text:
For the week ending 8 November 2003 / 13 Heshvan 5764
Reunion of Brothers
Reunion of Brothers
Avraham Yassin, a Lebanese convert to Judaism residing in a northern Israel community, was recently reunited with his brother Achmed. The latter fled Lebanon together with his four young sons and asked for political asylum.
Both brothers had collaborated with the Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. After 20 yeas of such service, Avraham crossed over to Israel, converted and is now studying in a yeshiva. Achmed remained behind secure in the knowledge that his collaboration was unknown.When his wife recently reported him to the Lebanese police as a past collaborator he began to feel the Hizbullah breathing down his neck. When a summons came from the police he feared for his life and fled with his sons. After the security forces in Israel determined that he was on the level, they allowed Achmed and his sons to join their converted relative while their request for asylum is being considered.


text:
I heard it again this weekend. It was at a gathering of amazing, creative, talented, and fearless women. In this case, however, there was a touch of fear. You could see it in their eyes, the way their voices cracked with a sudden lack of confidence.
The topic was baking with yeast.
You'll hear it all of the time in cooking circles, "Oh, you know, I just can't make anything with yeast in it, it never turns out". I know, I used to be one of those cooks.
Now, I can't get enough. Are my baked goods perfect? Not at all. Do they taste fantastic? Why yes, they do. Oh, and apparently Gordie the Pug loves it as well.
Truth be told, my first loaf of bread came only last year during #Charcutepalooza. I wanted a pumpernickel or rye to go alongside my Cider-Braised Corned Beef. So, I took a deep breath, read the instructions, and low and behold, later that day, I had amazing bread. I was emboldened by such a move, so then I tackled Italian Bread. That recipe has become my go-to for a nice side to any pasta dish, the key is the olive oil, I swear it.
Now, I'll be honest here. Do I make my own bread every week? No. Should I? Yes. This could be that bread. It's simple, with little work or clean-up involved. This could be that perfect bread. It's easily adaptable to whatever you want. It's brought to us by the talented Abby Dodge and a little group we call #baketogether (yes, people, the hashtag is connected to Twitter, and yes, you should try it out, my feed is full of amazing food and people).
"Bake Together" is a group of bloggers, cooks, people, that simply love the art of the baked good. Abby puts a recipe out there every month, and we all re-create it and post our creations. Anyone can join, and after Charcutepalooza, I needed some group baking or cooking love. This is perfect, and frankly, even more up my alley than the meat adventures. Confession here, I actually eat little meat, maybe once or twice a week.
You can throw this bread together in a few hours on a weekend, or in a morning. I'm in love with it, so please go and make it. Oh, and I promise you'll fall in love once you start baking bread. The smell of your kitchen will be irresistible, and you'll come back to it all, again and again.
Cheddar Peasant Boule
(printable recipe)
Yield: 8-10 slices
Source: Abby Dodge
I have added the cheddar to the recipe, but feel free to omit, or add whatever you what. That's what's great about this recipe, it's so adaptable!
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (15 ounces)
- 1 packet instant yeast (1/4 ounce)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
- 1 1/3 cups warm water (125 degrees)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used Cabot's 50% reduced cheddar this time around)
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk together flour, yeast, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Connect bowl to mixer fitted with a dough hook, and take your water (making sure it's 120-125 degrees) and slowly add to the dry mixture with your mixer set at medium-low speed.
- Once the water is well-incorporated, push speed up to medium, and allow the machine to knead the dough until it is smooth, pulls away from the sides and the bottom. According to Abby, this takes about 6 minutes or so.
- Now, take your melted butter and grease up a mixing bowl. Gather the kneaded dough into a ball and place in greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap tightly and place in a draft-free, warm area, and allow to rise about 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- While the dough is rising, butter a 8-inch cake pan (I realized I had only 9-inch, so I improvised), and set aside.
- Once dough has doubled in size, turn out onto a clean work surface. Deflate the dough with your hand, and at this point, shape into a little, fat rectangle, sprinkle cheese across the surface, roll up, and then shape into a 7-inch little rounded loaf.
- Place the dough into your prepared cake pan and place in a warm spot to again double. This time it should only take about 25 minutes.
- While the dough is rising again, make sure your oven baking rack is in the middle, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Once the dough has doubled (filled up the pan), place the pan into the oven.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until the loaf has risen about 2 inches above the pan and when you knock on the middle, it sounds hollow.
- Tip the bread out onto a baking rack and place right side up to cool. Slice, enjoy!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Login Required
You need to have a Pokémon Trainer Club account to save your Favorite Pokémon!Log In Sign Up No Thanks
Swalot has no teeth, so what it eats, it swallows whole, no matter what. Its cavernous mouth yawns widely. An automobile tire could easily fit inside this Pokémon's mouth.
When Swalot spots prey, it spurts out a hideously toxic fluid from its pores and sprays the target. Once the prey has weakened, this Pokémon gulps it down whole with its cavernous mouth.
Damages attackers using any draining move.
Protects the Pokémon from item theft.
The Pokémon Company International is not responsible for the content of any linked website that is not operated by The Pokémon Company International. Please note that these websites' privacy policies and security practices may differ from The Pokémon Company International's standards.
Pokemon.com administrators have been notified and will review the screen name for compliance with the Terms of Use.
Your request could not be completed. Please try again. If the problem persists, please contact Customer Support.


text:
What a crystal clear night here, cold, but still, with an almost full Hunter's Moon overhead. I just got back from a walk and someone's wood fire smoke had saturated the air. I took a deep breath in, closed my eyes, and felt so blessed to have this awesome autumn season still ahead of me here in Connecticut and to have experienced one of the most breathtaking seasons in Vermont in years, that indeed was the icing on the cake. My street is lined with pumpkins, mums, oddly shaped gourds, foliage wreaths on the doors and Halloween décor. There is excitement in the air here, you can just feel it!
The individuality of each of the states brings to the whole of New England a special kind of fall; the landscapes and climates vary so much that autumn can be quite an exciting experience depending on which state you choose to explore. Living in the northeast has its challenges, but I could never change having the four seasons for anything else in the world. I live and breathe my love for New England each and every day, and my passion is to share it with others.
But fall, it is my heart throb. I wake up every morning excited for the day to begin and look forward to my weekend jaunts that bring endless adventures, experiences and new people to meet in the towns, farms and country stores that I travel to. There's nothing like autumn in New England. I feel like I am living a dream sometimes!
To all of you who have come to Vermont and have traveled through all of our other states before and after your Vermont vacation, please slow down and enjoy every blissful moment of this very fleeting season.
Awesome Autumn. These words say it all.
Oh Tis A Sweet Autumn Night here in the NE with the full moon...
Discuss Fall Foliage in Vermont, when to come, where to stay, where to take a tour etc. Note: You must be registered in order to post. If you have trouble registering, use the contact us form on Scenes of Vermont's home page.
Moderators: Andy, pwt54, admin, ctyanky
Post Reply
1 post • Page 1 of 1
Oh Tis A Sweet Autumn Night here in the NE with the full moon...
CT - Board Admin and Moderator for Scenes of Vermont
Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot
Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot
Post Reply
1 post • Page 1 of 1


text:
Instructions here.
Recommended reading (buy a used copy - you won't regret it)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Pumpkin Ghosts
Posted by Rot at 6:42 AM
Labels: 2006, Ghost, ghosts, jack o'lanterns, martha stewart, martha stewart living, pumpkins, tombstones
2 comments:
- Sara said...
Ohhh yeeeaaaaah. That's right, Martha Stewart does it again. Such a cool effect. I heart that woman...or those whom she surrounds herself with to do all of her work. :)
A used copy sounds like a GREAT idea. Done.
- July 30, 2009 at 11:42 AM
- ShellHawk said...
I've had this on my list for a while, so finally did the deed... I still hate that b*%#h, though! She makes the rest of us ordinary women look bad!
- July 30, 2009 at 12:54 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
WLTZ First News drone flies over Smiths Station
You've seen the exclusive video WLTZ First News drone has captured.
From the dramatic pictures of a big, deadly accident on I-185 to the one-of-a-kind view of a police shooting to wildfire smoke blowing into Columbus from Fort Benning.
Our aerial cameras take you to places where no other local news organization is going.
Now, our special reports use that perspective to brag about the places we all know and love.
Watch the attached video of First News Over.
Join us weeknights at 6pm as our aerial tour flies over the Chattahoochee Valley, across East Alabama, and all around the viewing area in Georgia.
If you'd like us to show off your favorite places with our airborne cameras, email your ideas to firstname.lastname@example.com and, say I want WLTZ First News to fly over my hometown.
Categories: Drone Footage


text:
Chef Gear Assorted Wines Faux-Leather Anti-Fatigue Cushioned Kitchen Mat
Chef Gear Assorted Wines Faux-Leather Anti-Fatigue Cushioned Kitchen Mat
Key Features
- Memory Foam
- Spot Clean
Product Description
Chef Gear Faux-Leather Comfort Printed Kitchen Mat Collection with BounceComfort technology reduces back and knee pain while you work. Includes (1) 18" x 30" anti-fatigue kitchen mat. Skid-resistant backing helps keep mat firmly in place. Durable binding helps maintain shape for long-lasting use. Novelty designs on faux-leather in rich, saturated colors complement any home decor. Easy to clean with a damp cloth and mild detergent. Do not machine wash. 100% vinyl cover. 65% rubber NBR. 35% polyurethane memory foam. Backing: non-skid PVC. Imported.
- Features: Memory Foam, Skid Resistant
- Shape: Rectangle
- Measurements: 30 Width/Inches, 18 Length/Inches
- Fabric Content: 100% Vinyl
- Care: Spot Clean
- Country of Origin: Imported
Helpful Guides
Shipping & Returns
Convenient Shipping Options
Not available at your store? We can ship to you directly or to your favorite JCP location.
Easy Returns
Shop with confidence. Read our full, common sense


text:
One of the types of question you get after speaking at a conference about virtualization, like I did at the 2012 PASS Summit with my buddy David Klee (Twitter | Blog), might go down like this:
"Is SQL Server version X supported on hypervisor platform Q?" or something even more specific like "Is SQL Server 2012 supported on VMWare vSphere ESX 4.1 Update 2? Or do I have to upgrade to ESX 5.0?".
Now, when I'm asked a question like this, I usually drool and act like an ape, hoping the the questioner will flee in terror. If they insist on hanging around to hear a real answer, I now refer them to the Windows Server Catalog site thanks to a tip from my NASCAR buddy and Microsoft MVP, Geoff Hiten (Twitter | Blog). For some reason, this very useful site is unknown to most - but it provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on what Microsoft supports. Once you've determined which hypervisor you want to check for support, you can simply search the site for your area of interest, say "Microsoft Server Virtualization Validation".
Since Microsoft certifies OS's for virtualization platforms, you can by extension be assured that any supported application for that OS is also supported on that virtualization platform. So, to answer the early question about VMWare VSphere ESX, you'll find the entry for VMWare VSphere ESX 4.1 (Update 2) at http://www.windowsservercatalog.com/item.aspx?idItem=698bb582-b1ca-7124-05e4-256558d39e68&bCatID=1521.
Make sense?
Now, you know the rest of the story about why I drool and make monkey sounds at some conferences. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.


text:
Oldspeak:"President Obama has claimed the right to detain, eavesdrop on, and kill American citizens without due process. Anwar al-Awlaki was a U.S. citizen. He was ordered assassinated by the President of the United States without presenting any evidence of any kind as to his guilt, without attempting to indict him in any way or comply with any of the requirements of the Constitution that say that you can't deprive someone of life without due process of law. The president ordered him killed wherever he was found, including far away from a battle field, no matter what it was he was doing at the time. And if you're somebody who believes that the president of the United States has the power to order your fellow citizens murdered, assassinated, killed without even a shred of due process, without having to have charged him with a crimes or indict him and prove in a court he's actually guilty, then you're really declaring yourself to be as pure of an authoritarian as it gets." –Glenn Grunwald. Is this what it's come to? The U.S. conspiring with illegitimate and murderous foreign governments to target and kill American deemed citizens undesirable without due process? Now that it's started down this frightfully slippery slope, where does it end? What is there to prevent You or I from being unilaterally targeted for assassination with no evidence of wrongdoing or guilt?"
Related Story:
The Due-Process-Free Assassination Of U.S. Citizens Is Now Reality
By Juan Gonzalez @ Democracy Now:
The United States has confirmed the killing of the radical Yemeni-American cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, in northern Yemen. The Obama administration says Al-Awlaki is one of the most influential al-Qaeda operatives on its 'most wanted' list. In response to news of al-Awlaki's death, constitutional scholar Glenn Greenwald and others argue the assassination of U.S. citizens without due process has now has become a reality. "One of the bizarre aspects of it is that media and government reports try to sell al-Awlaki as some grand terrorist mastermind … describing him as the new bin Laden. The United States government needs a terrorist mastermind to replace Osama bin Laden to justify this type of endless war … For a while, al-Awlaki was going to serve that function," Greenwald says. "If you are somebody that believes the President of the United States has the power to order your fellow citizens murdered, assassinated, killed without a shred of due process … then you are really declaring yourself to be as pure of an authoritarian as it gets."
JUAN GONZALEZ: Shortly before we went on the air this morning, senior U.S. administration officials confirm the killing of the radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in northern Yemen. The United States says Awlaki is one of the most influential Al Qaeda operatives on its most wanted list. News of the death was first announced by Yemen's Defense Ministry in a text message sent to journalists the ministry wrote, "The terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed along with some of his companions," but did not provide further details. In a separate email statement, the Yemeni government reported Awlaki was targeted and killed about 90 miles east of the capital Sanaa. The statement said the attack was launched at 9:55 a.m. local time. Despite the Yemeni government's claims its forces successfully targeted Awlaki in a raid near the capital, sources on the ground say he was likely killed in a U.S. air-strike. Awlaki was previously targeted in U.S. bombing of Yemen earlier this year. Well, for more, we turn to Glenn Greenwald, constitutional law attorney and political and legal blogger for salon.com. He joins us via Democracy Now! video-stream from Brazil. He first reported in January of last year that the Obama administration had compiled a hit list of American citizens whom it had ordered assassinated without any due process. One of those Americans was Anwar al-Awlaki, despite substantial doubt among the Yemen experts about whether he had an operational role in Al Qaeda Glenn Greenwald, welcome to DEMOCRACY NOW!
GLENN GREENWALD: Good to be here.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well Glenn, your reaction, first of all, to this news and what it means in terms of any new precedence now set by this administration in the targeting of U.S. citizens?
GLENN GREENWALD: Let's begin with the fact Anwar al-Awlaki is a U.S. citizen. He was ordered assassinated by the President of the United States without presenting any evidence of any kind as to his guilt, without attempting to indict him in any way or comply with any of the requirements of the Constitution that say that you can't deprive someone of life without due process of law. The president ordered him killed wherever he was found, including far away from a battle field, no matter what it was he was doing at the time. And if you're somebody who believes that the president of the United States has the power to order your fellow citizens murdered, assassinated, killed without even a shred of due process, without having to have charged him with a crimes or indict him and prove in a court he's actually guilty, then you're really declaring yourself to be as pure of an authoritarian as it gets. Remember that there was great controversy that George Bush asserted the power simply to detain American citizens without due process or simply to eavesdrop on their conversations without warrants. Here you have something much more severe. Not eavesdropping on American citizens, not detaining them without due process, but killing them without due process, and yet many Democrats and progressives, because it's President Obama doing it, have no problem with it and are even in favor of it. To say that the President has the right to kill citizens without due process is really to take the constitution and to tear it up into as many little pieces as you can and then burn it and step on it.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, for those in the audience not familiar with him, give us the sketch of who Al-Awlaki is and what the alleged terrorist plots that he was involved with are.
GLENN GREENWALD: Well, he, as I said, was born in the United States and went to college in the United States and, for a long time, was considered by the U.S. government and the media to be a moderate Muslim cleric. In fact the Pentagon invited him to a lunch in the wake of 9/11 in order to talk to him and other Muslim leaders about how to root out extremism in the Muslim community. The Washington Post had him host his own chat about the meaning of various Muslim holidays and the like. So, for a long time he was viewed as this, sort of, moderate figure. He became increasingly radicalized, like a lot of people have, over the last decade, as the United States has continued to slaughter Muslim men, women and children in multiple countries around the world, and he definitely became much more hostile in his sermons to the United States, and began arguing that it wasn't just the duty but the right of Muslims to not just be passive receivers of violence by the U.S., but also to begin to attack the United States back as a means of deterring further violence. And so, he definitely became a great concern to the U.S. because he was so effective in communicating these ideas in English to large parts of the English speaking Muslim world. And, of course, expressing those ideas that the United States is engaged in aggression against the Muslim world and that Muslims have the right or even the duty to fight back rather than getting passively slaughtered, whether you agree with those ideas are not, or think they're horrible ideas, they're obviously rights you have to express under the First Amendment of the Constitution. The government began claiming that it wasn't just his messages and his ideas that were bothering them and making them want to kill him, but the fact he started to have an operational role in various plots, such as the attempt by Abdulmutallab to detonate a bomb in a jet over Detroit over Christmas. They claim that he was involved in the attack by Nidal Hasan on the Fort Hood base that killed 14 American service members. The problem with that is that, there's been no evidence presented that he's actually been involved in any of those plots. He is not been indicted or charged. If he has been involved in those plots, then the solution is to charge him with those crimes, bring him before a court of justice, and prove his guilt; not simply to order him killed as though the President is judge, jury, and executioner.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Now, his father had attempted, or started a court proceeding to try to enjoin the Obama administration from carrying out any attack on his son. Could you talk about that and where that is?
GLENN GREENWALD: Sure, well, Awlaki, himself, was incapable of suing to vindicate his rights because, had he popped his head up at any time, as we proved today, he would have been killed by the Unites States government, which sought on several occasions before today to kill him. So, his father brought suit on his behalf, represented by the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights, asking a court to enjoin the President from murdering his son without due process, and in response the Obama administration made numerous claims, mostly arguing courts have no right to interfere in the decisions the president makes about who is an enemy combatant using standard Bush-Cheney theories about how this is a military operation that the court shouldn't be involved in it. They argued that whom the president decides to assassinate is a state secret. And that courts have no business meddling in or judging or adjudicating the president's choices in that regard. A federal court, several months ago, accepted the argument that this was really a political and military number, and not a legal or constitutional or judicial question for courts to resolve. Although, the judge said there are very difficult questions raised because of what an extraordinary step this is for the president to order American citizens killed. He said it's really up to the Congress to stop it or for the president to make decisions on his own. That, I believe that is being appealed; the appeal is pending, but, obviously, it's now it is too late. There's no point in trying to obtain an injunction now that Awlaki has been killed by President Obama.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And the Bizarre irony of the government in Yemen which is clearly illegitimate by any international standards, facing a huge popular rebellion among its own people, being involved, to some degree or other, with the United States in this killing?
GLENN GREENWALD: Well, President Saleh, who, of course, has been slaughtering his own citizens by the dozens over the last several months, and is still, you know—-has been a longtime ally of the United States. The State Department has issued some very meek statements, suggesting that there should be a democratic transition. But, we've continued to work with President Saleh, the U.S. government has, to try and kill those people that we want dead in Yemen, including Awlaki, and this is widely viewed as an attempt by President Saleh to, sort of, offer an olive branch to the United States; we will help to kill the American citizen within our borders whom you want dead in exchange for your continuing to support our regime. Of course, the United States has been trying to claim to the Arab world that it is on the right side of the Arab Spring, and yet just yesterday, of course, in Bahrain, numerous medical professionals, doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, were imprisoned for the crime of treating protesters who were shot by government forces just two weeks after the U.S. government announced that it plans to ship to Bahrain huge amounts of new weapons. Here, our long time ally, President Saleh, is not only now slaughtering his own citizens, but helping the United States government murder its own. So, it's a pretty difficult sell to people in the Muslim world to claim that we're on the right side of the Arab Spring when we not only continue to embrace the people who kill their own citizens, but now kill our citizens as well.
JUAN GONZALEZ: I want to read to you a quote from the editor of The Yemeni Post, Hakim Al Masmari. He said, "The Yemeni government will face a lot of criticism, especially in the south, for allowing US drones to attack Yemeni civilians. But it will not be a blow to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from any perspective. We don't feel they will suffer, because Awlaki did not have any real role in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula."
GLENN GREENWALD: Right,well, one of the bizarre aspects of this is that media and government reports have tried to sell Awlaki is some kind of grand terrorist mastermind. There's even lots of articles you can find online and major publications describing him as the new Bin Laden. The United States government needs a terrorist mastermind to replace Bin Laden to justify this type of endless war that President Obama, the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, is insisting on not just continuing, but escalating. And for a while, Awlaki was the person to going to serve that function. But, the problem is, if you the read experts in Yemen, like Gregory Johnson and others, they mock the idea Awlaki was some kind of a leader of Al Qaeda and even question whether he had any operational role at all in any of these plots. He was clearly a cleric who developed some audience and was popular, particularly among English-speaking Muslim youth because of his ability to communicate with them. But, the idea that he was some high up in Al Qaeda or this is a blow to the operational capability of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is absolutely ludicrous. And if you read Yemen experts, you'll see that that's true. The problem is that American political culture is such that evidence doesn't make a difference. Trials and due process are very pre-9/11. What we believe is that if the president stands up and says, someone is a terrorist, that's all we need to know; they are therefore there are guilty because the leader has accused him of being that, and as long as the Aides then go and leak to the media, which they have done, that he played a significant operational role and was a big Al Qaeda leader, we won't need to see evidence. We'll just stand up and blindly click our heels and accept it's true, and then cheered the fact he's been murdered based on as unproven claims.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Glenn, what can people who are concerned about this extraordinary extension of the powers of a president to basically ignore any kind of due process with our American citizens, what can they do?
GLENN GREENWALD: Well, one thing that is obvious, is that voting for Democrats as opposed to Republicans doesn't help. In fact, if you read The New York Times article from 2010 confirming that Awlaki is on the hit list, it makes clear that there's been no instances where George Bush ordered American citizens targeted for assassination, that this is extraordinary and perhaps an unprecedented step under the Democratic president. What people in the Arab world did, when their leaders did things like imprison them, let alone kill them, and their fellow citizens without trials, is they went out into the streets and protested and demanded that it stop. It's hard to see how voting for one of these two parties is going to end these extraordinary excesses in violations of the constitution; it clearly doesn't. Something outside of that system is necessary to address it. That's been proven. So, I think if Americans cared about the constitutional rights the pretended to care about under George Bush, Democrats in particular, they would be very vocally protesting and objecting to this. But, the problem is that, the opportunity to use these issues as a means to undermine Republican politicians is now gone, and so, many people who, three years ago, were pretending to care about these things, no longer do. So, the question that American citizens have to ask themselves, is whether they believe in the principles of liberty and rights that they have learned were protected by the Constitution? That's just a piece of paper—-the Constitution—-it cannot protect those rights, only the citizenry can ensure that those rights are not trampled on; and the question is whether citizens actually believe in those.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Finally, Glenn Greenwald, we're getting reports that U.S. government confirming that it was a joint operation with the Yemeni government. Your sense of whether you believe this was a drone strike largely carried out by the United States?
GLENN GREENWALD: Well, there's no question I believe that the United States played a significant role. I mean, the United States have been wanting to kill Awlaki for a long time. The Yemeni government has not wanted to kill him, in part, because if it does, it will trigger lots of unrest and resentment, and that's the last thing, especially at this point, that it wants. So, I believe that this has been done by an air strike, certainly the Yemeni government would not have the ability to carry that out on its own. The fact U.S. government confirmed so quickly that he was dead and accepting responsibility, I think, is fairly definitive proof that the U.S. played a very significant role, if not the lead role, in extinguishing the life of its own citizen without due process.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Glenn Greenwald, I want thank you for being with us, constitutional law attorney, political and legal blogger for Salon.com.


text:
Believe the Hype (Most of It, Anyway): An iPhone Review Roundup
Today may well have been your last chance to buy shares of Apple for under $120. The first reviews of the iPhone (by journalists actually allowed to test the device) were published on the Web at 3 p.m. PDT today and seem to be generally positive, with the typical caveats about Apple's choice of cellphone carriers. Interestingly, some of the issues that were initially cause for concern seem to have fallen by the wayside. Indeed, two of the three reviewers below actually seem fond of the device's virtual keyboard and all of them found its new screen to be durable.
We have been testing the iPhone for two weeks, in multiple usage scenarios, in cities across the country. Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer. Its software, especially, sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though it sometimes adds steps to common functions. … The iPhone's most controversial feature, the omission of a physical keyboard in favor of a virtual keyboard on the screen, turned out in our tests to be a nonissue, despite our deep initial skepticism. After five days of use, Walt — who did most of the testing for this review — was able to type on it as quickly and accurately as he could on the Palm Treo he has used for years. This was partly because of smart software that corrects typing errors on the fly.
—Walt Mossberg and Katherine Boehret, The Wall Street Journal
The phone is so sleek and thin, it makes Treos and BlackBerrys look obese. The glass gets smudgy—a sleeve wipes it clean–but it doesn't scratch easily. I've walked around with an iPhone in my pocket for two weeks, naked and unprotected (the iPhone, that is, not me), and there's not a mark on it. … But the bigger achievement is the software. It's fast, beautiful, menu free, and dead simple to operate. You can't get lost, because the solitary physical button below the screen always opens the Home page, arrayed with icons for the iPhone's 16 functions. … Apple says one battery charge is enough for 8 hours of calls, 7 hours of video or 24 hours of audio. My results weren't quite as impressive: I got 5 hours of video and 23 hours of audio, probably because I didn't turn off the phone, Wi-Fi and other features, as Apple did in its tests. In practice, you'll probably wind up recharging about every other day. So yes, the iPhone is amazing. But no, it's not perfect."
If you're looking for quibbles, flaws and omissions, you'll certainly find them in this first version of the iPhone. (I'll get to these below.) But the bottom line is that the iPhone is a significant leap. It's a superbly engineered, cleverly designed and imaginatively implemented approach to a problem that no one has cracked to date: merging a phone handset, an Internet navigator and a media player in a package where every component shines, and the features are welcoming rather than foreboding. The iPhone is the rare convergence device where things actually converge. … In a sense, the iPhone has already made its mark. Even those who never buy one will benefit from its advances, as competitors have already taken Apple's achievements as a wake-up call to improve their own products. But for all its virtues, the iPhone is still a risky venture because it's yet to be proven that, despite the wow factor, millions of people are ready to pay several hundred dollars more than the going rate for phones—and in some cases, paying even more to bail out of their current mobile contracts."
After months of hype, Apple has delivered a prodigy–a slender fashion phone, a slick iPod and an Internet experience unlike any before it on a mobile handset. Still, iPhone isn't perfect, or even the most ideal smart phone for every user. It's pricey. It lacks certain features found on some rival devices. AT&T's coverage was spotty in some areas I tested it in. Your employer may prevent you from receiving corporate email on the device. … On the data side, [iPhone] works through AT&T's Edge network, which is pokey compared with third-generation, or 3G, data networks used with other phones. At times, I fell off the Edge and lost coverage. Even at its best, Edge never felt close to the broadband-type speeds I experience on my home network. Assuming Apple gets around to supporting 3G in the future, you'd ultimately have to buy a new 3G-capable iPhone for improved network performance, not that Apple is ready to announce one."
No, Apple is most certainly not ready to announce a 3G-capable iPhone, as this call-and-response Q&A between Walt Mossberg and Steve Jobs demonstrates:
Walt: When will there be an iPhone that runs on the fastest, so-called "3G" networks?
Steve: Walt, you know we don't talk about future products. Again, Wi-Fi is far faster than 3G networks.
Walt: Will you follow the pattern you set with the iPod and bring out less costly models? If so, when?
Steve: We don't talk about future products.
Walt: This first model is missing some features some other smart phones have, like video recording, instant messaging and real-time GPS navigation. Do you plan to upgrade iPhones purchased now so they have these features? If so, when?
Steve: We don't talk about future products.
Over at Valleywag, Nick Denton's whipped up a helpful chart scoring the critical consensus on the device.


text:
A Virtual Machine-based Development Environment
As many independent software developers, I normally have several projects going on: clients, side-projects, open source projects... Over the last years I have refined a development environment optimized for that use case that has worked really well for me. Let me share it in this post.
Isolated Environments
In a normal day I may work for a client that has a Rails 2.3.5 application with Solr, memcached, some custom vhosts, PostgreSQL 8.4, and a CAS running on Tomcat. Later at night I may work on Ruby on Rails and be able to, e.g., run the Active Record test suite with Ruby 1.9.3 and PostgreSQL 9.1.
If you multiply that by some number of projects, it becomes clear that a single machine can't possibly handle such a variety of environments in any predictable way. Well, you can predict chaos perhaps :).
And not only for today. If client C needs something three months after our last collaboration, I want to be able to launch his exact environment right away. No matter whether in the meantime I installed/uninstalled a gazillion things, upgraded the operating system, or got a new machine. I want to be able to launch the environment of client C anytime.
In summary, you need a robust setup that provides isolation to every project you work on. Virtual machines are a solution to that problem that allow you to have one single development (real) computer.
My development environment is totally based on virtual machines.
Software Choices
My laptop is a 13'' MacBook Pro from mid-2009, 4 GB of RAM, running Lion nowadays.
I have VMware Fusion and all the virtual machines run Linux. Since as a user I love Mac OS X I do most of my work in the host (I'll tell you how in a minute). In the virtual machine I basically need just a console, a light desktop is hence enough. My distro of choice nowadays is Lubuntu running the open-vm-tools Ubuntu package. That package provides desktop resize on window resize, copy & paste between the guest and the host, etc.
As I said, I do not work inside the virtual machine. I launch the virtual machine and there I have the complete runtime I need. Web servers and test suites run in the virtual machine, but editing, browsing, etc. happens in the Mac. To accomplish that I have a couple of tricks.
First, sharing the file system. VMware allows you to mount your home in the guest via what they call Shared Folders. But the virtual machines should be round and complete, so the code of my clients should be there, not in the host. In addition to that, Shared Folders do not work well with git, I think because of the hard linking going on. I rather go the other way around: I mount the guest file system in the host via SSHFS. If you use MacPorts just run sudo port install sshfs and you're golden. Looks like Homebrew also has a sshfs package. It surely works, but I don't use Homebrew.
Now, SSHFS mounts the file system through (local) SSH, not as fast as the hard drive. But I only need the files for editing and I don't really care if saving a file takes 5 ms. So no big deal. The only detail you probably want to tweak is disabling automatic project tree sync on focus in your editor/IDE if it has the concept of a project tree and tree sync on focus.
Second, I have a personal rule: One project at a time. If I am working for client C, I am totally focused on C's project. That's all I want to have up. Given that rule, I can implement a couple of convenient simplifications: All virtual machines have the same IP, and all virtual machines have the same mount point. Let me explain that in a dedicated section.
One Single IP, One Single Mount Point
VMware has several network modes. My virtual machines are configured to run under the default NAT mode, in which VMware does DHCP for the guest. That by itself is a little bit cumbersome because you get different IPs in different sessions, and sometimes you even get the IP changed while the machine is running. I've found that fixed addresses work better for my needs, up to a point where all the virtual machines have the same one.
The configuration for DHCP as of this writing lives in the file /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/vmnet8/dhcpd.conf, and to assign a fixed IP to a virtual machine you just need to know its MAC address. The MAC address can be manually set in the virtual machine settings, but I just grab whatever is printed by ifconfig eth0 after a standard installation.
Then, open the config file mentioned earlier and add towards the bottom something like this:
host rails {
hardware ethernet 00:0c:29:0a:98:b8;
fixed-address 172.16.132.127;
That's the DHCP configuration for the virtual machine where I have the development environment for Ruby on Rails. The host name "rails" is an arbitrary string. It has MAC address 00:0c:29:0a:98:b8 and a fixed IP of 172.16.132.127. I have a host configuration like that one per virtual machine.
To choose the IP have a look at the subnet block generated by VMware towards the middle of the file:
subnet 172.16.132.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 172.16.132.128 172.16.132.254;
According to the first line you have to choose an IP within 172.16.132.* that it is outside the specified range. My choice is 172.16.132.127.
Since we have the same IP for any virtual machine, we can create an entry in /etc/hosts that gives us a single hostname to rule them all:
172.16.132.127 vm
Mounting the file system is easily scriptable:
sshfs -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o reconnect -o workaround=rename fxn@vm:. $HOME/vm
Unmounting is also easily scriptable:
diskutil umount $HOME/vm 2>/dev/null
Spurious Files
Some programs in the host may create metadata files for the Mac like .DS_Store and friends. I don't like such files in the virtual machines. For those few programs that do that there's normally a configuration option or somesuch to disable it. There's a shell one-liner for TextMate for example, but I no longer remember it because it's been a while since I used TextMate, but you can Google for it. AFAICT, Emacs, Vim, Sublime Text 2, and RubyMine leave no spurious files out of the box.
As a last resort, if I get any of these spurious files for whatever reason I just run unmac. That's a little utility of mine implemented as a Ruby gem that cleans a given directory. To install it gem install unmac, possibly with admin privs. In my experience I rarely need to run unmac though.
You do not want Time Machine to do incremental backups of your virtual machines because they are big files on disk that change continually. For backups I use Carbon Copy Cloner.
That's another big win. Backups are trivial, no matter whether your hard disk breaks, or you get a new computer, you are ready to work in no time and with the guarantee that all those complicated environments are consistent and safe. The peace of mind that gives is invaluable.


text:
Handover ceremony paves the way for launch of final European ISS modules
Twelve years of design, development and hard work came to fruition with the formal handover of Node 3 from ESA to NASA on 20 November. The ceremony took place in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA.
The ceremony was attended by Bernardo Patti, ISS Programme Manager in ESA's Directorate of Human Spaceflight, NASA's ISS Programme Manager Michael Suffredini, Robert Cabana, NASA's Director of the Kennedy Space Center, William Dowdell, NASA's Deputy for Operations for ISS and Spacecraft Processing, Secondino Brondolo, Head of the Space Infrastructure at Thales Alenia Space Italy and selected media organisations.
Launch in February 2010
Node 3, one of the three ISS interconnecting modules, will now undergo final preparations for a February 2010 launch on Space Shuttle Endeavour together with the attached European-built Cupola observation module.
"Node 3 and Cupola are Europe's final major hardware contributions to the ISS," said Mr Patti. "Once attached to the ISS in February, more than one-third of the pressurised ISS elements will have been built in Europe. The ISS is now almost complete and, since we were able to add our European Columbus laboratory last year, our scientific and technological utilisation programme is in full swing and we are looking forward to its results."
Cupola to provide stunning view of Earth
Mr Patti and Mr Suffredini concluded the handover with the official signing of the Transfer of Ownership agreement for Node 3.
The handover completed the final major element of the barter agreement between ESA and NASA signed in Turin on 8 October 1997 under which ESA provided Nodes 2 and 3 plus additional equipment and knowhow in return for transportation of the European Columbus Laboratory to the ISS by Space Shuttle. Both Node 2 and the Columbus laboratory have been performing well in orbit as key elements of the ISS since October 2007 and February 2008, respectively.
"Node 3, which follows in the footsteps of Node 2 and Columbus, is generally recognised as the most complex pressurised element of the station by the ISS community," says Philippe Deloo, ESA's Project Manager for the Nodes and Cupola.
"Under ESA's management, Italian company Thales Alenia Space did an outstanding job with Node 3 in showcasing the capabilities in Europe to develop and build space technology. From its early design, this masterpiece of engineering has now evolved into an extremely complex Space Station module which will accommodate vital environmental support and life support systems for the Station's crew."
Tranquility to provide crucial life support and crew conditioning
Node 3, which was named Tranquility by NASA, will house a variety of systems and equipment covering oxygen generation, air purification and water recovery, as well as avionics equipment to control Node 3; a treadmill and a resistive exercise device to act as conditioning and exercise equipment for the ISS crew; and a Waste and Hygiene Compartment. In addition, one of Node 3's docking ports will be used as the connecting point for the Cupola observation module.
The Cupola has been at the Kennedy Space Center since 2004, with its ownership transferred to NASA in 2005. Following Node 3's arrival in May 2009, the two European-built ISS elements were mated in their launch configuration on 1 September.
Once on orbit, Node 3 will be connected to the left-hand docking port of the Unity Node 1. The Cupola observation module will then be moved to the Earth-facing port of Node 3 to act as a robotic control tower for the ISS, with a stunning view of Earth for the Station's crew.
"Node 3 and the Cupola are the final elements of a very challenging assembly phase, which has been a great learning experience for all partners," said Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight.
"The fact that these modules with such important features were built in Europe says a lot about our industrial knowhow and our ability to contribute to this great international project. By having developed several ISS modules and by completing its assembly in the months to come, we will open a new era of cooperation, utilisation and exploration that will take humankind back to the Moon and beyond to other destinations while continuing to exploit the enormous possibilities in low Earth orbit."