text:
“Over the past few years, well-to-do Arab Israelis, both Muslim and Christian, have been driving their minivans 10 minutes up the hill from the ancient, overcrowded nearly all-Arab city of Nazareth and snapping up sweet but pricey five-bedroom, four-bath houses.

Many of the homes are worth a half-million dollars or more, and Arab citizens of Israel count for 18 percent of the 50,000 residents in “Upper Nazareth,” as it is translated in English.

They are welcome here, the mayor says, as long as they remember one very important rule.

“This is a Jewish city,” said Shimon Gafsou of his adopted home town, “now and forever.”

To be more specific: “I would rather cut off my right arm than build an Arab school,” the mayor said in an interview on his terrace at city hall.

Ditto mosques. “No, no, no. No mosques, ever,” Gafsou said. No churches. Or Ramadan lanterns or manger scenes. “And no Christmas trees,” said the mayor of a town that abuts the largest Arab city in Israel, celebrated as the childhood home of Jesus.

“Everyone can live here, that is the law, as long as they understand this is a Jewish city,” Gafsou said. “And in that way we are a microcosm of the state of Israel.”

He said that “95 percent of Jewish mayors think the same thing. They’re just afraid to say so out loud.”

The situation here in Nazareth Illit may be a bit stark, even a little cartoonish, according to some critics of the colorful mayor, who is up for reelection next month. He has been temporarily sidelined from office after being indicted Tuesday by the Israeli courts for allegedly accepting bribes, a charge he denies and says is politically motivated.

No matter, because he still appears to be the front-runner. And his town does reflect a central tension in Israeli society. In the current round of peace talks brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demands is that Palestinians not only accept Israel’s right to exist, but also recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

The parallel challenge is determining what Israel should do for the 21 percent of its citizens who are Arab, and what the Arab Israelis should do for Israel.

Arabs comprise large minorities in Jerusalem and in the southern Negev desert. Here in the northern district, not including the coastal metropolis of Haifa, there are more Arabs than Jews.

Israel guarantees its Arab citizens full and equal rights. But report after report documents the fact that spending for Arab citizens is lower, on average, in education, housing, business development and other areas.

Nazareth Illit is a classic Israeli “development,” or new town, built with government support starting in the 1950s as a home for Jews on expropriated lands, according to historians.

But now, as elderly Jews die and young Jews move to Tel Aviv and its environs, the annual growth of the Jewish population in northern Israel has slowed to just 3 percent, according to the government’s 2010 census reports. At the same time, the Arab Israeli population was climbing 11 percent annually in the north.”

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20 responses to ““I would rather cut off my right arm than build an Arab school,”

  1. Christopher Proudlove

    I disagree with the Jewish mayor of Nazareth, just as I am horrified with Mahmoud Abbas saying the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) future will see no Jews in the territory. Trevor Barclay keeps quite about this apartheid intention. At least Arabs can live in Nazareth and enjoy a better life than in the PA areas

  2. Christopher Proudlove

    Further to my comment above, thank goodness Israel has a Supreme Court which can overrule officials such as this mayor.

  3. “I disagree with the Jewish mayor of Nazareth”

    Can you be more specific as to what you disagree with?

    “just as I am horrified with Mahmoud Abbas saying the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) future will see no Jews in the territory.”

    We can discuss that when and if it happens.

  4. Christopher Proudlove

    When Jordan was created under the British Mandate after the First World War its first action was to ban Jews. Since Israel’s rebirth in 1948 Jews were persona non grata in the Middle East and North Africa. They expelled an estimated 950,000 Jews, some whose families had lived in these countries for thousands of years. Jewish assets worth many billions of pounds were confiscated by Muslim nations.

  5. As per usual you totally fail to answer the question. Please answer the question?

    Also, can you cite a source for the following?

    “When Jordan was created under the British Mandate after the First World War its first action was to ban Jews.”

    I can’t find anything relating to your claim from that period. As i understand it, the British forbade Jews from settling in Jordan.

  6. Christopher Proudlove

    So, 78% of the old Palestine was for Arabs, the rest was intended as a homeland for Jews. Israel was deprived of part of its traditional homeland east of the River Jordan. Churchill illegally ceded the Golan Heights to the French Mandate when he was Commonwealth Secretary. He should have obtained permission from the League of Nations for this act. As we all know, Syria subsequently used the Golan to fire rockets at the Israeli villages below.
    During the 1967 War, Israel regained the territory and annexed it in 1981. The Druze, who live in the area, now say they prefer to be under Israel’s rule than Syrian.
    When Syrian President, Bashir al-Assad’s father threatened Israel with war after war. He reasoned Israel only had to lose one war and then the Arabs would wipe them off the Middle East map. That’s why Israel has always to be militarily vigilant.
    If the Syrians had continued past the Golan during their brief ascendency in the 1973 Yom Kippur War there is no doubt they could have advanced to the Mediterranean. Why did they halt their tanks? May be God had a hand in it. Like the time a band of Israeli soldiers found themselves in a minefield at this time. Then, a mighty wind blew. All the landmines were exposed and the soldiers were able to progress unharmed. They believe the wind was an act of God.
    It is interesting to note that Israel is now treating casualties of the Syrian civil war in its hospitals. Yet when American military action against Assad looked a possibility, the Syrian President said he would respond by attacking Israel.
    Whenever there is a major natural catastrophe in the world Israel is usually the first nation to respond with medical and other aid, even in Muslim countries, such as the tsunami in Indonesia.
    Indeed, Muslims from surrounding countries go to Israel for medical treatment but make a secret of it. Palestinian Arabs get this treatment as a matter of course. Palestinian Arab and Israeli medics work together in harmony in the health service, which is rated better than the UK’s.
    One Palestinian woman who had life-saving treatment so upset the local regime that she was forced to become a suicide bomber and blow up those who had treated her. Fortunately, she was found out by the security checks Israel brought in after the first and second intifadas.

  7. Christopher Proudlove

    Answer the question. Surely, it is obvious.

  8. I’ll take your reply as a refusal to answer the question or to cite sources for your claim that,

    “When Jordan was created under the British Mandate after the First World War its first action was to ban Jews.”

  9. Christopher Proudlove

    There are very few Jews left in the Middle Eastern and North African countries. They were all forced out post-1948. In Israel there are one million Palestinian Arabs living under Jerusalem’s rule.

  10. Why are you refusing to answer?

    Also, did you say before that Jews are banned from living in Jordan?

  11. Christopher Proudlove

    What did Mohammed say: No two religions should exist in Arabia. That’s why Muslims persecute Jews.

  12. Can you give any sort of rational explanation as to why you refuse to answer any of the questions here?

  13. Christopher Proudlove

    Haifa diarist Stuart Palmer writes:
    Once again Israel is coming under attack from a foreign government financed NGO, this time claiming Israel is ignoring its humanitarian obligations with regard to the taking care of the health of the Palestinians.
    In spite of the constant calls for Israel’s destruction and the culture of hatred and demonization that permeates Palestinian society at all levels, Israel is, in fact, meeting its humanitarian obligations in respect of the Palestinians, albeit under circumstances fraught with danger.
    FACT – Israel Hospitals Took Care of Nearly 220,000 PA Arabs in 2012, including Suhila Abd el-Salam, the sister of Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, accompanied her husband for treatment in Israel. Her husband was admitted to Bellinson Hospital, in Petach Tikvah, for immediate medical treatment following a serious heart condition. Haniyeh’s sister and her husband requested permission to travel to Israel to receive the necessary medical treatment because Gaza hospitals could not properly treat the condition. This was not the only time that a Gaza resident was treated in Israel.
    FACT – in the same WHO report referred to by MAP, published in 2012, there is a description of the coordination and liaison efforts invested by Israel and COGAT to facilitate the entry of Palestinian patients from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. The key data presented in the report show that 91.5% of the applications which were filed, asking for medical treatment in Israel, were ultimately approved, 7.2% are pending security check and only 1.3% of the applications were rejected, demonstrating the importance and urgency ascribed to such applications by Israel.
    FACT – there was a 10 percent increase in the number of Palestinian Authority Arabs who received treatment in Israeli hospitals in 2012. The total number of 219,464 patients, 21,270 of them children, includes the companions accompanying the patients in Israel.
    FACT – 197,713 patients were treated in Israeli hospitals in 2011
    FACT – 144,838 were treated in 2008.
    FACT – COGAT, a military unit which is responsible for implementing the Israeli Government’s policy in Judea and Samaria, stated, “The Civil Administration, through its health department (HDCA), works closely with the Palestinian Ministry of Health to support the medical needs of the Palestinian population throughout Judea and Samaria.” The HDCA manages all issues relating to Israeli-Palestinian healthcare coordination, primarily the transfer of Palestinian patients to hospitals in Israel.
    FACT – The HDCA further works to enable professional medical training for Palestinian Authority Arabs by Israel through the encouragement of medical conferences and the training of Palestinian medical staff in Israeli hospitals. Training sessions take place several times a year, initiated by both the HDCA and the Palestinian Authority. In 2012, the Civil Administration paid $560,000 to send PA Arab doctors, nurses, and paramedics for training in Israel.
    FACT – The Civil Administration has also set aside a budget to finance critical medical procedures for patients who are not covered by Palestinian or UNRWA health insurance and are not able to pay privately.
    FACT – during 2012, the Civil Administration financed life-saving medical treatments for 20 Palestinian children (marrow transplants, kidney transplants, purchase of a pump for P.N.T., prenatal diagnosis, impaired intestine surgery and baby obstruction) and more medical treatments worth more than 1,500,000 NIS per year.
    FACT – in March this year, a 15-year-old boy in Gaza was transported to the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot after suffering from severe burns and shrapnel injuries from an alleged rocket launching pad that was set up in Jabalya, a neighborhood in northern Gaza.
    FACT – The Palestinian Minister of Health, Dr. Hanni Abadin, paid an unprecedented visit to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem at the beginning of this past May. Dr. Yuval Weiss, director of the hospital, reported that at any given moment there are some 60 Palestinian Authority medical personnel in training at the hospital. Dr. Abadin thanked Hadassah for the opportunity to visit and for its services, visited Arab children hospitalized at Hadassah and gave them gifts. The Civil Administration Health Department declared that it will continue in 2013 to cooperate closely with their PA counterparts and international organizations in Judea and Samaria to advance healthcare for the benefit of all residents in the region.
    Why is it necessary to review all requests for medical treatment?
    There is abuse of medical documentation by Palestinians
    On several occasions, Gaza Palestinian patients have taken advantage of medical certificates giving them the right to travel to Israeli or West Bank hospitals, to prepare suicide or other attacks. A dossier of these plans has been published on the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs website in a report dated 20 January 2008 , entitled ‘Abuse of Humanitarian Policy for the Purpose of Terrorist Activity’. For instance:-
    • In June 2005, 21 year old Wafa Al-Biss was arrested at the Erez Crossing point out of Gaza with an explosive belt strapped to her body. She was an outpatient at Israel ‘s Soroka hospital, whose emergency unit had saved her life some months earlier following serious burns injuries she had suffered in an accident in her kitchen. Al-Biss confessed to planning to bomb the hospital during one of her outpatient appointments – a plan which prompted widespread outrage (see Briefing 146, quoted above)
    • In September 2004 Suhad Aslan, was sent by the Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in the Gaza Strip to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel , after she required medical treatment in the Al-Muqaddas hospital in Jerusalem . The plan had been for her to rendezvous with the bomb planners at the hospital who would instruct her where to go to carry out the attack. Israeli security personnel arrested her before the attack could be carried out
    Such incidents compel the Israeli authorities carefully to check the requests of Palestinian patients seeking to enter Israel for hospital treatment. The bureaucracy and delays that regrettably result are entirely the responsibility of those who abuse the medical treatment route into Israel to plan terrorist attacks.
    Israeli shuttle service to Jordan or Egypt for Palestinians denied entry
    As a result of the security vetting procedures which Israel has no choice but to apply, 10%of Gaza Palestinians applying for permits to enter Israel have been refused entry (statement by head of COGAT, reported in Jerusalem Post, 1 April 2008 ).
    It was also confirmed that all Palestinians who are denied entry into Israel are given the opportunity to take an Israeli shuttle to the Allenby Bridge and cross into Jordan , or else go down to the crossing with Egypt .
    World Health Organisation accusations, and Israel ‘s refutation
    In March 2008, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a report which accused Israel of being “inhumane” in its dealings with Gaza Palestinians who wish to enter Israel for medical treatment.
    The WHO report was launched by the head of WHO in Gaza who relied upon five case studies of Palestinians allegedly allowed to die by Israel as a result of them being denied access to the country. The head of COGAT, responded the next day by holding a press conference (which was reported in the Jerusalem Post on 1 April 2008) where he demonstrated that all five of the Palestinians allegedly allowed to die had in fact received permits to enter Israel for medical treatment.
    Press explained that two of the Palestinians cited by WHO had been treated in Israeli hospitals. The other three never used their permits due to what Press described as “internal Palestinian considerations”.
    Why do the Palestinians or Hamas use the health of the citizens as a political tool?
    a) Hamas accused by the Palestinian health ministry of seizing fuel destined
    for Gaza hospitals
    Palestinian policies not only make it harder for Palestinians to access Israeli hospitals, but they even harm Palestinian hospitals. Hamas was recently accused of diverting fuel destined to be delivered to Gaza hospitals. The condemnation was issued not by Israel , but by the Palestinian health ministry :
    “Members of Hamas in the Gaza Strip opened fire on Sunday 29 April on fuel trucks that were full of fuel destined for hospitals in the territory….”
    (Press release by the Palestinian Health Ministry, and reported by AFP (Agence France Presse), 29 April 2008 )
    b) EU condemnation of Hamas for aggravating the humanitarian situation
    The EU recently issued a statement (reported in the Jerusalem Post, 28 April 2008 ) condemning Hamas for its role in worsening the humanitarian situation of the Palestinians in Gaza :-

    “Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza have their share in aggravating the humanitarian situation, including through carrying out attacks on the crossing points… the EU president condemns such actions, which only lead to further suffering of the population…”
    c) Other Palestinian actions which damage the Palestinians in Gaza
    Many other Palestinian actions harm the Palestinians of Gaza, including the cutting off or diversion of fuel supplies from Israel; the smuggling into Gaza of explosives under cover of EU humanitarian relief; and the use of hospitals and school premises in Gazan towns to assemble weapons, and launch missile and other attacks.
    d) Hamas Prevents Arabs in Gaza from Medical Treatment in Israel
    Hamas punishes Gaza’s citizens for its row with Fatah by refusing to allow them to receive medical treatment in Israel.

  14. Christopher Proudlove

    I’ll answer your questions when you answer mine

  15. Firstly. I’d thank you not to post up entire blogs written by other people on my blog….Especially ones that have nothing to do with the topic at hand…You have your own blog for the sort of muck you post. If however you see parts of a blog that are RELEVANT to your argument [and on topic] then feel free to post up whatever paragraph is RELEVANT then leave a link to where you copy/paste from.

    Secondly “I’ll answer your questions when you answer mine”

    What question are you wanting me to answer?

    FACT;You can’t respond to any questions i’ve asked you over the past few days and you know it.

    So again i’ll ask you. Can you be more specific as to what you disagree with regarding the mayor?

    Ps I would be grateful if you would wrap quotation marks around the copy/pastes you post….It’s good manners to do so.

  16. Christopher Proudlove

    What treaty superseded the 1922 San Remo Treaty giving the right for Israel to settle Jews between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea? When did the San Remo Treaty cease to be operative?

  17. Christopher Proudlove

    It’s also good manners not to write about others in a viciously offensive manner which you, Trevor Barclay, is wont to do.. The Stuart Palmer blog is relevant to your cut-and-paste blog about the Mayor of Nazareth. It shows the real side of Israel that Trevor Barclay never writes about. He only dishes up the dirt.
    As to the mayor, he is not following the golden rule of loving his neighbour etc.
    I see you don’t believe in freedom of speech. I am not going to kow-tow to all your instructions. Your unflattering dictatorial nature is surfacing again.

  18. Christopher Proudlove

    I attribute the writer rather than putting in quotation marks.

  19. “What treaty superseded the 1922 San Remo Treaty giving the right for Israel to settle Jews between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea? When did the San Remo Treaty cease to be operative?”

    I’ve already answered that question but you can’t accept being caught out spreading lies so you ignore it.

    This time i’ll reply by quoting something you posted.

    ” Israel actually has a better claim to its existence, having been created by the U.N. rather than by the whims and national interests of the Allied victors.”

    That’s a quote you posted.

    If you want to reply to this comment i suggest you do so in the relevant blog. Here’s the link

    If you post a reply here about San Remo your comment WILL BE DELETED.

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Posts Tagged ‘freedom’

Nymphomaniac vol. II – Lars von Trier

Nymphomaniac_Lars_Von_TrierBeing free is being lonely. Always.

Nymphomaniac is all about freedom. Free sex, free speech and free will versus hypocrisy and bigotry; the nymphomaniac says it clearly. Seligman’s digressions are nothing but digressions; the nymphomaniac says that clearly too. But overall there is still a major digression to her story – the parallel between sex and art.

There is nothing true about sex and art if they’re not free. So ultimately is about the profile of an artist in relation to his own art. It’s reflective, descriptive and didactic. An artist’s statement we’re learning about while having fun and getting sad for it implies loneliness, the loneliness of the one who cannot bargain, cannot compromise and cannot lie.

Art is just art (?), words are just words (?) and sex is just sex (?). The question marks only indicate the billions of possibilities to relate to these statements.

The concepts are pure but when human nature is involved purity becomes mere abstraction. Art is seen as crap or vice versa, words are never really understood – not by the one uttering them and even less by the one listening to them. Sex is taboo, side dish, religion, sport or anything else you wish to add. And there’s morality to blur it even more and there’s false morality to make it all opaque.

We’re all different, says the nymphomaniac, so there is no possible way to fit the boundaries of morality to protect each individual’s freedom. Some have less freedom than others.
The nymphomaniac would erase all rules and morality and would leave us all to be guided by our own consciousness. Those who can refrain themselves from harming others when there’s no punishment in sight deserve an award.

She is both naïve and cynical. An idealist.

And so is the artist who probably feels less free than any other individual in the society. Or the one who feels less free becomes an artist? But the ideal public who could fully understand and accept the work of art as it is does not exist or it exists in a percentage that will always leave the artist unfulfilled and misunderstood.

“Lascia ch’io pianga
mia cruda sorte,
e che sospiri la libertà.
Il duolo infranga queste ritorte
de’ miei martiri sol per pietà.”
G.F Handel

Shutter Island – Martin Scorsese

This one is filled with spoilers, mixed up, accidentally hidden and crystal-clear spoilers. If you didn’t see the movie and hate spoilers, don’t read it but you should definitely see the movie. If you saw the movie than scroll over the trailer and read if you feel like it. You are more than welcomed to place a comment.

Stuck in the middle of nature, humanity is, absurdly, not in equilibrium but off-balance. Only animals and the gods, if gods exist, are in harmony with the world, their violence and goodness are extreme, never controlled, sublime.

Our brain is the tool that can help us find an equilibrium that won’t hurt us, our surroundings or the others. It is also the tool that can make us perfectly violent. In the same time, our brain is the first to stop us in achieving perfection be it in goodness or in violence.

We don’t use our brain to make our existence truer. Day by day we exhaust it building the scenario in which we’re the good guy – sometimes the victim, sometimes the hero – who always fights for the right cause. All our actions have perfect alibis. Our brain is working overtime on that.

Cinema is one of the many reasons we are all prisoner of our self-absorbed, escapist scenarios. This form of entertainment was the opium of the people throughout the 20th century. The scars of this century were continuously looked after by cinema; healing them and opening them repeatedly.

Cinema offered much stronger illusions, released more powerful violence, feed more effectively the frustrations than any other force that influenced the masses. Because cinema it’s not the judging, finger-pointing church, nor the ruthless economy, nor the humiliating politics. It washes off class-boundaries, moral values and offers everybody a personalized ecstasy pill in the dark. It offers the illusion of freedom in a damp, dark room.

Today, even if one’s not a cinemagoer he or she would still build up the conscience-appeasing scenario resembling to film scenarios of the cinema’s golden era, because the silver screen left a prominent mark on our day-dreaming language.

In the same way cinema abducts us and melts our brain into whatever story we are watching, the scenarios we build up every day to overcome our pettiness, cowardice and harm we inflict on the world, alienate us from our true selves, they alienate us from the truth about our actions. Luckily, like any form of art, cinema learned to offer the opposite too, to expose our weaknesses, to work as a wake-up call.

What does it mean to be true to oneself? Art, religion, secular law, philosophy and even sports talk about freedom, honesty and fair-play. We brag about all this things when we feel mistreated but do we use them effectively in our relationships with our fellow human being?

Freedom is probably the most uttered word in human history, it is the star concept of human kind yet we seem to be most afraid of using it. Because freedom means to choose between those two sublime extremes only animal and gods can reach: pure violence and pure goodness. If we practice the first we’re locked away, if we practice the second we’d probably end up crucified. So what’s a human to do with freedom? What does it mean to be free on a human scale? How do we become free? Once free, can we still be active in society or even alive?

If we are lucky, as the main character in Shutter Island is, we’d have a few people (or experiences, or accidents, or studies) around us who’d conduct on us an intervention at the end of which we’d become self-aware, able to recognize our defense mechanisms, our disgraceful and our honorable traits etc. If we accept the intervention – we’ve already found an honorable trait; courage – we have the chance to free ourselves from our alienating dream, to take a few steps back and have an objective look at ourselves. Now we are free to choose to live without illusions, exposed or we can choose to reenter our cozy, illusionary cage. Either way, we become free to choose.

For us, the “sane” ones, who commit but trivial crimes-that sometimes hurt like torture, sometime feel like murder – what are the choices if we want to have choices? To head for the lighthouse or to stay in society’s ever reshaping cage which will never turn us into perfect lambs, the cage which will only continue to frustrate the lonely wolf within and will always tolerate our numbing scenarios.

Shutter Island is a heartbreaking psychological journey from the illusionary scenario to self-awareness. At the end of it there is freedom to choose between recognizing the harm inflicted on the world or to have a good old-fashioned transorbital lobotomy.

The movie is perfectly built; its architecture has the foundation on one person’s perspective; the music, the surroundings, the cast, the special effects all play along a perfect tune. That one character, whose perspective Scorsese masterly follows, is played by Leonardo di Caprio never off-key.

This escapist story could have not reached its goals in another art form than cinema. A book, a painting, a music score could never conquer our brains as totally as the pervert cinematographic tools do. That’s why Shutter Island is another perfect movie, for it can’t be anything else.

Orlando – Sally Potter

One of the most spectacular self-discovering journeys, literature has known, has found a perfect adaptation on screen. We all say, at least once in our reader/spectator life that cinematographic adaptations never match the quality of the novels. Some do, some adaptations enrich the original to a point that one cannot be taken into consideration without the other. It is the case of Sally Potter’s Orlando based on Virginia Woolf’s novel, Olrando. If you read the book and see the movie, no matter in what order, you will never think of one without considering the other. At least, that is my case.

Orlando is about a person’s journey to the inner self, to the perfect equilibrium of the human being. It is neither a man’s journey nor a woman’s, it is the voyage to freedom of the genderless heart and mind, encaged throughout history in the “how you should be” rules of the male or female behavior.

The story is perfect; out of an excellent novel came out an excellent script: witty and sparkling. The dialogs are memorable (they should spice up anybody’s conversation in social circles). The roles are played perfectly by an outstanding cast. Tilda Swinton playing Orlando is a delight. Naïve, idealistic as Orlando can be, Swinton still finds ways to slip in some auto irony.

But what really makes this movie a masterpiece relies in what makes cinema a fully grown art: composition of the image, angle and montage.

All that the seventh art can give back to the major arts, it so much stolen from in the beginning, is to turn stones and oil into animated lights and to turn poetry, music, and architecture into a realm where these are of equal texture.

The plastic composition of the image in Orlando gives the movie its style. The cinematographer (Alexei Rodionov) chooses to shoot scenes using the classic frontal perspective. The composition of the image is strictly built on horizontals and verticals giving a sense off static and rigidity. All this matches perfectly the times Orlando’s is trapped in.

There is a single exception when the operator indulges us with a view from above; in the scene where Orlando returns from Far East, it is also one of the rare occasions when we can see oblique lines in the composition. A perfect moment to escape the western classical golden measure the renaissance came up with. Orlando has just made a big step toward completeness.

The choice of color and light/shade combination is, in the first half of the movie, indebted to the Dutch and Flemish renaissance and Northern mannerist painting; so crafty, opulent and attentive to details.

The montage counterbalances the composition. It is alert and lightens up the atmosphere, contributing to the ironic view of the director on all characters (Orlando included) and social customs.

The irony does not stop here; the costumes are also tools that outline ridiculous gender and social standards everyone takes so damn seriously.

Orlando is a story about freedom and happiness on one’s own, by one’s own means. Fellow humans are all blown by the winds and there’s always rain after their departure. We are all following our dream on our own, needing the company of others only when faith in accomplishing that dream fades, when we are strangers to ourselves or when an ankle twists. Humans should search for unity inside themselves before searching for company. This is what we should do to stand firm against social, political, economical, well, life’s adversities. This is what Orlando stands for.

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What is the TORNADO OF AWESOME? It’s what is happening right now. This very instant, Charlie Sheen is out there. Just waiting. You don’t know where Charlie Sheen will strike next and when Charlie Sheen does strike, you know there will be no logical pattern to when and how Charlie Sheen will rain down his awesomery. All you know is that Charlie Sheen will happen and the results will be devastatingly insane. That’s the TORNADO OF AWESOME—an unpredictable, inevitable storm of batshit crazy Charlie Sheen laying waste to the unintentional comedy scale.

In the last couple of weeks Charlie Sheen’s TORNADO OF AWESOME has been in hyperdrive, bringing us such joy as “Vatican assassin warlocks” and “fire breathing fists”. At first I thought Charlie Sheen had done enough coke to kill a pony and this was just him coming down, but then, as he kept talking about warlocks and fiery fists and the power of his mind that can heal itself at will, I had a revelation. Charlie Sheen isn’t having a meltdown. Charlie Sheen isn’t coming down from an epic coke and hooker binge. No, I realized that…

And now you can, too! Charlie: The Sheening cards have arrived—just print them out and start playing to create your own Tornado of Awesome*!

*Your Tornado of Awesome will in no way be as awesome as Charlie Sheen’s TORNADO OF AWESOME.

5 thoughts on “Charlie Sheen: TORNADO OF AWESOME

  1. Jenna

    On Lainey you said you “refuse to call it a meltdown” yet here, that is exactly what you call it in the very 2nd sentence of the post. So which is it? You’re not very credible as a writer when you contradict yourself and change your stance from one article to the next.

    1. Well shit happens when you do all your writing at 2 AM after you’ve already put in fourteen hours at your day job. But pertinent to this particular article, if you continue reading you’ll see this: “Then I had a revelation. Charlie Sheen isn’t having a meltdown.” And I never call it that again. On the surface, it looks like he’s melting down but with a little reflection it becomes clear that he’s crazy like a fox. And is involved in a LARPG.

  2. Nancy

    I’m with Jenna here. My 9 year old son doesn’t find Charlie Sheen funny. Especially now. But alas, he’s no psychiatric expert like our Sarah is. I’m grateful she reflects so little actually. THAT makes for good comedy.

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text:
Spear Slings

Between shortymonster, Art, History and RPGs, and myself, there have been several posts on slings in RPGs as of late.  Now, I’ve already gushed about the utility of the staff sling, as a melee weapon and siege device, proclaiming it to be the New Vorpal Blade.  But, I’d like to add one more to the list, at the special request of Varg Vikernes, in regards to the Spear Sling.

Now, don’t be confused by the name: a spear sling is NOT a spear-tipped staff sling (which would be awesome).   In fact, there are three devices that are referred to as Spear Slings, and I’d like to highlight each of them.

Atlatl or Spearthrower

First developed and used around 25,000-30,000 years ago , the atlatl was one of the first major advances in human weaponry technology since the throwing spears by Heidelberg peoples.  Though these are often associated with Native Americans who brought them over the Bering land bridge, the earliest known atlatls were discovered in France.   The atlatl is usually a 2’ long carved wooden or bone rod with a notch at the end where the butt of the spear is fitted.  The atlatl is held in the spear thrower’s hand, effectively giving him a 4th arm joint and point of leverage.

Normally, when you hold a spear to throw, you would have two ways of holding it.  You could hold the butt of the spear, which would give you the necessary leverage to get some distance on your throw, but because of the angle which you would need to hold it at (imagine trying to hold a 3’-5’ foot spear for any length of time, by the butt, at a 20-30 degree angle with your arm), you would have trouble maintaining the weapon’s balance, and your accuracy would be affected as well.  Your other option would be to hold the spear somewhere along its body, your arm perpendicular to the shaft.  It’s a lot easier to hold and thrust in this manner, but you won’t have much leverage, and therefore will not be able to get much distance or penetrative force.

The atlatl allows you to comfortable hold and balance the spear along its body, maintaining a fairly perpendicular relationship between the body and forearm, while granting the leverage that you get from throwing the spear from its butt.  The atlatl takes little practice to learn to use effectively and will greatly increase both the distance and force which one can throw a spear.  Additionally, atlatls can be customized to have different properties.  They can be carved in ways to make them silenced and weight can be added in various places to increase or decrease resistance to affect range and accuracy.

Okay, this is a gaming blog, let’s get to the gaming part.  Any character that can use a spear should also be able to use it with an atlatl.  It would be a simple weapon skill.  There is historical evidence from Spanish conquistadors that while spears thrown from atlatls couldn’t effectively penetrate plate mail, they could pierce chain hauberks.  Now, considering that only things with a tremendous amount of acute force can pierce plate, this shouldn’t be taken a limitation.  We’re probably talking stone tips; a metal tipped spear could probably even pierce some types of plate.  The main effect of the atlatl would be the increase in range, but it should also add some sort of stackable bonus both to damage and to hit (if they apply; a magic atlatl would certainly stack with a magic spear).  The atlatl should therefore be treated as an item independent of the weapon, adding whatever bonuses based on its quality.  The average atlatl would give a thrown short range of 65’ (no penalties to hit), and a long range of 330’ (standard penalties to hit).

The Amentum, while a simpler device, represents another significant advance in spear throwing.  Developed by the ancient Greeks, the Amentum was a leather thong that was tied around the shaft of the spear around its center of gravity.  The thong then is wrapped, twisted, around the body of the spear, and the thrower places his fingers in the remaining loop.  The loop gives a point of leverage for the thrower, similar to the atlatl, though it doesn’t really grant the same additional leverage gained from having the additional pivot point placed further back.  But what it does have, due to the effect of wrapping the thong around the body of the spear, is increased accuracy from the spin put on the spear upon release.  For complicated reasons having to do with science, projectiles that spin are a lot more accurate than ones that don’t.   One of the advantages of amentum is that it keeps the spear balanced in its flight arc, allowing it to land head first on its target.   It’s adjustable on the spear, and, based on where it is in relation to the spear’s center of gravity, you can affect distance at the cost of accuracy and vice-versa.

Due to the amentum’s simplicity, I would not consider it an item unto itself, rather, anything explicitly referred to as throwing spears could probably be considered to have these, unless otherwise specified.  Long range of 260’ (standard penalties).  I’d estimate that short range would probably be about 50’; in most combat situations, spears with amentums are being thrown parallel to the ground with the cords adjusted for accuracy over distance.

Here’s a guy showing what an amentum is.

Modern Spear Sling

Now we get to the modern spear sling, which is a whole different animal.  The modern spear sling is a device made of some sort of elastic material, typically rubber, which is affixed to the butt of a spear.  The tension created by the band allows for the spear to be thrust with super-human speed and accuracy.  The quickness with which the spear is released makes it optimal for fishing.  Not sitting in a boat and waiting for something to happen fishing, but hardcore, diving in headfirst, knife in your teeth,* spearfishing.  Please take a moment to note and recognize Mr. Don Pinder, a King among men, who slew an 804 pound Goliath Grouper with a spear sling.   Gorillas of the deep!

Most of your typical fantasy game weapons are going to be incredibly lacking when it comes to any aquatic combat.  Water resistance will significantly reduce the effectiveness of any weapons you may be using underwater (that giant sea-termite lurking around the isle of dread is probably going to shrug off your slow-mo sword and axe blows, never mind how hard swimming with those would be!).  Any sort of piercing weapon would overcome some of the water resistance, but having a spear sling would allow you to quickly strike any sort of large aquatic creature with the force and penetration needed to get through the tough hides of large underwater critters and do some real damage.

Unlike the other two, I would not treat this as a ranged weapon.  Yes, it’s technically thrown, but only ever a few feet.  What I would do for this is give a substantial ‘to hit’ bonus against anything large, maybe an automatic hit against anything the size of a person (like our friend the Goliath Grouper there).

Anyway, I don’t know about the last one, but MYFAROG includes the Spear Sling (the atlatl and amentum, I assume) under concussion weapons (along with hammers, axes, swords, etc.) and thrown weapons.  There are mechanics for these as well as a lot of other weapons that are considered non-standard in fantasy games.   I strongly recommend any group out there to do a little digging on unique ancient weapons; swords get boring after a while.  Unique weapons are one of the easiest ways to add flavor to your game world!

*note: diving in headfirst and having a knife in your teeth are not required.

6 responses to “Spear Slings

  1. Thanks. 🙂

    I only include the atlatl (called simply “spear sling”) in MYFAROG. Any player wanting to use an amentum should be allowed to do so though, only he would not be able to use it as a mêlée weapon too.

    • Of course!

      Well, like I said, the amentum would, for all intents and purposes, be considered a part of the spear itself. Either you’re using it to help throw the spear or your using the spear as a melee weapon. I had thought about certain atlatls being used as clubs as well, but didn’t expound on it. I suppose you could have some vicious points carved on one and use it as a light mace. I didn’t come across anything, though, going into that potential use.

      • I base my use of the spear sling as a light club on personal experience; I have such spear slings myself and they ARE good for that use…

      • Cool. The ones I fooled around with long ago were fairly light wooden ones. But a nice carved antler would probably serve well to clunk and finish off whatever you managed to hit with your spear.

      • I have a spear sling with a big animal tooth in one end, and it actually looks a bit like a war hammer, with the hammerhead being exchanged with a huge tooth. Nasty thing…

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Too Many Women in the East

In researching the Emigrant Escort Service and the involvement of Medorem Crawford and his brother LeRoy I came across this:

Massachusetts. General Court. Joint Special Committee on so Much of the Governor’s Address as Relates to the Emigration of Young Women to the West

Maybe I Should Go West......

Maybe I should go west…..

In Senate, March 29, 1865.

The Joint Special Committee to whom was referred so much of the Governor’s Address as relates to “the emigration of young women to the West,” have considered the subject and respectfully submit the subjoined Report, with the Resolution annexed.

The subject referred to the Committee is novel and extraordinary. For the first time in our history, the attention of the legislature has been called to an “excess of women in Massachusetts.” And from a new stand-point altogether, the most delicate and sacred of all the relations of our social economy have been earnestly commended to the deliberations of the General Court.

Says His Excellency, the Governor, in his Annual Address to the legislature, at the opening of our session: — “I desire to call attention to the excess of women in Massachusetts, and to the surplus of men in Oregon, California, and other remote western communities. The facility with which young men migrate, the attractions and opportunities for them of new States; the obvious embarrassments to the migration of young women, the attractions of home, wherever it is, to the heart of woman, and her natural dependence, combine to create this inequality in the distribution of the sexes. In Oregon, having 52,160 inhabitants, according to the census of 1860, there were 19,961 males over fifteen years old, and only 9,878 females above that age. Its population is now estimated at over 100,000 — this disproportion yet remaining. In Massachusetts there were 257,883 males between the ages of fifteen and forty, and 287,009 females, or a surplus of 29,166. The excess of women of all ages above fifteen years, was 38,846. The absorption of men by the military and naval service during the intervening four years has aggravated this disproportion. And it is a disastrous one: it disorders the market for labor; it reduces women and men to an unnatural competition for employments fitted for men alone, tends to increase the number both of men unable to maintain families, and of women who must maintain themselves unaided. In civilized, refined society, it is the office and duty of man to protect woman, to furnish her a sphere, a support, a home. In return, she comforts, refines and adorns domestic life, the family, and the range of social influences. This is also the plainly providential order. Where women are driven to the competitions of the market with men, or where men are left unsolaced and unrefined by the presence of women, society is alike weakened and demoralized.

” I know of no more useful object to which the Commonwealth can lend its aid than that of a movement adapted in a practical way to open the door of emigration to young women who are wanted for teachers, and for every other appropriate as well as domestic employment in the remote West, but who are leading anxious and aimless lives in New England.”

Essentially the same statistics and comments, as those in the Annual Address of the governor, appeared, a month previous, in a circular signed by Rev. Edward Everett Hale, chairman of the New England Emigrant Aid Company’s Committee on Oregon. This company was incorporated by the Massachusetts legislature, February 21st, 1855. It had been operating, however, for nearly a year, under a previous charter, as the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company, for the special object of promoting emigration to Kansas. It has never received any aid from the State treasury. “The original charter fixed five million dollars as the amount of its possible stock.” “In the month of May, 1856, the amount of money expended by the company, in Kansas, was 196,956.01. Of this, very much the largest proportion had been spent for two hotels, and for steam-engines and mills. A part had been expended for the erection of school-houses and dwelling-houses.” “But,”says the History of the Emigrant Aid Company, “we never paid the passage of any emigrant, nor paid anything towards his passage; we simply organized the emigration of individuals, and relieved it, as far as we could, of its solitude and other inconveniences.”

The chairman of the committee above mentioned has had much service, in aiding females to procure employment. At one of our meetings he urged the claims of destitute females, of good character, to legislative and pecuniary assistance in emigrating to Oregon. By a loan of $100 to each emigrant, the money obtained from donations or subscriptions, — he had sent forward, in December last, three or four young women, in charge of proper guardians. They went by the sea route, — defraying the balance of expenses themselves.

There is a strong desire, as we have been informed, to send out a much larger company this spring. So far as we can judge, no considerable amount of donations is expected from private individuals. And very little progress is likely to be made, in supplying from “. the excess of women in Massachusetts,” the marital and other wants of ” the surplus of men in Oregon, California, and other remote western communities,”

unless the legislature shall inaugurate a new department for the bounties or charities of the Commonwealth. With at least some hope of such a procedure, the attention of his excellency was solicited to the subject. And for the same purpose, doubtless, several articles have appeared in the columns of a leading ” daily ” paper, — evidently from the same source as that of the Oregon Committee circular.

In connection with the movements of the Emigrant Aid Company, there have been influences, probably, from the other side of the Atlantic. The “Social Science Congresses” in England, various articles in reviews or magazines, and particularly such as were written by the gifted Miss Frances Power Cobbe, have not been unknown among us, nor without effect upon a certain class of minds.

Since his Annual Address, the governor has received communications from Albert G. Browne, Jr., Military Secretary, — dated in January, at the city of Washington, in which mention is made of Captain Le Roy Crawford, A. Q. M., Senator B. F. Harding, and Representative J. R. McBride, of Oregon, and Delegate Wm. H. Wallace, of Idahoe Territory, formerly governor of that Territory.

Says Mr. Browne :• — ” It seems that there has been no system of emigration to Oregon, but for the last few years Congress has made annual appropriation of $25,000 or $30,000 for an escort (not military,) to such emigrants as should be on the road. The route of the emigration during the three years has been, starting from Omaha, in Nebraska Territory, or other points in that neighborhood on the frontier, to follow the main road up the Platte to the vicinity of the Wind River Mountains, and there to turn off into Lander’s road and follow that to Oregon.

” This escort, consisting usually of about fifty civilians hired for the purpose, has been chiefly of value in making repairs on the road, and assisting parties whose teams had broken, down, or whose stock had been stampeded. Obviously it was too small to have afforded any protection against Indians ; and as the emigration has not been in great bodies, but in scattered parties moving without concert, its value for any purposes of defence has been inconsiderable. Unless the appropriation can be largely increased this year, it may about as well not be made at all ; and the object of Captain Crawford, in his letter to you, was, I presume, to solicit your cooperation for such an increase.”  Speaking of a conversation with the gentlemen above named, Mr. Browne also says : —  ” I assured them of my belief that under proper auspices, in which the emigrants could have confidence, a party of perhaps one thousand, of which twenty per cent, might be males, could be collected from New England, for an emigration in a body to Oregon, overland, this coming spring and summer ; and that if such an emigration should succeed this year, it would be followed without doubt by one five times as large next year. From the discussion the fact appeared plain, that the expense of such an emigration across the Plains, would be much less than of emi- gration around by sea; for that horses and mules and wagons, in reasonably good condition, sell for as high prices in Oregon as in Missouri, always, and at the present time for higher prices.”  Other communications have been received by his excellency. One gentleman of Connecticut, while approving of the suggestions in the Annual Address, inquires if “the same thing could not be effected,” i, e., ” the excess of women ” be diminished, — ” by introducing some of the finer manufactures of Paris and other European cities into Massachusetts, which would attract thither respectable young unmarried men and of middle life from abroad, to come and stay in Massachusetts, and in the New England States.” A Kansas gentleman thinks that ” a large number of females from the East could be employed in this State, if they did not all want to be teachers ; but would go as milliners, house-servants, sales-women, &c.” He suggests, “that if different societies would combine, and use a portion of the money received for the purpose of aiding females, in fitting out and paying the passage out to Kansas of a portion of them, the West would be benefited and the East relieved.”


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Singapore Classifieds

Singapore Classified Advertisements & Listings from Singapore Expats

Two original sketches

Posted By: jaymo130

Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2017

Price: $400.00

Login to Contact User

two original chalk pastel sketches by James Henry Bradbury
water reeds, & sunflower in glass frame, each picture measuring 72cm X 85cm $S 200 each

Please Login and use the Contact User form to contact the advertiser directly instead of adding a comment below. This is because the advertiser may not check this page for new comments.


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Community Associations and Snow

By: Jeffrey Van Grack

As the entire country continues to endure severe winter weatehr conditions, Jeffrey Van Grack takes on the issue of snow in community associations.

snowFrom Thanksgiving until the end of winter (and sometimes even later), snow may fall in area community associations and create issues of safety and parking that can escalate and become dangerous. The biggest concern and perhaps the biggest complaint that boards struggle with is snow removal. This is usually a no-win situation for the manager (think Snowmaggedon).

Despite what individual owners may think, boards of directors have no control of the snow, but they are responsible for snow removal (or lack thereof). In an effort to meet their legal obligation and to diminish the amount of callers, the board and management should hire a competent, properly insured snow removal company that is reliable. Hiring at the last minute the guy who shows up with the plow at the end of his truck is a mistake waiting to happen. Hiring someone who you are assured will show up as required pursuant to a written contract will go a long way towards goodwill of the owners for the entire year. Aside from the inconvenience and chaos it creates in the community, the removal of snow can be filled with liability issues, so having a competent properly insured contractor in place before the first snowfall is vital.

My favorite issue in a blizzard is when an owner (especially in townhouse communities) cleans a parking space and returns 20 minutes later to see a neighbor has taken over the “common area” parking space. Wars sometime start with this process. Your association may wish to send a reminder at the beginning of the season that all spaces are common spaces and that they may not be reserved.

Jeff Van Grack is a community association attorney whose practice has been devoted exclusively to representing community and homeowners associations, condominiums and co-operatives for more than 30 years. For more information visit

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Why Do So Many Bosses Fail or Quit?

By Marcel Schwantes

One thing good leaders don’t do is drive their people like cattle.

Increasingly over the years, I have witnessed more companies racking their collective HR brains trying to figure out how to best engage their employees to perform at a high level.

Well, put the foosball tables, climbing walls, and nap pods away. Culture is king in shaping employee engagement, and it doesn’t come from external perks commonly found in tech-startups, but by leaders that build the emotional commodity of trust with their employees.leadership

First step: stop “driving” people

That means changing your business lingo. I hear a lot of ego-tripping language about how leaders “drive” performance. It’s a popular word in business, an aggressive and celebrated hard people skill of bottom-liners, and it works. It also ruins the health and well-being of both bosses and employees driving themselves into the ground. There is a better way.

The reality is that over the last decade, leadership cultures have changed. And “driving” no longer has a place in open, people-centric, democratic work cultures where employees are valued and have a voice.

If you think about it, we drive cattle, cars and trucks, but they have no say because we’re in charge. We push them through, steer them where we want them to go, and that’s the opposite of what good leadership is about.

Good leaders lead from the heart — inspiring people into action and encouraging high performance — not drive them like cattle to the slaughter house.

Why so many bosses fail or quit, summed up in one sentence

The reason either scenario happens so often is because they neglect to share their leadership with others.

The rare practice of “sharing leadership” is the way good leaders go about developing a strong culture of trust. Yet it’s totally counter-intuitive and a severe blind spot for most controlling, status- and attention-seeking bosses, leading to their quick demise.

For them, the inability to share leadership has roots in both fear and ego: fear of failure if they release control, and a false ego to hide their insecurity.

Lets unpack what sharing leadership looks like in practice:

  • They facilitate a shared vision.
  • They share power and release control
  • They share leadership by pushing authority down.

1. Facilitate a shared vision

Barry Posner and Jim Kouzes, co-authors of the bestselling book, The Leadership Challenge, have surveyed tens of thousands of employees about what they look for and admire in a leader. 72 percent want leaders who are forward-looking. In other words, they want vision.

But even more important than a visionary leader is one who reflects the visions and aspirations of their people. These leaders provide answers to three questions:

  • Where are we going?
  • Why do we exist?
  • What principles guide our decisions and actions?

When a vision addresses all three of these questions, tremendous energy is unleashed to a team. There is going to be a higher level of commitment because everyone on the team is clear about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how their work contributes to the bigger picture.

These leaders communicate an image of the future for their team members that draws them in and speaks to what they see and feel. But they don’t drive the vision forcefully. They encourage team members to contribute their ideas and insights toward the vision.

2. Share power and release control.

Unlike command-and-control leaders who exercise their power through their positional authority, power and control in democratic teams come from the whole — generated by the enthusiasm, respect, shared values, and commitment the whole team has to a specific project, task, or strategy. And the leader sets the stage for this to happen.

Here’s what these leaders do that most don’t or fear doing: They let their people take turns leading. I worked for such a leader back in my corporate days over ten years ago. Here are some clear-cut examples of how he shared his leadership:

  • Made me feel like an equal by giving me decision-making freedom.
  • Was approachable and spent considerable time mentoring and guiding me.
  • Asked me coaching questions like, “What would you like to do in this situation?” to increase my learning.
  • Stretched my development and built up my competence by putting me in places and positions usually reserved for his role. (Ex: He rotated me ahead of schedule into a prestigious committee chair role he held for years)

By all accounts, I was very much accountable to him, he was still the boss, but I remember how much more satisfied and engaged I was than any previous job because he shared his leadership.

3. Push authority down.

Everybody is familiar with the leader-follower structure in a top down culture. It’s still the prevalent way that most companies operate. What’s appealing about this is that it takes responsibility away from followers with a brain to think on their own.

The issue here is crystal clear: Employees are released from any responsibility of the hard work of thinking, making decisions, and being accountable because they only go as far as doing the bare minimum — following orders from the boss.

This programmed mindset of only doing what the boss tells you has a cost. People who are treated as followers end up treating others as followers when it’s their turn to lead. As the cycle repeats itself, companies lose out on tapping into the human potential of their workforce.

In highly effective organizations there are leaders at every level, not just at the top. The solution is always to push authority down, so you’re creating a leader-leader, not leader-follower, culture.

The first order of priority in pushing decision making authority down to your team members is to increase their competence. What do they need to get good at their job? What training will build up their skills and knowledge?

The result of increased competence, technical or otherwise, is the ability to delegate more control and authority down the ranks because they are now equipped to handle it. This is what good leaders recognize and do.

Hard questions to ask

Increased decision making among team members down the ranks will naturally result in greater engagement, motivation, and initiative to take on larger tasks and tougher responsibilities. If you’re a leader reading this, I assure you, practicing the rare skill of sharing leadership will result in significantly higher productivity, morale and effectiveness.

I end with some hard questions for leaders to reflect on:

  • How deeply is the top-down leader-follower structure ingrained in your team or company?
  • What can you do to create a space for open decision making by the entire team?
  • Are you under-using the creativity and passion of your team members who want to have more responsibility?

Marcel Schwantes is principal and founder of Leadership From the Core, a leading provider of servant-leadership training and coaching designed to create healthy, engaged, and profitable work.

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Southwest Florida Code Camp II

I presented a Powershel session at the SW Florida .Net Code Camp II. The session demonstrated the following uses cases for developer usage of Powershell:
  • ETL
  • Testing (PSUnit and WatIN)
  • Deployment Automation
  • Management API
The presentation and supporting materials are available here:
Max Trinidad presented 3 one-hour sessions, so we were able to basically run a Powershell track at the code camp! It was fun taking part in a one day Powershell event. My thanks to everyone in attendence and to the SW Florida .NET Developers Group for all the work that went into hosting code camp. Feel free to post questions and comments.
This entry was posted in PowerShell. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Southwest Florida Code Camp II

  1. Joe says:

    thanks for being there Chad. heard great things about your talk. repeat at Tampa codecamp?

  2. Chad says:

    Absolutely, see you at Tampa Code Camp, Nov 7th.

Comments are closed.


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Hitting Fundamentals from Chaz Lytle, MiLB Pittsburgh PIrates Batting Title Champ
by Chaz Lytle

Chaz Lytle, MiLB Pittsburgh Pirates Batting Title Champ, offers the fundamentals and strategies of making your swing work for you!

ChazLytleBaseball Chaz Lytle Batting Title Champ Pittsburgh Pirates. (03) UGA ALL-Time SB champ. (O2) MLB Scout School Graduate

CHAZ LYTLE, a native of Sanford, FL has been working with youth to improve their hitting and fielding skills for over 10 years.

As professional centerfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, Chaz won the South Atlantic League Batting title in 2003 while with their Hickory, NC Club. He was voted MVP of that team and the Lynchburg, VA franchise in 2005. In his 6 year career, Chaz batted .295, striking out only 164 times our of 1390 at bats! He also had 90 stolen bases during his professional career.

Prior to being drafted by the Pirates, Chaz was named to the All Southeast Conference First Team while playing for the University of Georgia where he honed his hitting skills with hitting coach Rick Eckstein.

While a Bulldog, Chaz batted .387 and set the school season record for hits with 109 base knocks and the record for steals with 31. Chaz is a graduate of Seminole High School where he batted .494 and was an All State Selection.

While injuries shortened Chaz’s professional baseball career, his passion for the game and working with area youth have inspired him to dedicate himself to teach kids the proper fundamentals of baseball and increase their success and enjoyment of the game.

Chaz currently coaches Central Florida's best high school prospects. He also works with younger players to help develop their skills as they grow into a more competitive environment.  For more information, please visit our website

This course has no reviews


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Harrison McLean WIN Coeur d'Alene

Sample Reports & Agreements

Please click on the links below to see examples of the WIN Inspection Agreement and a WIN Home Inspection report.

Please note that these samples may not reflect state specific requirements. Please contact WIN Home Inspection Coeur d'Alene if you have any questions.


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New Study of Historically Black Colleges

From Inside Higher Education:

A new report, “The Changing Face of Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” was released Thursday by the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education and the Center for Minority Serving Institutions. The report details the role of black colleges, outlines demographic trends in enrollments and discusses educational and financial challenges facing the institutions.

Download the full report here (PDF)

This entry was posted in Newsworthy Research and Trends Articles. Bookmark the permalink.

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Register today for the 2013 Fall Counselor Workshops from The College Board

From The College Board:

Discover why 93 percent of counselors who attended last year’s Fall Counselor Workshops believe that the content and techniques they learned changed the way they do their jobs. Take advantage of this free opportunity to network with colleagues, share best practices and learn about the latest program developments, tools and news from the College Board.

The 2013 Fall Counselor Workshops will include:

  • Updates to the SAT® security enhancements
  • New features of the counselor SAT registration rosters
  • Latest counselor resources from the AP® Program
  • Our comprehensive resource guide
  • And much more

NYC dates and locations:

  • Bronx – Wednesday, Oct 23, 2013 – Fordham University, Rose Hill Campus
  • Brooklyn – Tuesday, Nov 5, 2013 – Brooklyn Technical High School

Register now!

This entry was posted in Events for College Advisors, School Counselors, and Volunteers. Bookmark the permalink.

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Stat of the Week: 28.8 Percent

Renewals were down in 2014.
Renewals were down in 2014.

To renew, or not to renew, that is the question. And if Hamlet were alive today, and leasing space in Manhattan, he would join the list of tenants who face a decision: Should we stay in place and keep our old, tired looking office, or move to new digs? In 2014, more tenants chose to relocate compared with previous years, as the percentage of lease renewals was down. Only 28.8 percent of the square footage leased throughout Manhattan was renewals, down from the 38.1 percent average from 2013.

SEE ALSO: City Set for 33-Year High in New Office Supply Through 2019: C&W

Downtown benefited the most from this trend, as only 14.2 percent of its square footage leased was renewals. The increase in new leasing activity has a direct correlation with more and more tenants migrating Downtown from Midtown and Midtown South. Also, with an overall average asking rent of $55.38 per square foot, Downtown still remains a value-option compared with the other two markets where asking rents average 20 to 40 percent higher. Midtown had the most square footage renewed in 2014, with 33.4 percent of the leasing activity remaining in place; and Midtown South was not far behind with a 31.1 percent renewal rate.

The big three industries (professional services, financial services and information services) continued to dominate the Manhattan leasing activity, accounting for 70.4 percent of the square footage leased in 2014. Leading the way was the professional services sector with 27 percent of the activity, which edged out financial services by only 0.6 percent. Information services rounded out the top three industries with 17 percent of the leasing activity. Not only was the professional services industry the king of leasing activity, but it also renewed the lowest percentage of space, 26.5 percent, out of the big three industries. Financial services firms had the highest renewal rate out of the big three at 35.2 percent throughout Manhattan. But despite the high renewal rate throughout the market, the number of new leases signed in Midtown within the financial services sector increased over the past two years, which bodes well for the market.

Richard Persichetti is vice president of research, marketing and consulting at DTZ.


text:
CBRE Acquires GE’s Interest in GEMSA, Rebrands as CBRE Loan Services

CBRE has acquired General Electric Capital Corporation’s interest in the loan servicing company GEMSA Loan Services and is re-launching the servicing company under its umbrella, the Los Angeles-based firm announced yesterday.

SEE ALSO: Trinity Unwraps $190M Construction Loan for Resi Condo at 77 Greenwich

GE transferred its interest in GEMSA—which the two firms founded as a joint venture in 2001—to CBRE on Dec. 18, 2015, allowing CBRE to take over the business and operate it as CBRE Loan Services.

The newly branded platform currently manages $120 billion of commercial real estate loans worldwide—roughly 5,200 loans in the U.S. and 500 in Europe. CBRE Loan Services recently began servicing loans in Australia, through the firm’s Sydney office, and intends to expand globally, a CBRE spokesman told Commercial Observer via email. Additionally, management will focus on expanding third-party loan servicing, growing the loan servicing platform’s institutional client base and brining in more regional and non-bank lenders.

GEMSA has offices across the U.S., as well as in London, Frankfurt and Madrid, none of which are closing. The firm’s headquarters will remain in Houston, the CBRE spokesman confirmed.

“At CBRE we understand the underlying real estate asset as much as we understand the loan,” Clarence Dixon, the global head of CBRE Loan Services, said in prepared remarks. “This combination enables us to provide our clients with truly innovative solutions to meet their complex commercial real estate finance needs. Launching CBRE Loan Services globally means our clients can receive the same high level of service and consistency anywhere in the world.”

CBRE has been servicing commercial real estate loans since 1978, both directly and through firms the company acquired. Through GEMSA, the firm serviced loans for life insurance companies, the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, pension funds and the commercial mortgage-backed securities industry.

In addition to launching the platform under its brand, CBRE announced that Chris Shamaly, the former general counsel of CBRE Capital Markets, is now the senior managing director of CBRE Loan Services in the Americas.

“Top-quality loan servicing is a core strength of CBRE and, through the new CBRE Loan Services, we will continue to provide the high level of service that our clients expect of us, while further growing the practice in the U.S.” Mr. Shamaly said in the press release.

GEMSA managers Chris Gaas, Steve Rapp and Dave Haley will transfer to CBRE and report to Mr. Shamaly.


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7 Replies Latest reply on Jan 26, 2010 4:45 AM by JoeBidgood

    EPO 4.5 and VSE 8.7. DAT not updating automatically (works manually)

      New server with EPO 4.5, from old server with 3.6.

      Rolled out VSE 8.0 Patch 16 via old EPO 3.6.

      Upgraded Agent and VSE via new epo successfully to Agent 4.5 and VSE 8.7 patch 2.

      No errors at this point and previous testing did not show problems.

      However I am now noticing a large number of the PCs are not updating the DATs automatically.

      If I go to a PC, opne the virus console and run update manually the DAT is downloaded and installed without error. The console Update option has 'Not Scheduled' listed but I assumed this was because it was controlled via the agent.

      All the machines have the most current engine.

      It seems like a schedule problem but I cannot find any settings for DAT rollouts. The repository is set to update every 24 hours and downloads the latest DAT and Engine - but NOT SuperDAT - is that the issue?


text:
4 Replies Latest reply on Feb 27, 2009 10:36 AM by rocknroll

    AGENTS on 3.6 not updating to 4.0

      I have a policy set to update Windows Systems to agent 4.0 but over 300 machines are remaining on 3.6.
      I have tried to push the agent to a specific machine but it shows as 'Failed' immediately, any ideas how to resolve?
        • 1. RE: AGENTS on 3.6 not updating to 4.0
          Laszlo G
          Can you get some details of the "failed" from the server logs or anything?
          It could be interesting to see why it doesn't really upgrades.

          Did you try to use the force option when deploying agents through ePO?
          • 2. RE: AGENTS on 3.6 not updating to 4.0
            Thanks for reply. Do you know exactly where I would look at the log?
            A force does not work, this is happening on a lot of machines.

            The agent that they should be getting is 4.0.x but they are still getting 3.6. The policy only forces out 4.0.x so I am not sure how machines are still getting the old agent!
            Any ideas?
            • 3. RE: AGENTS on 3.6 not updating to 4.0
              please post a sample agent log for the period when it should be running the update to 4.0
              • 4. In the same boat
                I am in the same boat, about 300 out of 1,500 won't update through ePO. I've tried to force the installation without luck. The systems are updating DATs and Engine properly. I've tried looking through log after log without finding an error message (I might be looking in the wrong place". I can manually update CMA 3.6 to McAfeeAgent but am stuck as to what is holding the installation back. Any help you can give me is appreciated.


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Post in Beauty Confidential

What are you wearing today?

What makeup is everyone wearing today?

Today I am wearing:

1. Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation in Champagne

2. Benefit Coralista blush

3. TheBalm Mary-Loumanizer

4. Dior Creme de Rose Lipbalm

5. Dior Addict Lipstick in 454

6. Benefit Creaseless Cream shadow in RSVP

and under all this I am wearing Neutrogena Pure and Free Liquid Sunblock SPF 50

So c'mon now...confess!

Re: What are you wearing today?

I am makeup free today because I have been sick in bed :-( I wanted to share my look from last night since I used a couple of new products that I bought yesterday!

- Too Faced Tinted Beauty Balm in Nude Glow - this is a new one and I loved it! I amexcited to keep using this!

- MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural in Medium Dark

- Maybelline Age Rewind Under Eye Eraser

- NARS Blush in Sin

- MAC Eyeshadows in All That Glitters (a champainge on the inner 2/3 lid) and Nocturnelle (deep plummy purple on the outer corner, slightly through crease and smoked out under the eye)

- UD 24/7 Eyeliner in Zero on upper lash line and lightly on bottom lash line

- Maybelline Falsies Mascara

- MAC Fix+ Setting Spray

- NYX Mega Shine Lipgloss in Beige ( really a pretty pink with a slight purple hue despite what the name implies!) - this is new too - absolutely looove it! Great colorpayoff and the perfect shade for me!

Re: What are you wearing today?

1. Neutrogena Pure and Free Liquid Daily Sunblock

2. Bare Minerals Prime Time Brightening Eyelid Primer

3. Benefit Booing Concealer in 01

4. Bare Minerals Mineral Veil

5. Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in RSVP

6. Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment

7. Josie Maran Color Stick in Petal Pink

8. NARS The Multiple in Riviera

9. Benefit Dallas Bronzer

10. TheBalm Mary Loumanizer

11. Bare Minerals Flawless Definition Mascara

Thats a lot more that I usually wear...but I love my look!

Re: What are you wearing today?

Love your frog, sephoramusthave! I'm really glad it's Friday, too. Even though it was a four-day week, it has really dragged for some reason!

Rooting through my NARS stash to swatch blushes for someone actually led me to revisit some (rarely used) favorites, so I'm trying to branch out Smiley Happy I'm also trying to rotate the foundations I have in my cabinet instead of always sticking to Siberia or Dainty Doll.

Today was also a strictly-Sephora look (not on purpose...I just realized as I was typing):

Bobbi Brown TM, Alabaster Tint

Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes, 0L (black)

YSL Faux Cils, Noir Radical

NARS Cream Blush, Cactus Flower

NARS Concealer, Chantilly

Bite Beauty Lip Shine, Prosecco (I'm close to finishing this...I haven't decided whether to buy it again or try Buxom White Russian instead (which is always out of stock at the Sephora I visit most -- I guess it's a popular shade!).

Smiley Happy

Re: What are you wearing today?

@Fran11  I hope you get to feeling better!  That's awesome that you like the NYX gloss.  I have been wanting to try some products from the brand.  From what I've read, it sounds like it is excellent quality.

My back to school look for yesterday (didn't wear too much since I wanted to leave early for parking lol):

Neutrogena 3 in 1 Concealer for Eyes

Tarte Smooth Operator

Kat Von D eyeshadow in Believer, UD Naked in Crease and blended up for highlight

Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara

UD Super Saturated Lip Color in Lovechild

TheBalm BalmShelter TM

Neutrogena 3 in 1 Concealer for Eyes

Tarte Smooth Operator

Smashbox Bronze Lights

Urban Decay Naked Palette: Half Baked on the lid, Naked in the crease, and Virgin as a highlight.

UD Big Fatty mascara

MAC lipgloss in Devishly Stylish

Re: What are you wearing today?

@Kimmi - thanks!! This cold is really somethingelse and stillpretty bad! Fortunately I am lucky and am able to work from home on days like today!! It's nice to get to stay in yoga pants and a big comfy tshirt when you aren't well.  Not coughing on your coworkers and getting them sick is a plus too.   ;-)

But yes, I really recommend the nyx glosses. They are such great quality for such a great price! They do have a kind of strong sweet smell to them when you first apply, but it seemed to fade quickly. I could see how that might turn some people off from the product though!

Re: What are you wearing today?

@fran11: It's great that you can work from home! I wish some of my coworkers would stay home when they are sick...I used to come to work sick (once upon a time, and I had my own office) but now I just think it's inconsiderate, particularly if you work in close proximity to others. On an unrelated note, I love NARS Sin! I think it was actually the second NARS blush I ever bought, and I hit the bottom (which is unheard of for me).

Moving on:

Burberry Luminous Fluid Base

A few drops of NARS Sheer Glow

Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes in 6L (black purple)

YSL Faux Cils Mascara

Burberry eyeshadow in Trench and Pearl Grey

Laura Mercier Eyebrow Pencil, Blonde

Burberry Blush, Earthy

NARS Lipstick, Pago Pago

Smiley Happy

Re: What are you wearing today?

@katie - yes, it is really nice to have that flexibility! Especially since my office consists of clusters of cubicles with low walls so germs spread easily! Meand my cube-mates miss each other when one is out, but appreciate the consideration when someone stays home when sick!!  Oh and Sin is quickly becoming my favorite blush! I bought it a few weeks ago and have been wearing it almost everyday.

@prettyinpa - I agree it's nice to be able to get up and take breaks but I also find it is easy to get distracted at home. I love having the option for when i need it, but don't think I could do it everyday - I'd get too lonely!!

Anyway - first day back in the office, here's my face of the day:

Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer

Sephora Instant Radience Foundation

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Under Eye Eraser

MUFE HD Setting Powder

NARS bLush in Sin

MAC eyeshadow in All That Glitters

MAC eyeshadow in brown Down as liner

Maybeline Falsies Mascara

MAC Fix + Setting Spray

Fresh Sugar Lip Tratment in Honey

Re: What are you wearing today?

Working from home is really nice! I get to take enough breaks so that my back doesn't hurt constantly (sitting too long in one place really makes it ache), I can go for a walk with the dog if I need a stress rest and I can fix a snack anytime. The down side is since clutter bugs me, I have to make sure the house is clean in the AM, there are sometimes too many pleasant distractions and I don't get as much work done as if I in the office.

I'm wearing today:
Urban Decay Naked Foundation
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
UD shadow in Verve and Pistol
Fairy Drops Scandal Queen Mascara
MAC Fluidline in Rich Ground
Too Faced Peach Leopard
Sephora Cream Lipstain in Infinite Rose

Pretty much my regular look, just change the UD shadows from day to day.

Re: What are you wearing today?

Skin care:

Anthony Logistics glycolic face wash

Pericone Super Crinkle Eraser serum

Origins GinZing eye cream

Neutrogena on the spot treatment (for my tiny blemish)

CeraVe day lotion with SPF 30

Make up:

Studio Gear foundation primer

Exuviance liquid concealer

Cargo Blu Ray powder #20

Studio Gear blush in Glowing

Cargo water resistant bronzer

Urban Decay PP in Sin

UD Flipside on inner corners of eyes
UD Baked on lids
UD Twice Baked on outer corners
MAC Expensive Pink on crease
Stila Kitten on brow bone

Benefit BrowZing in Dark

UD Demolition eye liner
Lancome lash primer

UD Lush Lash mascara

Fairy Drops Scandal Queen Mascara
Tokyo Milk Dark La Vie En Rose lip balm
Laura Mercier Sparkling Pink lipstick

Re: What are you wearing today?

Today is the first day I'm wearing any makeup other than lip product in I don't know how long... Also this is the first time I am posting with a photo of myself because I am a shy little thing. So here is my list:

Guerlain Lingerie de Peau Invisible Skin Fusion Foundation in 'Beige Clair'

NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in 'Minor Sin' and 'Guilt'

Becca Ultimate Crème Eyeliner in 'Belle Epoch'

Guerlain Maxi Lash Mascara

Re: What are you wearing today?

Holy smokes, you look like an ethereal painting.

Re: What are you wearing today?

Gorgeous look you have!

Re: What are you wearing today?

Wow! You have the face of a young model! Simply stunning! I'm loving how natural the look is; it's so natural that most guys would assume you just rolled out of bed looking this great, which in my experience is the hardest look to attain! Are you wearing any lip color at all? If not your lips have the most coquettish natural pink hue - it's exceedingly pretty! Smiley Happy

Re: What are you wearing today?

I agree with ballerinagirl, I could see you as a model in a magazine! You have such striking features.

Re: What are you wearing today?

Thanks, ballerinagrl! No, I am not wearing anything on my lips here. Most often I wear clear lip balm because I like the color of my lips, but they are so heavily pigmented that it sometimes gives me grief when I want to wear a pretty petal pink and my natural color muddies it! Smiley Very Happy

Re: What are you wearing today?

I love the color of your lips; they're the perfect nude-pink! Smiley Happy

Re: What are you wearing today?

Stunning!!!! Definitely model-esque

Re: What are you wearing today?

Thank you, Vaashtii!

Re: What are you wearing today?

I don't think I've ever seen your face, I know we have the same name but that's about it Smiley Tongue

You are one true beauty.

Re: What are you wearing today?

Re: What are you wearing today?

This would be my everyday, all day, everytime, anytime, all the time look...


text:
A cowards move, a child’s pain (Possible trigger)

I wonder why you love to bring misery?
Your own life, is it unsatisfactory?
With a wife and three kids
Who were there no matter what crimes you’d commit
She was 15 you were 38
How could claim it was an honest mistake?
Baby, do you remember what we talked about?
You whispered as you looked her way
Those are the words that have stuck in her head
It was the pain pills you had said
You left her and your kids alone in that room
Wait, what is happening now?
To explain to your wife how you was confused
She went back a few years
Remembering how you fought her tears
She could hear all the commotion around her
She knew physically she was right here
Her mind was taking her so many places elsewhere
You used to hold her while she cried
Took her hand and stood proudly by her side
You brought her courage when she was scared
You taught her how to hold her head up and fight all her fears
There are whispers in the hallway
What are they doing? Planning their escape?
She couldn’t keep up it was all too much
She is crying now remembering your touch
Going back and questioning every single hug
You were the one she ran to when life was too tough
Why are people yelling? Everyone shut up
She needs it quiet, her voice she couldn’t speak
She had to stay in her head, she knew she was weak
She was in the past remembering all the good
It was shielding her, that she understood
All the time spent with your family
She was one of you, all those times she was happy
What do you mean? Who has to go?
You had just came back, saved her from old ghost
One year earlier, remember you were the first to see those scars
She came to you uncovered her neck and showed you the marks
The anger in your eyes, she watched turn into a fatherly hurt
The fear you seen in her eyes changed the anger in your heart
You failed to protect and swore it would never happen again
As you held her in your arms and promised this wasn’t the end
It’s the middle of the night
Why is everyone talking?
She heard her mom ask them to stay
Why didn’t she understand the had to go away?
The last time they left quietly
She found the house empty, they left only a note
Emergency, they had no choice but to go
They came back for her at just the right time
They came back and saved her when her best friend died
When she couldn’t take the pain anymore
Everyone was too busy to notice she was gone
She wanted to speak but silence was all she found
She was lost, there she was bound
She was the one hurting, why did no one care what she thought?
Somewhere in her mind she heard noise, did the truck just start?
This can’t happen, they need to be stopped
If they leave now, they’ll never be caught
She used to ride in that truck
They drove her far away from there to prove to her she wasn’t stuck
They traveled the country
He had her in his custody
Why did he wait? So many opportunities
What was so special about today?
The house was quiet now, she heard the tires screech away
She still couldn’t move, alone at last
It’s not safe to drive that fast
Curvy roads filled with heer
What happens if they wreck?
She glanced around the empty room, what happens next?
It’s been a long time since she was left alone
This is how it should be, this is her home
A knock on her door, her mom pleaded for her to talk
Mom she is tired after all it’s two o’clock
What happened? Why did they leave? Tell me are they running from something?
They are running from me she wanted to say
No, don’t speak you can’t
Will the cops come? They can’t she has to hide
No, no can know she has to change
She remembers the last they came, it wasn’t too long ago after all
They took her clothes for processing, violating her again
Processing? what an awful way to describe the aftermath
For the first time she since she woke and felt him she could move
This is what it’s like to feel
In a hurry she hid her pants, those are her favorite pants
Now no one would know she could forget the pain
She crawled into their bed, awaiting the new day
No sleep, no smile, no tears
For the first time, she felt no fear

You Left Me

poem I wrote when I was 15-16, I wrote it shortly after the death of my best friend; my only friend.

These pills I pop

These drinks I down

I wonder how long it will take until

I’m cold and dead on this ground

My eyes can’t lie

It’s my heart that’s broken

You left me

And I can’t live without you

I miss you so much

My pain gets me to act this way

I don’t know what to do

This drink takes away a few memories in a glass

But the sad thing

I know in the morning they will be back

If there is a god

He’ll take my life

I don’t want to be around

Because you’ll never be back

I don’t want and I don’t deserve another chance

You were too good to be true

I never wanted to lose sight of you

I truly loved you

Old stuff

Yesterday I traveled a far and long path to brave my mother’s basement, the basement that I am convinced is where all spider nightmares go for vacation.  I went threw alot of my old stuff.  Not too much because I wanted out of there before anybody got home, grabbed a couple of boxes and an old laptop bag full of old journals and random things.  When I wrote alot and doodled when bored and nothing came to mind I would write random things on scrap paper, so far these are my favorite finds.. random and just plain me, no heavy thinking was involved

Here is a couple of them

I’m just sitting here making airplanes, paper ones that crash, why wont they fly?  I folded them the way the website told me and still they just crash.  Now I’m just sitting here watching people laugh at me, I was not trying to make a bad stunt plane, I did not wish to entertain.. I wanted a glider.

Now I am sitting out here crashing other peoples airplanes.

Anybody have a muse for sale? mine is on strike and since I can not meet its demands (better pay, better management, and less eraser) there is no crossing the line anytime soon.  This is a horrible standoff


text:
MySQL and SSD: Usage Patterns

Average rating: ****.
(4.00, 5 ratings)

f you’re considering using solid-state storage for your MySQL server, you should attend this talk. The obvious usage of SSD is just to put all data on it, but that may not be the most optimal solution. It might be better to have a mixture of SSDs and normal disks. Or you might want to use separate SSDs for different tasks, so they don’t get a mixed workload. There are many possibilities. I will show various usage patterns, like: using SSD as a cache, using SSD for temporary table, and separating the transaction logs and doublewrite buffer. Benchmarks included. Get the most from your SSDs for MySQL!

Photo of Vadim Tkachenko

Vadim Tkachenko

Percona Inc

Vadim Tkachenko is the CTO and co-founder of Percona Inc. He is an expert in application scaling and performance tuning, and co-authored the O’Reilly book High Performance MySQL, 2nd Edition.

Vadim has over five years of experience in benchmarking and profiling MySQL, having worked inside MySQL’s High Performance group. He now continues his benchmarks independently on

  • EnterpriseDB
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Clustrix
  • Continuent
  • Facebook
  • HTI Consultoria e Tecnologia
  • Monty Program
  • Percona
  • Rackspace Hosting
  • Schooner Information Technology
  • SkySQL
  • Xeround

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