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Gaza blockade – no signs of loosening

This article was published by IRIN, a press service funded by the UN, on September 2

Nearly a week after a ceasefire agreement that was believed to include the partially lifting of the blockade on Gaza, no restrictions have been eased, say humanitarians and border guards.

NGOs are eager to increase aid to the Palestinian region after a 50-day Israeli bombing campaign left over 2,000 dead, thousands wounded and much of the enclave’s infrastructure in ruins, but access rules continue to present huge challenges.

Trucks waiting at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza Credit: Erica Silverman/IRIN

Trucks waiting at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza Credit: Erica Silverman/IRIN

Read the article on IRIN’s website

While the exact terms of the ceasefire agreement, reached last week between Israel and various Palestinian factions, have not been released, it was widely reported that Tel Aviv committed to easing its border sanctions in exchange for a cessation of hostilities, while Egypt, too, was expected to ease its blockade.

Though many of the most contentious issues were left for further negotiations due to take place in three weeks, humanitarian workers were hopeful aid and other access policies would be eased quickly.

Gaza has been under a sea and land blockade by Israel and Egypt since the militant group Hamas took power in 2007.

Yet at the three main crossings – the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings into Israel and the Rafah border post to Egypt – the previous policies have remained in place. “At both Erez and Kerem Shalom for now there hasn’t been any change in the regime of allowing passage for people and goods,” said Maria Jose Torres, deputy head of office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory branch of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

She said the organization had hoped for more clarity on the opening up. “We were expecting that the agreement of the ceasefire would have some kind of timeline for easing and lifting the blockade but so far we have nothing publicly. There might be something we are not aware of,” she said, referencing ongoing indirect talks between Palestinian factions and Israel.

One of the key issues is reducing the number of goods for which access is limited. Among those that Israel restricts are fertilizers, cement, steel cables and even some fabrics. Tel Aviv defines such goods as “dual use” – meaning that while they are needed for the civilian population, they could also potentially be used by militant groups in attacks.

Wael Abu Omar, spokesperson for the authorities on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, also said officials had been expecting an immediate easing of restrictions and increase of traffic after the ceasefire. However, he said policies had not changed and the number of trade trucks entering daily had remained roughly static at its wartime level of between 200 and 250.

“Honestly, we are going to have to wait and see what the days [ahead] hold for us. We are waiting for what has been promised but until now nothing has changed,” he said.

Fikr Shaltoot, director of programmes in Gaza for the UK-based Medical Aid for the Palestinians (MAP), said they too had been disappointed by the lack of change. “We were hoping to see immediate change on all the crossings. So far I don’t see any kind of improvement on this,” she said, adding that the medical need in Gaza was acute. “Even before the aggression, there were severe shortages of drugs – 28 percent of essential goods were at zero stock,” she said. “Now the situation is critical.”

Yet Paul Hirschson, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, told IRIN that as the exact terms of the ceasefire agreement had not been made public, much of the expectation had been based upon conjecture.

“I too have heard claims about things Israel and/or others are said to have agreed to…[but] to my knowledge all parties agreed to cease hostilities and though the Egyptians a conversation about the future will take place,” he said. “I suggest we allow the diplomatic conversation to progress.”

At the Egyptian border, too, similar stringent restrictions remain, though hopes were raised for an easing on 28 August when the World Food Programme (WFP) was granted permission to send 18 food trucks through the Rafah crossing. The deal was the first time since 2007 that the organization had used the crossing to deliver aid, which is normally limited to entry through Israel.

Yet WFP officials stressed that the deal was negotiated in recent weeks before the ceasefire. “Our regional bureau has been negotiating with the ministries in Cairo for five weeks for those 18 trucks,” Sune Kent, WFP Palestine’s head of logistics, emergency preparedness and security, said. “Getting goods through Rafah requires continued and very close negotiations with the Egyptian authorities.”

Seeking dual use agreements

As fears that the blockade will not be eased grow, the people of Gaza could be forgiven for experiencing a sense of déjà vu. In November 2012, following eight days of fighting, an agreement was struck between Hamas and Israel that was supposed to ease the blockade.

Many of the basic tenets of that deal were similar to what was reported of the newly-agreed one. Following the agreement, border policies were briefly eased, with Palestinians in Gaza having freer movement both to Egypt and Israel.

“You can’t bring in bottled water for 500,000 people. You need to repair the water facilities. To do that you need technical equipment”

Yet while there were initial promising signs, the deal was never fully implemented – particularly after the pro-Hamas Muslim Brotherhood-led government in Egypt was overthrown by the country’s military, a move supported by mass public demonstrations. The country’s new leader, former military general Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, is hostile to Hamas and sanctions have increased.

This time, too, the threat of the deal collapsing is real, especially as there appear to be few enforcing mechanisms. Hirschson confirmed to IRIN that the terms of the agreement included no guarantees that either side would fulfil their side of the bargain.

If no policy changes are forthcoming in the coming days, analysts say humanitarian access may ultimately depend on seeking some consensus during the negotiations due to take place in Cairo in the coming weeks. Finding common ground will be a monumental challenge. Among the key issues for Hamas are the release of hundreds of prisoners, and the construction of a port and an airport that would allow Palestinians freedom of movement and access to the world without Israeli control.

Nir Bons, a research fellow at the Tel Aviv-based Moshe Dayan Center for Middle East Studies, told IRIN that such goals would be unacceptable for Israeli politicians as long as Hamas remained in power. Referring to the potential ports, he said: “Israel will not let the Palestinians have them unless there is a very different configuration [of power]. So we are back to square one – Hamas remains in power, determined to continue [its attack until it reaches] Jerusalem… Israel cannot accept this.”

Likewise, Israel’s key demand – the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip – is a “non starter”, according to Hugh Lovatt, the Israel and Palestine project coordinator at the European Council of Foreign Relations. “It is not realistic in any way,” he said.

The fear, therefore, is that if more substantive talks stumble then the crisis will lead to nothing more than a return to the pre-war status quo – with no easing of the border controls.

Lovatt said that in such circumstances donors would potentially be hesitant to back relief schemes, particularly if they felt that by failing to tackle the underlying issues another conflict would be likely. “If you are talking from the point of view as a European taxpayer, your money is going into Gaza to build things and then Israel comes and bombs it. There is an accountability issue,” he said.

For the UN, the challenge is to help the parties find compromise solutions. The status of dual use goods is likely to be a key issue for lobbying. “We are fully aware of the security issues that Israel has raised and the parties facilitating the negotiations, including the UN, are looking for solutions that would be acceptable [to the Israelis],” OCHA’s Torres said. Among these would potentially be channelling dual-use items through specific organizations.

WFP’s Kent said food items had been granted relatively easy access by the Israeli authorities throughout the conflict, with an average of one or two days’ wait at the crossings. “It has not been a problem to get in lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Gaza. The Israelis kept the crossing open much more than previous conflicts,” he said.

Yet he pointed out that with much of Gaza’s infrastructure destroyed, food aid is only a short-term fix – stemming the humanitarian crisis over the longer term requires deals on restricted items such as cement and heavy machinery. “You can’t bring in bottled water for 500,000 people. You need to repair the water facilities. To do that you need technical equipment… that is the most cost-effective way of giving Gazans clean water,” he said.

Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Institution think tank in Doha, said one way to help facilitate better access would be to continue moves towards a potential international mission to monitor borders.

In recent weeks, diplomatic moves have been made to discuss a potential European Union force to monitor the crossings with both Israel and Egypt, thus potentially assuaging some of Israel’s security concerns while ensuring more access. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman has welcomed the idea.

“There is a growing acceptance of the need for more international involvement on the ground,” Shaikh said, adding that it was too early to say exactly what form the force would take.

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text:
John Tiller Software

Kharkov '43

February 2nd, 1943 was a significant day. Field Marshall Paulus surrendered the German 6th Army in the ruins of Stalingrad and Stalin launched Operation Star and Gallop, 1,000 km's to the west. This latest Soviet operation had a much more ambitious goal than those that preceded it – the complete destruction of German forces in Southern Russia and the Ukraine.

Launched from the march, Voronezh & South Western Front's threw no less than 6 armies and 11 tank corps at a German line that was only just reforming after the constant retreats of the prior three months. Despite the arrival of the elite Gross Deutschland and three SS Divisions from the West, the German position was dire with a 40km gap in the line between Izyum and Slavyansk. Through this gap was pushed 1st Guards Army and the 4 tank corps of Lt General Popov's Mobile Group with orders to exploit into the rear of 1st & 4th Panzer Army's and ultimately cut their lines of communication.

With the capture of Kharkov by Voronezh Front and 25th Tank Corp approaching the critical Dnepr River crossings, the Soviet Stavka thought that finally the decisive moment had come. For German Field Marshall Manstein, it was all a calculated gamble - hold tough on the shoulders and allow the Soviets to punch into thin air and then as the Soviet forces over-extended, launch a counter offensive – the Backhand Blow.

So successful was Manstein's offensive that the Soviets were driven back beyond their starting lines and the front was in hiatus for three months till Kursk. Join the swirling battles in the Ukraine from the desperate defense at Kharkov to the open steppes in the Donbas as the two protagonists fought in deep snow and mud. Can you deliver the death blow to Germany or will you celebrate the last victory in Russia?

For more information, see the product page.

System Requirements

Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, or 10
Processor: 1 GHz
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Sold as a 300 MB download


text:
[Author’s note: This is an age’s old fragment of a story I’d like to do something more with. Suggestions are appreciated!]

Click. Click, click.

From the driver’s seat of his beat up ’76 Duster, Arthur Pope photographed the chairman of his college’s Business School, Henry Girard. Girard, a short and stout gremlin of a man, occupied the position coveted by Arthur and Arthur had worked too hard for too long to let that continue. Arthur was handsome and well-regarded by his students, which he imagined consumed Girard with jealousy. Why else would Girard have Arthur’s classes cut and lasso him into substituting for an ailing professor whose mundane subject everyone hated?

Arthur slumped below the wheel as Girard shuffled towards his Lexus a few cars up the street. Once Girard was gone, Arthur looked back at the house Girard exited to see Hillary standing in the doorway, staring back at him. She nodded toward Arthur, then slipped back inside, winding like a snake. Arthur reached into his glove compartment and dug out the phone Girard was always carelessly leaving around. He called Hillary.

“Well?” Arthur asked.

“We have what we came for,” she answered.

“Took you a while. You didn’t, you know…”

“No. I’m saving myself for the right guy, remember? Are you the right guy, Mr. Arthur Poop?”

Poop, that’s clever, he thought. She could be so juvenile sometimes.

“It’s Pope. And I told you to use his name when I called you from his cell.” Arthur rolled his eyes when he realized what he’d just done. “You could have at least used my pet name,” he smiled sardonically into the phone.

“Right, Poppy” she drawled. “Which one of us is the one with issues again?”

Although Hillary was much younger than Arthur, the guilt only bothered him for a fleeting moment. Be it lust or love, his emotions for her crushed whatever guilt he harbored. Yes, she was young – Hillary had made her way into college two years early – but she was smarter and more mature than any other student he’d ever had. Being smart and mature sometime equaled crafty and his would-be lover certainly was that. That’s why he wanted her on his side. Perhaps then it was neither lust nor love. Perhaps it was fear. Whichever way, she excited him.

“Are you sure you want to go ahead with this?” he asked her.

She raised the pitch of her voice. “I just turned eighteen years old, too naïve to reject the subtle advances of a suave, older gentleman with a knack for…business. I’m an innocent victim.”

That goddamn childlike tone of hers. Goddamn me if I ever get on her bad side, Arthur thought.

“Honestly, doesn’t this make you feel a little like Batman and Robin?” Hillary excitedly started in again.

Arthur made a face. “What are you talking about? They were both guys.”

“Sure,” Hillary answered. “You’ve got Batman, a man who dresses up in a cape and cowl who recruits an underage boy to help him fight crime whom he dresses in, you guessed it, a cape and cowl. No sexual tension there,” she giggled.

While Arthur largely refrained from thinking his relationship with Hillary was inappropriate — after all, he’d done nothing more than kiss her — it flustered him to have it spoken aloud.

“We’re not fighting crime,” Arthur replied after a few moments.

“Batman and Robin didn’t really fight crime, either. The villains they fought kept conveniently escaping prison so they could fight all over again. Think about that! Anyway, have you seen Henry Girard up-close? It’s criminal. And he has the nerve to exchange grades for favors…all those poor girls,” she trailed off in disbelief.

“I would never do that,” Arthur assured her.

“I know, Poppy,” Hillary cooed. “You’ll just do it for the favors”

This is wrong, floated through Arthur’s head. But he wanted to be the chairman of the Business School, so he ignored the idea best he could. After all, wasn’t their affair or whatever it was the lesser of two evils? Arthur decided what they were doing was business and he was teaching Hillary a valuable lesson; that to be successful in business, sometimes you have to go around the law.

That’s wrong, too, passed through Arthur’s ears next. And when all of this went south, Arthur knew he’d be the one of them to take the fall. He realized then it was really Hillary who was teaching him the lesson, that you’re always a student. You’re always a student and if you don’t prepare for tests, you’re going to fail horribly, utterly, in a flaming old Duster, burnt by a little red Corvette.

All Rights Reserved (c) November 2016 John J Vinacci

2 thoughts on “Students

  1. Heya, I offer critique on stories ocassionally to combat the usual comments of “That’s great,” or “THIS IS AWESOME,” which are mostly intended for you to click on my name and visit on my blog and return the favour.

    This is a little different. There are no obligations. I will simply tell you what I think.

    “From the driver’s seat of his beat up ’76 Duster, Arthur Pope photographed the chairman of his college’s Business School, Henry Girard.”

    This, as far as first lines go, is very good. There’s intrigue, and there’s not too much, and not too little, in this line. Well balanced syntax and flow.

    “occupied the position coveted by Arthur and Arthur had worked too hard for too long to let that continue.”

    I think is quite a dull way of telling me this character’s motivations. I’d much rather have something more emotional, more evocative. When you tell me the story like this, I lose interest quickly. You’ve penned up a character’s back story and motivation in a very simple way, and it is simply not engaging.

    Your dialogue is by far the best part of this story. I can fully envisage the characters, and even their tones and facial expressions. I think it’s because each character talks differently, and they both have their own mannerisms. To establish that so quickly is key. Otherwise, I feel the exposition about Hillary just joining college, being so young, and all that, would fall rather flat. Because it is supported by her decent dialogue, I can get on-board with you telling me her entire backstory in one paragraph. Only just though. Be careful with how much you reveal, and how heavily it floats in the story.

    Reading everything about a character in a thick paragraph can be very off-putting.

    Overall, I don’t think your story is bad, but there are certainly elements you can work on. This constant exposition, revealing motivations, and describing their backstory – well, I’m not sure if it’s interesting. What is most interesting in this story is the fact you have this middle-aged professor dude about to do something wacky with an 18 year old. Your biggest success is the intrigue around what is exactly going to happen, and I suppose that’s something you could expand on, and play with the reader’s expectations.

    Either way, keep it up. I’d read a rework of this story if you sent it my way.

    You can message my blog, or email me at harrywrites@ymail.com with the updated story if you want me to read through it again.

    1. I sincerely appreciate the feedback. I want to give this story more attention someday and give it one of my characteristic twists. I will work on the art of the slow reveal as you suggest. I’ll also be happy to give you feedback any time. Again, thanks!

      Liked by 1 person

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Drug Enforcement Administration obtains massive about of telephone information on people, AT&T employees are embedded in DEA

It still appears to me that the worse case by far involves the DEA cases based upon NSA information that were reported in August.  While this information is extremely extensive, I am less bothered by subpoenas that cover a specific person or group of people.  I assume that the Obama administration can explain this by saying that they don't want drug lords to know what techniques are being used, but it is very hard to trust the government at this point.  From Fox News:
Federal and local drug officials reportedly have subpoena access to an AT&T database of phone calls whose size dwarfs any collection of data done by the National Security Agency.
The New York Times reports Monday that a counternarcotics program known as The Hemisphere Project involves the government paying AT&T to place its employees in drug-fighting units made up of both Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and local detectives. The AT&T employees then supply law enforcement officials with all the phone data going back to 1987.
By contrast, the NSA stores data for nearly all calls in the United States, including the phone numbers involved, the time the call was made, and the duration of the call, for a period of five years. . . .
A Justice Department spokesman told The Times "subpoenaing drug dealers’ phone records is a bread-and-butter tactic in the course of criminal investigations," . . .
However, Jameel Jaffer, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that the Hemisphere Project raised "profound privacy concerns," adding "I’d speculate that one reason for the secrecy of the program is that it would be very hard to justify it to the public or the courts." . . .

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Monthly Archives: September 2013

My defence of Berrow’s Worcester Journal’s place in history

From: HoldTheFrontPage A 279-year-old shipping title’s decision to go digital only has provoked a lively debate over what is the world’s oldest newspaper. Lloyd’s List, founded in 1734, announced on Wednesday that it will cease its print edition from December … Continue reading

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text:
Win £2,000 and a week’s residency at Charles Causley’s house

Charles Causley

 The Charles Causley Poetry Competition 2015

Closing Date 3rd November 2015

Entries by post.  Entry fee £7 per poem.  1st Prize 2,000 plus one week’s residency at 2, Cyprus Well, Charles Causley’s house. 2nd Prize £250. 3rd Prize £100.

Now in its third year, with poets Jo Bell and Angela Readman the previous winners, there is still time to send your poem to this competition and be in with a chance of winning a substantial cash prize and (new this year) a one week’s residency at Charles Causley’s house in Launceston, Cornwall.

Rules of entry here. Download an entry form here.

More details at The Charles Causley Trust, including news of Isabel Galleymore’s appointment as Poet in Residence in 2016 and Jennifer McDerra’s appointment as Development Officer for the Trust.

All proceeds from the competition are donated to the Charles Causley’s House and Writer in Residence projects in Launceston.  Jennifer McDerra has said there will be more plans to offer further residencies at 2 Cyprus Well next year so keep an eye on the website for news.  Follow the Trust on Twitter @causleytrust.   And send in your poems!

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While Jack Dee sneers at Trowbridge, the artists are quietly moving in

Jack Dee has joined, or perhaps he’s always belonged to, the community of people who think it’s funny to insult a place where people live, work and go to school.  Introducing I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue from the Theatre Royal in Bath, the comedian remarked

This city got its English name because early settlers arrived here and noted it resembled a bath.  Because it was next to a toilet called Trowbridge.

I’ll pause for a moment while you enjoy this comedy gold.

I’m trying to get to grips with the thought process of the joke: Hey, guys, we’re in Bath where the average house price is £578,100 and, oh God, guys, this is hilarious, Trowbridge is only eight miles away and the average house price is £183,940.  Hey, I can raise a laugh by pointing and laughing at people who are considerably poorer than I am!

But what do I know about comedy or Jack Dee? I’m sure he’s a lovely person.  According to Wikipedia Jack Dee grew up in Winchester, where he was a pupil at a prep school before failing his Common Entrance Exam and attending a comprehensive school and then a top-performing Sixth Form College, and he then worked as a waiter at the Ritz Hotel in London before becoming a stand-up comedian, so we don’t have to imagine that he’s led a comfortable, privileged middle class existence all of his life.

And, it’s OK, I’ve lived in Trowbridge for 13 years so I’m used to the disparaging remarks.  I’ve heard the jokes before.  I’ve even noticed that Trowbridge has a generous share of Pound Shops, charity shops, boarded up shops and empty buildings with buddleia growing out of their windows.

And Trowbridge is still too shabby and scrappy to have been noticed by any  colour supplement or “Let’s Move To……” articles.

A quick glance through online property discussion forums will see Trowbridge variously described as “a dump,” “a pit,” and “Chavbridge” (maybe this is where Jack Dee seeks out his comedy material).

But there is a group of people who have begun to notice Trowbridge.  There must be something different about this group because they seem to see things from an alternative perspective to the Jack Dees of the world.  They seem to be able to look past the satellite dishes, cut-price shops and indelicate loft extensions (there are some eyesores around).  Perhaps they’re less sensitive than Jack about scruffiness and instead of pointing and laughing are instead observing that in among the eyesores are buildings with high ceilings, large windows, original Victorian tiled floors, wooden floorboards, stained glass windows and 120′ (35 metres)  gardens.

Any guesses for who these people are? They’re the artists, of course.  I think one of their jobs is to be good at noticing things.

Perhaps the artists have also noticed that, like Jack Dee said, Trowbridge really is next door to Bath.  It’s 20 minutes away on the train and you can even cycle there along a canal path.  It’s also 30 minutes from Bristol and on a direct train route to London Waterloo.  And half an hour from the M4 (admittedly you might get stuck behind a tractor every now and then – did I mention we’re right next to some of the most beautiful countryside in Wiltshire and Somerset?).

Where is Trowbridge?

One such artist is Professor Anita Taylor, Dean of Bath School of Art and Design who chose Trowbridge to be the new base for Drawing Projects UK, a centre for research, development, production and promotion of exhibitions, events and workshops in drawing and contemporary art.

Anita Taylor

Anita Taylor next to one her charcoal drawings on display at Drawing Projects UK, Trowbridge.

Then there are the artists who rent studio space and offer creative workshops at Drawing Projects UK and at Trowbridge Town Hall which is being re-developed into an arts hub in the centre of the town (I’ve just completed a short poetry residency there where I ran a series of poetry workshops and events).

It’s not just artists moving here.  Trowbridge is also the home of leading web design company WebCreationUK, for example, and there are enough creative enterprises here for the town to be named in the report The Geography of Creativity in the UK as one of the 47 “creative clusters” outside London.  (source:  Creative industries booming across the UK, according to new report).

As for me and my family, when we moved here from London in 2003, we just wanted somewhere affordable to live with a big garden for our children to play in and state schools that they could walk to.  We wanted to live near a mainline railway station so that Andrew could commute to London and we also wanted somewhere with brilliant internet connections so that he could work from his garden office when he needed to (long gardens give you space for garden offices).

It’s all worked out reasonably happily for us.  I’m not saying Trowbridge is anywhere near swanky enough for someone like Jack Dee to want to move to, but we like living in a town where no-one we’ve met so far has felt the need to describe a place where people have made their home as a ‘toilet’.

Oh, those quaint West Country good manners – maybe the artists like them, too.

12 thoughts on “While Jack Dee sneers at Trowbridge, the artists are quietly moving in

  1. Madeleine Leech says:

    Well said. Hopefully, Jack Dee will be shown this concise travel guide to Trowbridge. It sounds awesome but then I’ve always been drawn to the lovely country market sounding name and I know Trowbridge is surrounded by beautiful countryside.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Andy G says:

    Very well said Josephine. I live in a town that’s been given the same lavatorial label and have been fighting against that reputation for years, stressing the good in the town and the talent in all generations.
    Insults made for comedy effect are no better than verbal bullying and should not be taken lying down.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Mark Lee says:

    I’ve only lived here for 8 years and being honest the town is improving in that time. Unfortunately the most common culprits for puttting the town down are the locals (which is common across the shires I think) who seem to miss the beauty around them (perhaps that’s why it isn’t as well cared for as some towns)

    • Josephine Corcoran says:

      Hi Mark, thanks for commenting. I’m glad you feel the town is improving, that’s wonderful to hear. Our family has become friends with many terrific local people who care for this area and take pride in improving where they live, work and go to school so I guess it’s the luck of who you know. Regardless of where people are from, some of them just love being negative! I hope you continue to enjoy living here. 🙂

  4. Sarah Plues says:

    Hi Josephine. Only today my daughter made a comment that sums up how she feels about Trowbridge “I feel at home here.” This coming from a girl who has moved here from the beautiful New Jersey coast USA and could easily have been located in York had it not been for my decision not to. Trowbridge has some surprisingly wonderful architecture if people bother to look up from their phones. I really do wish that merchants would give it second look though and bring their money into town; it deserves a revenue boost. Perhaps it should reinvent itself by adding a body of water to its name to fit in with its neighbours Bath ‘Spa’ and Bradford on ‘Avon’… how’s ‘Trowbridge on Biss’ sound?

    Liked by 1 person

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Fitzpatrick Chiropractic | Gentle Effective Chiropractic in the Heart of Amsterdam

This is where the magic happens. Claire Fitzpatrick has been adjusting families in New York City since 2005 and now brings her skills and care to Amsterdam families.  Gentle chiropractic care clears your nervous system of interference, delivers peak performance, optimal energy, healthy bodies and clear minds.

fitzpatrick chiropractic

Nieuwe Achtergracht 61H (Garden Level)
1018 WK Amsterdam

Claire Fitzpatrick, D.C.
+31 6 55 60 30 51

New Patients and Exams:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
by appointment only

Regular Office Visits:
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
by appointment only

New Patient Visit: 70 Eu
Regular Office Visit: 55 Eu
Established Patient Re-Exam: 55 Eu
10-Visit Pack: 495 Eu (1 visit gratis)

Kamer Van Koophandel: #69054088
Stitching Nationaal Register Chiropractoren: #1524
Dutch Chiropractic Federation: #2221524
AGB Code: 90063221

I am looking forward to serving you and your family.  Welcome!


text:
Saturday, September 16, 2006

But only a pretend one, today at least.

Japan takes disaster preparation very seriously, with an annual "Disaster Prevention Day" when various drills and events take place. Before you laugh at the concept of preventing disaster such as earthquakes and typhoons, bear in mind that the magnitude of the consequences has as much to do with our preparation and response as with the natural event itself (eg consider Katrina/New Orleans).

Today wasn't actually disaster prevention day, but for some reason there was an event put on in Yokohama, I think deliberately targetting the foreign resident population many of who will struggle to comprehend the official Japanese language information. There were plenty of fluent dual-language speakers around, including the lady explaining this earthquake simulation. It's a reconstruction of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which killed about 140,000 (mostly in fires in the crowded streets)

It was a lot shakier to experience it than it looks on camera! Jules started off standing up but soon saw the error of her ways...several stories up in a tall building I imagine it could be very scary indeed.

There was also a smoke-filled room to negotiate (no photos from that!) and fire engines and extinguishers to play with. We actually bought a fire extinguisher a couple of weeks ago - yes, I know we should have done it ages ago, but we do have plenty of bottled water and food stocked up. Beyond this sort of obvious preparation, it's pretty much a matter of crossing our fingers.

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(gs) …enjoying summer 5 (August)

…enjoying summer 5

honey bee drinks for
the hive; transforms liquid gold
for my morning tea

My other main blogs that my icon may or may not go to when I leave a comment:
Flash Fiction = Fiction or non… Longer Strands = longer verse

6 thoughts on “(gs) …enjoying summer 5 (August)

    • I looked at a review online. Fascinating. I just bought a bunch of murder mysteries by Tony Hillerman. Some in a series. I’ve also started two other light murder mysteries. I think I somewhere I have a recommended reading book list. I’ll have to add ‘The Bees’ to it and see if my library can get it.

Please do Pop in a Like :) if you're happy. As there isn't a like button - This is a PERSONAL ad free blog (WP had ads on free sites). Spam is not allowed. Please read 'The 411 Information Page' as to the how's and why's of how I run my site. URL track backs to code 404's (not found) - not honored.

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(g/s) …unplugged… (5.11)

ordered my friend’s book,
might arrive home when I do…
(since I’ve been away…)

hopefully the scheduled posts
have kept my friends entertained

cell phone spotty; no
internet there, where I’ve been –
relaxing unplugged

Scheduled for Fri May 19

My other main blogs that my icon may or may not go to when I leave a comment:
Flash Fiction = Fiction or non…
Longer Strands = longer verse


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How Good It Is To Become A Real Estate Agent to Make Investments?

If you want to make a real estate investment, many people would suggest you to become a real estate agent because it seems obvious that one can earn better revenue from a niche while working in that niche. Here, different people have different opinions based on the true experiences but most of them would say that becoming a real estate agent is the right way to earn quickly. However, there are still some complications in this regard despite the obvious advantages.

Real estate license is expensive

While most of the outsiders assume a real estate license to be to be an ultimate tool to get better revenue, only the real estate agents would tell how difficult and costly it is to keep hold of that license. Pre-license course fee, lockbox fee, course continuation expenses and association dues are just a few money consuming factors that can change the mind of any determined real estate beginner. Furthermore, there are other expenses such as office setup, business cards, technological devices and the cost of business website that add considerably in the total costs.

In other words, you would need to spend thousands of dollars to officially start your career as a real estate agent.

You may have to wait long enough to earn a paycheck

Yes, it’s pretty much the case. The real estate agents get their share from the real estate deals when deals are officially closed. It’s worth mentioning here that the number of deals getting closed is quite lesser as compared to the number of deals initiated. In that case, the real estate agents have a very thin chance to earn their paychecks. And even after a deal is closed, it may take 3 to 6 months for the real estate agent to get the paycheck. It means that you will have to work hard to get more deals and, for that purpose, you will have to invest a lot in marketing of your real link business.

So, what can be the more profitable deal?

Here, we can compare the wage of real estate agent with the profit that a real estate investor can earn. According a statistic, there has been a rise in average total profits generated from the house flips in 2016. It is just one aspect that we are talking about. There are a lot of ways one can earn profits by investing in real estate business and that too without flipping the houses. In other words, you can either spend money to get a real estate agent license or you can invest the same amount of money in real estate business to be able to earn the profits quickly.


text:
The principle of ‘mutatis mutandis’

June 10, 2010

I started writing occasional blogs for Bahai Rants (bahairants.com) several years ago and I intend to continue to do this as time permits. In August 2009 I wrote a blog on the topic of homosexuality and equal rights in response to recent changes in the U.K. (linked here).

There are over 500 responses on this blog. So I started a blog here listing some of my responses and thoughts. This blog is now ‘Part two’ because that got too long.

Responses to this blog are moderated, mainly for practical reasons: I couldn’t cope the traffic that the Bahai Rants blog has. If you wish to be 100% sure your response is aired, then post it on Bahai Rants where I am likely to find it and if not, someone else will. Each of my comments below links to where it appears on bahairants.com:

Sonja’s comment posted on 24 April 2010
BahaiReply wrote: “We both know that neither R. Jackstrong-Ingram nor R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram are authoritative interpreters of the sacred writings”
Jackson didn’t make up the principle of ‘mutatis mutandis’, his quotation:

“Following from the principle of mutatis mutandis it is not simply a case of what is expressed as from a man to a woman incorporates from woman to man, and vice versa, but that gendered language is in fact rendered degendered. This is made explicit in other writings where it is stated that women are as men in this dispensation. Gendered textual usage should be read as gender inclusive.
Thus, although licit sex is limited to marriage, it could be regarded as a valid reading of the text to consider the sexes of the partners unspecified and irrelevant.”

(link to his paper on Scribd)

is a response to the following quotation from the introduction of the Kitab-i-aqdas, penned by The Universal House of Justice.

“In general, the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas are stated succinctly. An example of this conciseness can be seen in the fact that many are expressed only as they apply to a man, but it is apparent from the Guardian’s writings that, where Bahá’u’lláh has given a law as between a man and a woman, it applies mutatis mutandis between a woman and a man unless the context makes this impossible.
For example, the text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas forbids a man to marry his father’s wife (i.e. his stepmother), and the Guardian has indicated that likewise a woman is forbidden to marry her stepfather. This understanding of the implications of the Law has far-reaching effects in light of the fundamental Bahá’í principle of the equality of the sexes, and should be borne in mind when the sacred Text is studied. That men and women differ from one another in certain characteristics and functions is an inescapable fact of nature and makes possible their complementary roles in certain areas of the life of society; but it is significant that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has stated that in this Dispensation “Equality of men and women, except in some negligible instances, has been fully and categorically announced.”
p. 8, accessed from: http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/KA/ka-2.html

BahaiReply continues: “so are u saying when Bahá’u’lláh said, “Beware that ye take not unto yourselves more wives than two” he also meant two husbands? That doesn’t make much sense. He is obviously referring to a specific Islamic tradition that he was changing.”

It seems that you are choosing to ignore the introduction and the principle of equality expressed in the use of the principle of ‘mutatis mutandis’ and have decided you know that Baha’u’llah’s intentions were only from a male point of view in a marriage, whereas to quote Sen on his blog,

“(m)any laws that are stated briefly in the Aqdas are detailed in the Bayan”
and if you went to the Bayan and can read Persian, you would find what Sen has translated into English on his blog:

“If a man or woman proves incapable of having a child, it is legitimate for the spouse who is not infertile (whichever it may be) to marry again after having obtained the permission of the other party, but not without her permission”

Persian Bayan, wahid 8 section 15

Link to Sen’s blog, “The puzzle of the Aqdas…” which discusses this more

Sonja’s comment posted on 9 Feb 2010
The article by Jackson Armstrong-Ingram,
“The Provisions for Sexuality in the Kitab-i-Aqdas in the Context of Late Nineteenth Century Eastern and Western Sexual Ideologies” is

here: bahai-library.org/conferences/sex.aqdas.html and available on Scribd

In the Questions + Answers section of the Aqdas, liwaat is translated as sodomy. In the Aqdas, the section referring to ‘boys’ is translated as pedaesty.
This correlates with Jackson’s argument that “Both zina and liwat are sexual relations that take place outside of a context in which the long term rights of both participants are regarded. Unlawful sex is literally unprotected sex — it takes place in relationships that are not associated with social supports and long-term obligations. Lawful sex, as defined in the Aqdas, takes place in marriages, which are relationships embedded in a network of familial support and providing for the mutual development of the partners.”

In my searching around the only texts I have found that refer to homosexuality have been penned by secretaries writing Letters on behalf of Shoghi Effendi.

When Shoghi Effendi was writing in his role as official interpreter of the Bahai
Writings he cites the scripture he is interpreting. Sen’s essay “More interpretive principles” bahai-library.org/articles/interpretive.principles.html gives some examples of this.

In the Aqdas there is no source given in the section of the Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, so I can only assume that it is not the case that the secretary who wrote that letter actually could read Baha’u’llah’s mind, rather the writer wrote this assuming, based on his or her own’s knowledge of the Bahai Faith, that this was a Bahai Teaching.

“A clear distinction is made in our Faith between authoritative interpretation and the interpretation or understanding that each individual arrives at for himself from his study of its teachings.
While the former is confined to the Guardian, the latter, according to the guidance given to us by the Guardian himself, should by no means be suppressed. In fact such individual interpretation is considered the fruit of man’s rational power and conducive to a better understanding of the teachings, provided that no disputes or arguments arise among the friends and the individual himself understands and makes it clear that his views are merely his own. Individual interpretations continually change as one grows in
comprehension of the teachings…”

(From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to an individual
believer, May 27, 1966) (Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 311-312)

That leaves us with the question then, when is something penned by Shoghi Effendi to be considered interpretation, hence unchangeable, and how can we treat the status of the ten of thousands of Letters written on his behalf.

Sen has written a few posts on these topics. One is here:
“Anything Shoghi Effendi said is Baha´i doctrine”
[click to read this in a new window]

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Justplainbill's Weblog

September 15, 2015

Women in Combat, by Gregory Newbold Lt Gen USMC (ret) [c]

Joseph R. John
To jrj@combatveteransforcongress.org
Today at 5:23 AM

“I thought my arms would fall off”

By Capt Joseph R. John, September 15, 2015

Capt William Keller, USN (Ret)(Seabee) wrote the attached Letter to The Editor to the San Diego Union Tribune, in response to the Obama administration aggressive effort to push US Marine Corps gender-integration efforts. The Obama administration, in continuing its destructive Social Experiment on Diversity and Political Correctness that has been underway for nearly 7 years, and it has now turned its efforts to drive gender-integration into the combat arm of US Marine Corps Infantry Branch. Over nearly 7 years, this very destabilizing and destructive Social Experiment on Diversity has been negatively affecting unit moral, unit cohesiveness, Combat Readiness, and Combat Effectiveness of the US Armed Forces.

Capt Keller wrote the attached Letter to The Editor because he recalled what his father, a US Navy Gunnersmate Petty Officer during WWII, casually said in a simple comment, about his recollection of a major battle in WWII, during very heavy and sustained combat, “I thought my arms would fall off.” It hits right at the heart of the inept issues being driven by Obama administration, force feeding women into tip of the spear units, like the US Marine Corps Infantry, the US Army Rangers Battalions, the US Navy SEAL Teams, and the DELTA Force.

Women have been serving with the US military since the War of Independence in 1776, and have done an exceptional job in many areas of the US Armed Forces, they have been courageous in the defense of the Republic; we honor them for their continued exemplary and heroic service. Qualifying for combat duty, in tip of the spear units, has very little to do with passing a fitness tests modified by Obama’s civilian appointees in the Pentagon; a relative few dedicated fit women who do pass the rigorous fitness tests, will continue and qualify in the specific special programs, but they will not prepared for what next lies ahead in combat. Being shot at or exposed to danger is not the definition of combat. Combat service is not about equal opportunity, women’s rights, or a career assignment for selection to higher rank, it’s about finding, closing, and viciously killing the enemy, often in hand to hand, and face to face combat, in the most disgusting, uncivilized, brutal butchery, while inflicting violent death on another human who is doing his best to kill you—it’s a killing environment that is as difficult and frightening as anyone can possibly imagine.

The below listed article by Lt Gen Gregory Newbolt, USMC (Ret), a former infantry commander, discusses how operating in combat for extended periods of time, with no relief in sight, sometime for 40 straight days, when combat personnel can’t shower, have access to sanitary facilities in the midst of heavy daily combat operations, the stench of filthy unwashed clothing is almost unbearable, uniforms are often immersed in mud for weeks on end (literally disintegrate and falling off one’s body), and sleep periods are almost non-existence. Lt Gen Newbolt explains what the inept civilian leaders, appointed by Obama to Undersecretary positions in the Pentagon have not taken into account from the 239 years of combat the US Armed Forces have experienced. Those bureaucrats are intent on force feeding gender-integration into every tip of the spear combat unit, regardless what it does to the unit. That dangerous experiment may not only degrade the “Combat Readiness” and “Combat Effectiveness” of those tip of the spear units, it may also result in the unnecessary combat deaths of women and men assigned to those tip of the spear units, and may negatively affect the success of combat operations.

Early on in the development of nation of Israel, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) had to experiment with inserting women into tip of the spear front line units, because of the small population of Israel warranted utilizing ever person who could bear arms of the new nation, but that policy was modified after results of combat operations were evaluated. Inserting women in front line combat units was determined not to be in the best interest of the IDF’s combat operations. Often relationships between female and male sometimes turned romantic and created major destabilizing distractions, and damaged the “Combat Readiness” and the “Combat Effectiveness” of the unit. In many instances the men in those units became combat casualties trying to be overly protective the female members in their units.

The left of center liberal media establishment continue to cover up the Obama administrations unsound and dangerous military practices that are negatively affecting “Combat Readiness” and “Combat Effectiveness”, i.e. the dangerous practice of reducing the size of various branches of the service, allowing weapon system developed by China and Russia eliminate the leads the US Armed Forces once had, instituting new and dangerous Rules of Engagement that have resulted in the number of US personnel in Afghanistan Killed In Action (KIA) to be increased by 458%/year and those Wounded In Action (WIA) to be increased by 378%/year, and the head long effort to force gender-integration into tip of the spear units which will negatively affect their “Combat Readiness.”

After very careful evaluation the US Marine Corps recently reported that the most “Combat Effective” units in the US Marine Corps are all male units; that report upset Obama’s Secretary of the Navy. The US Armed Forces have been directed to open all combat billets to women by January 1st; being “Politically Correct” so not to offend the occupant in the Oval Office will degrade “Combat Readiness” and “Combat Effectiveness” of tip of spear units.

Copyright 2015, Capt. Joseph R. John. All Rights Reserved. This material can only be posted on another Web site or distributed on the Internet by giving full credit to the author. It may not be published, broadcast, or rewritten without permission from the author

Joseph R. John, USNA ‘62

Capt USN(Ret)

Chairman, Combat Veterans For Congress PAC

2307 Fenton Parkway, Suite 107-184

San Diego, CA 92108

Fax: (619) 220-0109

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
-Isaiah 6:8

From: RICHARD ARDAVANY [mailto:ardavany@msn.com]
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2015 3:24 PM
Cc: Joseph R. John
Subject: War on the Rocks – LT Gen Newbold, USMC (Ret)

War on the Rocks – Lt Gen Newbold, USMC (Ret)

War on the Rocks

9 September 2015

What Tempers the Steel of an Infantry Unit

by Gregory Newbold

It is artificial to constrain the debate about women in the infantry to physical capabilities. This doesn’t address what holds an infantry unit together in the worst conditions humanity has to offer.

“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” –Rudyard Kipling, “The Law of the Jungle”, The Jungle Book.

The current debate about women in the infantry takes place in an artificial context, because it nearly always self-limits the discussion to physical capabilities. Within these incomplete parameters, the argument is then set, and the preamble is that physical standards and performance are measurable and what is not measurable is subjective and probably unfair.

Once physical quantifications are set as the only requirement that matters, it then stands to reason that if you can define infantry requirements in terms of, for example, a number of pull-ups, a hike with 60 to 80 pounds of extra weight, or carrying a 180-pound simulated casualty to safety, then you can assess whether females are suited to infantry units.

Honest and informed observers will acknowledge that medical science indicates that, in the physical domain, the two genders are an unequal match. Even a very fit woman is not generally the equal of a fit man. The competition is no competition in aerobic capacity, load bearing, reach, body fat percentage, and other germane measures of combat fitness. But (the informed argument proceeds), even if it is only the top 5 percent of women who can replace the bottom 5 percent of men, why not allow the 5 percent to integrate and thereby improve the combat efficiency of the unit? For example, it has been argued Ronda Rousey — the accomplished and undoubtedly tough mixed martial artist — could be an excellent addition to an infantry unit.

The falsity of this debate is found in its restriction of analysis to its physical context. Why is the debate limited to physical capabilities? For two reasons. First, supporters of full integration will not accept what cannot be irrefutably proven (and sometimes not even then). Second, practitioners of infantry warfare have great difficulty describing the alchemy that produces an effective infantry unit, much as it is difficult for those of faith to explain their conviction to an atheist. Try that by quantitative analysis. But allow me a poor effort to explain what tempers the steel of an infantry unit and therefore serves as the basis of its combat power.

The public understands that individuals who have engaged in brutal combat seldom want to talk about their experiences, and it is broadly thought that this is because of the horrors evoked by these memories. More generally, though, this reticence is due to an inability for one side to convey, and the other to understand, not only horrors, but the context of the fight. Saying that “It was hot” is a futile way to describe the 23rd consecutive day of temperatures over 100 degrees and flesh-soaking humidity, but the description does an even poorer job of conveying the exacerbating details — the burden of 30 to 80 pounds of personal equipment, mind-bending physical exertion, energy-sapping adrenaline highs, or the fact that the threadbare clothes you wore were unchanged for over three weeks and may have been “scented” by everything from food, to blood, dysentery, and whatever was in the dirt that constituted your bed. And don’t forget insects of legendary proportion and number. More importantly, a story thus told cannot explain that the fellow soldier or Marine who you tried desperately to put back together was the same one who shared the duties of clearing the urinals, the pleasures of a several nights of hilarious debauchery, and multiple near-death experiences — a comrade in arms who has heard more about your personal thoughts than your most intimate friends or family. So veterans of the true horrors of combat don’t talk about it. Please understand, then, that it is equally difficult to describe the ingredients of an efficient ground fighting machine, because the ingredients are intangible, decidedly not quantitative, and proudly subjective.

An infantryman’s lot is to endure what we think is unendurable, to participate in the inhumane, and to thrive in misery. Normal humans do not deliberately expose themselves to confront a machine gun that is firing at them over 10 rounds a second. “Smart” humans do not run toward the sound of gunfire. Logic does not tell you to lay down your life in the hope that you can recover an already dead comrade. And normal organizations do not strive, as their first priority, to evoke fear. For you see, the characteristics that produce uncommon valor as a common virtue are not physical at all, but are derived from the mysterious chemistry that forms in an infantry unit that revels in the most crude and profane existence so that they may be more effective killers than their foe. Members of such units deliberately reduce the individual and collective level of humanity and avoid all distractions so that its actions are fundamental, instinctive, and coldly efficient. Polite company, private hygiene, and weakness all step aside. These are the men who can confront the Islamic State, North Korean automatons, or Putin’s Spetsnaz and win every time. Believe me, you will need them, and we don’t get to choose when that will be.

In this direct ground combat environment, you do not fight for an ideal, a just cause, America, or Mom and apple pie. You endure the inhumanity and sacrifices of direct ground combat because, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” This selflessness is derived from bonding, and bonding from shared events and the unquestioning subordination of self for the good of the team. But what destroys this alchemy — and, therefore, combat effectiveness — are pettiness, rumor-mongering, suspicion, and jealousy. And when fighting spirit is lessoned, death is the outcome. So “fairness” is an obscenity. Fairness is about individuals. It’s selfish. And selfishness can kill.

Nineteen-year-old males everywhere are from Mars. They, and their early twenty-something brethren, are overloaded with testosterone, supremely confident about their invincibility, and prone to illogical antics. This sometimes produces intemperate behavior in everyday America, but the same traits are, by the way, nearly ideal for direct ground combat. The same youthful ingredients produce unacceptable behavior in the pristine and low pressure environments of boarding schools, academic institutions, and cubicle farms. Truth be told, in later stages of life these traits also lead to humiliating interactions on Capitol Hill or in the White House. Why, then, do we suppose that sexual dynamics — or mere perceptions thereof — among the most libido laden age cohort in humans, in the basest of environs, will not degrade the nearly spiritual glue that enables the infantry to achieve the illogical and endure the unendurable?

Two women just graduated from the Army’s very, very difficult Ranger School. The surprise of that is that it surprised anyone. There unquestionably are women who can pass any physical challenge the military may require. We should celebrate those who succeed and encourage others. They are worthy role models, and certainly not just to women. But the issue we’re now debating has to include a recognition of cohesion and the cost of sexual dynamics in a bare-knuckled brawl, amidst primeval mayhem, in which we expect the collective entity to persevere because it has a greater will and fighting spirit, and not because it is bigger, faster, or more agile. The championship team in virtually any professional sport may only coincidentally be the most physically talented, but it most assuredly will be the most cohesive. Why not appreciate the same ingredients in infantry units?

Finally, you may bet your future earnings that the current effort to integrate the infantry will not cease with a few extraordinary females, but will eventually accommodate a social engineering goal by changing standards. Think I am wrong? It’s already happening. Read the words and understand the goals of the Secretary of the Navy (an arsonist in the fire department) and the Secretary of the Air Force, and examine what we now call “the Dempsey Rule.”

If I’m wrong, the cost may be denied opportunity to strong and impressive young women. If you’re wrong, our national security is shaken and there is a butcher’s bill to pay. Make your choice. The line forms on the left.

[Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold (U.S. Marine Corps, Ret.) is a former infantryman, having commanded units from the platoon through the 1st Marine Division. His last assignment was as Director of Operations, the Joint Staff.]

[Actually, Bill Clinton started this, and the US Army did studies in the late 90’s which said all of this, but they were igored.]

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Frank Coffee Scrub

Hey guys,

Today’s post is exciting for me because while I was away I purchased online some Frank coffee scrub after watching Karissa Pukas talk about it I had to give him a go and today he arrived in the mail.. I was super excited because he arrived early enough that I could give you my first impressions of him before tonight.

so with out further ado here is frank

so this is what he looks like he is resealable which I was impressed with and the packing is simple but makes a statement. He is available in two different kinds the original and the Coconut and Grapeseed. I purchased the original Frank just to give him  a try. It is in a 200g pack which is 7 oz and he will set you back around AUD 14.95 for the original and 17.95 for the coconut and grapeseed.

Above is what the product looks like in the bag, it is kind of messy so I would recommend doing it in the shower 😉

So to sum up my first impression of this product is this;

the packaging and product itself are simple and straightforward, it is a little messy to apply so don’t do it straight after you’ve cleaned the bathroom, however it felt amazing exfoliating my skin, I couldn’t even begin to describe to you how tantalizing it made my skin feel, I am impressed with the product and will continue to use this one up and of coarse keep you all posted on whether I will be re purchasing or not.. I think the price for the product you get is truly reasonable and if you are unsure the packing on the back is filled with information and the website is just a simple click away.

all in all I will be keeping this little man in my life 😉

australian Frank

Us + Canadian Frank

Come see me elsewhere

tweet me ❤

Instagram 🙂

Watch Me;

Chat or Email me;

until next post stay lovely xxx

5 thoughts on “Frank Coffee Scrub

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I Love Words

Being in the middle of my first century, I have a different understanding of words and their usage than kids young enough to be my grandchildren. Sometimes it bugs me to no end when I hear kids talk in what is generally text speak slang, and I loathe reading text messages that use “UR” for “you are, or your” and the like. But, what bugs me most, is how the meaning of words are twisted around from the way I learned them.

The word ‘nice’ used to be a compliment. Now it isn’t at all. I have come to loathe the word as it is used as a dismissive, if subtle, insult. When I hear anyone under 60 use the word, it is always drawled in a tone of voice that absolutely grates on my nerves. Superlatives have to be super words now. We can’t say, “oh, that’s a lovely dress.” Now it needs to have more “oomph” when we compliment someone. We have to use words like amazing, cute, darling, smashing, hot, sexy, and always a word or phrase that invokes a meaning of thin.

I think a lot of the super superlatives are due, in part, to two generations, or more, of kids sitting in front of televisions as companies hype the products they sell to stay in business. Loud, excited, or oozing suggestions of seduction and sex, commercials overwhelm our senses with the urgent need to buy a product that will make us all beautiful, rich, popular, smell good, eat well, or any number of things. All of it is, of course, hyperbole. However, all those super Superlatives have become ingrained in our cultural brain and skip around in our verbiage. Insincere, in the deepest way, gaggles of teenage girls and middle aged women squeal and giggle at one another from the moment they meet until they finally shut up and go home. Generally, less than five minutes of meaningful conversation will take place in an hour.

I was shopping with my granddaughter last week. She is five, and very into shopping. We were standing next to a mother and daughter as they looked at clothes. Every other word was something inane. “Oh that’s cute. You will look hot in that (the kid was all of nine). That’s cool, you will rock that color.” Bella looked at me after the mother held up one particularly horrific outfit and said, loudly, “Nana, that girl is too fat for that outfit. She will look like a fat grape.” It took every bit of self control I had not to laugh. She was right. She was also not buying the babble. I was very proud of her for being both honest and straight forward in her comments. We will, however, need to work on her vocal volume a bit. The mother stomped off in a huff. The kid didn’t even pay attention to Bella. She was too busy cooing over the outfit that will make her look like a grape.

I, like, you know, hate it, when people, like, kinda, you know, never really say a full sentence without one of those, you know, like stupid phrases. I also get impatient with folks who hesitate and pause every other word, and fill in the silence with uhh, mmm, err, ahh, or any other nonsense noise. How about simply stating, “I need to think for a second before I answer that question?”

Now the Christmas season is here. Yes, I said, gasp, the C word. CHRISTMAS. I know all the history behind the X in Christmas as the symbol for Christ. Got it. Greeks, spell things weird. I also know that it is a holiday season for the Jewish and the made up one for all the ‘former slaves’ in America. And I also know that it is held during what was a Roman celebration of some god or another. However, traditionally, since the death of Christ, and the rise of protestants, Christmas has been a holy day celebration for CHRISTIANS. So, I don’t like words and phrases like holiday tree, and Xmas. I dislike people trying to secularize what is a sacred holiday for me. So the modern terms that take all the true meaning from the holy day annoy me.

With all the new technology around us, people don’t actually speak to each other very much. I know my teen texts her friends more than she every rings them on the phone and chats with them. Chat has come to mean typing furiously on the keyboard while on line with a bunch of other people. Chat rooms, a new use of an old term, are now electronic pretend places on line where a bunch of strangers type at each other and generally end up in “flame wars” over their comments. In my mind I see a vague, hazy room with a fire in the middle of the floor and people screaming at each other.

Sometimes I long for an intelligent conversation with someone who actually knows how to have a conversation. One where I speak, they listen, then they speak and I listen. A conversation using words that have more than two syllables would be good. A conversation that invokes laughter, concentration, and lightening quick thinking would be incredible.. A conversation with an adult, teen, or child that doesn’t have slang and hesitations throughout, but the proper use of complete sentences and a tendency to maintain at least a hint of a link to the original subject would make me happy. Too many of us are simply too distracted by shiny things, ringing cell phones, and movement to concentrate on a long conversation. Soon, like handwriting letters, conversation will be a lost art. Eventually, we will all communicate through the typed word, and only gesture and grunt like original cave dwellers when we actually meet in person.

Oh well, I still love words. Shakespeare, Spencer, Pope, Bronte, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Dickens, and even a few Science Fiction/ Fantasy writers use words that say what they mean and mean what they say. The words can make me laugh out loud, cry, ponder, and fill me with an overwhelming urge to write. I can only hope that future books aren’t filled with one word pages written in text speak.

You don’t know me at all, so let me clue you in. I have lived in 11 countries and all over the US. I am as pro America as anyone can get. I believe in the Republic, I stand firmly by the Constitution and all that the Founding Fathers of the country professed as necessary for the republic to succeed. I know, to my bones, that socialism and communism are simply modern day enslavement governments. Nothing makes me cry more easily than seeing the flag go by in a parade, or against the sky of our country, except for hearing the national anthem or holding one of my grandchildren. I love my country. And I am heart sick at the way that worm in the white house and his minions are raping her every day.

Big Fish, Small Fish, Fisherman or Cat?

”Some people like to be a big fish in a small pond, some a small fish in a big pond. Me, I would rather be the cat that knows the fisherman.” KJC

In an exchange on a social network, I posted the above. It was simply something that fell out of my head and engendered a bit of conversation.

So, to explain it in a way that made sense, I started applying it to areas of my life. The more I thought about it, the more I could find metaphores that fit the example.

1. Poltics: The cat, one can go for either fish. A good fisherman, like a cat, is independent and thinks for him or herself. They both tend to go their own way to do what they want to do. However, the fisherman can be lured away to a different fishing hole by promises and stories. He or she can also be tempted to use a different bait than usual so that the fish bite less, but if they are big enough, he feels he has a good return. The cat still gets to eat, either way. So, in a political situation the only one who comes out ahead, without compromising its position or morals, is the cat.

2. General Life: However in other areas of life, a cat is simply someone who stands above the fray, keeps a calm head, and does what has to be done. Those who do well tend to think smart. have a plan, skip the big pond and other competition, skip the small pool and the big fish, because they will all be food for the fisherman. Who, once he catches them, will clean the fish and leave behind food for the patient cat. Be prepared, be patient, and be strong to succeed.

3. As a religious metaphore: the Fisherman is the Savior, the fish in the large pond are lost souls, and the fish in the small pond is evil. The cat is the wise person who knows that as long as he is friends with the Savior and stands by his side, then he will be spiritually fed.

I get it. My brain works in weird and weirder ways as I age. But, hey, it works for me.


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WordPress.com Usability Issues

Every few month I need to use WordPress.com to create or update a site for a friend. And every time I get frustrated with how confusing and convoluted the user interface is.

“Reader” is the default homepage

WordPress.com dashboard

WordPress.com is about publishing so why do I get to see the empty “Reader” as my homepage? Getting to the actual site dashboard requires an additional click or even more if the site is not your default site.

Adding a new site is impossible

WordPress.com add new site link

For logged-in users the only link to adding a new site is grayed out and hidden in the bottom left corner of the “Switch Site” section. I tried everything from visiting the homepage, my profile page to manually entering random URLs such as wordpress.com/new before I found that link.

Custom domain email settings don’t include MX records

WordPress.com custom domain settings for email MX records

The “Email” tab of the domain settings includes only an upsell for the Google Apps. Adding the MX records for an existing account is only possible under the individual domain “DNS Records” which is another three clicks away. Why not link to that section from the “Email” tab, too?

Overwhelming upsells

WordPress.com upsells

I already pay for a custom domain and I don’t need the banners reminding me of features I don’t need.

Invited users are invisible

WordPress.com invited users

There is no way to see users that have been invited to the site.

What about you?

These are just the highlights of what I could remember this morning. Do you also have things you find confusing on WordPress.com? What about the WP-Admin section 😊

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  1. Agree with most of the points here. Though reader should be homepage, it should be improve with owned sites stats. Automattic is already doing fine, they need not to upsell so much.

  2. Michael says:

    You’ve raised some good points. However, still the most confusing issue is that many people don’t understand the difference between .com and .org. You can’t blame them if they’re looking at something that is branded as “WordPress.com” – who wouldn’t think that it’s WordPress.

    If you then look at how different the user experience is on WordPress.com in comparison to a regular self-hosted WordPress site, it’s understandable that people are confused. On WordPress.com the regular WordPress dashboard is even completely hidden. It seems to be the first step to replace it entirely, probably with Gutenberg.

  3. You make some great points.

    I rarely use WordPress.com and the last time I did I was disappointed to see it diverging from .org in ways that undermines its value to preparing people for .org.

    WordPress.com’s UX used to be close enough to .org’s UX that it gave me an initial education that helped quite a bit when I went to self-hosted .org installs.

    There’s so much to learn with .org beyond the basics of .com that it made a huge difference in enabling me to become fully committed to WordPress.

    Now I can’t suggest people check out .com and see what they think before going further.

    And that’s a real loss for .org. Not so much for .com.

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Federal Court Convicts Cerro Gordo Man

Cedar Rapids, IA – The Cedar Rapids Federal Court sentenced a Cerro Gordo County man to over two decades in a federal prison.

39-year-old Bradley Fransen of Mason City was sentenced to 26 years and 10 months in a federal prison after a police chase in January. He was charged with possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Fransen must undergo five years of supervised release after his prison time is up.

About Luke Maiers 308 Articles
News & Sports Director


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Doxology, Romans 16:25-27

Paul’s final verses to the Roman church ring with praise. For God not only used him to help spread the gospel, but also share His plan for the Gentiles: God’s inclusion of them/us into His church.

Major Themes

Paul weaved major themes from Romans into these last three verses:

  • God alone establishes and strengthens the believer.
  • God alone has given direct revelation of the gospel through Jesus Christ through His life, death, and resurrection.
  • God has purposed His plan of salvation to everyone who chooses to receive it.
So What?

We should never write someone off as impossible for God to save. Paul was a prime example. From a zealous Christian persecutor to a zealous gospel preacher, God moved mightily in his life: saving, transforming, and strengthening his faith.

We too can trust God to work powerfully in our lives. He’s not limited by our backgrounds, weaknesses, and/or failures.

God used Paul to reach the ends of his world through the cosmopolitan power house of Rome. We would do well to heed God’s inspired words from Paul in Romans as we also take the gospel to the ends of our world through words, prayer, technology, and missionary support.

Have you received God’s gift of salvation?

How has God strengthened your faith?

I love the following scripture/song. It’s a great reminder that God is not only able to work for the good in our  circumstances, but also work for the good in our hearts’ invisible arena.

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Archive for control

I AM what I AM.

Posted in My path with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 29, 2009 by freedomofnow

The past days have been filled with messages, and I’ll get to that, I just had to get this down right away. I just read through some blogs that I’ve been following, including Patrice Julien’s blog. I scrolled around my RSS feeds and hit a post by him that said: I AM WHAT I AM. This caught my attention as it came to me a few days ago when I was at Ingerids’ place. Also the past days have been filled with similar signs, as I’ll describe in detail. Anyway, I read the post and it talks about his experiences and that “I AM” speaks to us every moment of the day if we are able to listen, and he ends with quoting the song “I AM WHAT I AM” by Gloria Gaynor. While I’m reading this I am watching the tv series “Two and a half men” which I find very funny, as I can relate to both Charlie and Alan.. And in the end, guess what? Berta’s sister is walking around in the party they hold for Charlie and Alans’ mother, singing I AM WHAT I AM by Gloria Gaynor! I was struck speechless.

Okay so let me back up a few days. To the 25th to be more exact. I had another movie marathon of dreams. I had talked to John the day before over skype and answered via video. It was much earlier in the day so I was much brighter than the time when I spoke to Mooji, and John said it was an interesting metaphor for me having taken in much more light since then. So that night one of the “scenes” were me getting ready for a webcam talk and the room being completely lit. I felt that was significant and wanted to talk to John about it, but the chance never arose. The meaning is pretty clear though. Later that day I went to the grocery store to get some food, and since I couldn’t be arsed carrying all the stuff I was going to get I went to get a trolley. I had the key-ring-coin-lookalike-key ready, but it seemed the trolley I got to was already loose. It was free from its chains, unattached. Free. I asked to be shown the meaning of this, but I already knew the answer. It was very obvious.

The next morning I woke up the first time feeling dreadful. I remembered having a dream, and the feeling of that dream lingered. It was beyond words to describe exactly how the feeling felt, so I asked to be shown the dream I had had. I usually do this if there’s any details of dreams that I’m uncertain of, and they usually “pop up” almost immediately. This time, nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just that sense of despair, fear, horror and sorrow. A little bundle of love. I managed to fall asleep again and another marathon of movies had me sleeping another 4-5 hours, waking up at around 3pm. I was going to go to the store and get some more stuff that I had forgotten the day before, and when I got to the garage to get my bike I noticed that the door was already unlocked, so I went in and got my bike. As I was about to leave the garage I heard the sound of metal hitting concrete, and I looked down and found a key to the garage lying there in the light of the day. I put it back and went to the store, and encountered the same free roaming trolley again. I broke a big smile and took it to do my shopping, and at the cash register I had shopped for 144 NOK. 144 being the number of completion, I couldn’t help but laugh. I got a really weird look from the lady behind the counter, and I laughed even harder as I paid her and left with my groceries.

When I got home and checked my computer John was online, so I asked him about the symbols, and told him that I felt that I was telling me that I am already free and that even the idea of a key to the infinite is redundant. John verified this.

Friday came, and in the evening John and Ingerid was about to come and visit, when the “I AM what I AM” was very obvious. No coincidence that the divine feminine and masculine arrive in my home right after “I AM what I AM” either. Anyway, they were talking about their day, and explained that they had had some pretty heavy satsangs with some people who had passed on came through. We also talked about just how profound the new energy is. Before when beings ascended, their bodies would “leave” this earthly existence as the being ascended, but now we can do what they did while still being in this body. That is why so many so-called masters are coming back to experience these times with us. I explained that I had had some dreams about sex the past nights, and John said that was a good sign. I carry some dark sexual energies with me still that apparently seem to start to come up finally. Then Ingerid asked me if I could do some stuff for her blog. Suddenly this feeling of.. something.. welled up in me, and my knees felt wobbly. Not in the fuzzy peaceful way this time. It felt dark, controlling, angry and panicked. Right after Ingerid got a sign that she was protected, held safe to make sure that what was going to come would make it all the way. After a while they were leaving, and I felt I needed to get out for a bit so I walked them to their car. I still had no idea what this feeling was telling me, but it still felt very intense. I was obvioulsy supposed to get whatever they brought that night, so I let it be and went to bed. I had a sex dream that night again, so it definitely feels like something is moving.

The next day, saturday, I asked Ingerid how they were doing, and she said that they had gotten many new insights and new understandings during the day. I was still feeling panicky frightened. I felt this uncertainty, like I didn’t know what was going to happen. It felt like I was completely letting go of control.. And there it was! It was so clear! What I was feeling was the panic of the masculine having to let go of control. I embraced the uncertainty, and suddenly a wave of relief came over me. It was so liberating to not having to try to control the future. This was what I experienced yesterday aswell. Ingerid explained to me that we are being made empty so that the master within us can come forth. Freedom is complete surrender, the sacred emptiness.. That is why fear and insecurity comes up when we let go of control. But not so much so that we don’t want to surrender. This was exactly how I felt. I rested in the moment, fell deeper and deeper into it. It was so liberating, with all its aches and fears bubbling while being completely calm and peaceful.

Changes feel very much exponential. The more we free ourselves, the more darkness can be “shook up” by the light that comes through the next time.. Why worry about what might be, when it is exactly how it is supposed to be right now? 🙂


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Pakistan demands end to drone strikes as a condition of renewing U.S. relations

A parliamentary committee in Pakistan's parliament has demanded an end to U.S, drone strikes as a condition for renewal of relations between the U.S. and Pakistan.

Some time ago the parliament had demanded an end to the strikes to no effect it would seem. Pakistan's parliament is discussing how to mend U.S. Pakistan relations. Relations have been particularly bad since a U.S. attack killed 24 soldiers near the Afghan border in November.

Razza Rabbani who chaired the committee making the recommendations also insisted that the U.S. should unconditionally apologize for the killings. Neither this nor the ceasing of drone attacks are likely I expect.

The U.S. seems quite willing to pay the price of having to use alternate routes as Pakistan has closed the Afghan border to supply convoys. Pakistan also forced the U.S. to close an air base in Pakistan.

Pakistan indicated recently that the issues may soon be resolved. The U.S. may pay higher transit fees for goods passing through Pakistan. On the drone issue it seems as if Pakistan might agree to the attacks if they were coordinated with the Pakistanis and they received notice of when and where they would occur. The U.S. may not be willing to grant this because militants might be notified of pending attacks. There is no trust between the two sides it seems.

A report last month by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism put the civilian death toll from the attacks at between 282 and 535. This includes 60 children. These are figures since Obama came to power. Obama has greatly increased attacks from the Bush era. For more see this article.

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Hey there. Glad to have you here! I’m Tyler Owen and this is my website where I venerate coffee machines from Keurig. I’ve grown up around coffee loving men and women and let’s just say you learn a thing or two about coffee maker machines in 19 years. Most of the machines I have seen are Keurig, and honestly I don’t like most other brands. I’m a big time arts enthusiast as well, and I’m saving up to study about coffee grounds in India.

keurig coffee makers

I started this website recently, after I received three messages from different friends asking for my opinion on coffee makers. It is easy to get confounded by the host of machines out there demanding attention. There are a lot of factors one has to consider and it can get tiring. Everybody could do with a little help at times.

Keurig is a wonderful trusted brand whose coffee machines are well renowned. But the variety of products is so perplexing that it can be tough to decide where to begin. Keeping this in mind, I have attempted to keep this website as easy to follow as possible. Start wherever you want to, and discover more and more machines as you go along. The sole aim of this website is to help you choose the best Keurig Coffee makers that are best for your need.

In the several posts I’m going to make, we’ll discuss many facets of Keurig coffee machines and you can use it to decide which one will work the best for you. We are going to tell you about amazing Coffee Makers for work, for your kitchen as well as for those of you who want to keep one in your cafe. We’ll discuss their utility, safety, power consumption, cost and lots of other stuff that you cannot find anywhere else on the internet.

Happy Reading! Do get in touch with me if you’d like me to talk about a particular machine, or if you have queries or critique.