a great, lemony hummus recipe on her site. Made in the food processor, it's done in under five. Needing something to go with my/her hummus, I also made Min's pita chips. They were salty and crunchy and a perfect companion to my bowl of hummus.
Thanks, Min, for weaning me off the store-bought stuff with your great recipes! Also, thanks as always to Nicole from For the Love of Food for hosting T&C!
10 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
There you go again! Hero, part 2.
Comment by Janna from Honeyed Hashette— May 25, 2008 #
My dad LOVES pita chips!!
Comment by howtoeatacupcake— May 27, 2008 #
Leave a Reply
Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.


text:
Born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1735, John Adams was one of the earliest and most vocal advocates for colonial independence. The Harvard-educated lawyer served as a delegate to both the First and Second Continental Congresses.
A skilled diplomat, Adams lived in France and Holland during the Revolution, working to secure crucial international support and recognition of American independence. He served eight years as George Washington's Vice-President before winning the Presidency in 1797.
Elected by a margin of just three electoral votes (71-68), John Adams was the first President to live in the White House, arriving in Washington on November 1, 1800. On his second evening in its damp, unfinished rooms, he wrote to his wife, ""Before I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.""
Coinage Legislation under President John Adams
Act of February 1, 1798 — This Act suspends, for a period of three years, a portion of the Act of February 9, 1793, relating to the acceptance of foreign coinage as legal tender in the United States.
Act of April 24, 1800 — This Act authorizes the purchase of copper equivalent to the number of cents and half-cents produced during the prior year, and authorizes an annual purchase to continue the striking of these coins.
Act of March 3, 1801 — This Act directs the location of the United States Mint to remain in Philadelphia until March 1803.
United States Mint Directors appointed by President Adams
President John Adams did not appoint a Director of the United States Mint.


text:
Man pleads guilty in fatal stabbing at Minn. party
WALKER, Minn. (AP) — A northern Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing another man after an argument at a party last year.
Cass County Attorney Christopher Strandlie says 24-year-old Frank Jesse LaRose of Longville pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder.
LaRose was accused of stabbing 31-year-old James Elmberg of Walker during a party on Feb. 5, 2012.
Prosecutors say LaRose and another person began arguing and Elmberg intervened. LaRose says he thought Elmberg was lunging at him and struck him in the chest with a knife.
Elmberg died at Crosby Hospital. LaRose says he did not intend to kill Elmberg.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 4.


text:
A lot of artists write blogs. I even found a blog about artist's blogs with interviews of artists about their blogging by an artist, Stephanie Levy. Artists Who Blog. Most of the artists are just photographing of their current art and posting that in a blog. I wish that more artist bloggers, especially the painters, would show something of their process and inspiration rather than simply spruiking their completed paintings for sale or advertising their next exhibition.
The Internet has exposed many crypto-artists, the secret artists, the part-time artists, and the artists who are outside of the art world circle. There are many blogs about the arts and crafts (see my post Contemporary Craft Politics & Blogs) and many more blogs about Melbourne's street art (see my post Melbourne Street Art Blogs).
I'm surprised that zines have survived given the number of artists who are turning to blogs as their preferred media of publication but there will always be an appeal for the hand-made. Sticky Projects, in the Degreaves St. underpass at Flinders St. Station, is full of zines. I'm surprised at any print media surviving economically; the age of art magazines, like Art + Text, as a significant force in art is over.
Well this is a slack blog entry – I could be writing about who would win a death match cage fight (Jeff Koons vs Jackson Pollock) but instead I'm going to present a list of artist's blogs. A decade ago I used to do these lists of websites for LookSmart, an international internet directory that no longer exists; so writing this entry feels a bit like my old job. I'm going to have a sandwich.
Blogos/HA HA by artist Peter Tyndall part of his meta-art work "A person Looks At A Work Of Art/ someone looks at something. Articles about recent issues and events in the arts along with notes and observations.
Self vs Selfby Sydney artist Hazel Dooney. Hazel writes regularly about her art, the process of making her art and her life.
Psalm, by the veteren Melbourne street artist of the same name. Psalm writes about street art and urban exploration and his blog features lots of photographs of derelict buildings.
Paul J. Kalemba describes himself as "an urban edible®evolutionary" and has regularly exhibited in Platform's "Underground Garden".
Hidden Archive by Melbourne artist Dylan Martorell, documentes his exhibitions and sound/music performances.
Earth Died Screaming by Ryan an illustrator living in Collingwood. Ryan writes about his art (showing working in progress), his inspiration and other things happening in Melbourne's illustration scene.
Supermarketmonkey by a part-time street artist and illustrator. He has mentioned me several times in his blog and consistently sends me traffic, so I should return the favour. Supermarketmonkey writes about life and other art and the process of making art.
This Painting Life by South Australian artist Dianne Gall, writes about her art, thoughts and inspirations.
Six Hundred Degrees – Sophie Milne, ceramic artist who writes about her art practice and other ceramic and art related events. Sophie Milne used to run Pan Gallery in Brunswick.
Erin Crouch, a young Melbourne artist showing her video work and paintings on her blog. (Now by invitation only.)