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(2017) Science Fiction (DreamWorks/Paramount) Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Ashbæk, Juliette Binoche, "Beat" Takeshi Kitano, Michael Carmen Pitt, Chin Han, Danusia Samal, Lasarus Ratuere, Yutaka Izumihara, Tawanda Manyimo, Peter Ferdinando, Anamaria Marinca, Daniel Henshall, Mana Davis, Erroll Anderson, Kai Fung Rieck, Andrew Stehlin, Matthias Luafutu, Kaori Momoi. Directed by Rupert Sanders
Technology is a part of our everyday lives. For the most part, it makes our lives easier although in many cases it complicates things. Biomedical advances have allowed people who would ordinarily have been disabled or worse to live full productive lives. As technology integrates itself more and more into our lives and even into our own bodies, at some point we must re-examine what it means to be human.
Mira Killian (Johansson) wakes up in the hospital with little memory of how she got there. Her physician, Dr. Ouelet (Binoche) informs her that she was the victim of a terrorist attack; her body was so torn up that her mind, spirit and personality have all been transferred into the body of an android. She will be stronger, faster, more powerful – and able to fight terrorists the way most humans could not.
A year later she is better known as Major (for her rank) and she and her partner Batou (Ashbæk) work for Section 9, a shadowy elite government strike force that takes on terrorists. A specific terrorist known as Kuze (Pitt) has been targeting scientists and executives of the Hanka Robotics Corporation, the conglomerate who happens to employ Dr. Ouelet and who were responsible for saving Major's life.
Kuze seems to know more about Major's past than the Major herself and the deeper Major looks into the CEO of Hanka, a smarmy man named Cutter (Ferdinando) to whom the head of Section 9, the honorable and imperturbable Aramaki (Kitano) seems to report, the more suspicious she gets of his motives. She begins to realize that she is in a nightmare from which there is no waking – and she might just be fighting for the wrong side.
Based on a 1995 anime (which was in turn based on a popular Japanese manga), Sanders has done a fine job in bringing that anime to the live action scene. Often the shots are literally perfect reproductions of the anime. The cityscape is absolutely breath-taking and while the overhead flyover shots get a little dizzying after awhile, the CGI background never lets the audience down.
Neither does Johansson. Already a fan favorite due to her work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she has become one of the biggest stars in the world and this role is really perfect for her abilities. She exudes both grace and strength as well as intelligence and sensuality; it's no wonder that a lot of fanboy types consider Johansson the most desirable woman in Hollywood. In some ways Major is one of the most complex roles she's taken on; there is a machine-like coldness to her but at the same time she is tormented by tantalizing glimpses of her past. She is relentless looking in directions her employers don't want her to explore, and when push comes to shove is willing to risk anything to find out the truth about herself and about Hanka.
Kitano, one of the most revered action stars in Japan who while little known to the general public in the United States is nonetheless held in high regard by those buffs of Asian action movies, shows us why he is the source of such affection. I am always a little leery of using the adjective "inscrutable" in connection with Asian actors but that word best defines his performance here. Partially paralyzed in the face due to a scooter accident 20 years ago, his expression is generally unreadable and when he explodes into action during a glorious sequence there is little warning. It is one of the most satisfying sequences in the movie.
There are a few problems here though. The plot is pretty convoluted and following it isn't always easy. I get the sense that Sanders and the writing team were trying to make a film that was visually overwhelming (which it is), chock full of exciting action sequences (which it is for the most part) and also thought-provoking (which it is in places). While it is possible to be all of those things at once, it is a very difficult balancing act and Ghost in the Shell doesn't quite achieve it and as I recall, neither did the original anime although it came closer than this.
Brilliant in some stretches, flawed in others, the film lacks consistency which makes it hard to appreciate those sequences that do work well – and there are more than a few of them. The sensory overload of the cityscape may be troubling to those who are easily overwhelmed but to those who appreciate the detail in the crafting of the futuristic landscape it will be an absolute dream come true. The detail in those backgrounds is truly astonishing but they'll disappear in the wink of an eye. Never has a movie that looked like it belonged on a theater screen ever needed the benefit of a remote control so that viewers could pause the film just to take in the details. If only there could have been a little been more conciseness in the screenplay; this could have been the first peg in a tentpole franchise but sadly, the box office numbers don't really support one.
REASONS TO GO: The special effects and action sequences are dazzling. Johansson is a natural action heroine.
REASONS TO STAY: The plot is a bit muddled. The film tries too hard to be all things to all people.
FAMILY VALUES: There is frequent violence, some disturbing images and a few moments of sensuality.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The city depicted in the film, although not mentioned by name, is based on Hong Kong although with heavy digital additions.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 5/22/17: Rotten Tomatoes: 45% positive reviews. Metacritic: 52/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: I, Robot
NEXT: David Brent: Life on the Road


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Charleston Knob Company Blue White Floral Cabinet Knob
Replace your cabinet hardware with a little whimsy, elegance and fun. Little details often get overlooked, and our uncommon designs will enhance your surroundings!
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subset: commoncrawl


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Imagine a Citywide Network of Connected Bikeways ...
...that supports everyone from children to grandparents to feel safe riding to work, school, the grocery store, or anywhere in Minneapolis.
The Bikeways for Everyone campaign supports building 30 new miles of well-designed protected bikeways by 2020 to make an expanded citywide network. This network attracts people to our city, enhances businesses, reduces pollution, improves public health, adds new green space, and enhances quality of life.
What does a protected bikeway look like?
What does it feel like to ride on a protected bikeway or cycletrack?
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Types of Bikeways
Protected Bike Lanes
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text: Back Athletic Shoes: Lace Them to Fit You probably haven't given much thought to the way you lace your shoes or sneakers. Shoe lacing is the kind of thing you learned in kindergarten and then took for granted. But experts say shoe lacing makes a difference. It's just one of many simple things you can do to safeguard your feet while you put them through the demands of an athletic workout or even a long day of walking over all sorts of surfaces. Simply lacing your shoes or sneakers properly, along with choosing a shoe that fits your foot correctly, can add comfort to your stride and prevent foot injuries. Shoelaces are an ancient invention, but they do an admirable job of keeping the foot securely positioned within the shoe, says the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. The society recommends thinking of your shoes or sneakers as a corset. The laces let the corset in and out and allow a good fit. Importance of good fit Improper fit and poor lacing technique are a dangerous combination. They can cause a variety of foot ills, from blisters and hammertoes to chronic heel bruises and even stress fractures. When it comes to the shoes you use for your favorite athletic activity, there should be no compromises, experts say. Forget what you may have been told about buying snug-fitting athletic shoes that will break in with time. If the shoes don't fit comfortably the first time you try them on, put them back and try on another pair. If possible, try on athletic shoes right after you've done the activity for which you're buying the shoes, because exercise makes your feet swell and will change the fit. Try running or walking to the shoe store. Another trick: Go to the shoe store at the end of the day, because that's when your feet will be their largest from all the walking and standing you've done. Buying shoes Some fit tips from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: Buy a shoe one-half inch longer than your longest toe. The forefoot should not be crowded; be sure your toes can extend. Be sure there's a snug fit around the heel of the shoe. Your feet expand when bearing weight, so stand when your feet are measured. In many people, one foot is larger than the other. Shoes should be fitted to your longer and wider foot. Although the toe box should be spacious, too much space can make your feet slide, causing blisters. How to lace your shoes Once you've got the basic fit down, turn your attention to the laces. Here is the proper lacing technique: Loosen the laces as you put on the shoes. This prevents stress on the eyelets and the backs of the shoes. In fact, take all the laces out when trying on a pair of shoes and re-lace with equal tension. Always begin at the bottom and pull the laces using one set of eyelets at a time to tighten the shoes. This prevents stress at the tops of the shoes and aids a better fit. When choosing shoes, keep in mind that those with more eyelets allow a more custom fit. Athletic shoes tend to allow more of a custom fit than, say, wingtips. The old standby method of lacing—crisscross to the top of the shoe—works best for about 75 percent of athletic shoe wearers. For wide feet: Use the eyelets closer to the tongue of the shoe. This allows greater width to the lacing area and has the same effect as letting out a corset. For narrow heel and wider forefoot: A narrow heel and wider forefoot is a common problem among women. Consider using two laces for a combination fit. Use the closer set of eyelets to adjust the width of the shoe at the forefoot and the wider set to snug up the heel to prevent the heel from acting like a piston. For foot pain: If you have a high arch, bump on the top of your foot, a bone that sticks out, nerve pain or tendon injury, try leaving a space in the lacing to alleviate pressure. Simply skip the eyelets near the point of pain.


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Redfoo rocks Chamisal Tennis Club
Club says player enrollment doubled because of pop artist
Pop artist Redfoo took on the tennis courts Wednesday night in Corral de Tierra.
The LMFAO group member was the first one to register for the qualifiers several months ago, and Chamisal Club managers said it's because of him that player enrollment doubled in 2013.
The "Sexy and I Know It" singer was introduced to the tune of his own song, "Heart of a Champion," which he said he was inspired to write thanks to his girlfriend and No. 3-ranked tennis player, Victoria Azarenka.
"I wrote this song so it could be played before matches. It really pumps me up," said Redfoo.
Redfoo said he may have pushed himself too hard at the start of his match and ended up tripping three times in his slick-bottom shoes. Fan Micah Erwin handed over his own shoes, and Redfoo changed his kicks on the court, and then autographed his shoes for Erwin.
"I was surprised because I didn't think I'd ever meet or have exchange with someone famous," said Erwin.
The chart-topping artist's opponent, Scott Gray, a state champion out of Turlock, took the hype in stride.
"I loved playing a celebrity, with all these people showing up to watch. They weren't here for me, but it's fine, it's the first time I've played in front of a lot of people," said Gray.
Gray won the match, but Redfoo will return to court Thursday in a mixed doubles match.


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Sinbad brings the funny to Cove Haven on Sunday
Comedian and actor Sinbad is known by many.
He's known by some for his many movies, such as "Jingle All the Way," "Good Burger," "Houseguest" and "Are We There Yet?" as well as his television shows, "The Cosby Show," "A Different World" and "The Sinbad Show."
And yet others know him for his stand-up comedy or his music. Spanning many years in the entertainment industry was a goal that he has surpassed with no end in sight.
He will bring his stand-up routine to Cove Haven Resort in Lakeville this weekend, and while on the road to other shows, he had some time to chat with the Pocono Record about his career and what's to come for him.
Q: Was entertainment something you've always wanted to do? Were you a funny child?
I was funny, but I wanted to be so many things as a kid — an actor, a deep sea diver, mountain climber, spy, Bruce Lee. I was crazy.
Q: Being an actor and a stand-up comedian — do you like one more than the other?
Stand-up is what I'll always be. I'll be a stand-up slash actor, director and writer, whatever. Stand-up is immediate, and no one tells me what to do. It's man against man.
Q: How has the industry changed since you started out?
I've seen changes that have revolutionized stuff. Reality shows. We all worry about what kind of baby Kim Kardashian is going to have.
Q: Your film resume is pretty long. Do you have a film you enjoyed doing most?
I don't think I've done that movie yet — that one's coming. One of my favorites was "The Cherokee Kid" for HBO. I was real proud of that.
Q: My generation knows you from "A Different World" and "Cosby Show." My kids' generation knows you from "Good Burger" and "Jingle All the Way." When you started out, did you think you would have such a long career that spans generations?
When I started, I wanted to last forever. I look at people like (Bill) Cosby and Steve Martin, and they lasted forever.
Q: What's next for you? What do you hope to accomplish?
A couple things, because we always reinvent ourselves. My daughter sings and writes and is in my band, so I want to help her get her thing together. I'm traveling, and I want to take this band, Memphis Red, on the road. It's about not losing the funk. There's no black bands, so we're trying to entertain and educate. And there's comedy in music. There are also more movies I want to produce and write.
Q: Tell me about your stand-up act. What can people expect?
It's all over the place. I never know what's its going to be. It's about what's happening in the world and in my life at that time. I never know what I'm going to be doing.
Q: Have you performed in the Poconos before?
Yes, I have a good time up there.
Sinbad WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Sunday WHERE: Cove Haven Resort, 194 Lakeview Drive, Lakeville Cost: $75 INFO: 800-432-9932 or covepoconoresorts.com


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Wooden Squared Shaped Coasters Set of 4
These Wooden Log Coasters Set of 4 are crafted in mango solid wood handmade from the best artisans in India. Our range of Coasters are great for every time you want to play the host! These are perfect additions to your tableware and combine good materials with good design and great utility.
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- Wipe with a clean dry cloth and lukewarm water when needed


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Editor's Note: CNN Insider Guides are thoroughly checked for accuracy. Given the fluid nature of the travel industry, however, some listings may fall out of date before guides can be updated. The best practice is to confirm current information on official websites before making plans to visit any business or attraction.
With its strident, martial statues peering down wide boulevards, even the best of Madrid can daunt at first glimpse.
Look for order, and you encounter bustle, sometimes even brusqueness. This shouldn't be mistaken for discourtesy when you travel here.
Madrileños simply have a reputation for directness, of a haste that contrasts sharply with the pace of life in much of coastal Spain. No offense is intended.
It's a proud capital city, fastidious about curating and displaying its national treasures, home of some of the world's greatest art and sculpture and a place that inspires great civic loyalty.
The attitude is part illusion. Spain's most cosmopolitan city is also the country's most open and gregarious metropolis.
Read on to preview the best of this fascinating destination:
Hotel Orfila
Close enough to the Castellana to feel the pulse of the city's main artery, set back enough to sleep quietly and stroll along sedate side streets.
A converted 19th-century palace, with marble floors in the reception areas and period-style furniture, the Orfila also has an upmarket restaurant with a classy lunchtime set menu that's also a good value.
From here, boutique shopping wis easily accessible, with the Prado a short walk away.
Almost a century old, Madrid's Ritz was built to give the Spanish capital a landmark luxury hotel to rival the Paris original. It continues to do so. It's at its best in summer, when the garden comes into its own.
The hotel is well-appointed, with spacious bedrooms and service a little less snooty than its counterpart in the capital of France.
Hotel Emperador
The chief recommendation, certainly in the summer, would be the roof-top swimming pool. There's a bar up there, too, and captivating 360-degree views of the Spanish capital.
When you've stopped peering into the distance, look down and you'll get an idea of the many options for an evening out, either side of Gran Via. It's a good address from which to reach Sol or Santa Ana.
The Emperador makes a charm of its faint air of the old-fashioned, but you can ask for a room with a window; several don't have one.
Hotel Catalonia Las Cortes
An elegant and ingeniously converted palace, this was once the residence of the Duke of Nobelejas. In some of the suites, guests will gaze up at frescoed ceilings.
There's a roominess about the communal areas, with their wide staircases and hallways. This best of Madrid hotel is well located for late-night ventures.
Meson Txistu
Meson Txistu rather brandishes its encounters with local celebrity. There are photos of the king of Spain on display; it's popular with the soccer players of Real Madrid.
The cuisine is broadly Basque, which means the fish recommends itself. Meson is strong on red meat, too, with a good wine list and wide selection of jamon serrano.
De María
So popular since its opening, less than 20 years ago, that several satellite versions of De María have sprung in up in Madrid and the city's surrounds.
The best is still the original, which you'll find in the business district. The focus here is meat, with a South American influence to the cooking; tender beef readied the Argentine way, and an excellent choice of wines.
Dating from 1725, Botín claims to be the oldest restaurant in the world. But you don't eat at this best of Madrid restaurant merely to chalk off an entry in Guinness World Records – you come for the meat, above all, the pork.
Suckling pig is the traditional specialty, deservedly celebrated. Just off Plaza Mayor, this is a splendid site to work up an appetite.
Casa Juan
Red brick and dark wood interiors, Casa Juan looks very Spanish. Most of the clientele will be too, and they will linger over their food. They're entitled to. Casa Juan isn't for dashing in and out.
The degustación combinations are more than ample, and the menu specializes in meat and fresh fish prepared in a variety of regional ways. Opening hours are strictly Madrid: just dinner, and after 9 p.m.
Café Oliver
Café Oliver likes to think of itself as a something of mold-breaker, for having first advertised and served the concept of brunch on Sundays – this in the capital of a nation given to late eating hours, and wedded to the idea of long family outings to eat on Sunday starting at three o'clock, or well after.
The food is Mediterranean in an extended sense, with North African influences among the Spanish, French and Italian.
Joy Eslava
This is a club to which modern Madrid owes some of its reputation as a sleepless city, at least on weekends.
Set up in an ornate former theater, close to the up-all-night Sol and Santa Ana districts, it brings in a wide clientele, principally – though not exclusively – those who want to use the dance floor.
Simply watching from the sidelines or the upper-floor aeries is permitted, too.
Mulata is a lively tribute to Latin America, especially to Cuba and Brazil, from where many thousands of people have settled in the capital of Spain.
Expect a good range of Caribbean and South American cocktails, Latin music and iconic posters. And a relaxed vibe.
Mulata, Calle del Almendro, 22; +34 91 364 1605
Antigua Casa Talavera
This is probably the best place in Madrid to find examples of the kind of delicately hand-painted ceramics which in southern Spain, above all, are an art form.
Most of what is on sale is original design – bowls, plates, cups – but there are also reproductions of classics.
It's also a beguiling place simply to browse. Open weekdays and Saturday mornings.
Real Madrid, at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
The home of what claims to be the most glamorous and successful football – or soccer – club in the world sits on prime Madrid real estate, lording it a little ostentatiously over the Castellana.
For big games, tickets are hard to come by. But on an average weekend it's a place not just to see some of the most celebrated stars of the most popular sport floodlit in their all-white strip, but a genuine cross-section of madrilenos in the audience; the earthiest of them chanting from behind the goal.
The most well-to-do keep warm in the seats beneath long, overhead outdoor heaters.
El Rastro
Want to appreciate how international a city Madrid is?Its biggest and most varied market is a good pointer.
El Rastro is popular with Madrileños of all sorts, which also means it gets crowded, so it's as wise to be there early on a Sunday if you want to move at your own pace.
Fashionistas will find plenty in the way of clothes, collectors discover lots to arouse curiosity in the way of handicrafts. And people-watchers won't be bored.
Located in Plaza de Cascorro, between San Millán and Ribera de Curtidores.
Museo del Prado
Museo del Prado is the most famous of Spain's art museums, and its most canonical.
The Prado is still fresh from its most important transformation, the 2007 restructuring and extension of its exhibition halls.
There's a full rewarding day, or more, to be had from Spain's grandest collection of fine art, above all the works of El Greco, Velazquez and Goya. A warning: Sunday often means long lines.
Tapas culture
Madrileños know how to have a good time. Even when they're waiting for a meal.
Spaniards eat late, which is sometimes confounding to visitors from elsewhere, when they find restaurants still organizing the tablecloths at 8 p.m.
But there is a compensation: tapas.
Tapas, a mealtime in miniature, fills not only a gap in the daily timetable, and space in the belly before dinner, it's an important social function, as well.
In a gregarious city like Madrid, it means good food to be taken standing up, mouthfuls designed not to interrupt for too long what's really important: talking time.
There are staples: dried ham, boquerones (anchovies in vinegar) and fried, salted green peppers; a small plate is likely to contain one that surprises with its spiciness.
One specialty is rich, meaty callos – long in preparation – but in the bars of La Latina and Santa Ana, there is ample opportunity to see and taste new combinations: montaditos arranged with an eye on their visual appeal, little pieces of toast bearing arrangements of seafood, ham or manchego cheese, as patiently put together as a wedding cake.
Aperitifs? Tapas are far more than that.
They are the reason to let dinner wait, to keep chatting until late into the night. That's Madrid all over.


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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A Republican plan to cut about $6 trillion in government spending over the next decade cleared the House of Representatives on a party-line vote Friday, with GOP lawmakers touting its make-over of entitlement programs and its tax reforms, and Democrats blasting the legislation.
The GOP blueprint — offered by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin — would squeeze billions of dollars from Medicaid, transform Medicare into a voucher program and lower top individual and corporate tax rates to a maximum of 25%.
Democrats call the Republicans' plan, dubbed "The Path to Prosperity," the "Road to Ruin" for essentially privatizing Medicare and lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate from its current level of 35%. President Barack Obama slammed the bill after it passed Friday.
Republicans rallied behind the plan's $6.2 trillion in cuts over the next decade, compared with Obama's fiscal 2012 budget.
The vote was 235-193. No Democrats voted for the plan and four Republicans broke with their party to vote "no."
Invoking the $14 trillion U.S. debt, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican, said, "It's time to quit spending money we don't have."
Passage by the Republican-led House was assured, but the Ryan plan faces near-certain death in the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority. Still, the Wisconsin congressman's blueprint defines the Republicans' position in a battle with Obama and Democrats that will resonate through the 2012 elections.
A vote on raising the U.S. debt ceiling is coming soon. Republicans have been clamoring for deficit-reduction measures to accompany a hike in the country's borrowing limit, and on Friday, Obama indicated he'd meet them at least partway.
House Speaker John Boehner is "absolutely right that it's not going to happen without some spending cuts," Obama said in an interview with the Associated Press.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has warned that the U.S. will hit its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit no later than May 16, but could hold off hitting the ceiling until early July by using special measures.
Meanwhile, Obama and his party are digging in and defending Medicare and Medicaid, and the president is also pressing for taking tax breaks from wealthy earners to help shrink the U.S. budget deficit.
The House Republican plan approved Friday would "turn back the clock on a fair deal for the American people," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
On Wednesday, Obama staked out a plan to save the government $4 trillion in 12 years or less. Read more about the president's deficit-cutting vision.
Friday afternoon, Obama dismissed the House Republicans' plan through his spokesman.
"The House Republican plan places the burden of debt reduction on those who can least afford it, ends Medicare as we know it, and doubles health care costs for seniors in order to pay for more than a trillion dollars in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
The legislation approved on Friday isn't binding. Instead, it's a blueprint for making detailed legislation later in the year. The resolution doesn't require signature by the president.


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Rieder: Paying the ultimate price for journalism
It is a vivid reminder of the dangers that journalists encounter to bear witness, of the extraordinary bravery they often bring to their craft.
It appears that James Wright Foley, the American photojournalist kidnapped in Syria almost two years ago, has been beheaded.
Journalism takes its practitioners into many extremely frightening places. Syria is top of the charts.
Sixty-six journalists have died there since the rebellion against President Bashar Assad began in 2011, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Another 30 are missing.
Two of the finest foreign correspondents of their generation died covering the rebellion there against Assad: American-born Marie Colvin, who wrote for The Sunday Times of London, and Anthony Shadid of The New York Times.
There's a lot of cynicism about journalism today, about the preoccupation with the sensational and the trivial that stems from the frantic effort to build large digital audiences.
But it's important to keep in mind that journalists continue to do important work, work that is critical in a democracy. Sometimes they pay the ultimate price.
Covering combat, of course, is extremely risky. But the journalists reporting on the tumult in Ferguson, Mo., also place themselves on the front lines as they run the gantlet of law enforcement officers and now protesters who don't want them chronicling the confrontations, as they try to sort out a chaotic situation replete with gunfire and tear gas.
Why do journalists, particularly war correspondents, do what they do? Why do they subject themselves to the risks? Why would James Wright Foley, a freelancer who worked for, among others, GlobalPost and Agence France-Presse, venture into such treacherous, unforgiving terrain?
Because there's only one way to tell the story. And that's by being there. The official briefings only take you so far. War isn't just strategies and body counts. It's real people, real soldiers putting their lives at risk, innocent civilians caught up in the carnage. You can't tell the story unless you see it firsthand.
Colvin, who covered seemingly every major conflagration, from Kosovo to Chechnya to Syria, lost the sight in her left eye when she was hit by shrapnel in Sri Lanka in 2001, That slowed her down not at all.
How did she keep going? "It's a human mechanism," she once told American Journalism Review's Sherry Ricchiardi. "You put your fear, emotions and physical exhaustion on hold. You get so cold, hungry and dirty. You exist on a few bites of stale bread and drink water out of mudholes but, no matter what, you don't walk out on the story."
And why did she keep going? Colvin bitterly resented the notion that she was an adrenaline junkie, a "cowgirl" as she put it, who simply loved the action.
"I don't do this for fun," she said. "I do this because it is necessary."


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I am so thrilled that Walter Dean Myers is our current National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and that his focus is how reading will affect your life – telling parents that it is vital to sit down and read to their children every day. It will make a difference in their lives. What an obvious and yet necessary thing to convey to kids and parents. Reading is important.
I was a fairly new writer or at least new to accepting the label of "writer" to myself when I first heard Walter Dean Myers speak back in 2007. It was also the first time I had attended the SCBWI LA Summer Conference. I was a happy, glowing sponge, soaking up the atmosphere of so many people talking in a language that I understood – who understood me. I felt for the first time that I had found where I belonged. These were my people!
Mr. Myers's Keynote address was called "A Passion for Details" and in his talk, he said the thing that made one writer more successful than another was the details.
"You need to recognize the details as the truth."
You know you have accomplished this when the reader walks away from the story and can think about it further knowing what the character is doing beyond the story itself – how his life will progress beyond the ending. He also said that the internal landscape of the character is much more important than the physical attributes. You should understand the details that comprise your characters so readers can recreate them in their own minds.
He went on to say that every story is about a character with a problem. We have to know enough about that character to make his life interesting to us and we have to be able to create his problem in our minds. Why is that person's life important? Give us the details.
In his one of his latest books, Lockdown, Myers does just that. He puts us right into the mind of Reese, a 14 year-old kid struggling in Progress juvenile detention after stealing prescription pads to help his family with money problems. Reese is trying to follow the rules to get an early release and get back home to take care of his younger siblings left at home with his drug-addicted mother. With guards that turn the other way when bad things happen and old men who think you're going to steal from them just because of the color of your skin, Reese gets pushed to the brink every day. But Reese can't just sit by when his friend Toon gets jumped. He risks his freedom and his future to do what he thinks is right.
Myers pulls you inside this dreary world and makes you feel what life is like, being misunderstood, being neglected, ignored, and having no one to count on but yourself. You care for Reese and want to scream at the people not helping him and not seeing what he's going through and you hope that he can rise above his circumstances and somehow things will turn out all right. Any book that can illicit that much emotion from me is stupendous and well worth the read. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador.
To learn more about Walter Dean Myers and his other books, visit his website.


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text:
The following is the results of your search for cain.
1. The first-born son of Adam and Eve
(Genesis 4:1)ff He became a
tiller of the ground, as his brother Abel followed the pursuits
of pastoral life. He was "a sullen, self-willed, haughty,
vindictive man; wanting the religious element in his character,
and defiant even in his attitude towards God." It came to pass
"in process of time" (marg. "at the end of days"), i.e.,
probably on the Sabbath, that the two brothers presented their
offerings to the Lord. Abel's offering was of the "firstlings of
his flock and of the fat," while Cain's was "of the fruit of the
ground." Abel's sacrifice was "more excellent"
(Hebrews 11:4) than
Cain's, and was accepted by God. On this account Cain was "very
wroth," and cherished feelings of murderous hatred against his
brother, and was at length guilty of the desperate outrage of
putting him to death
(1 John 3:12) For this crime he was expelled
from Eden, and henceforth led the life of an exile, bearing upon
him some mark which God had set upon him in answer to his own cry
for mercy, so that thereby he might be protected from the wrath
of his fellow-men; or it may be that God only gave him some sign
to assure him that he would not be slain
(Genesis 4:15) Doomed to be a
wanderer and a fugitive in the earth, he went forth into the
"land of Nod", i.e., the land of "exile", which is said to have
been in the "east of Eden," and there he built a city, the first
we read of, and called it after his son's name, Enoch. His
descendants are enumerated to the sixth generation. They
gradually degenerated in their moral and spiritual condition till
they became wholly corrupt before God. This corruption prevailed,
and at length the Deluge was sent by God to prevent the final
triumph of evil.
(See ABEL)
2. A town of the Kenites, a branch of the Midianites
(Joshua 15:57) on
the east edge of the mountain above Engedi; probably the "nest
in a rock" mentioned by Balaam
(Numbers 24:21) It is identified with
the modern Yekin, 3 miles south-east of Hebron.
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text:
Alex Jones exposes the contrived "victory" in the War on Terror surrounding a man who many experts have said was already dead for years. After nearly a decade of "hunting" for Bin Laden, he is summarily shot in the head and allegedly dumped into the ocean (conveniently making the body unavailable). So goes the official life of Osama bin Laden (aka Tim Osman), one of the CIA's most useful patsies and assets.
Bron: youtube.com
Voeg toe aan:


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If Donald Trump were to say "Good morning," the media would ignite a giant scandal, suggesting he said those words on a cloudy day – and worse yet said it with a hateful tone – and even worse still, clearly was implying that only white males deserved to actually have a good morning.
So it shouldn't be any surprise that Donald Trump is in the hot seat again. He will continue to be in that hot seat for another 3 months. Because virtually every single "journalist" in America is a love child of Joseph Goebbels.
NBC covers the latest story this way:
Trump 'Second Amendment' Comment Seen as Veiled Threat Against Clinton
by Andrew Rafferty
Donald Trump's comments Tuesday suggesting that "2nd Amendment people" could stop Hillary Clinton from making judicial nominations sparked outrage from opponents — but the campaign defended the remarks by arguing that Trump was referring to the group's considerable political power.
"Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment," Trump said during a rally in North Carolina on Tuesday.
"By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know."The Clinton campaign and other Trump opponents rejected Trump campaign's explanation and blamed the GOP nominee for suggesting violence as a possible means of preventing Clinton from appointing judges if she is elected president."This is simple — what Trump is saying is dangerous. A person seeking to be the President of the United States should not suggest violence in any way," Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement.And Sen. Chris Murphy, D-CT, responded on Twitter: "Don't treat this as a political misstep. It's an assassination threat, seriously upping the possibility of a national tragedy & crisis."And Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., took to social media to say: "@realDonaldTrump makes death threats because he's a pathetic coward who can't handle the fact that he's losing to a girl."She added, "Your reckless comments sound like a two-bit dictator."One of the strongest voices condemning Trump was that of Gabby Giffords, who as a congresswoman from Arizona was shot in the head during a public event in January 2011."Donald Trump might astound Americans on a routine basis, but we must draw a bright red line between political speech and suggestions of violence," Giffords said in a joint statement with her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly. "What political leaders say matters to their followers."But Trump's campaign denied that he was suggesting violence, instead saying the real estate mogul was referencing the power gun rights advocates have at the voting booth."It's called the power of unification — 2nd Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power," Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement. "And this year, they will be voting in record numbers, and it won't be for Hillary Clinton, it will be for Donald Trump."And Trump running mate, Mike Pence, told reporters Tuesday afternoon that Trump "is clearly saying is that people who cherish that right, who believe that firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens makes our communities more safe, not less safe, should be involved in the political process and let their voice be heard."Asked whether Trump was suggesting violence, Pence said, "of course not, no. Donald Trump is urging people around this country to act in a manner consistent with their convictions in the course of this election, and people who cherish the Second Amendment have a very clear choice in this election."Clinton obviously has Secret Service protection, and Cathy Milhoan, director of communication for the agency said they were "aware of the comments" but had no further statement.It's not the first time suggestions of violence have become part of the campaign. Last month, the Secret Service said it was investigating New Hampshire State Sen. Al Baldasaro, who serves as an adviser for Trump's campaign on veteran's issues, after he called for Clinton to be executed for "treason" related to her use of a private email server.A Trump spokesperson said the candidate did not agree with those statements. Still, Baldasaro received a shout-out from the candidate at a campaign event last weekend.
Ooh, it's so, so terrible. Donald Trump is trying to arrange for Hillary's assassination. And neither Hillary nor any of her supporters have said one single thing suggesting a dark and terrible and terrifying future if Donald Trump were to be elected president, such that a crazed Democrat – Democrats and Democrat race-identifying groups being responsible for more than ninety percent of all violent crime in America – might actually assassinate Donald Trump.
As an example, consider what Hillary Clinton supporter Will Smith just suggested:
Actor Will Smith thinks Donald Trump's presidential candidacy is a good thing for America — because now the country can "cleanse" itself of the Republican nominee and his supporters.
At a press event in Dubai to promote his latest film Suicide Squad, the 47-year-old actor said he believes it is important to "speak out about the insanity" of the 2016 presidential race.
"As painful as it is to hear Donald Trump talk and as embarrassing as it is as an American to hear him talk, I think it's good," Smith said, according to the Associated Press. "We get to know who people are and now we get to cleanse it out of our country."
But so what? That's different.
EVERY SINGLE TIME IN HISTORY THAT WORD "CLEANSE" HAS BEEN USED IN ANY SIMILAR CONTEXT, IT WAS A EUPHEMISM FOR THE EXTERMINATION OF A GROUP OF PEOPLE FOR EITHER POLITICAL OR RACIST REASONS. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Hitler used it that way; Stalin used it that way; Chairman Mao used it that way; Pol Pot used it that way. And one more than one hundred million human beings are DEAD because of words just like the words that Hillary supporter Will Smith just used.
And of course, you've just got to hand it to Hollywood liberals who make millions of dollars marketing themselves as gun-toting heroes and then campaigning to make everybody else poor as they disarm them.
How many Democrats will never again go to see a Will Smith movie because the man just morally disqualified himself from ever receiving so much as one penny from any American ever again? Not ONE.
More important, how many mainstream media "journalists" will tie Will Smith directly to Hillary Clinton and associate his incredibly vile remarks to her??? Not ONE.
Another act of savage hypocrisy comes out in this story:
Imagine if Trump were ahead in the polls and one of his leading elected senatorial spokespeople mocked Hillary Clinton, personally attacking her for cowardice and then ending with by mocking that Hillary "can't handle the fact that she's losing to a man."
It is a terrible, unforgivable thing to be a misogynist; but there aint nothing wrong in our culture with a woman openly being a misandrist (a hater of men). And so the same media that rabidly froths at the mouth every single time Donald Trump or one of his supporters says something that smacks of male chauvinism merely yawns every single time Hillary Clinton or one of her supporters says something anti-male.
But the fact that if you are a journalist, you are a two-faced dishonest hypocrite guarantees that double-standards don't need to be mentioned.
So Obama CIA-Director Michael Hayden continues with the demonstration of how "facts" work when he said this of Donald Trump:
The former head of the CIA, retired Gen. Michael Hayden, told CNN's Jake Tapper: "If someone else had said that said outside the hall, he'd be in the back of a police wagon now with the Secret Service questioning him."US Secret Service communications director Cathy Milhoan told CNN the agency "is aware of Mr. Trump's comments."Hayden added: "You're not just responsible for what you say. You are responsible for what people hear."
Let's just categorically first state for the record that if "someone else had illegally installed an unauthorized and unsecured secret personal server in a bathroom closet and placed thousands of top secret emails on it so our worst enemies could easily hack the system and steal our most vital secrets, she'd be in GITMO getting WATERBOARDED.
But I guess we're going to apply a different standard now.
Just as Hayden says, "You're not just responsible for what you say. You are responsible for what people hear."
You know, unless you're Hillary Clinton, in which case you get to brazenly violate our national security laws and then get away with it on the grounds that you had no idea you were actually doing what you were in fact caught doing.
Here's a final one: in another so-far-over-the-top-remark it is beyond UNREAL, Hayden called Trump "a clear and present danger":
MICHAEL HAYDEN: Look, we gotta call balls and strikes the way we see them, alright? We all felt strongly enough about what we believe to be a clear and present danger, that we felt compelled to say what we said…
JAKE TAPPER: You just called Donald Trump a clear and present danger.
You look at the parlance of what that phrase means: If somebody is declared "a clear and present danger," it literally becomes the duty of every soldier to eliminate that threat by any means necessary. So in other words, Michael Hayden just called for the assassination of Donald Trump.
But as blatant as all this crap is, we still don't get to the REAL hypocrisy until we get to Barack Obama's words:
Obama: 'If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun'
By WSJ Staff
Jun 14, 2008 1:29 pm ET
[Editor's note: This blog post was published in 2008. In the wake of Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., a number of lawmakers and others have called for toning down the political rhetoric and President Barack Obama led a moment of silence this morning for the victims. Click here and here for more. Also, check back with Washington Wire for updates.]
Amy Chozick reports on the presidential race from Philadelphia.
Mobster wisdom tells us never to bring a knife to a gun fight. But what does political wisdom say about bringing a gun to a knife fight?
That's exactly what Barack Obama said he would do to counter Republican attacks "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," Obama said at a Philadelphia fundraiser Friday night. "Because from what I understand folks in Philly like a good brawl. I've seen Eagles fans."
For what it's worth, that "Saturday's shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona" was the very one that ended with Gabby Giffords – who is now all of a sudden "one of the strongest voices condemning Trump" – being shot.
She has never ONCE called out the wicked Barack Hussein Obama for his terrorist threat to use GUNS against Republicans.
Obama also infamously told Latinos on a racist basis "to punish your enemies."
And to put those words into perspective, Donald Trump didn't threaten with "guns" the way Obama did; he threatened with the "2nd Amendment." Which apparently is even more dangerous than guns.
If Donald Trump meant his threat, than Barack Obama meant his more direct threat.
The fact that Barack Obama said something he shouldn't have said and got elected means that we have to elect Donald Trump for saying something he shouldn't have said, just to be fair.
Hey, let's go back to Hillary Clinton, 2008, explaining why she should remain in the race:
"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?" Clinton said. "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it."
Oh, oh. Hillary Clinton suggested to her followers that it wasn't too late yet to assassinate her political rival.
The media jumped all over her for that and Hillary was forced to apologize for her "assassination remark." But that was ONLY because the mainstream media was totally in the tank for Obama and treated Hillary like a Republican.
Just as now they're all totally in the tank for Hillary and are treating Trump like an alien species of Nazi cockroach.
But did Trump use the word "gun" the way Obama did? Nope. Did Trump use the word "assassinated" the way Hillary Clinton did? Nope.
Wouldn't it be nice if the media actually gave you that history when they breathlessly reported on this story of Donald Trump going beyond the pale that only Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have ever gone beyond before? Wouldn't facts in context change the meaning of the story??? Which is why they're not doing it.
If the media wanted to lambast Trump in a fair way, they could title their story thus: "Trump joins Hillary Clinton in suggesting the assassination of a political rival." But it appears that they don't remember what Hillary did. And they don't want anyone else too, either.
The entire project of the mainstream media right now is to make Donald Trump absolutely unelectable by depicting him as an unhinged man. If the American people understood that Barack Obama threatened to kill his opponents "the Chicago Way" and Hillary Clinton threatened to have her opponent assassinated, you'd have a very different view of Donald Trump's supposedly "beyond the pale" remark.
Hillary Clinton just came out and said this regarding the "2nd Amendment" as "threat" remark:
You mean, except for every single word in every single one of the 33,000 emails you destroyed so the American people couldn't see how much YOUR words would have mattered given that they would have put you in prison for the remainder of your natural life???
Mainstream media "journalists" will NEVER be fair. You can understand that the media has driven in their aiming stakes so that the field of fire will always be directed at Donald Trump.
The only thing we can hope here – given the sheer number of Americans who believe in their 2nd Amendment right to protect themselves in a world that Obama and Clinton have allowed to careen wildly out of control – is the fact that people will rightly view this as proof that Hillary Clinton (who wants to allow any victim of any incident involving a firearm to sue the gun manufacturer thereby putting gun makers out of business and thereby taking away our guns by fiat) truly DOES want to take away our 2nd Amendment and the guns that keep our families safe in our own homes. All we can do is hope that in their biased frenzy to demonize Trump, the media goes too far and inadvertently strikes a nerve in the American psyche.
Let's consider what the media is "forgetting" to cover while they hyperventilate over Donald Trump allegedly calling for the assassination of Hillary Clinton…
As we speak, Hillary Clinton just got caught featuring the father of the terrorist mass-murderer at a gay Orlando nightclub proudly supporting the presidential candidate who is by far and away the most pro-terrorist and the most anti-American:
Hey kids, that's "Seddique Mateen, whose son Omar killed 49 people at Pulse nightclub on June 12, was seen grinning as he watched the Democratic presidential nominee speak from the area behind the podium usually reserved for VIPs."
Usually reserved for VIPs and ALWAYS carefully VETTED.
For the official record, the murderous son, Omar, was ALSO a registered Democrat.
If you're a terrorist, there is absolutely zero question whom YOU'RE voting for.
Just as if you're a cop-assassinating criminal, there is zero question whom you're voting for.
The Democrat Party – especially the Democrat Party that will exist if Hillary Clinton is elected president – is an utterly vile, demonic entity.
But hey, we journalists are Joseph Goebbel's love children; let's refuse to talk about ACTUAL TERRORISTS WHO MASS-MURDERED AMERICANS and instead talk about some crap Donald Trump said that we could savagely attack him for.
As we speak, Hillary Clinton is being busted all over the place for quid pro quo deals in which she sold out America to enrich herself at the American people's expense. Even the leftist Huffington Post is openly asking, "Has Hillary Clinton won the email battle only to lose the corruption war?" Even BEFORE this latest slamming indictment proving yet ANOTHER Hillary Clinton act of corruption came out, HuffPo was saying:
You HAVE to click on that to read it: "The evidence showing clear-cut, stupid proof, quid-pro quo between Bill and Hillary Clinton donors and candidate Hillary Clinton is getting too obvious to ignore."
Unless you are a mainstream media "journalist" love-child of Joseph Goebbels, that is. Then you can easily ignore it by alleging that whatever quip Donald Trump said today rises to a level that forces us to give ZERO air-time to the documented treasonous criminal that Hillary Clinton is.
We are finding what are textbook examples of "quid-pro quo," in which access, influence and favors were bought and sold. In one stunning example, Huma Abedin, Clinton's top aide – in spite of her now-provably false testimony that Hillary Clinton burned her schedules for security – is caught having an email exchange in which she's asked for Hillary's schedule (you know, so people who paid to play can "just happen" to show up where Hillary is) emails back basically saying, "I just happened to leave it on my bed in my hotel room and the door just happens to be unlocked and I just happen not to be there to physically see if you're looking at it."
Aside from the obvious sale of that schedule, who ELSE could have seen that schedule? hen you see this blatantly cavalier attitude toward security when it comes to Hillary Clinton enriching herself, how is it NOT a surprise that the Russians and probably all our other enemies hacked Hillary's unsecured server that was installed totally for Hillary's a) convenience and b) ability to break the law and purge the evidence???
Why was Huma Abedin on both payrolls for the Clinton Foundation AND the State Department??? How is that not the very embodiment of "conflict of interest"??? Why did Hillary Clinton personally sign off on such an obvious blatantly dishonest and corrupt double-dip??? Despite signing a pledge that she would never ever EVER conflate State Department business with Clinton Foundation business????
Why did Bill Clinton's value as a speaker-for-hire suddenly skyrocket so massively after Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State when every other president's value rapidly declines after leaving office??? Nine years after leaving office, why does Bill Clinton's value as a speaker suddenly soar from $100,000 a speech to $500,000 a speech??? Other than paying to play for Hillary's influence as Secretary of State??? Why did the Hillary Clinton State Department approve of so many obvious conflicts of interests involving entities with business or policy interests with the U.S. State Department???
It is WRONG to say that none of this indicts Hillary; ALL of it indicts her. She signed off on ALL of it. She is literally the one who set up the entire criminal enterprise.
Donors pushed the Clinton State Department for access, favors, even JOBS. And of course "jobs" as "favors." Pay-to-play. Quid-pro quo.
Here is just one of MANY textbook dictionary definitions of quid-pro quo "pay-to-play".
And by the way, NONE of these emails were in those that Hillary turned over to the State Department despite her swearing under oath that she turned over ALL emails involving the State Department to the State Department.
The fact that these emails even exist in and of themselves proves that Hillary Clinton is a criminal.
Most conservatives, myself included, have been pointing out all along that Hillary Clinton did not have a secret unauthorized private server installed to post national security secrets for our enemies to hack and view; rather, she did it as a criminal conspiracy to prevent the transparency that the law requires of our public servants and maintain the ability to destroy evidence – which she did to the tune of some 33,000 purged emails. The legal theory of the spoliation of evidence inference holds that when a party destroys evidence, it is justifiable to infer that the party had "consciousness of guilt" or other motivation to avoid the evidence. The destruction of evidence is itself evidence.
In any legitimate system of justice, a court would find Hillary Clinton guilty and respond to her protests by saying, "Well, then, it's just too damn bad you destroyed all the evidence of your innocence, isn't it"?
We all understand what Habitat for Humanity does. What does the Clinton Foundation do? It was ALWAYS murky. And now we know with crystal clarity: the Clinton Foundation was a conduit for influencing federal officials at the State Department for the purpose of rewarding Clinton donors with jobs, with favors, with influence on a quid-pro quo basis.
Will the media report the facts? Will the mainstream media create the drumbeat of saying to Obama and Hillary and all the tools who speak in their stead, "YOU DID WRONG!!! AND WE ARE GOING TO HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE!!!"
NO. Don't hold your breath.
Instead, it's like Trump says "It's my duty to…" and the entire mainstream media is like, "Trump said 'doody'!!!"
Realize whether we're talking about ANY of the ENTIRE Hillary Clinton email scandal, the mainstream media has been WORTHLESS in reporting. Do you know who forced this story open? Judicial Watch and the Republican House. Because the mainstream media that will crawl up Donald Trump's rectum with a magnifying glass WILL NOT DO ITS JOB OR BE FAIR OR HONEST IN ITS COVERAGE.
No entity on earth is more evil than a biased media that distorts the facts and shapes their narratives.
You might see such a statement and think, "Wait a minute! ISIS is worse than the mainstream media!" And my contention is no it isn't; because if the mainstream media had just done it's damn JOB rather than spend the last eight years whitewashing for Barack Obama, Obama would NEVER have been allowed to get away with doing NOTHING while that terrorist army exploded into existence and created a caliphate. The only way an Islamic State can get away with such disgusting and vicious evil is when a dishonest media refuses to report the truth and allows people to believe lies. Just as the only reason Hillary Clinton is free to run for president rather than already having been convicted and serving a long sentence in PRISON is because the same corrupt, dishonest media will not hold Barack Obama responsible the way they would have had a Republican president tried to exonerate an obviously guilty successor. Had the Democrats not been allowed to nominate such a terrible and yes, CRIMINAL candidate, the Republicans would not have angrily responded by nominating Donald Trump. If history proves anything, it is that if you distort or warp history, you allow the most evil things to happen as lies triumph. The media again and again has allowed the worst outcomes to become reality by playing political games with reality. People cannot even POSSIBLY do the right thing if they don't know the truth; and the mainstream media exists today to prevent people from knowing the truth. And it is for that reason that I believe that journalists will one day scream as they burn in a lower level of hell than the Nazis.


text:
4 Fort Lauderdale men arrested in connection with Treasure Coast burglaries
Detectives say men fled during attempted traffic stop, found with stolen items
Four men from Fort Lauderdale are in jail after they fled from deputies during an attempted traffic stop and were found to have stolen jewelry and other items in their car, Martin County Sheriff's Office detectives said.
Cicil Ruffin, Cedric Oliphant, Charles Hawkins and Johnny Hall Jr. were arrested Thursday on charges of grand theft and resisting arrest without violence.
MUGSHOTS: Who Got Arrested In South Florida?
Detectives said a Palm City resident called 911 after a man knocked on his door and claimed he was lost and in need of directions to Interstate 95, which was visible from the entrance of the neighborhood. The caller told authorities that the man left in a newer model gray car.
According to the arrest reports, a responding deputy spotted a gray Chrysler 200 that matched the description and attempted a traffic stop. That's when the driver of the car sped off and traveled south on I-95.
Detectives said the car tried to exit in Stuart but drove off the highway and into a ditch. Detectives said the suspects got out and ran off but were quickly taken into custody.
Arrest reports indicate that deputies found numerous pieces of jewelry, jewelry boxes, checkbooks and pillowcases that were filled with items inside the car. Detectives said one checkbook belonged to an Indian River County resident who had been the victim of a burglary earlier in the day.


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Economist, April 8, 2010
IMAGINE that the world consists of 20 men and 20 women, all of them heterosexual and in search of a mate. Since the numbers are even, everyone can find a partner. But what happens if you take away one man? You might not think this would make much difference. You would be wrong, argues Tim Harford, a British economist, in a book called "The Logic of Life". With 20 women pursuing 19 men, one woman faces the prospect of spinsterhood. So she ups her game. Perhaps she dresses more seductively. Perhaps she makes an extra effort to be obliging. Somehow or other, she "steals" a man from one of her fellow women. That newly single woman then ups her game, too, to steal a man from someone else. A chain reaction ensues. Before long, every woman has to try harder, and every man can relax a little.
Real life is more complicated, of course, but this simple model illustrates an important truth. In the marriage market, numbers matter. And among African-Americans, the disparity is much worse than in Mr Harford's imaginary example. Between the ages of 20 and 29, one black man in nine is behind bars. For black women of the same age, the figure is about one in 150. For obvious reasons, convicts are excluded from the dating pool. And many women also steer clear of ex-cons, which makes a big difference when one young black man in three can expect to be locked up at some point.
Removing so many men from the marriage market has profound consequences. As incarceration rates exploded between 1970 and 2007, the proportion of US-born black women aged 30-44 who were married plunged from 62% to 33%. Why this happened is complex and furiously debated. The era of mass imprisonment began as traditional mores were already crumbling, following the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the invention of the contraceptive pill. It also coincided with greater opportunities for women in the workplace. These factors must surely have had something to do with the decline of marriage.
But jail is a big part of the problem, argue Kerwin Kofi Charles, now at the University of Chicago, and Ming Ching Luoh of National Taiwan University. They divided America up into geographical and racial "marriage markets", to take account of the fact that most people marry someone of the same race who lives relatively close to them. Then, after crunching the census numbers, they found that a one percentage point increase in the male incarceration rate was associated with a 2.4-point reduction in the proportion of women who ever marry. Could it be, however, that mass incarceration is a symptom of increasing social dysfunction, and that it was this social dysfunction that caused marriage to wither? Probably not. For similar crimes, America imposes much harsher penalties than other rich countries. Mr Charles and Mr Luoh controlled for crime rates, as a proxy for social dysfunction, and found that it made no difference to their results. They concluded that "higher male imprisonment has lowered the likelihood that women marry. . .and caused a shift in the gains from marriage away from women and towards men."
Learning and earning
Similar problems afflict working-class whites, but they are more concentrated among blacks. Some 70% of black babies are born out of wedlock. The collapse of the traditional family has made black Americans far poorer and lonelier than they would otherwise have been. The least-educated black women suffer the most. In 2007 only 11% of US-born black women aged 30-44 without a high school diploma had a working spouse, according to the Pew Research Centre. Their college-educated sisters fare better, but are still affected by the sex imbalance. Because most seek husbands of the same race–96% of married black women are married to black men–they are ultimately fishing in the same pool.
Black women tend to stay in school longer than black men. Looking only at the non-incarcerated population, black women are 40% more likely to go to college. They are also more likely than white women to seek work. One reason why so many black women strive so hard is because they do not expect to split the household bills with a male provider. And the educational disparity creates its own tensions. If you are a college-educated black woman with a good job and you wish to marry a black man who is your socioeconomic equal, the odds are not good.
"I thought I was a catch," sighs an attractive black female doctor at a hospital in Washington, DC. Black men with good jobs know they are "a hot commodity", she observes. When there are six women chasing one man, "It's like, what are you going to do extra, to get his attention?" Some women offer sex on the first date, she says, which makes life harder for those who prefer to combine romance with commitment. She complains about a recent boyfriend, an electrician whom she had been dating for about six months, whose phone started ringing late at night. It turned out to be his other girlfriend. Pressed, he said he didn't realise the relationship was meant to be exclusive.
The skewed sex ratio "puts black women in an awful spot," says Audrey Chapman, a relationship counsellor and the author of several books with titles such as "Getting Good Loving". Her advice to single black women is pragmatic: love yourself, communicate better and so on. She says that many black men and women, having been brought up by single mothers, are unsure what role a man should play in the home. The women expect to be in charge; the men sometimes resent this. Nisa Muhammad of the Wedded Bliss Foundation, a pro-marriage group, urges her college-educated sisters to consider marrying honourable blue-collar workers, such as the postman. But the simplest way to help the black family would be to lock up fewer black men for non-violent offences.


text: > I've seen some remote buffer overflow exploits that assume that a > small program has already been created on the target machine, which > could conceivably allow admins to test their own systems, and > researchers to analyze the nature of the vulnerability, without giving > script kiddies a free shell. The question is, would this sort of > "exploit" be prohibited under Articles 6 and 2? I'm not sure that's practical. Eg consider Nessor - a scanner that contains exploit code which I assume would be outlawed under legislation enacting the treaty. Organizations that routinely do large scale Nessor scans couldn't add a program to all the target machines cost-effectively. It isn't very clear to me whether other scanners such as nmap would be outlawed. The CVE board could come up with proposed language for the treaty. This is the first version of the treaty, and they are seeking comments. I imagine the drafters do not feel themselves technically competent, and might be quite receptive to technical input from a high-profile community wide effort in this area. Stuart. -- Stuart Staniford --- President --- Silicon Defense firstname.lastname@example.com (707) 445-4355 (707) 445-4222 (FAX)


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We have a big one on our hands. Potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of websites, the Heartbleed bug - which was publicly disclosed on Monday night - exists in OpenSSL, a cryptographic library that secures a huge amount of web traffic.
The fallout from this disclosure is likely to continue for weeks and months to come. Web servers, as well as any program using an affected version of OpenSSL and exposed to the internet, are vulnerable. And although the bug was only announced recently, it has been present in OpenSSL versions released since March 14, 2012, giving savvy attackers ample opportunity to steal certificates or other sensitive information.
Here are some common questions surrounding the bug:
What is Trustwave doing to protect customers?
At Trustwave, our first priority since Heartbleed was disclosed was to determine any level of exposure in our own products and services and quickly release patches, if necessary, to make sure our customers are protected. For the most part, our solutions have avoided exposure to this vulnerability. However, we did issue hotfixes for Trustwave Secure Web Gateway and Trustwave Web Application Firewall. As a global Certificate Authority (CA), we also offer revocation and reissues of certificates to our SSL customers - free of charge. Our vulnerability scanner has been updated to detect vulnerable servers, and we released signatures for our intrusion detection system to detect Heartbleed-related attacks. Customers with additional questions may contact their sales representative or Trustwave support.
Why is Heartbleed such a big deal?
Heartbleed lies within a relatively new feature of OpenSSL, one of the most popular open source projects. OpenSSL is responsible for providing Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transmission Layer Security (TLS) encryption functionality (the 'S' in 'HTTPS'). SSL is what enables internet users to securely send sensitive information, such as passwords and credit cards, and is a cornerstone of modern e-commerce. According to estimates, OpenSSL is used on 60 percent of internet-facing, SSL-enabled services. While not all of these services will be vulnerable, the effects of this bug are widespread.
What's with the "Heartbleed" name?
The vulnerability was discovered in the 'heartbeat' function of TLS, which allows long-lasting connections to remain open without the need to re-establish the encryption channel. In a normal heartbeat, one side of the client/server connection will send a short request and the other end echoes the message back. Unfortunately, Heartbleed allows an attacker to confuse the receiver about how long the original message was, and in turn the receiver responds with not just the original message but up to 64k of additional content straight from the memory of the affected process. The attacker can repeatedly perform these malicious heartbeats to extract valuable information from the service on the other end.
So how can it affect my organization - or grandmother for that matter?
What can an attacker get in 64k chunks of memory? While they can't choose what they'll find, at least not directly, usernames and passwords, payment card details, cookies - essentially any information submitted by other users of the service - may be exposed. This information could be used directly (in the case of credit card numbers) or in a secondary attack after gaining access to accounts. The holy grail, though, are the encryption keys and certificates used by the server to authenticate itself. If an attacker is able to access a server's SSL private key, they can decrypt user traffic and impersonate the server - and it would be nearly impossible to detect them.
What does the future hold?
Considering the vulnerability has been present for two years, it's likely that sophisticated attackers have identified the bug and widely exploited it. To make matters worse, reviewing historic logs probably won't reveal any evidence of exploit considering the requests generated to perform the attack don't look particularly malicious.
Organizations will be hard pressed, if not unable, to glean whether their SSL certificate is compromised until an attacker is caught performing a man-in-the-middle attack (MitM). Users, through no fault of their own, are now exposed to nearly impossible-to-detect MitM attempts using these stolen certificates. Every server that is or was vulnerable to the Heartbleed attack is potentially compromised. As a result, certificate owners must act to protect their users and their reputations.
The situation sounds bleak. What should I do?
Users should check with their go-to websites that contain sensitive information, such as their banking and email providers, and ask them if they were affected. If they are, users should inquire whether they've patched the vulnerability. Once the provider has confirmed their service is fixed, users should also change their passwords.
Meanwhile, businesses that host their own affected SSL services should strongly consider revoking their current certificates, as compromise could lead to abuse of their users and damage to their reputation. SSL certificate owners will need to work with their certificate authority (CA) to reissue their certificates after vulnerabilities get patched. Many CAs will charge for this service, though Trustwave customers have free reissue for the life of their certificates.
However, self-signed certificates inherently cannot be revoked, leaving those certificates particularly vulnerable. Self-signed certificates normally generate warnings unless a user has specifically approved it for long-term use. These certificates should also be changed and removed from users' caches.
Are there any easy fixes for the SSL issue?
Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) is a seldom-used feature of SSL that provides additional protection in the event that a server's private key is compromised. PFS prevents an attacker from decrypting captured traffic unless they perform an active MitM. While this will not prevent the Heartbleed attack, it would slow down an attacker and help to limit the potential damage. Worth noting is that there can be a substantial overhead in using PFS and it may not be appropriate for all cases. Administrators of SSL-protected servers should explore if enabling PFS-capable cipher suites is a viable option for their environment.
John Miller is security research manager at Trustwave.
Editor's note: This is a developing story, and we may update this post in the future.


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More about this artwork
Yes, we do ship worldwide!In European Union we ship via TNT / FedEx courier. It usually takes 5-7 days to deliver your painting right to your door. All packages are shipped with tracking number and full insurance. We've already shipped to almost every country in EU, so please email us if you have any questions!
We ship worldwide via TNT / FedEx. Shipping takes about two weeks or a bit more, depending on how far away from Europe you are. All paintings are insured and shipped in tracked packages. If you are sending a painting outside the European Union, your country may charge an additional import tax. In this case, the recipient is responsible for paying it. We've already shipped paintings to most countries worldwide. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!
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Please contact us if you want to return a painting - we will help to find the best solution for shipping and handling the return!
Since childhood I feel attraction to the art, although my life took a turn towards exact sciences, until... my daughter had entered art school and infected me. Therefore, in 2018 I finished Vilnius Justinas Vienožinskis Art School adults programme.
In my works I constantly seek for myself, trying different technics and never can decide which one is the most pleasant, closest to my inside world, because all is determined by mood – I am a person of moods. I derive inspiration from surroundings, have to transmit everything through myself and to share personal experience – my doubts, discoveries, wonder or firm belief.


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SAN JOSE, Calif. – Former Jungle Fight middleweight champion Marcelo Guimaraes has but one setback in nine career fights – a 2010 draw with Gilmar de Andrade.
Guimaraes has since put together six consecutive wins to leave behind the frustration of that night. Well, almost behind.
You see, recent "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil" cast member Rodrigo Damm was the referee for that contest, and Guimaraes believes Damm did everything he could to prevent a "Magrao" victory.
"I was facing a striker," Guimaraes told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) in his native Portuguese. "He was a black belt in 10 martial arts. My strategy was to take him down and strike him on the mat. Every time I got a takedown, we would get stood up.
"During one of the rounds, as soon as I got a takedown, we got stood up so Rodrigo could return the mouthguard. He waited for the takedown since he had the mouthguard with him since the start of the round. Everyone saw it. He had no shame."
Guimaraes believes Damm's judgments were influenced by his disdain for Alexandre "Caveira" Ferreira, Guimaraes' head trainer.
"Because he does not like my trainer, he made calls against me during the fight," Guimaraes said. "So I ended up with this draw on my record."
Guimaraes requested and received an immediate rematch with de Andrade, which took place at Jungle Fight 17. This time, Damm was fighting on the card instead of officiating, and Guimaraes earned a decision win. It was the first of six Jungle Fight victories for Guimaraes, who earned the promotion's middleweight title in the process.
The run earned him a call from the UFC, and Guimaraes now drops to welterweight to meet Dan Stittgen (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) on the Facebook-streamed preliminary card of tonight's UFC on FUEL TV 4 event, which takes place at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
"He has a lot of victories by submission," Guimaraes said. "That's his most common path to victory. He has good jiu-jitsu and wrestling. I expect his striking to be good.
"I see him as a complete fighter. He's athletic and has some victories by unanimous decision. I think he has good skills like mine. I expect it to be a good fight."
Stittgen looks for his first octagon victory after Stephen Thompson finished him in highlight-reel fashion at February's UFC 143 event. Guimaraes compared the high-kick knockout to a "Mortal Kombat" kill but said it does not lower his opinion of his opponent.
"It was his UFC debut, and he got knocked out," Guimaraes said. "It was a 'fatality,' but that can happen to anyone. Unfortunately it happened to him. If not for that kick, the fight could have played out very differently."
And so Guimaraes is approaching Stittgen like the most dangerous opponent he's ever faced. At 29 years old, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt boasts 10 years of martial-arts training, and he's not letting the opportunity in front of him slip away.
"I am inspired by the chance to improve my social status, to have a better life, to have my own home, to help my family and to start my own family," Guimaraes said. "Fighting can open doors for me. I'll have to knock someone else down so I can climb closer to my goal.
"I think my strength, not only physical, but mental, no one can match. I don't think there's anyone with an inner strength as great as mine. That's what allows me to supersede my limits every day. For someone to take my dream away, they would have to have a much grater inner strength. I think that's very unlikely. I also put God first. He brought me this far, and I know I'll reach greater heights."
And this time, that damned Damm won't be there to take anything away.
"To be truthful, as far as I'm concerned, I was robbed," Guimaraes said. "A few weeks later, I faced the same opponent, and I clearly beat him. I didn't only fight Gilmar. I fought both against Gilmar and Rodrigo.
"I know Rodrigo is now in the UFC. I don't root for him or against him, but I think what goes around comes around. What one does in one place, one pays for it in another. It's karma. I'm sure he'll pay some way."
For the latest on UFC on FUEL TV 4, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.


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by Rodrigue Tremblay
2 January, 2011
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." – Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790), American inventor, journalist, printer, diplomat, and statesman (1775)
"Americans used to roar like lions for liberty; now we bleat like sheep for security." – Norman Vincent Peale (1898 –1993), American Christian preacher and author
"A Party member lives from birth to death under the eye of the Thought Police. Even when he is alone he can never be sure that he is alone. …At the apex of the pyramid comes Big Brother. Big Brother is infallible and all-powerful. Every success, every achievement, every victory, every scientific discovery, all knowledge, all wisdom, all happiness, all virtue, are held to issue directly from his leadership and inspiration." – George Orwell (1903-1950) (Eric Arthur Blair), (book: 1984)
"Since information gives power, access to personal files can lead to unreasonable pressures, even blackmail, especially against those with the least resources, people who depend upon public programs, for example. Big Brother isn't a camera. Big Brother is a computer." – C.J. Howard, political novel "Cybercash"
In 2049, when the 100th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell political novel "1984" will be celebrated, it will be recalled that the immediate post September 11, 2001 period marked the beginning of a gradual decline in personal liberty and freedom, especially in the United States but also elsewhere, and the emergence of a great information-obsessed Leviathan. Freedom rarely disappears in one fell swoop. Its disappearance is rather the end result of a thousand encroachments.
Pushed to the extreme and without clear democratic oversight,it becomes the mark of a totalitarian state, when authorities feel that they never have enough information on the people. It is because information is power and state bureaucrats and politicians naturally like to be in control; on the one hand, releasing as little information about their own actions through an imposed secrecy, and on the other, accumulating as much information as possible about the citizens.
And today, modern governments have all the tools to transform their country into a creeping police state, more so now then ever before, in this electronic age. They have access to information technology that previous full-fledged "police state" governments could only have dreamed about.
Nowadays, with super computers and revolutionary new models to gather information and build databases, governments, i.e. bureaucrats and politicians, are in a position as never before to accumulate and correlate tremendous amounts of personal information on their citizens, from public (federal, state and local) as well as from a plethora of private sources. Government intelligence on each and every citizen is thus rendered much easier and, I would add, much more frightening. Indeed, the potential for abuse is enormous.
In 2002, for example,retired Vice Admiral John Poindexter proposed that the U.S. government create a tracking and monitoring system called "Total Information Awareness", in order for the U.S. government to gather information in a preventive way about individuals from widely varied sources, including tax records, telephone calling records, credit card charges, banking transactions, airline or ship reservations, and various biometric databases, without taking into consideration civil liberties or a citizens' right to privacy, the U.S. Privacy Act of 1974, or without having to request search warrants and without having to give prior notice to the persons involved. —The pretext was to allow the government to thwart possible terrorist activity, thus creating an unlimited appetite for information.
Well, there are clear signs that this massive data mining system on individuals is now solidly in place and is in full operation and can be expected to grow over time. George Orwell must be turning in his grave.
First, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's network of fusion centers, launched in 2003, has allowed the government to centralize a host of previously disparate information about Americans and foreigners alike, whether related to personal and business records, drivers licenses, local taxes, local infractions, police records, etc., through a host of coordinated information-sharing networks. (N.B.: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established on November 25, 2002 and is the domestic equivalent of the Department of Defense.)
Secondly, central provisions of the USA Patriot Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001, allow the government to operate roving wire taps, search any individual's business, personal, and even library records upon presentation of a national security letter, and spy on so-called "lone wolf" suspects, i.e., foreign nationals who have no known links to groups designated as terrorist. On this, the current Obama administration, by extending those provisions,is scarcely different than the previous Bush administration.
Thirdly, since passports and tight intelligence screening have been made a requirement for most international travel by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, since January 1, 2008, every individual traveling in and out of the United States has all his or her whereabouts and movements recorded so the government knows at all times his or her address and the places he or she has traveled to and from.
For instance, U.S. Transportation Security Administration's recent decision to use full-body airport X-ray scanners and full body groping at airports is another example where so-called security procedures are applied blindly and indiscriminately. There is more to come, since it has been announced that such invasive intelligence screening is coming to hotels and shopping malls, as well as to trains, buses and ports, etc.
These are some of the main features of the new government apparatus to gather information on people. There are many others. —Take for instance the requirement, since 2002, that all American high schools must give Pentagon military recruiters the names and contact information of all their juniors and seniors. Failure to comply on their part may result in the loss of government funding.
The logical next step for the U.S. government would be to follow a recent Italy's lead and outlaw outright the use of cash for most transactions, except for small ones, thus providing the government even more minute information about an individual's income, purchases and displacements. Nothing will escape the watching eye of the government in the electronic age. People will be filed, photographed, corralled and branded.
Indeed, the way mass government surveillance systems are growing, by year 2020, chances are good that Americans will be living in a "Brave New World"!
—CYBER BIG BROTHER would know it all and it will be watching you.
Rodrigue Tremblay is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Montreal and can be reached at: email@example.com.
He is the author of the book 'The New American Empire'.
Visit his blog site at www.thenewamericanempire.com/blog.
Author's Website: www.thenewamericanempire.com
The book "The Code for Global Ethics, Ten Humanist Principles", by Dr. Rodrigue Tremblay, prefaced by Dr. Paul Kurtz, has just been released by Prometheus Books.
Please visit the book site at: www.TheCodeForGlobalEthics.com/
See it on Amazon USA
The French version of the book is now available.
See: www.LeCodePourUneEthiqueGlobale.com/
or: Le code pour une éthique globale
2011: A Brave New Dystopia by Chris Hedges
Terrorist by Association by Jeremy Gantz
James Babb: We Won't Fly, interviewed by Peter B. Collins and Sibel Edmonds
Grope-a-Palooza by Cindy Sheehan
The Anti-Empire Report: WikiLeaks, Iran, TSA, Terrorism, Tea Party & Socialism by William Blum