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New meaning for heartburn
We received so many readers' stories for our Worst Valentine contest we just had to share some of the best of the, uh, worst that didn't win the grand prize. Here are some more Valentine's Day tales of woe.
A "broken" heart in Vegas
Jack Pellek and his wife, Margaret, flew to Las Vegas on Friday, Feb. 13, 2009. The day was anything but unlucky; the couple enjoyed dinner and some casino winnings, then retired to their room at the Bellagio.
Their luck changed at 1 a.m. on Valentine's Day when Jack woke up with severe chest pains. After first responders arrived, an ambulance crew wheeled Jack down to the loading dock via the service elevator. He soon learned he had multiple heart artery blockages.
Jack spent Valentine's Day in Vegas having open heart surgery with a triple bypass. Margaret spent her Valentine's Day in the OR waiting room.
Talk about cheap
"My suspicion that my new boyfriend was cheap was confirmed when his Valentine gift to me was the free plastic digital clock he'd received for renewing his Sports Illustrated subscription!"
OK, this one's really cheap
Carol Wilson says she once gave her (now former) husband a Valentine's Day card and gift card to his favorite hunting store. After opening his gifts, she says he looked at her and grabbed a spiral notebook off a nearby table. He then scribbled a heart inside, tore out the sheet and handed it to her with a terse "here" before walking away.
Not the Feb. 14 sparks she expected
On Valentine's Day 1952, three miles outside of Georgetown, high school senior Madeline Sellars hopped off the school bus with her two younger brothers. They ran into their house and changed clothes, then ran back outside, the boys to the back and Madeline to the front.
A loud crash of thunder sounded and the boys ran inside. The older brother showed his parents his slightly singed cap. Then their dad asked where Madeline was.
Madeline was lying unconscious under one of the many trees around the house. Her father carried her to the front porch and administered CPR while her mother called an ambulance. Madeline woke up 15 minutes later, unaware she'd been struck by lightning. She spent the night at the hospital and then was dismissed with just a few burns on her left leg.
Janis Buck
A Valentine's Day low and high
Marylynn Wesson filed for divorce Valentine's Day 2003, after 27 years of marriage and two children. Her final divorce decree states the court found he committed adultery. She met her current husband in August 2005. He proposed to her on bended knee — on Valentine's Day 2006.


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Inspire yourself and others.
It is less than one week until Team Manitoba makes its way to Red Deer for the start of the 2019 nada Winter Games. Nine athletes and three staff… Read more »Continue Reading
A big thank you to all who supported the 2018 Grey Cup Raffle in support of the wheelchair rugby program. We are pleased to announce the following winners: Barry Rempel… Read more »Continue Reading

subset: commoncrawl


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I wanted to surprise my partner with a Valenine's Day breakfast before she went to work. Why not a romantic candle-lit dinner? Well, she was planning to help my parents out at their restaurant for dinner service since it can be one of the busiest nights of the year. And even though breakfasts are not the most romantic meals of the day, I thought it would be something special to wake up to. So I perused through the various recipes that I had bookmarked and was specifically looking for something healthy. Something tasty, filling, but low in calories. I was super excited when I came across this frittata recipe!
If you're wondering what a frittata is, it's an Italian version of the French omelette. Omelettes traditionally have the egg mixture cooked and folded around a filling, while a frittata just mixes it all up, cooked in a mishmash combination all at once. It may be baked, or it may be started in a frying pan. When started on a stove top the frittata can be finished in an oven, under a broiler, or it may be flipped and finished in the pan.
So I went to the grocery store at 9:30 p.m. after I finished work on Sunday evening with my list in one hand, and the basket in the other. Shopping was like a race to the proverbial finish line. I wanted to make sure my partner wasn't suspicious of why I was getting home so late. The real dilemma was trying to get the groceries into the house! I set the groceries on the counter of the laundry room right as I walked through the house, hoping she didn't hear the rustling of the shopping bags. Luckily, she didn't. As my partner was getting ready for bed, I slipped to the kitchen to put the groceries away.
I waited, and waited, and waited until my partner finally fell asleep so that I could sneak away to the kitchen to prep the ingredients. I wanted to ensure the perfect timing of the dish as she finished getting ready for work, but also a little sit down time to eat together. As I was about to sneak away, my partner sort of woke up from her slumber and asked if I was okay. I said that everything was okay, and wondered if I was ever going to make it to the kitchen. She fell asleep, and waited for another five minutes before I thought it was safe. I was able to sneak out, but our little dog who sleeps with us got out of bed to check on me. This really made me nervous because he isn't always quiet, and I just knew he was going to wake her up. I'm so happy she can be a deep sleeper because she didn't stir from him at all! So I started chopping and prepping away.
Well, needless to say, everything went perfectly on Valentine's Day. Her alarm sounded off at 6:09 a.m. and as I realized she woke up a little later than I had hoped, I jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen to preheat the oven. The latter is what I was afraid was going to foil my entire plan. I don't even know if the oven preheated to the desired temperature, but I popped the muffin into the oven and waited very (in)patiently. As nervous as I was, the frittatas cooked perfectly and in the right about of time! Yay!
Mini Egg White Breakfast Frittata
5 egg whites
1 egg with yolk
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup baby spinach
1/3 cup bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup low-fat shredded cheese
2 slices canadian bacon, diced
Olive oil spray such as Pam
Muffin tin
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Beat egg whites with whole egg. Fold in baby spinach, cheese, bell pepper, and canadian bacon. Mix ingredients together. Add a dash of salt and freshly ground pepper if you'd like. I omitted the salt since the canadian bacon adds a bit of saltiness to the dish already.
Lightly spray the muffin tin. Use a measuring cup to pour the egg mixture into the muffin tin, filling each over a little more than half full. Place muffin tin into pre-heated oven, and bake for 30 minutes.
Makes 3 servings of 2 frittatas each.
Calories per serving: 55 calories


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There's a lot to consider when making any move, so we encourage you to visit Farrington Grove Retirement Estate and meet the people who live and work there. Stockland welcomes visitors, along with their family and friends, throughout the year. You can also visit as many times as you like.
The home and where you live becomes a big part of your life in your retirement. Learn what's involved in making the move.
You've made the decision to move. Now, learn what to consider when selecting your ideal retirement village.
Now that you've chosen the village and your ideal home, now comes the rewarding experience of de-cluttering and starting afresh.
We're open for inspection by appointment only, call 1800 72 71 70 to arrange a suitable time.
We look forward to seeing you soon!


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Maine panel has questions about undue influence on unemployment officers
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) � A bipartisan legislative watchdog panel wants answers about reports that state unemployment insurance hearing officers were improperly influenced.
The Government Oversight Committee voted Friday to pose questions to two other bodies that are already probing Maine's unemployment compensation system.
The issue arises following reports that Gov. Paul LePage pressured unemployment hearing officers, who decide unemployment benefit appeals, to decide more cases to favor business. The Maine Employment Lawyers Association has asked federal labor officials to look into the claims. The governor's also appointed a special commission to investigate the state's system of paying benefits to jobless workers.
On Friday, the Government Oversight Committee directed the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability to get more details about the two other investigations so it will know whether further inquiry is needed.


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Farmingdale State – 72, College of Mount Saint Vincent – 46
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State women's basketball team posted seven season-highs in today's 72-46 victory over Skyline opponent the College of Mount Saint Vincent. The Rams season-highs were set in points, field goal percentage, field goals made, 3-pointers, 3-point percentage, assists and steals.
In the first, the teams traded the lead six times and were tied 11-11 with 14:28 on the clock before the Rams pulled away as they shot 60-percent from long range (6-of-10) and 50-percent from the field. Farmingdale held a 45-22 advantage at the break with a team-high 12 points and five steals from senior guard Jeanette Zubizarreta (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and would hold on throughout the second for the conference win.
Zubizarreta finished with a team-high 18 points, including 5-of-7 from 3-point territory, along with six steals for the Rams. Junior guard Baytania Newman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also scored in double figures with 10 points, six steals and four assists.
Sophomore guard Andrea Sinaly (Middle Village, N.Y.) and freshman center Kelly Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) were the high scorers for the Dolphins with 10 points each. Senior forward Kara McNish (Hawthorne, N.J.) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Rams will travel to Purchase College on Thursday, February 9th for a Skyline game at 6:00 p.m.


text: Wireless USB Adapter 150Mbps High Speed Transmission Shop Modal header EZ N First-class Performance The ASUS WL-167G V3 provides superior wireless performance for your PC compared to legacy wireless 802.11g technology. The 150Mbps wireless speed can deliver consistent HD quality data streaming. In addition to providing better bandwidth and coverage, the 802.11n standard it's also backward compatible with 11g and 11b networks, ensuring existing networking hardware can be fully utilized. Multiple OS Support WL-167G V3 allows you to easily enjoy wireless networking over various platforms. It is compatible with common operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Mac, and even the newest Windows 7 OS. Enhanced Reception Adjust the WL-167G V3 position to get best performance, strong signal and better sensitivity with the adjustable USB extension cable PSP XLink Kai Support The WL-167g V3 delivers PSP XLink connection support. You can play system-link games over the Internet rather than just over your LAN while on-the-move.*Team XLink is a collaborate project of gaming enthusiasts that offers software and services free of charge for console gameplay over the Internet. Visit teamxlink.co.uk to learn more and to join the XLink community.Click Here for setup Instruction


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Hoosiers Show the Way
by Gary Jason | Posted September 15, 2012
A nice piece recently published in the venerable Economist reports some good news out of the state of Indiana. The Hoosier state, under the enlightened leadership of Governor Mitch Daniels, has enacted a series of school reforms — reforms that are paying off handsomely for the children of the state.
The reforms crafted by Daniels and his superintendent of schools are interesting, among other reasons, because they are so wide-ranging. They include:
- creating a voucher program for poor students;
- encouraging and empowering more charter schools;
- enhancing the autonomy of school principals to fire the obvious deadwood and respond to parents' legitimate pressures;
- requiring that teacher evaluations incorporate data on actual student performance.
Naturally, the rentseeking teachers unions hotly oppose these reforms (as they oppose almost all reforms, of any kind). Their position is: how dare these miserable, ungrateful, unwashed parents of kids in failing public schools insist on their right to send their kids elsewhere — or gain the right to see pertinent facts about the performance of the public schools?
The piteous cry is, "What is this country coming to?"
Of course, the deepest of the Indiana reforms is the establishment of a voucher program — which may well become the biggest in the country. Despite the unions' vicious (and also morally vile) jihad against school reform in general and school choice in particular, there are now 32 voucher programs spread over 16 states. These programs educate only a small portion (210,000 students in total) of all America's K-12 students, but they represent a growing threat to the dysfunctional status quo.
The anti-voucher forces trot out the usual lies: vouchers drain resources from public schools; they violate the separation of church and state. The replies are obvious. For every student who leaves a public school to attend a private one, yes, the district loses money, but it also saves the money it would have spent on that selfsame student. Apparently, unionized teachers can't do simple arithmetic. Big surprise.
Further, the Supreme Court has already ruled that vouchers given directly to parents (who can decide to use them at religious, or atheist, private schools) do not violate the separation of church and state — no more than Pell Grants and the GI Bill of Rights, the benefits of which have always been usable at religious colleges. Apparently, unionized teachers don't know history, either.
In fact, the voucher amount is usually much smaller, per student, than what is spent by public school districts. The Economist draws the obvious conclusion: vouchers save taxpayers' money.
But I regard that as the least important advantage of vouchers. The most important, the crucial, advantage is that voucher programs (and other forms of school choice) rescue kids from stultified lives of needless underachievement.
Gary Jason is a lecturer in Philosophy and a senior editor at Liberty. His books can be found on Amazon.com.
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Jon Harrison
This is great news. I very much like getting these snippets about education reform that you've been providing.
As much as I oppose teachers unions, I'm thinking that "vicious" and "vile" are perhaps a little over the top in describing union opposition to reform. "Selfish" and "panicky" would be more accurate, I think.
Sun, 2012-09-16 16:39
Gary Jason
Look, I'm sorry if it makes people uncomfortable, but I like to speak the full truth. To resist ALL reform of a system that is clearly failing massive numbers of children is QUITE LITERALLY vicious (and vile). Any child who cannot read, write and compute at even an 8th grade level is going to be severely hurt throughout his/her working life, and very likely left in a marginal economic state, if not left outright poor. To do this to millions of children, rather than just allow some common-sense reforms (like vouchers), which have been adopted elsewhere and have not harmed decent teachers, is as vicious as knowingly building unsound roads or providing incompetent medical care. It is quite beyond selfish....
Mon, 2012-09-17 14:33
Federal Farmer
Still, the reforms are all mandates issued by the state of Indiana. Top-down reforms,even if they are market-oriented, will not provide the best education system.
Go full throttle on school vouchers, and then wipe out all the state standards, allowing individual schools to create their own standards.
If we imagine that grocery stores are similar to our school systems, we would not want to be restricted to a single grocery store in a geographic "district". But, even if we get to choose between grocery stores of other districts, the stores need to devise their own business models that separate them from each other. Otherwise, we are given vouchers to shop at a hundred grocery stores that are all the same!
As a teacher, I wish that conservatives/libertarians would not berate them so much. Although not intended, your words are very harsh on the lot of us. Please, show us that liberty is better for children and teachers! Tell us that we are not chained to the standards of the central planners and that we may compete, designing our own plans for education!
Sun, 2012-09-16 12:35
Gary Jason
Dear Farmer: Perhaps it would help if I told you that I have been a very low-paid adjunct professor for 35 years. I teach hundreds of students per semester, untenured, at a fraction of what my tenured collegues receive, because I revere teaching. Okay? It is precisely BECAUSE I revere teaching, that I get disgusted with those other teachers who refuse reform (accountability, and student choice).
Many teachers are superb, most are passable, but many are horribly bad. The bad ones cripple the potential for happiness of the students they teach, and need to be terminated. My argument is with those teachers in unions who refuse to enable the standard assessment of teachers, and the termination of the bad ones.
I have written much about this. In New York, the teachers unions enable even teachers who sexually molest students to remain on the job. In Chicago, the union went on strike to stop reforms to assess teachers--under the present "assessment" procedures, 99.7% of Chicago's public school teachers are rated as "good." Does that strike you as likely?
For 30 years, we on the right have been pleading with complacent teachers to reform the system, and HAVE MET A STONE WALL, even as our children's international rankings have declined decade after decade, in a world whose economy becomes ever more knowledge based. When I see on a daily basis the failed products of the public school system--students who literally cannot read at 8th grade level, taking college classes--I get very passionate. It's called righteous indignation.
For the record, for the millionth time: I favor the COMPLETE privitization of the education system IMMEDIATELY. I would institute a universal, nation-wide voucher system across the board, just like Sweden did in the early 1990s. But in the face of organized (VICIOUS) union opposition, I can't get what I dream of, so I at least try to get charter schools, tax credits for tuition to private schools, and other less than adequate measures.
One last point. Want to know something funny? After Sweden voucherized its schools, the teachers found THEIR JOBS WERE MORE ENJOYABLE. In other words, their unions were not working in their won interests all along.
Mon, 2012-09-17 14:53
We should begin to make the argument that education, as with healthcare and retirement accounts, should be "portable." Put another way, education dollars should go with the student, not with the school, and vouchers are a way of approximating that situation.
Eventually, the total cost of eduction can go with the students. Then, though we will still have public funding, all the schools themselves will in fact be "private" and will competitively vie for these dollars, at whatever levels the states choose to afford. Many benefits will follow, not the least of which will be a dilution, by greater numbers, of the teachers' union power. They, the teachers, will no longer be employees of the State.
Sun, 2012-09-16 00:22
Fred Mora
Dear Sir,
Thank you for reporting this growing scandal. The only responsible answer from us Federal lawmakers is to ban school vouchers. A simple executive order will suffice. Some would object that Presidential EOs are not meant for this and that using an EO for such a ban will be another anti-constitutional abuse.
Fortunately, the lack of reaction of the media guarantees that the ban will go unchallenged except maybe in some obscure, blue-border web site nobody in DC will ever read.
You sympathetic Federal lobbyist,
Ray Volting
Sat, 2012-09-15 21:20
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Osher Gallery 1
$12 members; $15 nonmembers
Ages 7+
The museum closes at 5:00 p.m. tonight, but the after-hours interactive fun continues. Journey through total darkness in this twisting, turning, tactile sculpture. Walk, crawl, climb, and slide your way through a wonderland of textures using only your sense of touch as a guide.
You can purchase tickets on site during regular business hours or the night of the event. For advance reservations, please call 415-528-4444 (option 5). Capacity is limited; first come, first served.
As always, you can visit the Tactile Dome during its regular sessions at 10:15 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:45 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 3:30 p.m., and 4:45 p.m. on days when the museum is open. Advance reservations are recommended. Learn more.
*Please Note!
Due to the nature of this experience, certain restrictions apply. Children must be at least seven years old to participate. Guests who are afraid of the dark; claustrophobic; have back, neck, or knee injuries; or are in their third trimester of pregnancy should not participate. Guests wearing casts are prohibited. Also, please wear comfortable clothes.


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Well for example, it is said I guess widely accepted that the Rainbow Body has to be disolved to reach the Truth Body.Pema Rigdzin wrote:Well, IMO, there's no way to actually know until we accomplish total realization. It seems obvious to me that conceptual thought has serious limitations. But until that point of total realization, we can hear the teachings, see the arguments they present to support their assertions about rainbow body, and decide if they're compelling. I have done so and I found them compelling. But as I said before, YMMV. It's all good either way.
Or attaining the Rainbow Body is not attaining Buddhahood yet!
So with these two examples, we can easily understand that there is more than the Rainbow Body.
What YMMV mean?
Yes it's all good to me, but to you I don't know :p


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Given the U.S. Postal Service's significant role in the nation's founding, it's probably not surprising that it owns a number of historic properties. But when the historic institution needs to modernize and optimize its network of postal facilities, how should it handle its historic properties? This has proved an especially volatile question for those citizens most directly affected. A property is eligible for historic status if it meets the National Register criteria, which involve the property's age, integrity, and significance. That doesn't mean the property can never be sold or renovated, just that the Postal Service must follow certain regulations to consider the effects of its actions and engage in a consultative process to resolve negative impacts. Complicating the matter, the Postal Service can't readily determine how many of the 9,000 properties it owns (in its portfolio of 32,000 properties managed) are historic. It sold 22 historic properties between October 2010 and June 2013. As of last summer, it had another 25 historic properties up for sale and was considering selling another 28.
The sale or attempted sale of these properties has caused a firestorm of protest and resistance in some communities. Historic properties evoke strong emotions because the building or structure touches people in many ways. They are often seen as a connection with our past and a lesson for future generations. Combine these passions with the attachment that many people have to their local post offices, and it's easy to see why the sale of historic post offices can be a lightning rod. Another factor is that some of these post offices were built during President Roosevelt's New Deal and are decorated with murals and other artwork of the era. Citizens worry that they will lose access to the works of art inside.
The Postal Service is an institution in a time of change. It faces significant financial challenges as it attempts to right-size its network so it has the optimal number of facilities for its current mail volume – an amount that has declined since 2007. Occasionally, it will dispose of a historic property as part of its network optimization goals. Our recent audit report reviewed the Postal Service's management of the preservation and disposal of historic properties and we found numerous areas for improvement. Notably, the Postal Service did not know how many historic properties it owned or what it cost to preserve them. Also, it did not collaborate with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to improve its preservation regulations compliance.
The Postal Service finds itself with competing obligations: Operating a less-expensive network to improve its financial footing versus the preservation of culture, history, and art. What do you think is the best solution? If it is to preserve these buildings, how should they be paid for?


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So, what kind of scene was Lindsay Lohan showing up for when she showed up early to begin filming her guest role on FX's "Anger Management"?
A love scene with Charlie Sheen.
As reported back in February, Lohan will play herself in the episode as a patient of Sheen's therapist character who develops feelings for him. Which would make sense as to why our set source exclusively told E! News that the duo shot a scene today where they ended up in bed together.
U.S. & World
Is Lohan's locked rehab really "locked"?
This will not be the first time Lohan and Sheen play bed buddies onscreen: They also filmed cameos for "Scary Movie 5" that find them in bed and suffering from hauntings, a la "Paranormal Activity."
Her storyline will also feature a lot of material plucked directly from Lohan's troubles with the law, even going as far as to poking fun at her love of partying and parole hearings.
The episode, tentatively titled "Charlie & Lindsay," is set to air in April.
--Reporting by Ken Baker


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While Nintendo's money spinning Wii Fit with balance board usually spends less time on the shop shelves than overpriced tat at a Next sale, titles making excellent use of the handy peripheral have been thin on the ground. In fact outside the fairly dull Family Ski there's practically bugger all outside all that tedious fitness stuff.
So here comes Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip to fill in this little gap for the holiday season. Unlike the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game which are poorly realised with dull gameplay mechanics and repetitive visuals, this Wii iteration - for once - shows a heck of a lot of promise right from the off.
Firstly there's the much hyped motion control. If you lack a balance board you can control your rider simply via the Wii Remote, but while that proves an adept handling system, it's missing out on a large portion of what makes Road Trip such an enjoyable little title.
Just like real life snowboarding it's all about weight distribution. Want to take off to ridiculous heights as you head down the slopes? Then lean back at the right moment and blast skywards. Want to force your rider to travel at breakneck speeds? Then crouch right down and feel the wind rush through your hair. Though not literally. Obviously.
Yes it's really blooming tricky at first, and you'll find yourself ploughing into drifts of snow more often than not on your first few tries. But give it a little time and you'll find yourself enjoying an incredibly intuitive and intriguing method of control that only the Wii can offer at the current time.
The single player story sees you tearing around the globe attempting to keep up with the titular Shaun White, a man who can't seem to stick in one location longer than a few minutes. Each of the five major locations has a handful of slopes to speedily head down, with completion opening up new features and areas.
To keep you hooked to this short-lived story, the higher you boost your respect meter via fantastic special moves and tricks, the more handy special abilities will be unlocked.
It's certainly not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination, but here it simply works. The addiction to nudging your score for each slope ever higher is one right up with any online FPS you can think of.
Despite the Wii's obvious lack of processing power, it can be argued that this is a much better looking title than the other console versions. While it may lack the detail, it packs nice chunky and colourful visuals that interact with each other with devilish accuracy. It's more about the cracking art design rather than pixel pushing power in this one.
The Balance Board support helps nudge this one right to must-have status for those with a Wii Fit gathering dust. A cracking control method rounds off a fantastic all round package that anyone with a penchant for fun will absolutely adore.


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After Dating for the last 3 years, I'm still head over heels with my Pro 141FD. Don't plan on kicking her out of bed any time soon. Kuro don't talk back,she never disagree's and is always turned on!
Pioneer Kuro Plasma HDTV
I spoke with Josh Kairoff, then Pioneer USA's director of display engineering, to learn more about what made the Kuro so special. First things first, "Kuro" means "black" in Japanese, and the display's inky blacks—the blackest blacks—were unmatched in the industry. The deeper blacks also yielded superior shadow detail and resolution. While most manufacturers were hell-bent on making the brightest possible displays, Pioneer took the opposite path with Kuro. Originally conceived as a broadcast monitor, Kairoff thinks the Kuro's image quality was on par with Sony's $25k professional monitors. The Kuro line was initiated by Pioneer USA, not in Japan, and the Kuro engineering team was drawn from Pioneer's professional division.
What really made the Kuro different was that the optical filter was directly bonded to the plasma elements instead of the display's glass, which is the way every other plasma display was made. Kairoff describes the design approach as "akin to putting Carl Zeiss lenses on your camera." That design innovation required additional engineering time to perfect, which made the Kuro more expensive to manufacture than other plasmas. The engineers were unable to devise cost saving measures that wouldn't compromise performance. Pioneer's exit from the TV market wasn't the end of the Kuro. Panasonic purchased most of the associated patents and technology and lured a significant segment of the Kuro engineering staff.
After Dating for the last 3 years, I'm still head over heels with my Pro 141FD. Don't plan on kicking her out of bed any time soon. Kuro don't talk back,she never disagree's and is always turned on!
One of the greats - yes, but the verdict on best ever remains undecided at least until Panasonic ZT series arrives. Kuro may be a distant thought once 4K OLED gets a foothold. My two cents...
It is amazing that no product yet seems to have surpassed the Kuro in image quality. I find myself hard pressed to identify another three year old tech product that can still perform better than the latest and greatest new versions on the market today.
The Kuro line will eventually cede its crown to someone. OLED should be the technology to do it, since it too is a self-illuminating design. It will still be a while longer until that is in the somewhat affordable mainstream market, so the Kuros have a while longer to reign.
I bought my Pro 111FD after Pioneer exited the market. I had been on the fence, but knew that it was time to jump on it. I have not regretted it one bit. I still haven't seen a new set at a friend's house that can compete with it. They may be larger, but the picture is incomparable.
When I finally do replace this set, I imagine it will be a 4K OLED set in a larger size. Maybe in 3 or 4 years the price and performance lines will intersect at a reasonable point. Then there is that bugbear of native 4K content...
How can this ever be classified as "vintage" ! Kuro is to flat panel what trinitron was to cathode ray. I picked up my first Kuro by chance after they left the market. So enthralled by the picture I aquired 2 more locally (Australia) and went to the trouble of importing 2 more (600m and 141fd) from your wonderful country. If you see one listed for sale, do yourself a huge favour and grab it ! The picture quality draws you in like no other. It really is that good.
Mr. Guttenberg may have forgotten about a reference caliber vintage CRT TV - The mighty 196lb Sony KD-34XBR960 - Definitely one of best tubes ever made. Black levels on a properly calibrated set are on par with Kuro. It was a 1080i set, but what a picture during its time. The TV's picture quality had reviewers salivating - even on standard definition sources. Its audio quality will blow any Pioneer Kuro panel out of the water.
As an Elite authorized dealer I attended Pioneer dealer meetings and in 2007 I stayed in Josh's dealer training class all day for his 141FD instruction. Josh is a great video engineer and developed much of the 141FD technologies.
Great times!
Mr. Harrison - the majority of my comments were about picture quality. Only my last comment was about audio. It remains my opinion that the audio quality is better than many flat panels today or in the past.
As for the XBR 960's picture quality, I would encourage you to do a little research. In fact, Home Theater Magazine can assist you in this endeavor. Below is a reference to another Home Theater Mag link.
The above was posted on June 14, 2011, by none other than Scott Wilkinson, audio/video guru and former HomeTheatermag online editor and reviewer now over Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity.
Properly calibrated, the XBR960 will equal a Kuro Black Level - that is an undisputed fact. Is the Kuro a better monitor? In absolute holistic terms - Yes. Its benefits and advantages are numerous. Remember CRTs were limited in screen size due to weight concerns. Brightness could be problematic and they had to be routinely calibrated.
Your comments about the XBR960 looking like standard definition are quite dubious and likely not an opinion shared by professional reviewers. Though the XBR 960 is not 1080P capable, I am sure the editors and contributors of HT Mag including Rob Sabin and Tom Norton would agree that 1080i is not standard definition and that the Sony KD-34XBR960 was a respectable television in its day.
Ok, if we want to talk about Trinitrons and vintage, I'm gonna throw my hat in for the 1996 KV-32XBR100. That *WAS* a broadcast studio monitor repackaged for the home market as a "Super Trinitron". I tried to salvage one that was perfect a few years ago but unfortunately Sony used plastics that became brittle on the case and it was unsafe to keep it around as it was literally disintegrating.
It may not have been high-def, but the picture was absolutely spectacular. It carried an MSRP of 3200.00 in its day which I believe was even higher or on par with the 960 later on.


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Still experiencing pain from a car crash, sports injury or injury on the job? Even though you may have been checked out by immediate care after your injury, lingering pain and stiffness are a good sign that something more is going on.


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Blog: Wednesday, May 30th, 2018
An Education for Life
By Dr. Kevin Godden, Superintendent of Schools
In light of recent announcements about our provincial Graduation Program, it is perhaps fitting that I share some thoughts about the changes on the horizon for students (Besides, it is another item that I had put on my Top 10 in Education list for 2018). I do not want to rehash all the finer details of our emerging Grad Program, as I think you can go to the Ministry website, and learn more about it. Instead, I would like to briefly address career life education, one of the more noticeable changes to the culminating years of redesigned curriculum.
When it was first announced a few months ago that students would be required to take eight credits of career education, a few of us gasped and were concerned about how this would fit into a grad program that already did not have enough flexibility for students to access some of the various opportunities available to them. Some of us also wondered if Career Life Education and Careers Life Connections would become the new Planning 10, a course that many students dread, and that schools struggled to make meaningful and engaging. I will preface my comments going forward with an admission that I am not trained in the field of career education. However, it was clear to me that many of us were taking a narrow view of the term career (in part because we were not educated in that discipline, at least not formally).
If we were formally trained in this area, we perhaps would have more quickly recognized that everything we do is career education. Career professionals understand that careers refers to the constellation of life roles you play over the course of your life, or your life story. That is, your career is not just a job, occupation or profession. It involves deciding among possible and preferred futures, and answering the questions: "Who do I want to be in the world?", "What kind of lifestyle am I seeking?" and "How can I make an impact?" Career literacy thus refers to a progressively acquired set of skills, knowledge and attitudes that are related to the acquisition, understanding and application of information needed to manage one's own life. In essence, everything we do in our education system is intricately connected to career development. All teachers are career educators because we all play a role in helping students understand who they are, where they are going, and how they will get there.
At a recent workshop I attended on the subject, the presenter said that our career education must fulfill some critical goals which culminate in having students making the following affirmations:
- I have hope
- I have options
- I have a direction
- I have a plan
- I have confidence
If you have kids of your own, I think you might agree that if your child could confidently check all the above boxes that you would be confident as a parent that they were ready to begin to find their place in the world. Few other things would matter.
Going back to the Grad Program, one could argue that the careers are perhaps the most important "courses" that our students take in grades ten to twelve years. At a minimum, it would suggest that the manner in which our schools organize and deliver these courses will be critical to helping students find and navigate their various life paths as they leave our K-12 system.


text: We're looking for a solution to cover or fix a crack that keeps reappearing around a a steam pipe we have. No matter how well we patch it and paint over it, it keeps coming back. Can anyone recommend a modern cover or a way to solve this issue. I have included a close-up photo below showing the crack around pipe.


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Few electronics principles can inspire a gasp of amazement. Generally if you want to please a crowd, you have to push some serious voltage and get some arcs going. Another experiment, however, never fails to impress: the Seebeck Effect. For those who need a reminder, the Seebeck Effect allows you to convert temperature differences directly to electricity without any mechanical bits in-between.
Sean Hodgins, a student at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario, felt like the impact that the Seebeck effect can have on people deserved making a cool way to show it off. He decided to make a ring that would harvest energy from his body heat to light an LED. This wasn't going to be a simple task for him, his major is automotive and vehicle technology, not electrical engineering. He had never designed a PCB before and had a lot of research to do.
He started out by just measuring what kind of voltage he could create from his hand through a Peltier unit. He was able to pull roughly 0.3V in an air-conditioned room. This gave him somewhere to start as he knew he would need to get his voltage up in order to run an LED. After some searching and a bit of trial and error with a Lipower boost converter, he ended up finding a Linear Technology 3108 Ultralow Voltage Step-up converter and power Manager. This looked like it would be perfect, but represented even more new experiences for Sean, as it was a surface mount item.
Some patience and a datasheet allowed him to work up a functional prototype circuit. From that point onward, all that was left was to clean things up and build the ring. His final PCB design ended up being roughly 33x13mm, small enough to fit on a large ring. After a little thought, he concluded it would be a large ring indeed. He decided to make something that fit on two fingers instead of one, allowing for even more surface for heat differences.
As you can see, he managed to pull the entire package together successfully. It isn't the brightest LED, or the most stylish ring, but it is a pretty cool project that will surely amuse anyone he shows. He has also decided to further improve the system by altering the circuit to allow the LED to flash once it has enough power to fully light. This should make for a slightly more impressive display.
— Caleb Kraft, Chief Community Editor, EE Times


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Images opens 26th edition this Thursday in Toronto
MUTEK co-presents opening night gala featuring Tim Hecker with Robert Todd and SlowPitch
April 10, 2013
The Toronto based, Images Festival of experimental and contemporary independent moving image culture, kicks off its 26th edition this Thursday, April 11th! MUTEK is proud to co-present their opening night gala featuring a collaboration between MUTEK alumni Tim Hecker and filmmaker Robert Todd's double-projection images of landscape and nature. Taking place in the domed sanctuary of St. Anne's Church, the evening will be opened by Toronto turntablist and video artist, SlowPitch, who appeared at MUTEK 2012, and who will present his latest audiovisual project, Emoralis, during our 2013 edition.
Tickets are on sale through their website - here.
Here's a previous MUTEKmag article about the festival's history and mandate.
Bon Festival from MUTEK!


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To our Adventure 1 family. We've certainly entered uncharted territory with the impact of the COVID 19 virus. Obviously a big spanner has been thrown into the works with the postponement of the first two races in the Aussie series and the 2nd race in NZ series. As A1 and its race directors continue to review the 2020 events in light of the COVID-19 threat, we are in a case of "wait and see" unfortunately. We are working hard behind the scene to deliver the best national series possible in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, in an equitable manner, with the cards we have been dealt.
But rest assured, once the dust settles the A1 series will be back bigger and better than ever. In the interim, look after yourselves and your loved ones and support your races where possible when they come back online.
CURRENT TEAMS: Rogue Adventure
PAST TEAMS: Percival Property Port Macquarie 2017


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Link: http://ferstaberinde.com/f3/en//index.p ... al_Mission
From the introduction:
In this illustrated, step-by-step tutorial, you'll create a simple adversarial mission (team vs. team) using the F3 mission development framework for ArmA 3.
You'll use many components from F3, but by no means all of them. The tutorial will explain how to configure those components that require input from the mission maker. The tutorial will also explain the components that are automatically enabled simply by using F3 to make the mission.
When you finish this tutorial you'll have a mission that's ready to play on either your locally-hosted server, or uploaded to your community's dedicated server. To help you check that you've correctly followed each step, a downloadable copy of the tutorial mission folder is linked at the end.


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RSS feed: RSS is a web feed format used to publish frequently-updated content. Use this feed in an RSS reader or browser (Safari 2, Firefox 2, or Internet Explorer 7 and higher)
ASTROLOGY (PP # 1; 15-1) – Steve Asmussen, trainer: Not available for comment.
NORMAN ASBJORNSON (PP # 2; 30-1) – Chris Grove, trainer: "We wanted a little further outside, somewhere where he didn't have to stand in the gate as long, but we'll have to deal with it right now, and he'll have to deal with it. It's going to put you right in the thick of the race early, so it's something Mr.(Julian) Pimentel's going to have to deal with early in the race."
KING CONGIE (PP # 3; 20-1) – Terry Finley, managing partner: "I think everything's fine. A horse like him, he's not devoid of early speed, so I'm just glad we didn't end up with the 13 or 14, then he would have had to drop back. He'll be able to save a little bit of ground. Hopefully, he's good enough and that length or two will make a difference"
FLASHPOINT (PP # 4; 20-1) – Wesley Ward, trainer: "I think we're good. We drew a good post. We'll have to see how we break. We'll talk it over with Mr.(John) Fort and with the jock (Cornelio Velasquez), and we'll come up with a game plan here probably as soon as tomorrow."
SHACKLEFORD (PP # 5; 12-1) – Michael Lauffer, owner: "I think it will be fine with us. We've been on the outside two of the last three races, so it will be nice to be near the inside. We've got speed, so we should be able to save a little ground into the first turn, which is what we want to do. He should be in the top three or four horses going into the first turn."
SWAY AWAY (PP # 6; 15-1) – Mersad Metanovic, racing manager: "It was excellent. We don't want No.1 and we don't want No. 14. We're happy. I believe, as we discussed with Jeff (Bonde), that we'll reserve off the pace and make one run with the horse. It's up to Garrett (Gomez), as well. He's a nice, patient rider and he's got all the credentials. Nobody has to tell him how to do it."
MIDNIGHT INTERLUDE (PP # 7; 15-1) – Bob Baffert, trainer: "Things are looking up. No. 7 is a good post. You don't want to be in the 1, 2 or 14, but everything else is fine. I think we should have been closer up in the Derby, and I think we'll be there here."
DANCE CITY (PP # 8; 12-1) – Todd Pletcher, trainer: "I think it's good. I think most of the speed is inside us. Right in the middle is a good spot. I'm pretty happy sitting there."
MUCHO MACHO MAN (PP # 9; 6-1) – Kathy Ritvo, trainer: "The post is great. Anyplace out there would have been perfect for me. I'm going to let (Rajiv Maragh) ride his own race."
DIALED IN (PP # 10; 9-2) – Nick Zito, trainer: "I think it's fine. Everything looks good. It's not going to bother him at all. I think if you get over, you know you're in good shape. Normally, a closer, you like to be inside because you're already there, but you can get bottled up or whatever. Julien will have a good shot at it."
ANIMAL KINGDOM (PP # 11; 2-1) – Graham Motion, trainer: "It's great. I couldn't be happier, really. I just would rather be on the outside than stuck down on the inside. I was a little worried when 1 and 14 were left. I've started from 14 before and you're almost on the outside rail. That's a tough spot."
On how the field shapes up with speed: "I really haven't looked at it too closely. I don't feel like there is a whole lot I can do about it at this stage. I just want to make sure my horse is doing well, and I feel like he is. There is going to be some speed in there, I do know that, and that shouldn't hurt us."
ISN'T HE PERFECT (PP # 12; 30-1) – Doodnauth Shivmangal, trainer: "I don't like the 12 post, but what can you do? We will try our best. We've got the speed to come out of there, but I would have preferred to have 5 or 6, but that's fine."
CONCEALED IDENTITY (PP # 13; 30-1) – Linda Gaudet, owner: "No. 13 is not a bad post. My horse is dead fit and ready to run. His last race he drew off and galloped out well. It's a long run to the first turn and we'll make sure he's a little closer to the front."
MR. COMMONS (PP # 14; 20-1) – John Shirreffs, trainer: "It's better than the 20."


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Mashup: Meetup and Chow Down
Meetup and Chow Down let's meetup hosts choose a restaurant to deliver food to their meetup. Then when people RSVP yes to the meetup they automatically get an email telling them that their meetup is ordering food. The email includes a link where they can go to place their own order. They then pay the host for their order through Dwolla, and the day before the meetup the host goes in and places the final order on his credit card. Everybody's food shows up exactly what they ordered, and exactly what they paid for at the meetup.


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sponsored by
Reid says he misspoke with disaster comparison
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[January 08, 2013]
(AP) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that he misspoke when he suggested in a Senate speech that damage from Superstorm Sandy was worse than that inflicted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
In a short statement released by his office, the Nevada Democrat said he "simply misspoke" in comments Friday criticizing House Republicans for delaying legislative action to provide financial relief to areas of the Northeast hit by Sandy last October.
Reid said the government had responded within days to help the people of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana after the onslaught of Katrina, but "we are now past two months with the people of New York."
He said the people of New Orleans "were hurt, but nothing in comparison to what's happened to the people in New England." He noted that nearly a million people had lost their homes because of Superstorm Sandy.
Reid and other Democrats were upset when House Republicans decided against acting on Senate legislation to provide disaster relief for Sandy before the congressional session ended last week. On Friday House GOP leaders, after being criticized by fellow Republicans for delaying the disaster aid vote, pushed through a bill approving $9.7 billion to help pay flood insurance claims. The House next week is to take up a broader $51 billion package of aid.
Reid's remarks on Friday drew a sharp response from Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who said in a statement that "sadly, Harry Reid has again revealed himself to be an idiot, this time gravely insulting Gulf Coast residents."
[to top of second column]
Vitter cited figures from the National Hurricane Center that Katrina caused 1,833 deaths and more than $108 billion in damage, compared to Sandy which led to an estimated 131 deaths and $65 billion in damage.
Reid, in his statement Monday, said he was "proud to have been an advocate for disaster victims in the face of Republican foot-dragging," and that he had worked with Louisiana's Democratic senator, Mary Landrieu, to ensure that the people of the Gulf Coast had the resources they need to fully recover.
Landrieu put out a statement agreeing that Reid "misspoke and has clarified his statement." She said Reid has been a strong advocate for the Gulf Coast's recovery after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and she was confident of his continued support for those hit both by the 2005 hurricanes and Sandy.
Press; By JIM ABRAMS]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Hello, I picked up RUS Gold on Steam and I've been playing for about a month. Here's a few questions:
1) How does the Patriot ability work? It seems like I should leave that general in command of a stack somewhere and he will generate volunteers and partisans, but that isn't happening.
2) Was there any influence on the engine from the VGCW board wargame? I see many similar mechanics, especially the way general seniority and promotion is handled.
3) Is there a 'look at the next stack' command (as in Steel Panthers)?
I'll post more questions here as they come up. Thanks in advance.


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Hank Paulson's inside jobs
What on earth did Hank Paulson think his job was in the summer of 2008? As far as most of us were concerned, he was secretary of the US Treasury, answerable to the US people and to the president. But at the same time, in secret meetings, Paulson was hanging out with his old Goldman Sachs buddies, giving them invaluable information about what he was thinking in his new job.
The first news of this behavior came in October 2009, when Andrew Ross Sorkin revealed that Paulson had met with the entire board of Goldman Sachs in a Moscow hotel suite for an hour at the end of June 2008. He told them his views of the US and global economies, he previewed a market-moving speech he was about to give, and he even talked about the possibility that Lehman Brothers might blow up. Maybe it's not so surprising that Goldman Sachs turned out to be so well positioned when Lehman did indeed do just that a few months later.
Today we learn that the Goldman meeting in Moscow was not some kind of aberration. A few weeks later, on July 28 2008, Paulson met with a who's who of the hedge-fund world in the headquarters of Eton Park Capital Management — a fund founded by former Goldman superstar Eric Mindich.
The secretary, then 62, went on to describe a possible scenario for placing Fannie and Freddie into "conservatorship" — a government seizure designed to allow the firms to continue operations despite heavy losses in the mortgage markets…
Paulson explained that under this scenario, the common stock of the two government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, would be effectively wiped out…
The fund manager who described the meeting left after coffee and called his lawyer. The attorney's quick conclusion: Paulson's talk was material nonpublic information, and his client should immediately stop trading the shares of Washington- based Fannie and McLean, Virginia-based Freddie.
When we found out about the Moscow meeting, I asked how on earth Paulson thought such behavior was OK. But now I think he was downright pathological in giving inside information to his old Wall Street buddies. And the crazy thing is that we have no idea how many of these meetings there were, or how long they went on for — the only way that we ever find out about them is when reporters like Sorkin or Bloomberg's Richard Teitelbaum manage to find a source who was in the meeting and is willing to talk about what happened.
Given that it's taken two years since the release of Sorkin's book for the Eton Park meeting to be made public, it's fair to assume that there were other meetings, too — possibly many others. Paulson was giving inside tips to Wall Street in general, and to Goldman types in particular: exactly the kind of behavior that "Government Sachs" conspiracy theorists have been speculating about for years. Turns out, they were right.
Paulson, says Teitelbaum, "is now a distinguished senior fellow at the University of Chicago, where he's starting the Paulson Institute, a think tank focused on U.S.-Chinese relations". I'd take issue with the "distinguished" bit. Unless it means "distinguished by an astonishing black hole where his ethics ought to be".


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Digital workplace co-creation for the future
Fujitsu helps enterprises embrace their digital journey, maintaining complete control over security and cost. Together, Citrix and Fujitsu combine key offerings for both virtual desktop and managed mobility into joint technology solutions.
Fujitsu Workplace Anywhere, enabled by Citrix Workspace, helps enterprises become truly mobile while still maintaining complete control over security and cost with both virtual and mobile solutions. In addition to comprehensive mobility solutions, Fujitsu is also one of the largest providers of virtualized managed desktops in the market, and supports desktop transformation with Citrix. The Fujitsu Dynamic Infrastructure approach, including Citrix Hypervisor, provides an industry-leading platform for cost-effective cloud, server, and desktop virtualization.


text: Tattoo Artist Magazine Issue #25: 2011 SXSW Review By Rose Riot South By South West (SXSW) is a 10-day film, music and interactive conference that happens every year in Austin, Texas since 1987. It has been the career starting place for many musicians and a place for bigger name musicians to play for intimate crowds. SXSW has been on my "bucket list" for many years. My only reservation was that I would need to have help with the 15-plus-hour drive. As long as I could get help, I would do it. Luckily, I found the world's best co-pilot, my friend Jen. I picked her up on Tuesday morning and we set out for what could be no less than a rock and roll adventure. We rolled out early the Wednesday morning with SXSW on the brain. I researched bands and answered e-mails while Jen drove us in. I met up with Tony Hundahl at Rock of Ages Tattoo to get a VIP pass for the famous Emo's nightclub. Due to last minute nature of this trip, I wasn't able to apply for press credentials, which would have given me access to all venues at the festival, but the VIP pass was cool because everyone I wanted to see that night was performing at Emo's. Pass in hand I drove to the SXSW area. I managed to find the most rad parking space ever. As I was parking I happened to see my friend Gary Lindsey. Seeing him on the street was a crazy coincidence. I yelled his name from the car, jumped out, we exchanged hugs and both agreed this meeting was "crazy." Then, we all went to Casino El Camino for an interview. He had some great stories about tattoos, like Guy Aitchison doing a cover on his arm 20 years ago or how a fan got a portrait of Gary's face on his leg. Casino El Camino was everything you would want in a bar, if you're cool. Old punk music, cheap drinks and Mr. Lifto as your bartender. I recognized Lifto an hour earlier when I was waiting at the bar with Gary. I was a little worried that Mr. Lifto would be tired of tourists asking him to "lift" things and that he might be over talking about Jim Rose Circus. He was, however, wearing a Jim Rose Circus t-shirt just like the one I got at Lollapalooza 20 years ago. After drinks at El Camino it was time to talk to Oliver Peck. Oliver was spending the week working out of the Sailor Jerry Airsteam doing exclusively Sailor Jerry flash. Oliver was more than happy to do a spur-of-the-moment interview with me while he tattooed guitarist Ian [McDougall] of The Riverboat Gamblers. I also met Nick Schonberger, a contributing writer for the newest Sailor Jerry book, Homeward Bound. Nick is a tattoo scholar/expert and he had some amazing work done by Bailey Hunter Robinson, Maxime Buchi and a fresh leg piece by Oliver. The Sailor Jerry Rum Company is currently touring the country promoting the book and the rum. Spreading joy across the land in a fleet of five Sailor Jerry Airstreams. The next stop would be Emo's main room to see the band OFF! who happened to be opening for Bad Brains. We rested and finished our cocktails then walked back to Emo's. We managed to get inside just in time to get a good standing spot right in front of the stage. Keith Morris, former singer of Black Flag and Circle Jerks, jumped onto the stage, sporting new Vans and old dreadlocks. I felt like I had gone back in time to the skate-punk days of L.A. Keith was full of stories and social angst... After OFF! came Bad Brains. I had heard horror stories of HR doing outlandish things on stage and forgetting words. I braced myself, not just against the crowd of 500 fans, but also for a disappointing show. The Bad Brains' sound check took way too long and this did nothing to sooth my fears of a poor performance. It was the original Bad Brains line up, fingers were crossed. The stellar musicians took the stage and then slowly, out walked a very frail, old man. It was HR. He surprised me by sounding amazing! I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. Bad Brains was truly like taking a step back in time. Seeing a performance by Bad Brains was yet another thing to check off the bucket list. On the other end of Emo's the band Warbeast was about to go on. I went through the venue to get to what was known as "Emo's Junior." Warbeast is a Housecore band that I saw a few months ago in Atlanta. They have been touring with Phil Anselmo's [Pantera] band, Arson Anthem. When I saw them in Atlanta I was blown away by a storm of metal and hair. I knew that show would not be the last time I saw them. The Texas boys definitely lived up to the saying, "Don't Mess with Texas." Warbeast drove devil fingers into the eyes and ears of all in the room. It was at this show that I met up with Hundahl again, and the long day had come full circle as I gave him his VIP pass back.


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Wednesday, November 3, 2010, 02:13 - Legal Phrases and Expressions
Posted by Administrator
Posted by Administrator
It appears that fireplaces, not unlike sundials were sometimes decorated with Latin inscriptions. This particular one reads IGNEM IN SINU NE ABSCONDAS. At least one source claims that this inscription can be found on many fireplaces. So far, I found no evidence of that.


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North Korea: A Mirror unto Myself
by Jayant Bhandari | Posted February 11, 2013
I went to North Korea.
I travel to self-reflect, to challenge my own conditioning, and to question my irrational beliefs and patterns. The more extreme my new surroundings, the more challenges my psyche gets. Laughing at others and considering them backward might be a self-satisfying reason to go abroad, but mostly futile.
Do I accept paying half of what I earn in taxes, making myself a slave for half my life and a bit more, filling up forms and chasing bureaucrats, and then make fun of others who slave under a different pretext?
Do I find women wearing veils in Islamic cultures deplorable but not girls who wear virtually nothing while lining up outside discos in the frigid night of Canada?
At the death of Princess Diana, whom I had always considered rather stupid, hundreds of thousands of people in England, a relatively sophisticated society, went into hysteria. These were exactly the same people who until a day before had lived for the next issue of the tabloids so they could practice voyeurism on the intimate details of Diana's life. Of course there was another subgroup — of do-gooders — that was more interested in watching Diana photographed with starving African kids, while she was flying around in the most luxurious jets. Unable to see the contradictions, that subgroup firmly believed she was doing a service to society.
When Prince William and Kate Middleton visited Canada, thousands of girls wanted to touch them. When Kim Jong Il died, virtually everyone in North Korea mourned.
My question is why North Koreans should be made fun of if they grieve over the death of someone they consider their savior? The shallow thoughts of starving people are perhaps more understandable than those of people who live in comfort.
Apart from always trying to provide myself tools for understanding my own thinking as rationally as possible, I went to North Korea assuming that this last pure Communist country was not going to last for long, so I should see it while I could. And I was in for a treat, an educational one.
By keeping its troops south of border, America has given rationalizations for the Kims' regime.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not difficult to visit North Korea. Also, I had enough to eat and felt very safe. There were spies all around, but I never felt threatened. They were normal human beings playing out their indoctrinations. Despite my initial, strong worries, the fact is that in virtually any dictatorship, you are safer than you would be elsewhere.
North Korea is developing missile and nuclear technology. I am not sure why this should merit moral condemnation, at least by the United States. I recall that not too long back, the US promised Gaddafi that he would not be attacked if he gave up biological and nuclear weapons. The promise was forgotten the moment the risk of those weapons went away.
I find it remarkable that North Koreans have partly developed such high technologies. North Korea has a population of only 24 million people; it occupies a hilly part of its peninsula, making agriculture difficult. Under sanctions it has very limited trade with outsiders, something that seriously harms and constricts its economy. And it is forced to spend an absolute fortune to defend its border. The military expenditures of its enemies at that border may be higher than the GDP of North Korea (so far as it is possible to estimate that).
I was told that I would meet very heavy-handed soldiers in North Korea. In contrast, I found it easy to have a laugh with them. And even at the DMZ, they allowed quite a bit freedom of movement. I had my arms on the soldiers when photographing with them. At the least they are just normal human beings.
It was a week later, when I went to exactly the same part of the DMZ, from the South Korean side, that I faced heavy-handedness. American soldiers dictated our moves in minute detail; we were asked not to smile at the North Korean security, because that might be taken as a hostile signal. The drama Americans create at the DMZ is their way of instilling fear in people and perhaps their way of legitimizing their presence in South Korea. By keeping its troops south of border, America has given rationalizations for the Kims' regime.
Ironically, the room you visit at the DMZ when coming from the north is exactly the same one you visit when coming from the south; it is just that the control of that room keeps changing between the two countries. Of course despite their denials, both sides talk with each other to orchestrate events at the DMZ. The televised posturing that they do at DMZ — with alert army men — is only a show, for there is only one side present at any point of time, all based on negotiations. In the end, I could not shake off the feeling that it is not the North and the South that are enemies; it is as if the two governments and their allies ganged up together to keep fear and hostility between the two forcibly separated societies.
North Korea is a giant theater, where the actors have no recollection of the fact that they are acting.
People keep talking about the huge size of the North Korean army. In truth, a lot of work that would be classified as civilian jobs is done by the army; for example, all construction and infrastructure work is army work. You could easily halve the size of the North Korean army to compare like to like.
So do I think North Korea is a great place? Actually, it is by far the worst country I have ever visited. Its personality cult is water-tight. Its government has perfected tyranny. North Koreans have virtually no access to outside information. Even the North Korean air hostesses on their planes bound for Beijing are not allowed to leave their planes when they land there.
For a tourist, it is not possible to travel in North Korea independently. You must be escorted by two "guides" provided by the state-run travel agency. I joined a tour group from Beijing. This was almost a year ago, in April 2012, when Kim Il Sung's centenary celebrations were being held. Wherever we went, spies followed us. We had no freedom of movement.We could not even leave our hotel unaccompanied. In fact, whatever we did was closely monitored.
Not allowed into local shops, we had to use euros or US dollars at foreigners-only tourist shops at highly elevated prices, making it impossible for any local to convert his currency into dollars and to put it to any good use. Locals not only cannot go to another city without a permit but they usually cannot even move within their cities freely. The army is everywhere and it keeps checking ID cards.
Army units are not allowed to travel much — they don't have much means of transportation anyway, making any coup almost impossible. You often see army men walking from one city to another. The nice looking vehicles that you see on TV seem mostly for propaganda purposes. The army trucks I usually saw were the broken-down old vehicles on the side of the roads.
There is virtually no concept of private property. Everyone works for the government, in a position decided by the government. Every hospital is owned by the government. Every house is owned by the government. People can own cars, but you don't see vehicles. Sometimes you can go a kilometer within the capital and not see a car.
Most North Koreans have no money left to save at the end of the month. They have no incentive to save anyway, as they can keep their savings only at the bank — remember there is no other means of investment possible — where it can be devalued at any whim of the government. Some people might save in gold, illegally, but imagine the repercussions in a country where 50% of the people have at one point or another denounced their family or friends. You can imagine what moral effect the lack of possibility to save would have on you.
Many houses have pots of beautiful flowers, particularly of the two kinds named after the Kims. They look very bright and nice. On closer inspection I realized that a lot of them are plastic.
We were taken to a laboratory filled with colorful chemicals, but all evidence showed that they were never used. It was the same with the big computer room. The keyboards had never been used.
A year or so back, all the universities were closed. Students were asked to report for road work. You can see families — parents and kids — mending roads and electricity poles outside their houses. They are asked to do this, under threat. But really they just accept it as normal life. They don't seem to know of any other way.
All fun activities have a strong dose of patriotism and Kim-ism in them. There are statues of Kim Il Sung all over the country, statues that must be kept sparkling clean at all times. Early in the freezing morning, I could see tens of thousands of people everywhere descending, on foot or on their bikes, to the statues of Kim Il Sung to pay their respects. You might encounter a group of women singing praises of Kim Il Sung in front of a spellbound audience of locals, while I stood shivering. If one is a local, one must either sing or join the audience or go to the gulag. The system offers none of these people the option of distinguishing between enjoying what they are doing or doing it as a compulsive action. Their thinking and emotions are certainly very numbed, making North Korea a giant theater, where the actors have no recollection of the fact that they are acting.
A North Korean citizen can exist only by complete subversion of his humanity in the interest of the state.
Locals are mostly kept out of the way of tourists. But sometimes actors and actresses appear to create a fake environment for outsiders. You might see a group of locals playing "tourist" at the DMZ, when you know you did not see any tourist bus apart from yours. At the store, you might see a couple of women in traditional clothes browsing the books — all of them "written" by the Kims — and when you turned back after leaving you would see them switching off the lights. At the birthplace of Kim Il Sung, everything is new and fake. The furniture, the cutlery, the walls and the thatched roof cannot be more than a few years old. But perhaps everything touched by Kim Il Sung defies aging.
North Korea is a true 1984, and may even have exceeded it. Piped revolutionary music from loudspeakers installed all over the city is virtually compulsory for everyone. You wake up with it. The same music runs on the TV and, it seems, the locals must switch it on as soon as they wake up. The only vehicles that look in decent shape are propaganda vehicles, with loudspeakers on top of them. A citizen can exist only by complete subversion of his humanity in the interest of the state. He must from his birth learn thought control, or life would be unbearable and a continuous reminder of humiliation.
I have been to Myanmar (in 1996 at the height of its military dictatorship), Laos (where I traveled with early-teen insurgents), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Belarus, and so on. But none has the kind of perfect tyranny and lack of personal freedom that North Korea has established.
I feel sorry for North Koreans. I don't travel to feel better than other people. I do it to understand human nature, mostly mine. And it is sad that in North Korea virtually everyone has been made a puppet and a parrot. It is a totalitarian state on top of cultural Confucianism. The elites have structured it so well that I can see no way for any revolution to happen. And people's minds have been so indoctrinated and their development so constrained that they would feel hugely insecure about not having a firm leader. But that is exactly the path the West is increasingly on now, isn't it? The irony is that Western people laugh at North Korea but cannot see themselves in the mirror.
Jayant Bhandari is constantly traveling the world to understand it and to look for investment opportunities, particularly in the natural resource sector. He advises institutional investors about his finds. He also runs a yearly seminar in Vancouver entitled "Capitalism & Morality."
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The author names tyranny to a country, but, What is a tyranny? What is totalitarianism? We can find same things here, in the west, if we look from another focus. I mean we have different cultures, different behaviors, but at the same time we love and follow people like norks. In fact we love products not people, we love things not people. We'd better look at ourselves.
Sun, 2013-02-24 13:21
its difficult to take seriously the observations of someone
- who parallels enforced berkas with voluntary miniskirts
- who finds vital parallels between the cult of Princess Diana - and the cult of the Kims
- who sees symmetry between his own "slavery" in Singapore - i presume - to the slavery of North Koreans
- who subscribes to the weirdest history of Libya i've heard
- who notes anecdotal differences in laughter that he found on opposite sides of the DMZ - as if somehow they spoke volumes about societies behind each
that he sees a western drift towards N Koreahood - might resonate with the paranoid libertarians - but for grown up libertarians - it's just too simple minded a prognosis - in line with his other observations mentioned above
Thu, 2013-02-14 23:02
Kennth Kraska
Except maybe what not to do. Don't be a sap. The Norks showed you want they wanted you to see. Outside of the capitol they eat the bark off trees.
Wed, 2013-02-13 18:08
Jayant Bhandari
Yes, as I mentioned, our movements were very closely controlled. But my view is that tyrants, propagandists and bureaucrats get terribly wound up in their own rhetoric and lies. They are extremely stupid as a result. The lower in hierarchy you go, the more stupid everything becomes. Their basic instinct is survival within the regime.
It is not too difficult to connect the dots and extrapolate what might be happening (if one trusts what one sees), at least to get a feel for the nature of the culture. Their lies and rhetoric helps one RECONSTRUCT a truer reality. Consider this…
There is a massive, ultra-modern museum inside a mountain to showcase the very large number of gifts and "praises" Kim's have received from other countries. One of the highlights as soon as you enter the museum is a framed copy of the front-sheet of a newspaper in Pakistan. The whole page is devoted to highlighting the exploits of the world's topmost leader, Kim Il-Sung. The article sings praises of Kim for maintaining world peace and for being the pillar of international peace and stability. Now one only has to look at the "@yahoo.com" email address of the newspaper to realize that this is a completely obscure and unknown newspaper even in Pakistan. One can start to imagine what is in the museum and where that stuff came from.
Once, our bus driver lost his way. We ended up having to drive and then walk in areas we were not supposed to. Old women and children were scavenging for crumbs of coal from among the dust in the road that had fallen from coal-trucks. People—old women and children—carry heavy loads on their backs. Yes, as I mention there is a lot of drudgery and poverty. They just cannot hide this even in sanitized areas of big cities.
I would not be surprised if they do eat tree-barks in remote areas, as you mention. But I do ask you to reconsider how you know about this (unless you have personally witnessed this), for it addresses something very fundamental…
I met a couple of North Koreans in South Korea, to help me get a perspective. I failed. They were a pack of lies. One can survive and exist in a tyranny like North Korea only if one learns to fool one's own mind and learn to lie profusely. And then one just lies as a habit. I cannot trust a random North Korean, even one who lives outside the country, particularly if he benefits from blowing things out of proportion.
Also, I don't know about any special Gulags (except that the country itself is a Gulag) and cannot trust what the US government tells me. The thoroughly incompetent governments of the US and the UK had completely wrong information about Iraq's WMDs despite their very long-term presence and connection there. Extrapolating this, I cannot trust what the US government tells me about North Korea.
North Korea is much, much, much more of a closed country than Iraq was. If the US really has spies in North Korea, they are very likely complete liars who say what the US wants to hear. And on top of it, the US military wants every possible reason to stay in South Korea for geo-political reason and because US military needs a very important reason to exist and increase in size. In short, I cannot trust anything coming from the US/UK government.
Thu, 2013-02-14 02:57
Mr. Bhandari --- You've presented a very compelling account of your experiences in a country of lies, a journey in which --by your own testimony-- nearly everything you were shown was entirely ersatz.
Although I do think it conceivable that refugees from a country managed by deceit, who have spent years being deceitful out of sheer will to self-preservation, would find it relatively easy to lie, even when it is no longer necessary, I am troubled by your assertion that nothing these refugees say can be believed.
Moreover, you say you cannot trust anything coming from the US/UK governments. You seem to be going to great lengths to discredit all testimony about what is happening in North korea ...except your own.
Your own account is quite credible because there are multiple sources which report very similar experiences. If you were the only person reporting this, it would not be at all believable.
Can you cite corroborating sources which, in your opinion are trustworthy?
Sat, 2013-02-16 17:26
Jayant Bhandari
Mr Jett:
I completely failed to trust the two refugees I met in South Korea, for they kept on contradicting themselves, sometimes in the same sentence. Now if they spoke some truth, I have no way of filtering that out. While my statement was ONLY about those two refugees who I met, consider this: North Korea creates seriously infantile and mal-nourished people. They have a very warped understanding of the world and of reality (at least in a relative sense). Life in such a difficult and wretched environment must very seriously numb one's feelings and destroy one's thinking process. Those rare people I talked to had no clue about "judicial process" and "philosophy" (except for the utterly simplistic one created by Kim). North Koreans are not taught much apart from their very narrow fields. They are trained to be completely non-thinking cogs. They have likely never travelled, probably not even within their own cities. They seriously lack any frame of reference to understand and process information.
It is important to understand that North Koreans are not even allowed to travel within North Korea. The highways are mostly empty. You see military inspecting passes of those very rare North Koreans who travel. Moreover, it seems, you cannot even move around your own city at random. You should be able to explain why you are going to a certain part of the city. Given this, I doubt that North Koreans know much about their own country.
So really even if a North Korea is telling you exactly what he knows, he might still be giving you very erroneous information.
Hopefully the above provides more color on why I think it is difficult to "trust" a random North Korean, which was written in my response to the earlier comment from a reader who had asserted that North Koreans eat barks of trees. I was questioning how he had got that information. Was that from a random person or was that based on information from several refugees?
To respond to your second question: TV and radio is all government owned. There are virtually no cellular phones in the country. Given what I say above, even if the US has agents in North Korea, one must ask how they get their information, how they pass it on to the US and how the US then verifies that information to be true. In short, there are just a very large number of weak, unreliable links. I guess most of what the US government says is based only on what they find using satellites.
You asked how I know if I know the truth… I know very, very little about North Korea. I just wrote what very little I saw and tried to make some rational inferences.
Sun, 2013-02-17 05:11
Fred Mora
Very nice article. A lot has been written on NK, but your take is quite unique.
There has never been a successful popular insurrection, much less a revolution, in a Communist country (palace coups and Moscow-ordered regime changes excepted). The 1956 Hungarian insurrection was probably the most successful one, largely due to the large number of small-caliber weapons that the insurgents secured. But even so, it was crushed by tanks after a few weeks.
In NK, the people are disarmed, and worse, they are in a mental corset. Our future indeed.
Wed, 2013-02-13 01:15
Thank you for your story. I'm quite curious on what made you think North Korea as the last pure communist country was not going to last for long before your trip?
Tue, 2013-02-12 19:45
Jayant Bhandari
After the death of Kim Jong-il, I thought the US would be able to exploit political divisions within North Korea. I always thought—quite erroneously—that the US presence was of immense value in stabilizing the region and it would be able to use any chaos within North Korea to merge the two Koreas. I was naïve in my thinking.
China wants North Korea to continue the way it is, for it does not want the US forces to come to its borders. At the same time, the US does not want to lose its rationalizations to stay in the peninsula. And I am sure South Korea does not want North Korea to really join them, for if a merger were to happen, it would bring totally uneducated, unusable, and completely indoctrinated people into South Korea. Moreover, were the two countries to merge, "North Koreans" would be extra-ordinarily nostalgic about their days with the Kim's—they have grown up to do and think what they are told to and would find the possibility of being the bosses of their own lives hellishly horrifying. What West Germany faced after its merger with East Germany was nothing in comparison. In short, despite what everyone says, none of these governments likely wants the status quo to change.
On top of all this, I had failed to consider that tyranny exists not because of a single person but because the ingredients for it are spread within the culture, in the minds of the individuals—it is always institutionalized.
Thu, 2013-02-14 03:32
Thank you for your observations. I've often thought that the bravest thing anyone ever does is to take full responsibility for his own life. You've gone beyond that to also examine your ability to function calmly in uncomfortable environments.
Perhaps someday you'll come to Montana. I'll buy you a beer and give you a comfortable bed in which to sleep, and you can choose your own music.
Tue, 2013-02-12 19:24
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text:
Mode Selection
Modeselektor (MUTEK 2008) est dans le Magazine
Dimitri Nasrallah - 1 mai 2008
By Dimitri Nasrallah
Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary of Modeselektor make the kind of music that fits everywhere and nowhere. They duo freewheel through genres and styles at a pace that verges somewhere between giddiness and an attention deficit disorder, but that's the charm of listening to albums like 2005's Hello Mom! and 2007's Happy Birthday!. Modeselektor discard the uniformity and specialization that qualifies much of the techno scene. To add to their eclecticism of sound, they've got a peculiar sense of humour that plasters their album covers and promotional photos, not to mention those persistent exclamation marks that underscore their titles.
Two albums in, Modeselektor gives the impression that they're not about to select a mode; making choices and sacrificing favorites doesn't appear to be part of this group's vocabulary. Their open approach to the grab-bag of IDM, hip-hop, dancehall, straight-up techno, and even emotive ambience is accentuated by a cavalry of collaborators: everyone from Paul St. Hilaire (of Rhythm & Sound notoriety) to the digital assault of Otto Von Schirach to French rappers TTC has a place on a Modeselektor album. If anything, these collaborators often stretch the duo's range.
But these methods are just how Modeselektor works. "It happened quite naturally," Sebastian Szary wrote in an email interview conducted last fall, around the time of the release of their anticipated second album. "We didn't throw a casting show or a competition or something like that. Most of the artists are friends and we hung out a lot, having beers, talking about possible collaborations."
True to form, most of their collaborators share the same "everything but the kitchen sink" attitude Modeselektor prizes. "With TTC, they guested on "Dancing Box" on our first album and we guested on "Une Bande de Mecs Sympa" on their album, 3615 TTC. We all knew there had to be a follow-up. It's a never-ending story with them, it seems."
Canadian expat Gonzales also shares their warped humour, and the rapping marionettes of Puppetmastaz seemed a perfect fit for Happy Birthday!. "Puppetmastaz have always been on our list of wanted collaborations. Those dudes are awesome, no matter whether they're on stage or in the studio."
"Otto von Schirach is a friend of ours as well," Szary continues. "We hung out at DEMF in Detroit last year and played a show together, which was great. The guy rocks. This is how most of the collaborations came around - meeting, eating, drinking, and then working together."
It's not hard to imagine Modeselektor as friendly guys who are willing to have a drink or meal with anyone to pass the time between gigs on tour. Even their recordings have an inviting appeal that doesn't require the prerequisite of genre expertise. And that approachability, not to mention a killer live shows, has won Bronsert and Szary fans from unlikely corners.
Without question, the most high profile among them is Radiohead's Thom Yorke, an early and vocal supporter of the duo and the elephant in the room for anyone interviewing them. More than just a famous fan who offers tacit support, Thom Yorke has been actively talking up the band every chance he gets for years now. It's gotten to the point where onne wonders if the duo would have experienced the success they've had without Yorke's endorsement.
When his solo album The Eraser came out last year, Modeselektor were brought on board for remix duty. He repaid the favor by appearing as guest vocalist on Happy Birthday!, and this coming July the duo gets the opportunity to open for Radiohead on one of the dates of their world tour, surely their biggest shows to date.
"Over the years, Thom placed our tracks in his charts regularly and last year he asked us for a remix of his The Eraser," Szary writes. "We were really proud and tried our best to give him a great remix. We then asked him if he would sing on one of our tracks - and he did it, even though he was recording a new Radiohead album at this point and didn't have much time. So this is why he sings, "You have all the time in the world". Great!"
Great, indeed. But Thoma Yorke aside, it's really their zeal for the ambitious, wide-ranging package that gets the ball rolling; it helps to be good at what you do, and Happy Birthday! is a more cohesive and stirring set than 2005's Hello Mom!. Bronsert and Szary have picked up a lot of experience in the interlude between their debut and sophomore albums.
"We are older and maybe even more mature," Szary concedes. "This album was produced under different circumstances, and this is probably the main difference. We finished the album in a pretty short period of time and only worked during the day. One could say that the album is full of energy, sunlight, like a ripe orange. We didn't use a studio this time, and worked at Gernot's house instead. We had to stop in the evenings because of our pregnant girlfriends waiting for us at home. Edgar, Gernot's cat, was our biggest fan during that time!"
Now that the record is well behind them and the reception has been more than good, Modeselektor find themselves back on the road, splitting pitchers, sharing food, and making new friends and collaborators along the way. To be fair, the stage is where Modeselektor really state their case. They wrangle an energy that fires up an audience like few other can.
"For us, it has always been important to play unexpected live sets," Szary writes. "It doesn't matter if we have a sudden change of style or tempo or pour five bottles of champagne over the audience. The message (in the words of Scooter) is: "I want to see you sweat! I said, I want to see you sweat!"
Fair enough. One may not share their peculiar sense of humour, but that's not so important in the end. What's hard not to share is their energy, and most of all their singularity.