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Sunday, November 30, 2008
What a busy bunch of followers Islam has!!
Now, we have hundreds more killings by muslims in Nigeria.
Islam truly is a Religion of Peace, eh!
When will we wake up to the threat to us all from this evil 7th century Death Cult?
Gordon Brown faces yet another Downfall!!!
Just what is it with 'Downfall'? It has been adapted to poke fun of the politics of the US, Britain, and New Zealand. What about Australia? I am sure Kevin Rudd would make a lovely Adolf! It's those glasses, you see.
Anyway, Iain Dale has posted a new version of Downfall to account for the deepening economic crisis facing Britain and Gordon Brown's tax raising mini-budget.
If that has whetted your appetite for more of the Scottish Fuhrer, here's the other downfall he faced a few months back, when he was 20% or so behind in the polls, which seems to be where he is heading now.
There seem to be others too, such as a movie trailer, which I am sure would be well worth a reworking to feature the dying days of Helen Elizabeth Clark!
Why am I posting so much UK politics at the moment? Is it because I am heading back there? Or is it because there seems to be stuff all happening in New Zealand at the moment.
Just what sort of a country am I returning to!!???
The dangers of Christmas!!!
If Only
Maybe someone did think of this but I missed it.
It's the ultimate election campaign bill board.
The Selwyn Toogood bill board.
I hope some kind soul who knows how to use all the gismos can do it up for me.
The heading across the top is:-
"What's it to be, New Zealand?
The answer in blue and red, with respective pictures of a smiling John Key and a surly Helen Clark is:
On the left hand side in blue, "The Money" and on the right hand side in red "The Bag."
Recession: When you lose your money, so goes the toxic wife!!
The Toxic Wife, first identified in these pages almost two years ago, is a particular and terrifying species.
Not to be confused with the stay-at-home mother who selflessly devotes herself to the upbringing of her children, with all the housework and domestic chores that entails, the Toxic Wife is the woman who gives up work as soon as she marries, ostensibly to create a stable home environment for any offspring that might come along, but who then employs large numbers of staff to do all the domestic work she promised to undertake, leaving her with little to do all day except shop, lunch and luxuriate.
Having married her wealthy husband with his considerable salary uppermost in her mind, the Toxic Wife simply does not do "for richer, for poorer". Little Dorrit, she ain't.
Indeed, lawyers and financial advisers have reported a 50 per cent increase in the number of divorce inquiries since the financial markets collapsed in September.
The horrible truth has dawned: they married a woman who wanted them solely for their money.
Flippin'Eck!! : state aid for drunken sluts
Flippin' eck!
Another flop from Gordon Brown's Britain: free flip-flops or jandals for drunken women!!!
Yes, the Boys in Blue have a $80,000 scheme which the Taxpayer's Alliance brands a waste of money.
But police say the programme will actually save money as the high-heeled drunken sluts won't injure themselves when they fall over!
What a land I am returning to?!!
Great News
Presumably this means that for the time being she no longer faces the threat of immediate arrest and deportation.
Were she to have been forcibly returned to Iran, she faced the prospect of imminent and violent death at the hands of the current regime. No, she would be safe, according to our gullible authorities who know better than the Belgian and French intelligence services about these things and have relied on the notion that Iranian law does not yet prescribe the death penalty and therefore she would not be in danger. Of course, they just send out a team of goons in the middle on the night to do their dirty work. So much easier than messy laws and courts.
Adolf knows the young lady in question and her brother (who has permanent residence) quite well and in view of the sheer hell this family has suffered over the last year and a half, it would seem to Adolf that Minister Coleman could do himself and his party a huge favour by granting Ms Moradi residence before Christmas. From where I sit, the officials of the various departments and quangos have proven to be spectacularly incompetent.
Thus might be seen the stark difference between a compassionate government and its predecessor whose sole criterion and interest was a person's value to the Labour Party.
Sunday morning
His analysis of where the chips have fallen is spot on.
And here's another good sign . There will be good buying out there for smart investors like these guys.
People will just have to cut their losses and move on. I have had to do a major restructure of how I run my business. Now the dust has settled, even though I've lost a bit of cash, I can see many opportunities opening up in the short term. I'll just be a bit leaner and hopefully smarter.
Matt McCarten really should move on. The election is over. His side lost. I can't believe that he gets paid to write this crap, let alone get it published.
Mike makes a start
Coleman's Mustard
McCarten writes such arrant drivel that he soon will have have his rate per word cut to match his readership. He does not deserve comment. Wade though the knee-deep crap for yourself.
Unlike McCarten, Bill Ralston actually knows what he is talking about. He is a media insider so he is worth studying.
Where else in the world would you find a business that turns over three hundred million dollars and consistently makes no profit? Until today I did not know that this is our grand state run infotainment factory TVNZ. Ralston nails them to their profit and loss account thus:-
"It should not take long for Coleman to wonder why a company that rakes in more than $300 million a year in revenue makes no profit other than the subsidy it gets from him."
Ralston predicts only half the prescription.
"I suspect Coleman is determined to screw more dividends out of TVNZ, remove government subsidies from it and make it completely commercial."
The other half can wait for the next parliamentary term. The sale of TV2 and any other appendages with TV1 retained and well trimmed down.
Mr Ralston's comment on industry assistance indicate he needs to stick to broadcasting.
"I always thought the essence of capitalism was survival of the fittest and profits were earned in relation to the risk taken. Why should the taxpayer subsidise the losses of a commercial business in bad times when we don't share the profits in the good years?"
Because, dear boy, you DO share in the profits by way of taxation. No wonder he voted Labour all his life. He just doesn't get the bigger picture. Unless you are an ideological zealot, you don't let otherwise well run companies which employ large numbers of people who pay income tax go to the wall if you can insulate them from issues which could not have been reasonably predicted and which are likely to be temporary.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The surveillance state
Comrade Brown strikes again!
Home detention: Is that a punishment?
SNN signs off for summer break
The Messiah Cometh
So does New Zealand Cricket as it awaits the arrival of someone who can make more than fifty runs in a test innings and bat for more than twenty minutes without taking a swish at a ball outside the off stump.
When he arrives, he too will be revered for 2,000 years.
Cartoonists missing Helengrad? and what about the impressionists?
The case for Hamilton
I know I've blogged on the matter before, but I think Hamilton is a lovely city.
I have just spent much of the past week helping a mate move down there from Auckland and had things been different, I would be happy to live there too.
For me, Hamilton is the right size, with plenty of bars, shops, cafes , etc, while not being too crowded like Auckland. It is also a little cheaper too and the prosperous town has many fine new suburbs.
Hamilton is also close to so many other places, like Raglan, the Coromandel, Tauranga, Rotorua, etc, etc, and it is just 80-90 minutes from Auckland.
So I am pleased to hear of a campaign from a Hamilton law firm to help change Hamilton's image by presenting the case for Hamilton.
I might also add that when I worked there in the mid-90s , Mr New Zealand often came from Hamilton. Being close to Auckland, 'Horny Hamilton' as it is sometimes known, is ideal for a dirty weekends, also having some of the most shaggable people around, as well as so many motels!
Financial Fran slams NZ journalism....and Liarbour
Fran O'Sullivan today lays boot into the media coverage of economic issues into the run up to the election.
He attack comes as she raises the prospect that Bill English's planned spend up may not be enough to save us from severerecession.
It remains one of the major failures of New Zealand journalism that Key - and also Helen Clark - were able to gloss over the likely extent of the crisis during their television debates and other interviews.
It should have been abundantly clear to any economically literate journalist who had done even a modicum of international research that the incoming Prime Minister would be faced with substantially worsened projections than were contained in the Treasury's pre-election forecasts.
But instead of doing the hard yards, exposing the real deterioration in the economic performance of our international trading partners, and seriously challenging the politicians - the TV hosts (in particular) plied them with far too many irrelevant questions.
Indeed, Fran is entirely correct. This blog has long suspeced a severe downturn and we did comment on the lack of media coverage of the economic crisis several times durting nthe election campaign.
Even today, there seems little prospect that the tv stations, for example, will offer some real analysis beyond the soundbites. The reported departure of Agenda is ominous.
But whose fault is this? The media is a sickly beast today, weakening with rampant costcutting. TVNZ, Fairfax, APN, have all shed jobs. Trouble is, such moves create newsroom that have no resources to spare for analysis or anything that smacks off investigative journalism. The reporters are reduced to rewriting government media handouts.
Is this what people want to watch? What they want to read in their papers? No, but such journalism comes cheap, and the spiral of decline continues.
But back to Fran, this time on economics.
She is coming round to our view that Liarbour helped cause our recession, just as the OECD is noticing.
This country's recession predates the fallout from the sub-prime mortgage crisis. A combination of usurious interest rates, highly-inflated food prices, drought and punishing oil prices tipped New Zealand over the line at the beginning of this year.
Indeed, whose high government spending caused those high interest rates?
Another John Key Performance Indicator
According to The Herald he'd like to see the rate of loss cut in half. Adolf could not see anywhere in his musings a time line for this objective, which is a pity.
(photo pinched from The herald)
I think John Key can make some political capital from the use of his name by giving his administration some JOHN KEY performance indicators. It should be realistic to expect a reduction from the current disastrous level of 48,000 to less than 40,000 within three years.
Of course there is the risk that the opposition will throw shit if the goals are not reached but on the other hand the government would be given big ups for sticking its neck out and actually telling everyone what it is trying to achieve, with our help and co-operation. Such a move would mark the biggest difference yet between National and Labour, the latter of which simply babbled platitudes about goals and then forgot about them as they launched the next round of buzz words and feel-good meaningless policy goals.
DomPost Over Eggs The Cake
That's a very big call, for if true, it represents a huge breach of maritime law and convention which does not seem to Adolf to sit well with the culture of the National Party. Not only would it be a huge breach but it would put at risk all NZ maritime personnel who found themselves in need of rescue by the Japanese authorities.
For what it's worth, Adolf would rescue the Japanese whalers and leave the pirates to freeze or drown.
So, what did Mr McCully actually say and has he been misreported? You figure it out.
The Dom needs a good kick up the arse.
"The conditions are very dangerous in the Ross Sea and there is no way anyone can expect New Zealand to render assistance. The word impossible springs to mind," Mr McCully said.
"We will not have the ability to offer assistance because we can't go and station vessels around the ocean in the expectation that someone's going to do something unwise.
"If there are any difficulties then, as is often the case, we're going to be reliant on any vessels that are in the area."
Friday, November 28, 2008
Also Tagged.
1. November 28th is not an auspicious day for New Zealand, not only did a DC10 take a header into a mountain on this day as well as an Airbus going for a swim today but November 28th is also the date I arrived in New Zealand 20 years ago .
2. I passed a scholarship exam for Westminster boys school as a child but my mother would not let me go. Probably a good thing because being buggered and locked in my trunk while walking around all day in a cassock and ruffle sounds less appealing now than it did then.
3. Although I did get my turn in the cassock as a choir boy at my local C of E Norman era church (St Mary's in Baldock, North Hertfordshire), I sang in St Albans Abbey and at St Pauls for the Queen. My days as a child prodigy chorister came to an abrupt end when I got too cosy with our choirmasters daughter as a fresh faced 12 year old.
4. I am the grandson of the man who worked alongside Logie Baird as an industrial glass blower and who helped make the first working CRT.
5.I played lacrosse for the East of England senior team as a 15 year old against Cambridge university, scored a goal and lost my first adult tooth within 5 minutes of scoring.
6. I have not been to a Rugby match since the RWC in Sydney in 2003, I will never again experience the emotional high that I experienced during that game and Rugby now bores me. This comes after a lifetime of attending Test matches in Europe, NZ and OZ.
7. My name is Colin but as I am the fourth generation of my family bearing that name I am known by my middle name Russell, I regularly thank my mum for this because my fathers side of the family have a terrible record in naming eldest sons. My Great granfather was a Wlater, Grandad was known as Hector, and My father as Malcolm. The curse has been broken with my eldest who is James (But his middle name is Colin). My surname dates back to the Norman Conquest and is cheese eating surrender monkey in origin. The literal translation is Beautiful Mountain..
I shall not tag anyone because everybody I want to read has already done it..
Looks Like Rodney has more work to do!
Poster competition
British blogger Iain Dale has a funny poster created to attack a leading Conservative.
Now, I am sure with both Liarbour and National performing their own U-turns, I am sure we can come up with something like it here?
What do you think?
What ideas do you have?
Who is Wanted in New Zealand?
So here are the seven useless facts about me.
1- When I was a kid, I wanted to be a tv weatherman when I grew up.
2- By the time I went to sixth form, I wanted to become an accountant, but got involved with the student newspaper at university and settled on journalism.
3- I have a 'thing' about maps, often finding them fascinating. I have a thing about roads too and I often used to take old maps and draw new roads on them. Sometimes my doodles consist of imaginary maps. If I could not be Prime Minister, I would happily be Transport minister and would happily motorways criss-crossing our land. Wellington-Whangarei motorway, anyone?
4- Sorry Adolf, but while you have a lovely Holden, I'm more of a Falcon man, having two when I lived in Australia a couple of years back. Now, I drive a Mitsubishi Carisma which has none.
5- When I was a kid, I used to just about worship cats, always kissing and cuddling them. Now I'm allergic to them.
6- I haven't always been a right-wing bastard. Growing up in a Yorkshire mining village, I recalled thinking Tories were 'snobs' when I was very young, until discovering my self-employed parents were Conservatives. And I really didn't become a Thatcherite until a few weeks off school with chicken pox gave me a chance to what all the main party conferences and being enthralled by the "U-Turn if you want to, the Lady's Not for Turning!" speech.
7- And finally, talking of Margaret Thatcher, I too was born above a grocer's shop. But I'm not sure if my parents had a VG or a Spar.
Now, as this tag has done the rounds, I won't tag any others, but our commenters are free to add any revealing useless facts about themselves.
Those Greens are such bright sparks!
Air New Zealand Crash
"The plane crash may been witnessed by a nearby boat which saw it crash........"
The illiterates at Radio Left Wing News are reporting the crash at sea of an Air New Zealand Airbus while on a training flight in France. One death is confirmed.
Here's a sample of the reporting:
".....Air New Zealand says it's trying trying to verify if the reports are true."
It Could Have Been Here
It is the Indian Intelligence Service which completely failed to detect the plot. In a later post, DIM attributes the organisation to the Pakistani Secret Service and it is hard not to agree with his analysis.
How easy would it be for a gang of Muslim fanatics to pull off something similar here?
A piece of cake, perhaps?
First, pick your target. Where in New Zealand can you find a convenient concentration of wealthy Americans, herded together ready to be killed? In Mumbai the terrorists identified these clusters and attacked a couple of swanky hotels and restaurants. Here in Auckland, there is one obvious and easy target.
A big, fat, juicy cruise ship, packed with between three and four thousand victims.
The nice thing about cruise ships is that you know where they will be and when, almost to the minute. So, all you have to do is figure out how to blow a few holes in the hull below the waterline as she steams out into deep water, preferably before the lifeboat drill has been carried out.
Maybe it's not too difficult. Adolf is neither a naval architect nor a security specialist but a determined little gang of perhaps four people, with some careful study and preparation beforehand, might conclude as follows. (Remember, it was dead easy for the Froggies to sit a ship on its arse in Auckland a few decades ago.)
The Plan
Attach twenty limpet mines at intervals along one side of the ship's hull, about twelve feet below the water line.
These are timed to explode simultaneously as the departing ship is exiting the channel and entering the Hauraki Gulf. (Probably close to where the Americas Cup races were sailed.) The objective is to let enough water in, fast enough to turn the ship turtle within a short time, say thirty minutes. Twenty holes, each two metres wide, should do the trick. Maximum carnage, no warning, flat footed authorities. No-one has a chance.
Of course, by this time the team will be safely on board flights to Pakistan via Australia.
The Preparation
Twenty mines are purchased on the black market, each mine containing perhaps ten kilos of explosive. They are shipped to Fiji where they are transferred by Muslim brothers onto a 32 foot yacht which sails to NZ. As the yacht passes down the coast of Northland it is met by a snapper fishing expedition off Hauhora and the 250kg cargo is transferred into a twenty foot launch which returns to land and is winched onto it's trailer and driven to Auckland.
A small narrow beamed boat, about fourteen feet long is purchased, along with a set of dive gear.
The Operation
At about 0300 on the morning of the targets arrival in Auckland, the small boat with its cargo, diver and driver, sets off from the Birkenhead boat ramp and parks itself under the wharf at which the cruise ship is to be moored. The ship arrives at 0700 and disgorges it's passengers by 1000. It is scheduled to depart from Auckland at 1930. At 1030 the team begins installing the mines, two at a time at a depth of three metres, and the job is completed in just under two hours. No one can see what is going on under the wharf next to the ship. There is maximum privacy.
The Withdrawal
Using a buddy breather, the diver escorts the driver to the other members of the team who happen to be passing close by in their 20 foot launch. At 1300 they are quickly pulled aboard over the seaward side. The team proceeds to shore, dumps the boat in a back street in Birkenhead or Northcote and drives to the air port.
At 2010 the balloon goes up and the ship goes down, right in front of the wealthy denizens of NorthShore City's East Coast Bays.
Death toll - 3500
Survivors - 500
The weakest point in the plan is the risk of someone spotting the diver and driver being pulled aboard, mid harbour during broad daylight.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
The evil strikes! (yet again)
Should Government save the wonder of Woolies?
No you're not in Kansas any more, dumbasses
These two broke the cardinal rule of Gulf State expat life: appearances must be maintained. In the Gulf states, keeping up appearances is everything. There appears to be very little drunkenness, adultery and fornication, and such that does appear is heavily punished. There is of course no lack of drunkenness, adultery and fornication among the locals, it's just that great lengths are gone to to keep it private. If you don't keep it private, you can expect to get dealt to. So if you're a typical Kuwaiti yoof, your parents ship you overseas so you can shag Western sluts for a few years until you've lost enough spunk to be capable of getting married. After that there's the maid, who won't dare get pregnant unless she wants to "commit suicide" by hurling herself from the balcony, and there's the apartment you maintain somewhere with a Filipina in it. Drinking is done in the privacy of your own home or Filipina's apt, and drunk driving not indulged in unless you have very influential friends. Your wife will have to settle for making friends with attractive young ladies and inviting them all round for coffee while hubbo's at work (which he won't be for more than 5 hours a day).
The expats of course are not Kuwaitis and have a different set of rules to live by. They are stratified by their value as a commodity, with Whitey (well, Westerners anyway) at the top and Bangladeshis at the bottom. Whitey in fact occupies an entirely different stratum from any Third World expat, again on the basis of commodity value. Third Worlders are a buyer's market- they're queuing up to get into the Gulf States, so there's always plenty more where that one came from. Whitey is a seller's market - not that many Whiteys want to live in Kuwait, so you want to hang on to the ones you've got. For this reason, Whitey can get away with stuff that would see Third Worlders in jail. As an example, one evening I was out with 2 Indian guys. We came to a Police checkpoint, and the Indians got out their ID cards. I realised I'd forgotten mine. The Indians freaked out - we were in deep shit, these motherfuckers were going to throw us in the cells, what was I thinking? We got to the front, the cop carefully inspected the Indians' IDs, glanced at me, then waved us through. It was rather hard to ignore what this said about our differing statuses as far as the Kuwaiti authorities were concerned.
But from the cops point of view: (a)what Whitey is going to be in Kuwait as an illegal immigrant? We usually can't wait to get back out of the place with our money; and (b)Whitey is going to be the valuable posession of a rich and presumably influential Kuwaiti - leave him alone unless he's doing something in public.
That's the important bit - leave him alone unless he's doing something in public. Kuwait is even more conservative than Dubai and alcohol is an illegal drug. Fortunately, my apartment block had a walled garden out the back with a swimming pool and bar, so party time was most weekends. It's kind of obvious to the surrounding neighbourhood that Whitey's building is hosting another raucous pissup, and in fact the people in the buildings overlooking our garden could watch us doing it. But the cops never came, because we were obeying the rules - it was behind our garden wall, kept among fellow barbarians.
All good. But: if we'd been mug enough to take the pissing up and poolside groping across the road to the beach, the cops would have been along to cart us down the cells in no time. There are rules, and it's best to stick to 'em. I didn't feel a whole lot of sympathy for Acors and Palmer.
Rock bottom?
I've got a couple of projects lined up for next year and it seems I'll be borrowing money for them at around 3% less than what I'm paying this year. For good honest long term stuff this is the difference between a shit fight and sleeping well at night.
I'm beginning to think that the worst maybe over.
The graphs of the world may have leveled out. Billions of dollars have been created and spent. I don't profess to understand where this money has come from, printing presses would be my guess. At the end of the day money is a manmade invention, used and abused like any other commodity. All I know is that I will be treating cash with a lot more respect in the future.
As a wise man once said to me.
"Keep your hand on your cash and your cash at hand"
Don't trust men with big hats and no cattle"
We may be heading for a simpler world where every dollar of profit is a dollar earned and hopefully taxed lower.
As an aside, I heard Bruce Shepard giving Hanover a superb going over on 1ZB. It seems that they are hoping that $10 million cash is going to make all their problems disappear. If I had any money with them I would be on the phone to the recievers.
The Parable Of The Standard
"Jesus George on a bicycle!" he exclaimed, "the bloody new government isn't even sworn in and these idiots are screaming and yelling about 'what they might do.' "
My advice to my friend was that I did not go out of my way to read Pravda so I don't see why I should bother to read its intellectually handicapped juvenile brother.
Go over and have a look for a laugh.
The funniest part of the whole show comes when you realise these guys believe the crap they write. It gets even funnier when you see the number of authors they use. Hell, it took less people to write the Bible.
Then for the real rib cracker, go and have a look at their comments. They are pretty much all fellow authors patting each other on the back and piously editing comments to separate the sheep shit from the goat shit.
They literally spend all bloody day commenting on each others' sbloggerings in order to improve their Tumeke ratings.
Pravda in drag.
Whale Oil In Restrained Mode
"There is much angst around following the Nia Glassie case. Garth George has written an article and DPF has taken exception to it.
I think they both are missing the point.
We have become a society that tolerates and indeed allows violence against children it is just a matter of where you draw the line that is the argument.
Garth George draws the line at conception and David Farrar draws the line at birth. (I think, perhaps he would like to clarify when it is ok to kill babies and when it is not.)
My view is that we are indeed a sick society at whatever point we kill and excuse it away with weasel words like foetus, procedure, first trimester etc.
Likewise my view about most of the recent cases of horrific child abuse is that they are no more and no less anything but late term abortions. The simple fact is that the parents of the children had no more respect for the life of the child than someone having a "procedure".
You see if we accept that you can kill children at up to 21 weeks from conception then why not at birth or why not at 5 years old, or even 18 just before they can vote. For me there is no difference. The Nia Glassie's and Kahui twins are simply late term abortions by parents who no longer respected the life of their child. As long as we fail to respect human life then we will continue to get these case and no one should be at all shocked by it all."
Not Too Sick To Kill
His name in not important but what caught my eye was his occupation which is listed as 'sickness beneficiary.' (On RLW News, not in The Herald report.)
From what illness can one suffer which renders one too ill to work, yet leaves one able, with a knife, to attempt to murder one person and successfully kill another ?
Why did The Herald refrain from listing his occupation?
Adolf hopes someone is asking some hard questions of The Hon Paula Bennet's new department.
Those Headline Writers Again
Man acquitted of rape convictionAdolf has always understood one was 'acquitted' of a charge. One cannot be acquitted of a conviction. This fellow had his conviction overturned at a retrial. In other words he was charged a second time and acquitted rather than found guilty.
· v. (acquitted, acquitting)
1 formally declare not guilty of a criminal charge.
Uncle Helen's Holiday: Caption contest
Liarbour's failings laid bare
Last night in my Bill English post, I touched upon our worsening economic situation.
The OECD clearly highlights the failings of the Helengrad years with a couple of clear statements.
New Zealand has entered recession ahead of other OECD countries, a victim of simultaneous domestic and foreign shocks," it said.
Oh! I wonder why we entered recession ahead of others? Who was to blame for these domestic shocks. Some answers to follow:
"The outlook remains subdued because the large macro-economic imbalances which have built up over the past decade - inflation, housing overvaluation, high household debt and a huge current account deficit - will take some time to unwind."
And who was responsible for that? who was in office then?, but Uncle Helen and her Fiscal Fool!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Bill's Big spend up
So Bill English has announced a $7billion 'economic stimulation package' as Treasury and others announce yet worsening economic figures and banks tighten their lending criteria.
Other governments also do their bit to 'help.'
I guess the devil will be in the detail and we won't know how helpful such spending sprees will help until we know exactly what the spending will go on.
However, I have some concerns about the effectiveness of spending your way out of recession.
We heard horror stories about Liarbour's 'Decade of deficits' but wouldn't it be hypocrical if National delivered an even longer spell of debt.
I also don't remember the Thatcher government of Britain in the 1980s also spending their way out of trouble. It saved Britian by tough budget restraints, free markets and 'monetarism.'
However, like some beast from beyond the grave, Keynes is back in vogue again!
Now, Britain has just announced its 'recession-busting' big spend up, with added old-style socialism of tax increases for the wealthy. Bloggers Iain Dale, Archbishop Cranmer, and Guido Fawkes look at the economics and politics of PM Brown's mini-budget, with a major focus on Britain's massive debts- debts New Zealand could be rushing towards.
Bill English had certainly better be careful not to send us down that same red-ink stained track.
Can Rodney and Roger stop him? Do we want them to?
In the meantime, enjoy Gordon Brown selling Britain's soul to the Devil.
Didn't he do well!!
What IF SHE had won?
Who's the naughty boy!!
Hint: It's the same defeated Labour Cabinet Minister who, as part of his electorate office's work in assisting people to enrol to vote, is said to have destroyed voter enrolment forms from people suspected of being likely to vote National, and only forwarded the enrolment forms to the Electoral Commission if he thought the potential voter was a Labourite.
Something about Mary, the one where the government lets you die like a dog.
Mary is in her mid 70's, she is a widow and lives in Kaikohe. Mary is sick, she has all the usual symptoms of a person with heart problems, tightness in her chest, breathless and lacking any energy at all. She has a home help that pops in and a variety of other people in her life that help her get things done. Over the nine months or so that I have known her I have noticed a marked deterioration in her health and mental state. She is on multiple pills, multiple times a day and the jolly Mary I met has deteriorated into a frightened husk.
Her GP is trying to manage the situation and sent her to Whangerai to see a specialist, this took 2 months. She saw the specialist who told her she needed to be booked in for a scan. It took 3 months to get the appointment for the scan. She had the scan last week and it turns out she needs a bypass.
Whangerai don't do these so she is now on a waiting list to see a specialist in Auckland, this is expected to take another 3 months, once she has seen the specialist in Auckland she will wait another 3 months for the necessary scans to be done again. If they confirm what everybody already knows she will then go on the waiting list for a bypass operation, the waiting list is currently around 9 months.
All up that is 20 months. Mary will die before she ever gets on the operating table, and she knows it. I had a cuppa with her today and she has shrunk in a week. She has effectively been sentenced to death by our public health system.
The rational among us might say she has had a good and long life and we cannot fix everybody.
To them I would say, come up to Kaikohe and have a cuppa with Mary and tell her that her life is unimportant and she is not worth saving.
Billions of extra funding in a decade and we still cannot get the basics right.
Another friend of mine had a bypass operation in Auckland three weeks ago, 12 days after seeing the private specialist that his doctor referred him to. He has Southern Cross. The hospital he was in was half empty and apparently has extra capacity just waiting to be switched on when our new government decides to utilise all means to beat our waiting lists.
I really hope they do it soon because my friend is going to die
Well done Paula!
Dear Leader goes troppo!
Uncle Helen has been to Samoa.
Hang on! How dare she not be supporting the New Zealand tourism industry in its hour of dire need! :)
Just joking, I thought I was a Herald on Sunday journalist writing about John Key!
Return of the pointy-haired boss
It's a handy reminder that you can't get better govt by replacing the current failures with previous failures. As a chronic gimp, I'm a regular consumer in the health system. No matter what complaints my No Minister colleagues may have had about the health system under the last govt, I can assure them as a regular customer that my personal experiences of it were vastly improved under Labour, and the system under Ryall constituted a low point. I fully expect new lows to be achieved in the next few years, unless Key gets serious about stripping the dead wood out of his Cabinet.
A better place?
A glimpse into the mindset of average people.
Fearful that economic conditions could get worse and stay that way, Americans are showing an enthusiasm for thriftiness not seen in decades.
This behavioural shift isn't simply about spending less. The New Frugality emphasises stretching every dollar. It means bypassing the fashion mall for the discount chain store, buying "It is a whole reassessment of values," said Candace Corlett, president of the consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail. "People are learning again to say 'no, not today'."
"Everybody has been trying to keep up with the Joneses and trying to look rich when they're not," said Erin Pettingill, 24, a married mother of two preschool children in Provo, Utah "You can't necessarily have everything you want when you want it.
This will apply equally well here in New Zealand. The world may actually be a better place if governments can learn the lesson as well.
Frugal citizens and "bells and whistles"government will not be a happy mix.
Aaaaah It Feels So Good
Brian Rudman could not have chosen a better headline (if he did choose it) 'Hide and Local Government Scary Mix.' For once he's right but it's the bozos who infest local government who will be scared and it's rate payers who will be smiling in anticipation of seeing their tormentors from 'the council' get their fiscal wings clipped.
The Herald would do well to take Rudman aside and suggest he desists from his vendetta against Rodney Hide. It is tiresome and will be costing the paper circulation if it allows him to keep up his puerile campaign of denigration. Rodney Hide has been elected to govern, Mr Rudman. Get used to it or bugger off with your good mate Mike Williams.
Adolf looks forward to seeing Tony Ryall direct DHBs that all people presenting at hospital A & E departments should be greeted first by an examining doctor instead of a manager demanding paper work first be completed.
Reminds me of a 1970s ABC interview with the late ex Victorian state premiere the popular and pugnacious Sir Henry Bolte.
Bolte was up from the bush for the Royal Easter Show and he was asked 'How are things in the bush, Sir Henry?' ('In the bush' is Australian for 'down on the farm.')
The reply - 'Weeell son, its the worst drought I can remember, wool prices are down, we can't get much for our lambs, the web worm has put paid to the wheat crops this year and we've had some pretty bad bush fires but, you know, in spite of all these difficulties, people are optimistic and full of hope because WE HAVEN'T GOT A BLOODY LABOR GOVERNMENT IN CANBERRA!'
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Liarbour's tax bombshell--what we might have seen too!
Britain seems to have just received the kind of December mini-budget promised by Michael Cullen, which thankfully, he never had the chance to deliver.
Now, Britain has just had such a mini-budget aimed to get the country out of a recession.
Main features include higher borrowing, tax increases for top earners, and lower VAT (GST), plus a bit more money spent on infrastructure.
Press reaction seems mixed, even from supposed supporters like the Guardian.
Now, since Helengrad tended to follow UK Liarbour, I can only wonder whether such polices might have also been delivered by Mr Cullen. Lower GST, more borrowing and higher taxes for the better off not only seems very Old Liarbour but very Cullenesque too!
Who said What?
It was the first day of a school in USA and a new Indian student named Chandrasekhar Subramanian entered the fourth grade.
Snowvember greets the end of climate change
How very appropriate
Rodney to the throne!
And I'm not yanking anybody's chain!
But our hyperactive member for Epsom was on Close Up just now talking about toilets.
Apparantly, current rules means a new toilet can need eight inspections and building rules making projects cost thousands more than necessary, even a turd, I mean a third, of the total cost.
As regulatory responsibility minister Rodney was in fighting form, with another great interview with Mark Sainsbury.
We are certainly seeing how ACT is adding to the ACTion we are seeing from our National-led government.
This, coupled with Rodders also opposing the RMA follies concerning that North Shore supermarket clearly shows how ACT is lifting the lid on red tape and bureaucracy.
He seems to be on a roll, as well!!
Public servants we could do without, number 1 in an occassional series.
The model citizen pictured below is called Grant Alexander Dey
The story from Stuff, with selected highlights in italics below.
Staff and pupils at Christchurch's Wainoni Primary School will get apology letters from a 41-year-old man who caused a lockdown at the school when he threatened to shoot two staff a fortnight ago.
Heavily tattooed beneficiary Grant Alexander Dey pleaded guilty in Christchurch District Court today to charges of threatening to kill, and possession of cannabis, the Christchurch Court News website reported.
He also admitted charges of theft, and unlawful possession of a knife, which do not relate to the school incident.
Right then, fairly serious charges, guilty as charged.. What do you think the judge did next?
Judge Gary MacAskill remanded him in custody for a pre-sentence report and sentence on December 24.
Fair enough, no problem so far..
Remember what the charges are, in fact go back up and read them again because the next quote is a goodie..
He asked for a report on his suitability for home detention, even though Dey has no home address.
Simon Power, you have got a long and tortuous journey in front of you to sort this out.
I recommend you all click through and read the story...
Why Is This Case Being Brought?
Why the hell did they just not set their VCRs to record the damned thing?
Well the answer is, of course, that the Ministry of Culture and Heritage doesn't sully it's intellectual fingers with Rugby. After all the Minister has instructed that Rugby is only to be used for prime ministerial photo opportunities. It is NOT something cultured people of heritage would or should ever watch.
What an appalling waste of tax payers' money. I wonder how many courses of Herceptin or other life preserving non funded drugs could have been funded instead of this fiasco.
New Miracle Cure For Aids
The proposal is to micro-chip aids carriers who are known to possess aggressive sexual tendencies.
Naturally there is a hue and cry, with the usual blether about human rights and all sorts. Apparently it is a 'human right' these days to impregnate anything that walks with your lethal seed if you feel the urge.
RNZ did not go into any detail of the actual micro-chipping but Adolf has done some research.
Apparently the chip is embedded beneath the flaccid foreskin while the recipient is suitably restrained. Upon the onset of erection, a signal is sent to the pituitary gland which emits a stream of libido inhibitors into the blood stream and lo and behold, the moment has passed before it has arrived. Problem solved. No matter how pissed, no matter how spaced out, no erection, no jiggy jig, no spread of HIV. Simple but brilliant.
New Zealand Cricket is investigating, in the hope that this breakthrough when reversed, might put some spine into our batting line up.


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(Reuters) - A bus carrying 42 passengers traveling from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Pennsylvania crashed into a Boston overpass on Saturday night, injuring 34 people, according to emergency officials.
The crash happened about 7:30 p.m. EST on Soldiers Field Road in Boston, according to Boston Emergency Medical Services spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan.
Medical workers transported 34 people to four area hospitals - 30 with minor injuries, three serious, and one life-threatening, Mehigan said. Some people had to be removed through the bus roof, strapped onto backboards, according to the Boston Fire Department's Twitter feed.
Mehigan said the injured included teenagers and adults.
"A number of patients were trapped at some point during the incident," Mehigan said. All the victims had been removed from the bus by about 9:30 p.m. She said the fire department had to remove part of the roof of the private Calvary Coach charter bus to perform the rescues.
(The story corrects headline and lead to increase number of injured.)
(Reporting By Mary Wisniewski in Chicago; Editing by Eric Beech and Peter Cooney)

subset: commoncrawl


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Let us know where you're looking and we'll put you in touch with someone who can help.
First Weber Realtors is headquartered in Madison, WI and has more than 70 office locations and nearly 1,400 real estate professionals serving Wisconsin, and with services available for Illinois.
Copyright 2020 MetroMLS - All Rights Reserved - Information is supplied by seller and other third parties and has not been verified


text: This coming Saturday is The Last Cache Bashe of Summer 2009 (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=5620dc13-5805-4709-8940-9e47e4b1d85b) (GC1WT2K) by mainiac1957 (http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?id=139598) (1/1). This is my sixth year of holding this event. I have been more than lucky in the past with great weather. Can it happen again? Come and find out! The prizes are stocked and The grill is heating up. I know a few have regretted not being able to make it, but come out and see who does. I have a new plan for doling out the goodies this year that should be lots of fun. It starts at 11:00 and food around noon or whenever anyone gets hungry. You can post what you are bringing here, but post on the page as well. See you on Saturday!!:cool:


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Pohhla - Have It All (Starring Lanipop) [Unsigned Artist]
Second single off Dough Street Ent's own Pohhla first Mixtape Gramz 2 Grandz ..... Available for download soon on datpiff.com and livemixtapes.com @Pohhla
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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Beginning Beekeeping Workshop Saturday, March 16, 2013
The Midwestern Beekeepers Association will be conducting their 18th Annual Beginning Beekeeping Workshop - an all day event at the 3 Trails Camp, Kansas City, MO 64136. The agenda will include: Bee Biology; Equipment; Acquiring bees; Spring, Fall, and Winter Management; Bee Diseases and Pest Management; Educational Opportunities; Extracting Honey; Beekeeping Etiquette; Questions and Answers; Door Prizes; and a chance to win a complete colony of honey bees. $60 Registration Fee includes a Beekeeping Handbook, membership in the association, a monthly newsletter, refreshments, beverages, and lunch will be provided. Preregistration encouraged.
Beekeeping Supply Vendors will be on site. For more info visit www.midwesternbeekeepers.org


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Roman Catholic priest
From professional athlete to the Catholic priesthood. by Sheryl A. Englund
When the IC football team took the 1991 Division III national title in the championship game against the University of Dayton, quarterback Joe Fitzgerald '93 was in seventh heaven. Joe remembers with relish, too, standing shoulder-to-shoulder...


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HERO CENTRAL: DC SCORES Fosters Active Bodies, Creative Minds For DC Youth | News
Title (Max 100 Characters)
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA9) --- Nana Asare, 17, practices his footwork on the soccer field. He works as a summer camp counselor for DC SCORES, a non-profit organization providing free enrichment programs for over 1,400 low-income youth in the District.
"[K]eeping kids engaged and regularly using their brains and minds is really important 'cause summer learning loss is a massive problem in this city," said Amy Nakamoto, Executive Director of DC SCORES.
Two-hundred and fifty elementary students participate in four summer camps offered by DC SCORES. They follow a daily routine: three hours of soccer practice and three hours of arts enrichment like writing poetry.
Asare coaches a group of 2nd to 5th graders standing on the field at Marie H. Reed Elementary in Adams Morgan. The rising high school senior started playing soccer in fourth grade with DC SCORES.
"He was very quiet, very shy, didn't speak English very well," Nakamoto said.
Asare has since blossomed.
"And over the past what is now nine or ten years, I have watched him from liking soccer, but not communicating very well to being a coach, a counselor, a mentor to young people," Nakamoto added. DC SCORES operates with a staff of teachers and volunteer coaches and mentors.
Working as a camp counselor offers Asare a chance to give back.
"I feel really good. I feel like I'm doing something with myself... And being here is the most important thing because I'm helping these kids who were once in my shoes... become something even more better with this game soccer," he said.
During the school year, DC SCORES also offers after-school enrichment programs for 3rd to 8th graders in 42 District schools. Students engage in creative writing among other activities. DC SCORES encourages every student to explore and find a passion through the creative arts.
"When students come into our program, it's because they don't have the opportunities to participate in sports or to creatively express themselves in other areas," said Nakamoto.
Asare has found his passion in soccer. He currently plays striker on the field. As he plans to further his education, he aspires to play for a soccer team in college.
"Through DC SCORES, I've been able to meet a lot of soccer clubs and teams and meet actual celebrities from these teams, and I guess that's a wonderful experience because knowing you can come to a camp and meet these actual people. It gives you great motivation to keep on doing what your heart desires."
DC SCORES is the flagship program and affiliate of America SCORES, a nation-wide program in 14 cities.
NOTE: Gannett Foundation has provided a grant for DC SCORES.
Produced/Written by: Elizabeth Jia
WUSA9 & WUSA9.com


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Technology seems to come and go more quickly than anyone can get a handle on. There's always something big on the horizon. Remember when phones had cords and weren't in back pockets? Remember, gasp, cassette tapes? Heck, even VHS tapes are becoming phased out as DVDs reign supreme in their high quality and easy usability (can you remember the last time you rewound a movie?).
The fitness industry hasn't ever been accused of being quick to latch on to the next big thing, even though quite a few other industries use cutting-edge technologies to advance their profession. Are we slow, or are we smart?
Here's a look at the top three trends in software, back-office systems and overall technology according to those who should know — manufacturers in the industry:
- The One-Stop Shop Has It All
One of the things almost every manufacturer we talked to said was that the one-stop shop (including everything and anything from retention services to marketing) was smart for club owners and good for the industry.
"I would think that further integration is wise. As you move down the road with complex systems of thousands of people, you would like to see it all work together." — Dr. Mark Brittingham, president of BSDI.
"The main thing is software that will do everything for [club owners], so they don't have to go out and get individual packages. Overall, people are looking for ease of use, flexibility, price and good service." — Bonnie Schmidt, sales and marketing manager of Coral Springs Software.
"I do see that we are talking with and being approached by a lot of management software companies to be able to offer our service to their members. That's a wonderful thing." — Richard Eastrom, president of Retention Management.
The benefits are a seamless fit with the rest of their system, and the other huge benefit is support. There's only one call to make and one person to ask if there's a problem with it. It cuts down on [club owner's] frustration considerably." — Jonathon Ross, director of business and development at CSI Software.
"We've always tried to tell different clients that you need to leave back-office management systems to people who have the support team to do it. So that [club owners] can do their job." — Randy McCollum, sales manager for Fair Finance.
- The Wonderful Web
With more and more club Web sites popping up, this trend is a no-brainer. Manufacturers overwhelmingly said that bridging the Internet with software has been great for the industry by moving us into a paperless environment that also offers endless documentation of member trends and numbers. In addition, members are coming to expect it.
"Really, the new technologies are Web based. The advantage is that it reduces the initial startup costs and allows all the infrastructure to be outsourced, such as virus checking, updates, upgrades. You don't have to have your own staff do that. Just about everyone has one of those [Web sites] these days." — Bill Nichtberger, executive vice president, Aphelion.
"Putting things online for clients to see anytime, anywhere is probably the biggest thing. They [club owners] can get it right from their computer — night, noon, weekends. It's just that accessibility to information is what people want now and in real time. It's like everything else in life. People are used to getting stuff right now." — Tamara Valdez, vice president of marketing and communications at ASF.
"I think you'll see the emergence of technology for marketing. People are more acclimated to the Web. What we've been able to see is that if you have the right application, you can customize that application…When you're designing a Web site, you need to be two steps in front. You want to be able to build on that design as things change." — Pete Diffendal, vice president of marketing for MembersFirst Inc.
"The acceptance of email has exploded. This trend is only going to get stronger, and clubs that are interacting with their members via email are doing it more efficiently, more timely, less expensively, and for most members it's preferred." — Richard Eastrom, president of Retention Management.
- Technology for Technology's Sake?
If one thing's for sure, it's that some technology seems really cool at first glance. But from what we've heard, the sci-fi gimmicks don't always stick. For a new technology to be successful it has to be useful, have staying power and make financial sense. Some of the latest techno trends are fingerprint, eye and hand scanning. But in many ways the fitness industry is just now coming around to a few tricks other industries have been using for years. And for some club owners the technology doesn't matter at all.
"I find the industry to be more wait-and-see, and it takes considerable time to introduce a new technology…Maybe there's nothing bad about this. What value does it add?" — Benson Fine, president and CEO of Conexion, LLC.
"Fingerprinting is not as accurate as some of the other kinds [of biometrics]. Even eye scanning isn't as accurate as palm. There are some challenges with thumbprints. Older folks have challenges because of dry skin. There's a few clubs that use that now, but most have abandoned it. We're looking at hand-scan technology, which has a low failure rate." — Ron Poliseno, director of client development for CheckFree Health and Fitness.
"There is beginning to be a bigger demand for gift cards in the industry. It's very similar to other retail businesses." — Carole Oat, sales manager at Twin Oaks Software.
"We really stress the circuit and cross training and anything that can give our clients a better workout. It's not really about technology. If we have the technology to give them a better workout, then that's what it's all about." — Tracy Barrett, marketing coordinator for SCIFIT.
So, there you have it. The top three things you can look for in the coming year. But, don't be afraid to speak up and talk to the manufacturers about what you want and what your facility needs. Most say that they welcome feedback and ideas.
Also, make sure you're using your technology to its fullest potential. One manufacturer confided that most facilities using club management software only use about 20 percent of the capabilities offered. Without incurring any further cost those clubs could utilize 50 percent, look at the trends and help them decrease spending and increase profits.
The take home message though is that clients and potential clients shouldn't be afraid to ask for more.
"People don't look carefully enough and see if it will work with their facility. Demand more," Brittingham says. "The biggest revolution in technology is when people realize they're not stupid and actually computers are too stupid for them, and then vendors will have to build it better. That should be the revolution."


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I have been given the task of implementing some QA testing into a massive existing system. We're going to start out with system-level tests and might add unit tests if it is deemed necessary.
I don't really know where to start. I'm thinking of creating a new project in the main solution dedicated entirely to QA testing. From there, I'll just add system-level NUnit tests that can be run automatically from that project.
How does that sound? I want to make sure that I make the right decisions now so that the QA system doesn't get messy and overly complicated in the future. Since it will be running alongside a big system, I anticipate that it too will grow to be a big system, which makes it vulnerable to becoming a cumbersome mess of code.
Any suggestions would be great!


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Billie - Serpent
The Billie is our new favorite babe straight from the 80s.
High waisted, cheeky and backless, the Billie is our new must have of the season. This little number fits like a second skin, while complementing your best attributes and will be the staple of your summer. This one piece will have you frolicking in the ocean in impeccable style (and also looks amazing with denim shorts! Yep, nailed it). WE ARE IN LOVE!
- High neck
- Bow Tie Neck Closure
- Open Back
- High waisted
- 2 inch elastic support
- Dry Fast and UV protective
Made in California out of 100% Italian Recycled Fabric -given new life through recycling fishing nets.
Jenny is wearing a size Small


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1 Hobart, Tasmania Solar Power Contractors
Installing solar panels on the roof of your Hobart, Tasmania home can help you avoid the rising cost of electricity, increase the value of your home, and reduce your carbon footprint. Solar energy is clean and renewable, and government rebates, subsidies and grants encourage homeowners to make the switch. Solar power systems can heat your home, produce electricity and provide hot water so that your home is entirely self sufficient. So whether you want to improve your home's energy efficiency, save money, or do your bit for the environment, use Houzz to find the best solar power contractor for your needs. More
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By Tom O'Neill, National Geographic Magazine
Florence, Italy — Around midnight, the narrow streets and broad squares of central Florence empty except for a few carousers, lights flicker in the windows of an upper floor windows of the Palazzo Vecchio, the imposing stone-fronted building that serves as City Hall. Inside some two dozen people, chiefly scientists and engineers from the University of California at San Diego, Italian art conservators, and members of a National Geographic Television crew, are moving up and down a four-story scaffolding erected in the grand Salone de Cinquecento, the Hall of Five Hundred. The scaffolding faces a large mural of clashing soldiers painted in 1563 by Giorgio Vasari, a favorite son of Florence who redesigned the Palazzo and painted the huge patriotic frescoes that line its upper walls. However, it's what might lie hidden behind the Vasari mural that is causing all the middle-of-the-night commotion.
It's chilly inside the grand hall, but hardly anyone notices. Every night this week, a kind of slow-motion, yet fevered search unfolds, the culmination of a years-long effort to determine if Leonardo Da Vinci's "Battle of Anghiari," last seen some 450 years ago, is hidden behind the Vasari fresco. Principal investigator Maurizio Seracini and his UCSD troops, a collection of mostly grad students clad in white lab coats and versed in high-tech imagery and material analysis, are huddled around a small hole drilled above the right kneecap of a soldier painted on the wall. Seracini has inserted an endoscope into the roughly six and a half inch long space and now an amazingly clear image appears on a small monitor. The fiber-optic probe seems to fly through space as it passes clouds of puffy mortar and comes to rest on a hard white space, as pocked as the moon. Dust particles fly about. Seracini keeps pointing out those floating wisps. TV director Max Salomon and his crew press close. From the image Seracini, as excitable as the patrician, white-haired Florentine native seems to get, announces in a level voice that the image proves a gap truly exists between the Vasari wall and the building's outer wall, in this case, only a fraction of an inch, but wide enough to accommodate the Leonardo mural. Radar and thermographic surveys done in previous years had shown a gap, the only one in the hall and one possibly constructed by Vasari to protect the Leonardo mural. Now a high-resolution fiber optic image appears to confirm it.
If everything goes to plan—no sure thing given the constant negotiations over where to insert the probes, the mounting fatigue of the participants who are working long hours, from morning to well past midnight, and the tensions and excitement of the investigation—the hope is that at least one new hole will be opened. Conservators from the famed Opficio delle Pietre Dure, a public institute specializing in art restoration, are being very cautious in giving approval to entry points. Their duty, affirmed by Seracini and the National Geographic, is to protect the Vasari fresco, a historic artwork in its own right, and to this point they are allowing drilling only on previously damaged or pigment-free spots. Seracini and his team are also collecting samples from the entry points. Any sign of organic material, like wax or pitch or linseed oil, could indicate the prepared surface of the Leonardo mural. Of course, what everyone wants to see is a hint of pigment.
The analysis will be slow in coming, as Seracini's engineers and scientists are as cautious and painstaking in their work as the conservators. In the meantime another night approaches and with it the prospect of another entry point and images that will attract yet again a hushed midnight crowd on the scaffolding.
This project is funded in part by the National Geographic Society's Expeditions Council. The entire process is being documented for a National Geographic documentary premiering globally on National Geographic Channels worldwide beginning in mid-January. National Geographic magazine will also be reporting on the project.


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Since I'm about to start working on a prequel to Times of Trouble and Times of Trial, I decided I should probably work on a timeline for the characters, since I also had to figure out how to keep the timeline straight in Times of Trial after writing Times of Trouble. This is a rough draft, but I'm sure some people are curious about the dates in the novels of when the characters were born, got married, went to college, etc. Since this is a 100+ year period, I might have to break up the next novel into parts, but I'll just have to see how it goes.
1915 – George Leonard Evans born in New York City, grandfather of Michael Evans
1920 – Charles Atwood born in Fairfax, Virginia, great grandfather of Brian
1940's -George Evans collaborates with the NAZI's, begins to gain power; Charles Atwood fights in Europe during WW 2
1948 – Tom Atwood born in Virginia, grandfather of Brian; Evans protests the re-creation of Israel, tries to talk England out of giving them any land whatsoever
1952 – Amy Atwood born in Virginia, Tom Atwood's sister
1950 – George Evans marries Vera Thompson
1952 – Jason Michael Evans born in California
1971 – Jason and Amy meet in college at the University of Southern California. Amy is a born again Christian, Jason was raised as an atheist, but after some time with Amy, Jason also becomes a Christian
1973 – Jason and Amy get married
1974 – Aaron Atwood born in Virginia, father of Brian, family moves to Delaney, Nebraska after Tom serves in Vietnam
1975 – Michael James Evans born
1976 – George, not liking the fact that his son and heir is a Christian, has Jason and Amy killed off, adopts Michael, vows to make the Atwood family miserable because they converted his son
1990 – Charles Atwood dies
1993 – Michael graduates high school, sent to Harvard
1993 – David Collins born in Florida to a powerful political family with connections to George Evans
1997 – Michael graduates Harvard. George is 82, transfers everything over to Michael, dies a few months later
2000 – Brian Atwood's parents marry
2001 – 9/11 Terrorist attacks, Lynda Delaney's parents marry, Aaron Atwood joins the Army, goes to Afghanistan, Lynda's dad goes to Iraq
2002 – JahAngir Karimi born in London
2003 – Heather Delaney born nine months after her father returns on leave
2004 – Aaron returns from Afghanistan
2005 – Frank Atwood, brother of Brian, born in Delaney; Paul Delaney born nine months after father returns on leave
2008 – Brian born
2009 – Lynda Delaney born nine months after father is on leave
2011 – Melissa Atwood born; Mike Delaney born nine months after father on leave
2012 – Lynda's father dies in Iraq before U.S. withdrawal; Michael discovers Karimi in orphanage, raises him to be the future Islamic savior
2015 – Collins is sent to Harvard, paid for by Evans
2019 – Collins graduates Harvard
2020 – Collins becomes Mayor of Miami, Florida using Evans' political connections
2028 – Tom Atwood dies
2024 – Collins runs for and wins a Florida State Senate seat
2026 – Brian serves in the U.S. Air Force for four years 2026 – 2030
2027 – Lynda attends Pensacola Christian College 2027 – 2031
2032 – Brian and Lynda marry; Collins elected as a U.S. Senator for Florida
2035 – Brian's parents die in a mysterious car wreck
2038 – Collins elected President of the United States
2042 – Collins declares his dictatorship, Karimi takes over Iran, Lynda dies of breast cancer
2043 – Collins assassinated, United States falls apart, Christians are raptured, Evans takes over, Karimi is revealed as the anti-Christ, Yellowstone Caldera blows up
204? – Tribulation period
I don't know if this clears anything up, but I hope it helps, and if anyone has any helpful suggestions, please leave a comment.


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Top Items:
Stephen Shankland / CNET News:
Obama releases iPhone recruiting, campaign tool — Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign launched an iPhone application on Thursday that turns the vaunted device into a political recruiting tool. — The most notable feature "organizes and prioritizes your contacts by key battleground states …
MG Siegler / VentureBeat: iObama: The Democrats get an iPhone app
Ed Oswald / Technologizer: Obama Campaign Launches iPhone App
Matt Buchanan / Gizmodo: Obama '08 iPhone App Is Grassroots Gadgetry Perfection
Jeff / Venture Chronicles: Obama iPhone App
Nicole Martinelli / Cult of Mac: Obama for America iPhone app
Brian Heater / AppScout: Obama for America: New iPhone App
Warner Crocker / Life On the Wicked Stage: Obama Campaign Now Has an iPhone App
Paul Boutin / Valleywag: Obama's iPhone app spots your swing-state contacts
Eric Suesz / Demand Satisfaction!: Neat-O Obama iPhone App
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land: Google Gets Political With Voting Tools
Obama '08: The Official iPhone Application — Obama '08 is your official, comprehensive connection to the heart of Barack Obama and Joe Biden's campaign, giving you the tools you need to make an impact and stay in the know. — Making a difference takes only moments using the Call a Friend feature.
Discussion: Infinite Loop, 9 to 5 Mac, Macworld, techPresident, TUAW, Technology Live, Mashable!, Gadget Lab, The Apple Blog, innonate, GMSV, The Apple Core and raven.me
Seth Weintraub / 9 to 5 Mac: Obama supporters now have iPhone application
Peter Cohen / Macworld: Obama camp offers iPhone app
Michael Whitney / techPresident: Obama Releases iPhone App, but Why? [UPDATED]
Michael Rose / TUAW: Official iPhone app for Obama '08 now in App Store
Michelle Kessler / Technology Live: Obama's iPhone app organizes contacts by battleground states
Paul Glazowski / Mashable!: Obama iPhone App Provides Platform for Supporters
Brian X. Chen / Gadget Lab: Obama Invades the iPhone App Store
Darrell Etherington / The Apple Blog: Obama for iPhone — Billed as "your official, comprehensive connection …
Nate Westheimer / innonate: BREAKING: Obama '08 iPhone app now available
Jason D. O'Grady / The Apple Core: Obama campaign unleashes iPhone app
Raven Zachary / raven.me: [Raven] Obama '08 for iPhone
Scott Goodstein / Barack Obama and Joe Biden:
Introducing the Obama 08 iPhone App
Introducing the Obama 08 iPhone App
Discussion: Today @ PC World, L.A. Times Tech Blog and webmonkey
Michelle Quinn / L.A. Times Tech Blog: Barack Obama iPhone software is a political tool
Adam DuVander / webmonkey: Obama Has An iPhone App
Martin Veitch / CIO UK Magazine:
INTERVIEW: Steve Ballmer on the Cloud, Google, data centres and the cult of Apple — Microsoft will out-cloud Google — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer delivered the keynote speech at his company's London conference "Technologies to Change Your Business: How Customers Are Implementing Tomorrow's Strategies Today".
Discussion: Download Squad, Beyond Binary, wmpoweruser.com, Mobility Site and Pocket PC Thoughts.com
Brad Linder / Download Squad: Zune music player heading to Windows Mobile
Ina Fried / Beyond Binary: Ballmer: Zune coming to Windows Mobile
Steve Ballmer: CIGREF
Steve Ballmer: CIGREF
Discussion: Beyond Binary and InfoWorld
Ina Fried / Beyond Binary: Ballmer offers more on 'Windows Cloud'
Rory Cellan-Jones / BBC:
Google 'Goliath' Microsoft says
Google 'Goliath' Microsoft says
Discussion: DailyTech, Beyond Search, Epicenter, Silicon Alley Insider and Google Android News …
Shane McGlaun / DailyTech: The World According to Ballmer
Stephen E. Arnold / Beyond Search: Microsoft Sees Google as Goliath
Meghan Keane / Epicenter: Microsoft's Ballmer Throws Stones, Calls Google "Goliath"
Greg Sandoval / CNET News:
Royalty rate doesn't change for Apple, music retailers — The Copyright Royalty Board on Thursday froze the rate that digital-music stores, such as iTunes and RealNetworks' Rhapsody, must pay music publishers. — On Thursday, the three-member board that sets statutory copyright licenses e-mailed …
Discussion: VentureBeat, ZDNet Government, Between the Lines, paidContent.org, Portfolio, AppScout, TG Daily, dailywireless.org, GMSV, Idolator, Valleywag, MacUser and Today @ PC World
Richard Koman / ZDNet Government: Apple wins royalty rate showdown
Joseph Weisenthal / paidContent.org: Copyright Royalty Board Holds The Rate; iTunes Lives To See Another Day
Andrea Chalupa / Portfolio: Apple Threatens to Shut Down iTunes Over Royalty Hike
Chloe Albanesius / AppScout: Royalty Board Shuns Rate Hike. iTunes Saved!
Wolfgang Gruener / TG Daily: Royalty rates frozen, iTunes not shutting down
Sam Churchill / dailywireless.org: Nokia's iPhone Killer
John Murrell / GMSV: Apple bluff beats royalty flush
Lucas Jensen / Idolator: iTunes Might Become Slightly Less Profitable [Royalties]
Jackson West / Valleywag: Apple and other online music retailers get their way
Cyrus Farivar / MacUser: Why Apple won't shutter iTunes
Ian Paul / Today @ PC World: Might iTunes Shut Down?
John Biggs / CrunchGear:
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic aka the Tube released plus first hands-on — Click here to open the post in your browser to see the gallery. — Here are some initial shots of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic aka the Tube aka the first Symbian S60 touchscreen phone. — The Tube is here, folks …
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch: Qik To Come Pre-Loaded On New Nokia Phone
Steve O'Hear / last100: Nokia launches 5800 XpressMusic touchscreen phone (formally known as the "Tube")
Zach Epstein / Boy Genius Report: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic finally announced
Jon / p2pnet: Nokia launches The Tube
Charlie White / DVICE: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone debuts, falls short
Christian Zibreg / TG Daily: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: Beating Apple at its own game
Stowe Boyd / /Message: The Tube Debuts — I remember how the Nokia execs …
Stephen Schenck / Obsessable: Nokia launches touchscreen 5800 XpressMusic handset, Comes …
Roland Tanglao / Roland Tanglao's Weblog: It's all about the usability, not the features …
Joshua Topolsky / Engadget: Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic phone intimately detailed on video
Paul Miller / Engadget:
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic hands-on — She's arrived at last, the 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia's tardy entry into the (modern) touchscreen phone space, and we've gotten some quality face time with the device. Appropriately nicknamed the Tube, the device has a number of Nokia peculiarities …
Discussion: Apple Gazette
John Mahoney / Gizmodo:
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: Hands-on With Nokia's First S60 Touch Phone — The 5800 XpressMusic (aka Tube) is the first touchscreen Symbian S60 phone from Nokia—a surprising fact considering how prominent touchscreens have quickly become over the last few years.
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Boing Boing Gadgets, Electronista and Engadget
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider: Nokia Unveils New Touchscreen Phone, Vows To Beat RIM In Mobile Email
John Brownlee / Boing Boing Gadgets: Nokia finally unveils the 'Tube', rechristened the Xpress Music 5880
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:
Nokia Reveals iPhone Competitor And Goes to Battle With iTunes (UPDATED)
Nokia Reveals iPhone Competitor And Goes to Battle With iTunes (UPDATED)
Discussion: Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim
Jordan McCollum / Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim: Gphone Sold Out; More iPhone Killers to Come?
MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
So much for that tech stock rebound: Apple, Yahoo, Google killed again — The stock market took a plunge again today. While it wasn't quite as bad as Monday's free-fall, the Dow fell 348.22 points (3.22 percent), the Nasdaq fell 92.68 points (4.48 percent) and the S&P 500 fell 46.78 points (4.03 percent).
Discussion: Industry Standard and Silicon Alley Insider
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Yahoo Drops to $15.58 a Share (But Microsoft Still Uninterested) — To be fair, the whole market was dragged down today due to worries about a deepening recession. But Yahoo's ever-decreasing share price has got to have the company and its investors mighty worried.
IPhone Steals Lead Over Kindle — It's official: The iPhone is more popular than Amazon.com's Kindle. And not just in the obvious categories like listening to music, browsing the Web or the other applications where Kindle barely competes. Now, the iPhone is also muscling into Amazon's home turf: reading books.
Discussion: MacNN, Epicenter, Macsimum News and MacDailyNews
Chris Snyder / Epicenter: IPhone Stanza Downloads May Top Kindle Sales
Dennis Sellers / Macsimum News: iPhone more popular than Amazon's Kindle for reading eBooks
Peter Kafka / Silicon Alley Insider:
Yes, Yahoo Cuts Coming. How Many? (YHOO) — Now that even the most stubbornly optimistic Yahoos have had time to digest Jerry Yang's "shape up" memo, layoff rumors are in full swing. The most pessimistic prediction we've heard so far, from an anonymous tipster: 3,500 heads will roll. Plausible?
Discussion: Portfolio, CNET News, Valleywag and WebProNews
Andrea Chalupa / Portfolio: Big Tech's Big Layoffs
Dawn Kawamoto / CNET News: Yahoo to cut its workforce?
Nicholas Carlson / Valleywag: Don't worry Yahoos, 80 percent of you are definitely safe
Chris Crum / WebProNews: Yahoo! May Be Dumping A Lot More People
Justin Berka / Infinite Loop:
Ballmer recommends separating iPhone hardware and software — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has never been shy about voicing his opinions on any given issue. At an interview conducted during a recent Churchill Club event in California, Ballmer chose to weigh in on Apple and the iPhone, and even gave the company some friendly advice.
Discussion: TUAW and The iPhone Blog
Robert Palmer / TUAW: Ballmer channels 1985, suggests Apple split iPhone hardware and OS
Rene Ritchie / The iPhone Blog: Should Apple Break Up the iPhone? Ballmer Says Yes!
Fred / A VC:
Hacker News, Techmeme, and Google Blog Search — I just hate the word "killer" in a headline. It means the author is sensationalizing the potential outcome of a new product launch. Friend Feed was going to kill Twitter, Facebook was going to kill MySpace, Google Base was going to kill Craigslist.
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, LiewCF.com, John Battelle's Searchblog, Global Nerdy and Computerworld
Frederic Lardinois / ReadWriteWeb: Google Blogsearch Already Getting Spammed by PayPerPost
Heather Havenstein / Computerworld: Google launches 'Google News for blogs'
Ian Lamont / Industry Standard:
Is Google Blog Search a Techmeme killer? No way.
Is Google Blog Search a Techmeme killer? No way.
Discussion: Google Watch, Guardian, Search Engine Land and Portfolio
Jack Schofield / Guardian: Google recasts blog search as news
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land: Google Blogs & Other "Front Pages" For The Blogosphere
Kevin Maney / Portfolio: Google's Blog Search: Next Iteration of a Good Idea
Josh Silverman / Skype Blogs:
Skype President Addresses Chinese Privacy Breach — You may have seen some reports in the media about a security and privacy breach in the software provided by our Chinese partner, TOM Online. I'm writing to let you know where we stand, and what we're doing to resolve the problem.
Discussion: CircleID, InformationWeek, TechSpot and Threat Level
Thomas Claburn / InformationWeek: Skype Defends VoIP IM Monitoring In China
Jose Vilches / TechSpot: Skype admits privacy breach in China
New York Times:
Credit Crisis Spreads a Pall Over Silicon Valley — SAN FRANCISCO — Since the credit crisis began gripping the financial world, Silicon Valley has watched from the sidelines, secure in the faith that it was insulated from the coming storm. — That faith is now being seriously undermined.
Andy Stadler / Google Mobile Blog:
Google on Android: Search — On September 23, T-Mobile announced the world's first Android-powered phone, the G1. The phone comes preloaded with Search, Maps, Gmail with Contacts, Calendar, Google Talk, and YouTube. The applications are easy to use, fully synchronized with the web …
Discussion: TechCrunch, InformationWeek, Search Engine Watch, FierceMobileContent, CrunchGear, Open Source, WebProNews and 9 to 5 Mac
Mark Hendrickson / TechCrunch: Is Search The Best User Interface For Mobile?
Eric Zeman / InformationWeek: Google Demos Search Capabilities Of Android
Nathania Johnson / Search Engine Watch: How Google is Integrating Search into Android and the G1
Nicholas Deleon / CrunchGear: Video: Predictive search on the T-Mobile G1 works splendidly
Dana Blankenhorn / Open Source: Android sucks oxygen from mobile broadband room
Chris Crum / WebProNews: A Closer Look at Search on the Google Phone
Andy Space / 9 to 5 Mac: Google Android's predictive search exposed
Dan / UNEASYsilence:
Run Leopard (Mac OS 10.5) on a Dell Mini 9 — I'm a huge fan of ultra portables! They are small, light and just powerful enough to do what you need to get done. Sure I run Windows (in VMware), but for me the Mac OS better fits my lifestyle, but if you are looking for an ultra portable you are going to have to look beyond Cupertino.
Discussion: Liliputing and Gizmodo
Mark Wilson / Gizmodo: Dell Inspiron Mini 9, Now Running OS X Leopard
Walt Mossberg / Personal Technology:
One Way to Turn a Mac Into a PC Just Got Better — There are two common methods for running Microsoft Windows and Windows programs on an Apple (AAPL) Macintosh, and one of those methods just got better and easier. — The first approach uses a feature called Boot Camp that comes free on every new Mac.
Discussion: The Mac Observer
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
Apple settles class-action suit over faulty notebook adapters — Apple has agreed, without admitting fault, to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that power adapters sold with certain Power PC-based iBook and PowerBook notebooks were defective in that they could dangerously fray, sparks and prematurely fail to work.
Discussion: Infinite Loop, CrunchGear, Lockergnome Blog Network and O'Grady's PowerPage
Jacqui Cheng / Infinite Loop: Faulty iBook/PowerBook power adapter list expanded
Chris Barylick / O'Grady's PowerPage: Apple Settles iBook, PowerBook Notebook Adapter Case
Liz Gannes / NewTeeVee:
YouTube Rolls Out Post-Roll Video Ads — YouTube, which has never had trouble growing an audience but hasn't yet figured out the trick for monetizing them thar eyeballs, is adding a trick from the old playbook: post-roll advertisements. As we understand it (and this has been confirmed with the company) …
Vasanth Sridharan / Silicon Alley Insider: Eric Schmidt's Secret YouTube Plan Unveiled? …
Frederic Lardinois / ReadWriteWeb: Google's Latest Attempt to Monetize YouTube: Post-Roll Ads
Meghan Keane / Epicenter: YouTube Is Testing New Post-Roll Ads
Eve Bergazyn / Contentinople: Online Advertising: Three Worst Practices
Owen Thomas / Valleywag: YouTube adds ad format Google derided
Alan Patrick / broadstuff: THE DESPERATE SEARCH FOR THE ROLE OF VIDEO ADS
Andy Beal / Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim: YouTube Cries: "For the Love of Pete, Please Click on an Ad!"
Michael Masnick / Techdirt: How To Do Advertising On YouTube: Make It Awesome
Chris Crum / WebProNews: YouTube Putting Commercials in Videos
Paul Glazowski / Mashable!: YouTube Dips its Toe into Post-Roll Video Advertising
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:
Will A La Carte Programming Save Sirius-XM? No (SIRI) — Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) has started rolling out some of the features that it promised during its merger review process, like cross-over programming between the two satelite radio services, and new radios that can access a-la-carte programming packages.
Discussion: paidContent.org, Technologizer and Portfolio
Staci D. Kramer / paidContent.org: Sirius XM Tries To Show Merger Proof Is In The Pudding; Adds …
Ed Oswald / Technologizer: Sirius XM Makes Good on A La Carte Promise
Laura Rich / Portfolio: Last Bytes: Nokia, Venture Capital, YouTube, more
David Pogue / New York Times:
For Purists, a Cut Above in Movies — So Mrs. Hollywood comes home one day to find her husband bound and gagged, with a hole shot through his foot. "Honey!" she screams, racing to help him. "Who did this to you?" — Mr. Hollywood looks up and says, "I did." — Granted, that joke isn't ha-ha funny.
Discussion: NewTeeVee
Chris Albrecht / NewTeeVee: Vid-Biz: NBC, Vudu, CDN Prices
Marc Flores / Boy Genius Report:
T-Mobile HTC Shadow II is on the horizon — Following up on their popular and consumer-friendly T-Mobile Shadow, the boys in pink are releasing the Shadow 2. While we've seen it before, from these pics, it looks a little better and definitely a nice successor to the original.
Discussion: TmoNews and wmpoweruser.com
Josh Lowensohn / Webware.com:
PrintWhatYouLike makes any site printer friendly — There's nothing worse than trying to print a two-page article from the Web and have it print out in a half-inch column across 37 sheets of paper. It happens all the time, and if the site you're on doesn't have a special printer friendly option …
Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:
For Sale: Freescale's Wireless Chip Biz — Cheap — Freescale Semiconductor said this afternoon that in an effort to focus its energies on high-growth segments such as automotive and networking chips, it will consider strategic options for its wireless chip business, including its possible sale.
Discussion: Tech Beat, Freescale Semiconductor and Tech Confidential
Mitch Haws / Freescale Semiconductor: Freescale Sharpens Focus on High-Growth Markets Investment strategy …
Olaf de Senerpont Domis / Tech Confidential: Freescale's new focus doesn't include cell chip business
Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
Five years of failure: EFF says RIAA must embrace new model — In a new report released Wednesday, the Electronic Frontier Foundation wonders aloud about the RIAA's litigation conflagration with questions like "Has the arbitrary singling out of nearly 30,000 random American families helped …
Bill Ray / The Register:
California outlaws RFID tag skimming — You looking at my ID? — California governor Schwarzenegger has signed a law making the illegitimate reading of RFID tags illegal, but blocked a measure making the unauthorised tracking of kids equally so. — RFID Journal reports that anyone skimming …
Discussion: RFID Journal, Ars Technica and PC Pro
Matt Burns / CrunchGear:
Where are all the Blu-ray TV show releases? — The vast majority of TV shows produced over the last few years have been filmed in high definition. Even if the channel didn't have a HD station at the time, the show was still probably shot in HD. So where are all the Blu-ray releases of these shows?
Mike Schramm / TUAW: No Blu-ray on Macs... and no one cares
Matthew Moskovciak / Crave: Is BD-Live even necessary? — We've never been completely sold …


text:
Arguably the world's most famous wedding dress, Princess Diana's royal bridal gown arrived at the Frazier History Museum Wednesday, Sept. 12.
The iconic dress was uncrated and installed at the museum as part of the new 4-month exhibit opening Sept. 15, "Diana: A Celebration," a tribute to the late princess' life.
The local media received a rare glimpse of the dress up close as Nick Grossmark and Graeme Murton – the only people on earth permitted to handle the gown – removed the ivory garment from its shipping crate and readied it in its exhibition case. Grossmark and Murton have spent more than a decade with the exhibition, caring for and installing the clothing on view, which also includes 28 dresses from Diana's public life.
"Wherever we go with (the dress), people's reaction is different every time but there's always the sense (that Diana) was someone that they really respected and loved and it's very sad that she's no longer with us," said Grossmark.
The dress was designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, cost $1,900 (bridesmaid dresses included in the price) and took more than four months to hand craft. In order to protect the vestment, the dress is hermetically sealed and kept under fiber-optic lighting. All exhibition cases are regulated, as well.
"Diana: A Celebration," produced by Arts & Exhibitions International and on loan from the Althorp Estate, the Spencer family's ancestral home in England, includes nine galleries with more than 150 personal pieces, such as family heirlooms, mementoes, diamond tiaras, jewels and rare home movies. The Royal Wedding gallery features Diana's brilliant gown, diamond tiara, veil and 25-foot train, as well as her shoes, parasol and bridesmaids' dresses.
Presented by Chase and JP Morgan, the 7,500 sq. ft. exhibition inside the Frazier Museum explores the life and humanitarian work of one of the 20th century's most remarkable women. The exhibition has averaged 100,000 visitors at past venues and is expected to draw another large, faithful crowd in Louisville. A portion of proceeds generated to the Althorp Estate from the exhibition benefit charitable causes including the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.
"Diana: A Celebration†is on display at the The Frazier History Museum, 829 W. Main St., through Jan. 13, 2013.
Admission to "Diana: A Celebration,†which is optional and includes entry to the Frazier Museum permanent galleries, is $21.50 for adults (ages 15 to 59); $19.50 for seniors (60+) and $10 for children (4 to 14); children 3 and under are free. For tickets, call 888.71.842.5387 or visit www.fraziermuseum.org. Advance tickets are recommended. Online and phone service fees apply. Special rates for museum members and groups are available.
During "Diana: A Celebration,†museum operating hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Wednesday until 8 p.m.
The museum is hosting a series of Princess Tea parties and a Girls Night Out event during the run of the exhibition.
Photos by CHRIS HUMPHREYS | The Voice-Tribune


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text:
uma midwest necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 55 diseños de 14 diseñadores freelance.
Midwest Group
We are a global mining company primarily focused on Natural Stone, mainly granite and marble mining in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam etc. We are among the top 3 companies in Natural Stone mining in India. We have won the best mine award for the year 2009 on a national level and are also a recognized 'star export house'. Now we have diversified into exploration and mining of Coal. We have Coal mines in Mozambique which contain a mix of thermal and coking coal. Our current website is http://www.midwestgranite.com which has only information about our natural stone operations. We would like to change the skin of this website and focus on the Coal operations and have minimum information on our natural stone business. We plan to go for an IPO in March 2011 on ASX exchange, Australia hence would like a very professional looking website.
Our target audience are global investors, but mainly the Australian investors both high net worth individuals and also institutional investors including large Australian securities firms like Patersons, JW Were Gold Man Sachs, Bell Potter Securities, RBS Morgans, Wilson HTM, etc..The idea is to remember that the company is going to go for an IPO hence a vast range of investors would be looking at the site before investing.
I have attached some pictures to this profile. A professional looking website is the highest priority and it should not be too busy, i.e. not too many things happening. Websites of other Coal Companies are listed below in the order of our liking, the best one being Riversdale mining.
1) http://www.riversdalemining.com/
2) http://www.centennialcoal.com.au/
3) http://www.coalofafrica.com/
4) http://www.sedgman.com.au/
5) http://www.gloucestercoal.com.au/
Please make the website on these lines and also try and use the colors on our logo as the company logo is not going to change. I have uploaded the logo design, for getting the exact corporate color, the exact green color, please use the RBG color code RED-58%, GREEN-158% and BLUE-156%. Do not use any funny colors or cartoons. Should be a more 'Professional Corporate looking' Website.
The files we will require are:
Print file format - .ai (CMYK)
Web file format - .jpg and layered .psd (RGB)
Please email me on firstname.lastname@example.com in case you have any specific designing questions. If we are happy with your design you will surely be rewarded!