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Elegant And Graceful Designs For Gable Box - Shen Zhen Meijiacai Printing Co., Ltd Ar

Elegant And Graceful Designs For Gable Box

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Shenzhen Meijiacai Printing Limited is one of the best China elegant gable box manufacturers and suppliers with one of the famous brands. And as a professional company, our own factory, which is able to produce newest, cheap, low price, and CE certification elegant gable box. Welcome to wholesale or buy discount products from us.Elegant and Graceful designs for gable boxPaper Gable box  Gable boxes are a staple storage, craft, and packaging supply, and it makes sense to stock up on them so you can always have them on hand.Gable boxes are sturdy boxes made from a single flat piece of paper that folds into a convenient,attractively shaped box with a handle for easy carrying. gable party boxes range from subtle, single color options to frosted,candy-colored plastic to window gable boxes that show off their contents. You will be amazed at the variety of styles to choose from, including textures, prints, and colors. No matter what your party theme is, or what kind of product you are offering your customers, we're sure to have a style, finish, and size that is absolutely perfect for your needs.There are so many wonderful and inspired ways to use gable boxes. Some of our favorites include gift packaging, party favor packaging, and containers for food, baked goods, and candy. Best of all, these gable gift boxes offer plenty of opportunities to get crafty and customize. To embellish your boxes, you can add each recipient's name if giving them out as party favors, or deck these boxes out with bows, ribbons, gems, glitter, and stickers. These gable gift boxes are also a fun project opportunity for kids, who will love coloring and decorating their boxes as a craft project. At our low prices, you can afford to keep them busy with hours on end as they decorate box after box.Creating a Custom Gable Box for Your BusinessCustom gable boxes are an amazing business tool. Incorporate your business's name, logo or slogan as a part of your packaging to bring your branding to the next level. Paper Mart makes it simple and inexpensive to create a box that is unique to your business. To create a unique gable box, we charge a single plate fee to create your customized design. From then on, we'll keep your plate on file so you never have to pay a fee again for the same one.Paper Gable boxProduct Details1.StyleCollapsible/Drawer/Clamshell/Hat/Bottle/Gable/Corrugated/Folding2.Material:Durable grey board, Art Paper, Coated Paper, Fancy Paper, PU Leather.Grey card boardFrom 600g to 1600gArt PaperFrom 157g- 250gFancy paper100g,120g,130g, different design and styleOther paperCorrugated paper, cloth-line paper, paper board, foil paper, recycled material3.PrintingCMYK 4 color, offset printing, screen printing, Panton color, UV printing.4.FinishingFoil-Stamping, Embossing, Glossy Lamination, Matt Lamination, UV Coating.5.Logo&Design:Customizing or our mould6.Accessories:Magnet, ribbon, EVA form , plastic tray, sponge, flowers, PVC/PET/PP window7.Packing:1pcs in polybag,10-35pcs in 5 flute corrugated export carton8.Weight:Based on size, material, thickness, purchase informationPurchase information9.Minimum order:500pcs10.Sample time2-3 working days.11.Lead time15-25 days after confirmed the order,and based on the QTY12.PaymentT/T. WU, Paypal, Money Gram, other payments also can be discussed.13.Unit PriceFOB Shenzhen

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Evil talks about tolerance only when it’s weak. When it gains the upper hand, its vanity always requires the destruction of the good and the innocent, because the example of good and innocent lives is an ongoing witness against it. So it always has been. So it always will be. And America has no special immunity to becoming an enemy of its own founding beliefs about human freedom, human dignity, the limited power of the state, and the sovereignty of God. – Archbishop Chaput

Thursday, February 16, 2012

S&P 500 once again bumping up against 1350

The 1350 level in the S&P 500 is becoming a rather significant resistance level on the technical price chart as the market has rallied to this point several times over the last two weeks and stalled out. Bulls are counting on further liquidity blasts from the Central Banks to provide them with enough ammunition to dislodge the selling originating at this zone.

I find it rather odd to see how the broader market is apparently ignoring the surge in gasoline prices as if soaring energy costs are not going to have the least impact on consumer spending  in terms of disposable income or transporation costs across the entire economy.

Central Banks are attempting to ward off deflationary pressures from issues arising from massive amounts of debt in the system so what we have here is a battle between the forces of liquidity and those of debt. From what I can see of the price chart, the liquidity forces are apparently able to trump everything. It also goes to show you how utterly disconnected the stock market is from the reality of most citizens.

This rally in the equities is what is pulling silver and gold off of their lows in today's session. It is also pulling copper off its worst levels as well. If the Fed wants inflation, they are going to get it. A strong upside performance in the S&P will guarantee that the metals all begin moving higher, whether or not any fundamentals justify the move or not as hedge funds will bid up everything tangible and send those prices soaring.

The  Fed had better be careful however that their gambit does not allow the long bond to drop below the bottom of its nearly 4 month old trading range. That would be a No-No for Uncle Sam for if long term borrowing costs were to begin rising, the cost of servicing this idiotic mountain of debt that has been heaped upon our nation will becoming unbearable. No doubt orders will go out to Goldman and Morgan to buy bonds if it looks like the bond technical price chart might be breaking down.

  1. The cartel must have had insider information that they were going to push the DXY lower to try and goose the markets (after all - it's the same crowd controlling both). The raid activity has been downright obnoxious, pushing silver lower 40 cents on a dovish fed meeting minutes, doing a 60 cent raid this morning on bullish economic news? WTF? So much for the worthless CFTC. This week's COT should show they stepped on the gas on the shorts.

    But as they continue to go further in on the short side, the inevitable retrenching to higher ground must take place, and the likelihood continues to grow that more and more specs are joining the party as the equity rally takes a pause. Once the longs know they got the shorts by the balls, we could see a nice volatily move higher. Greece deal possibly Monday. They could push the EUR/USD up to 1.33, and you could very easily see the cartel retrench to 1760/34, and that may not hold either.

  2. All Bond Markets, currencies, vs. Media, big Gov, and Big Banks vs. US Citizens. Truly unprecedented times. It is amazing to watch. Throw in middle east unrest, European unrest, middle class americans being thrown to the wolves, older Americans being fried, and you get the biggest, most unbelievable fight in history slowly unfolding.....until...Bango, jango. Dan, you are a Patriot, no matter what Mr. Mini T says about you. Thank you. Risk/Return at its Peak slowly, slowly creeping towards your triangle. No way to determine who they beat down next. I really wish Mr. Freeh made a proper decision, but his affiliations do not look good, nor do his interviews. I mean really Mr. Freeh, proper government rules???? Mr. Bernanke, your father who worked so diligently to put you through school with his business, are you so arrogantly intelligent? I am amazed at the American ignorance, but I guess, the MSM is controlling all of them. Hard at work, just trying to survive. Pitiful.....We certainly live in INTERESTING TIMES, don't we Danno. I live with real Americans all day everyday, and I have for the last 4 years, it is not their fault. The blame falls on our leaders (term lightly used for people like Dimon, Blanfein, Immelt, Corsine, Soros, and many others.)

  3. I used to lend to many small business' in the US; I have a ton of experience, knowledge, and they are hurting. All of them. What surprises me is this...after the failure of Solyndra, why are we not auditing the entire portfolio of the FFB (Federal Financing Bank) controlled by Mr. Timothy tax turbo Geitner? Why? I mean, in for profit banks...although they are far and few between nowadays...their are rules. Charge off after 90 days..period. Non Performing loans are audited, whole portfolios are audited. No mention of this anywhere. I would say that the whole portfolios need audited. I guess it is like Ron Paul demanding auditing the FED. They need to pump worthless money down into a rathole. They need the American people to remain confident in the worthless decsions of fools like Mr. Timothy Geithner, who himself, cheated the Tax system. Kind of like Ms. Pelosi, who earns millions on insider trading. It is Pathetic, and everyone wonders why volume is disappearing. It is distrust in the Government. I distrust them all. Mr. Freeh, stand up, be counted, do not hide. Let us see what you are all about. We have seen what our DOJ is all about? He is a worthless POS. He is corrupt, he is an arrogant and whole hearted fool. Mr. Freeh everyone is watching. I guess we see soon? Or, is your company awaiting payoff behind closed doors? In my opinion, you are getting alot of money to shut up and let the JPM's of the world steal money. You are complicit, and this is the point Anne Barnhardt makes very clear. You are a filthy POS, and Americans are sick of it. We will all take every penny out of this corrput system, we will buy precious metals and watch you fools cheat yourselves until the whole thing blows up. Good luck. Dan, sorry, but I have to vent.

    1. I posted a comment last night but somehow it has disappeared.

      White Wolf...

      This is your second wild rant posted on Dan's very informative and LOGICAL blog.

      You sound completely out-of-control emotional.

      Sure, we all have a reaction to what is going on in this world. But you are over the top.

      Before you hurt yourself or someone else, you should seriously consider consulting a therapist to help resolve your anger.

      Ranting here on Dan's blog adds NO VALUE at all and, as Dan indicated on your previous rant, you need to consider that your comments on the internet 'may' be being monitored by persons who may consider you 'a problem' to the current power structure.

      Regardless of your so-called 'understanding' of world and financial conditions, you need to get a grip on your emotions, calm down, and learn how to deal with circumstances rather than banging your head against the 'wall' of the power structure in this world which, in the end, will only knock you out and accomplish nothing positive.

    2. Rather very informative Gold Trader. I like your "Freudian Approach". I like Anne Barnhardts post much better. It shows what America is turning into. My neighbors were robbed in broad daylight. It WAS a nice community on the Chesapeake Bay. I have her cell number and a policeman down the street says there were 4 robberies last week in a community that has been very quiet for 15 years. It is not at rant rather FACTUAL. Perceptions are personal, no question, however, in my opinion, Glen Beck has hit it right on the head. Napolitano's firing is confirming the inevitable battle. I have no doubt the real struggle has begun. Your post confirms it. Monitoring....???
      That I am sure is happening, but the "Freedom of Speech" is surely protected for now. I do thank Dan for his insight. The only people I will hurt are those that attempt to hurt me. I am stable, working, and no longer a banker. What are you?

  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

  5. Pretty hilarious too...WTI tonite..$104..wow...bought in at $92.. Good ole gov cant control a Middle East ready to explode. I guess just a ....Spring right????
    Hilarious...love it.. cashing out as soon as it starts to be contolled by the BOTS

  6. Dan, I thank you for all of your information. It is coming not question. Mr. Sinclair is correct. These bullion bankers are arrrogant, and people of faith are their prey. I am saddened. It is not what the world should be right. Jesus, help us. I love people and will help all the neighbors I know. I have a strong back, a wood stove, a pretty good sense of idiots, and am grateful for my life. I sold my Cadillac XL, my Donzi, and need to sell my time share for Raintree? Anyone interested, it is as cheap as it needs to be. Citi is the financier. If I have to, it certainy can be given back to them. Not sure of its value. There are some beautiful hotels in Wyoming for all you Liberals out there. I mean guns, mountains, and nice hard living.
    Anyone,,,gold trader...want to work hard for a life? Did not think so...

  7. A great link for the MSM Gold Trader. My opinion is not my opinion. It is quite a few individuals opinions. War in the Middle East. Huge deficit spending, heavy handed taxes. David Stockman? I think he has value don't you? Unemployment is not a joke, I was unemployed for a period of time. I now work for friends and friends of friends. Have had three jobs out of Banking and all are supportive of small entrepreneurial business. Big Gov is a joke. Bernanke is now feeding big gov. He should be ashamed. I really hope they all pay attention to this guy. He is non partisan.
    My view of the world...???? I think alot of people are starting to finally understand. At least alot I run into will listen.

  8. Dear Trader Dan,
    I am interested in your opinion on the DXY and different gold charts.
    When you take a train sitting in the station, sometimes you look out the window and you see movement relative to the train on the next set of tracks. Then a brief mental gymnastic question goes trough your mind - am I going forward relative to this train - or is it going backwards relative to me?
    Someone said to me Sunday - a non gold investor - that gold is quite expensive. That's quite true on a historical viewpoint. I then pointed out the slow slide in purchasing power of Western currencies is masking the fact that gold is preserving purchasing power relative to these currencies.
    When I look at a two year chart of DXY - it just jumps off of the page that something happened in September of 2011. Something that has made the US dollar attractive as a "store of value". Now considering a six month period for DXY, I get the feeling that it would not take a very big move to knock DXY off of its pedestal. I then think about how gold keeps bumping against 1750US without a breakout, and similarly gold verses other currencies. We traded above 42270 euros/kilo and basically we are still at these prices.
    So which train is moving, and in which direction?
    This is not an answer to my question, but a market fact: In the beginning of September the Swiss Central Bank could not let its currency go down any more versus the euro. It had briefly touched parity with the euro and was beginning to affect its economy. They established a "peg" of sorts with the euro. This took away a currency "to flee to" and in my opinion has increased the attractiveness FOR A TIME of the American dollar.
    So place your bets, which chart breaks out: gold up and verses which currency, or does DXY break down (pushing gold above 1750US)?

  9. And while you're at it, Trader Dan, why not post a one year chart of gold/US pointing out the date of the Swiss National Bank decision. I believe it was September 6th 2011.
    Now why would gold go down on such news?

  10. It is my belief that the cohesion between govt and big bullion banks now is the primary reason you see liquidity rising and bullion and gold stocks remaining trapped. That is the new answer. Just have JPM and Mr. Diamon have a few drinks with the G man and you have your answer. Sell, sell, hurt those "speculators". Strictly an opinion. Rigged markets now. Steal the wealth of all savers, steal the wealth of those trying to save with gold, silver and mining stocks. Knock em down Jamie, Carol. In the immortal words of Mel Brooks in the movie "Blazing Saddles" We have to keep our phoney baloney jobs. Just an opinion mind you. I went to oil and have seen a nice ride. Gold's ride is not over, as long as the banks get their money for nothing and Bullion Banks get their Chicks for free, it is going to be a fight. Eventually they lose. The East continues to accumulate, diversify out of dollars and into hard production assest. Their people save all the while the CME is losing volume. When the gig is up, most of the power and bullion bankers fire up their jets and jettison off into the sunset. Then and only then will it ride like a rocket. Until then I believe Oil is the Beatles ticket..She's got a ticket to ride...

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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Top Search Engines

I’ve studied how search engines work. An integral part of any Internet marketing or search engine optimization campaign is to know exactly which search engines to target. This section discusses some of the top search engines today.

Google has increased in popularity tenfold the past several years. They went from beta testing to becoming the Internet's largest index of web pages in a very short time. Their spider, affectionately named "Googlebot", crawls the web and provides updates to Google's index about once a month. began as an academic search engine. Google, by far, has a very good algorithm of ranking pages returned from a result, probably one of the main reasons it has become so popular over the years. Google has several methods which determine page rank in returned searches.

Yahoo! is one of the oldest web directories and portals on the Internet today, and the site went live in August of 1994. Yahoo! is also one of the largest traffic generators around, as far as web directories and search engines go. Unfortunately, however, it is also one of the most difficult to get listed in, unless of course you pay to submit your site. Even if you pay it doesn't guarantee you will get listed.

Either way, if you suggest a URL, it is "reviewed" by a Yahoo! editor and, if approved, it will appear in the next index update.

Many who have access to web logs may have seen a spider named “scooter” accessing their pages. Scooter used to be AltaVista's robot. However, since the Feb 2001 site update, a newer form of Scooter is now crawling the web.

It will usually take several months for AltaVista to index your entire site. Unlike Google, AltaVista will only crawl and index 1 link deep, so it can take a long time to index your entire site, depending on how large your site is.

Inktomi's popularity grew years ago as they powered the secondary search database that had driven Yahoo. Their spiders are named "Slurp", and different versions of Slurp crawls the web many different times throughout the month, as Inktomi powers many sites’ search results. There isn't much more to Inktomi than that. Slurp puts heavy weight on title and description tags, and will rarely deep-crawl a site. Slurp usually only spiders pages that are submitted to its index. Inktomi provides results to a number of sites. Some of these are America Online, MSN, Hotbot, Looksmart, About, Goto, CNet, Geocities, NBCi, ICQ and many more.

Lycos is one of the oldest search engines on the Internet today, next to Altavista and Yahoo. Their spider, named "T-Rex", crawls the web and provides updates to the Lycos index from time to time. The FAST crawler provides results for Lycos in addition to its own database.

The Lycos crawler does not weigh META tags too heavily. Instead, it relies on its own ranking algorithm to rank pages returned in results. The URL, META title, text headings, and word frequency are just a few of the methods Lycos uses to rank pages. Lycos does support pages with Frame content. However, any page that isn't at least 75 words in content is not indexed.

Excite has been around the web for many years now. Much more of a portal than just simply a search engine, Excite used to be a fairly popular search engine, until companies such as Google started dominating the search engine market. As of recently, Excite no longer accepts submissions of URL's, and appears to no longer spider. To get into the Excite search results, you need to be either listed with Yahoo! or Inktomi.

Getting listed with Looksmart could mean getting a good amount of traffic to your site. Looksmart's results appear in many search engines, including AltaVista, MSN, CNN, and many others. Looksmart has two options to submit your site. If your site is generally non-business related, you can submit your site to Zeal (Looksmart's sister site), or if you are a business, you can pay a fee to have your site listed. Either method will get you listed in Looksmart and its partner sites if you are approved. Once your site is submitted and approved, it will take up to about 7 days for your site to be listed on Looksmart and its partner sites. 3.3 Search Engine Page-Ranking Algorithms A search engine's main job is to provide results which most satisfy a user's query. If they present a result that the user visits and doesn't agree that the document is about their query, there is a very good chance that the user may not use that search engine again. Most search engines pay no attention at all to the Meta description tags.

Meta description and keyword tags are hidden attributes that you can add to the front of your document which are supposed to annotate and describe the document. Since the users will never see this information, they will be disappointed if you stick in invalid keywords or fail to keep the description in line with the document's contents which usually is the case.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Fixing How to Train Your Dragon 2

I saw How to Train Your Dragon 2 recently and while it had good animation and action sequences, and was fairly interesting, there were weaknesses in the plot. Worse, it did not do a very good job of making me care. The problem is that the movie's themes were either uninspiring or incoherent. But rather than just saying what went wrong, I offer a solution. Below is how the movie should have gone (massive spoilers, obviously).
For the film to work, it needs to overcome several issues. In no particular order: it is explained why other dragons obey the alpha, but it is never explained why the alpha obeys Drago--a rather important point. The need to take responsibility for protecting the tribe is mentioned several times, but Hiccup has never actually disagreed with this position--he just wasn't sure he could be a good leader--so making this a major conflict leads to a lack of tension. The use of baby dragons (who don't listen to anyone) to get around the alpha's control, and Hiccup's message of peace to the world in the epilogue, thematically conflict with Hiccup's need to listen to those wiser than him (since they turn out to be right that Drago can't be negotiated with, and right that Hiccup needs to be the next leader), and his need to use deadly force to fight evil (see the battles in the film). Finally, Hiccup's mother seems to slot back rather neatly into his life, without sufficiently dealing with the whole "abandoning her child" bit--maybe Hiccup somehow has the emotional maturity not to resent her absence, but she still has repair work to do.
The first film successfully set up two opposing views: that dragons were deadly beasts to be killed on sight, or that they were harmless if treated kindly and not under control by an outside force. Hiccup and Toothless are eventually able to show that the latter view is correct and that dragons can be trained. What the sequel should have done is focus on a three-way conflict. The seeds of this conflict are in the film, but they are not properly used. In this conflict, all would agree that dragons and humans can co-exist, but the proper relationship between the species would be in question. Drago would embody the belief that dragons are to be dominated by man, using whatever brutality is necessary to make them serve his will. Valka would believe dragons are to be free and untamed, even held higher than man in many ways. Hiccup would believe that dragons ought to be ruled by man, but ruled with love and kindness for the mutual benefit of both.
My film goes roughly like this:
Hiccup is intended to be the next chief, and he is okay with this, but doesn't want to deal with some of the tough decisions and conflicts a chief has to deal with. He also prefers exploring to competing in dragon races, which makes some villagers unsure if he's the right sort to be chief, despite the fact no one can question his commitment to the village.
After encountering the dragon catchers and discovering there are other dragon riders in the world, as well as a dragon army, he returns to tell his father. His father wants to fortify the village immediately, but Hiccup disagrees. He thinks they need to explore and find out what they're up against. He'd also prefer to negotiate than fight, but not in the naive way presented in the original version of the film. He therefore defies his father to go out looking, and finds his mother. She is in love with dragons, more so than humans, and almost worships them--her bow before the alpha in the actual film would become emblematic of her overall attitude. She is glad to see Hiccup, and to find that he appreciates dragons, but she would rather have him live with her than return to human civilization. Her attitude to Stoick when he arrives is similar.
The flaws in her viewpoint become apparent when Drago arrives. Intercut with the scenes above, it has been shown that Astrid and company were captured by Drago while looking for Hiccup--Stoick and Gobber are the only ones who happened upon the dragon sanctuary. Astrid and company's meeting with Drago revealed that he can cow dragons through his immunity to fire (dragon-skin cloak), ability to easily pierce their hides (dragon's claw and tooth weapons), extreme combat skills, and dominating personality. A mysterious chain led underwater at his harbor.
When he arrives, although Hiccup's friends and their dragons are able to escape, Drago is able to draw out the alpha due to the disorganized defense of the sanctuary's dragons; he then reveals his own alpha. He climbs the chain attached to its neck and rides it as it challenges the dragon sanctuary's alpha. He strikes it with his weapon to urge it onward in the fight, and generally demonstrates his brutality. His alpha wins and the dragons flock to its side--all except Berk's dragons, who held no allegiance to the defeated alpha. When Drago sees this, he has his alpha try to dominate Toothless, since Hiccup and Toothless had led Berk's dragons. Hiccup is elsewhere on the battlefield at this point, having become separated during the fight (which gives him more opportunity to use his flame sword against the human portion of the army--always a good thing). Valka is angered at having lost her dragons, so she approaches to attack while Drago tries to control Toothless. He orders Toothless to kill her, and though she tries to use all her dragon knowledge to snap him out of it, he keeps approaching and prepares to kill. Just as he blasts, Stoick dives in front of her and is killed. Having made his point, Drago heads his army (and Toothless) toward Berk.
Valka realizes her mistakes: she treated the dragons as gods when in fact they are lesser creatures than man (they need organization to be an effective fighting force, for example), and she forgot her human connection and she has now lost her husband forever. Hiccup, meanwhile, realizes his decisions can have rapid consequences--he can't always just explore and learn, because sometimes the chief must take action even without knowing everything he'd like. Taking the few remaining dragons, they fly for Berk and arrive just as the assault begins.
The alpha is beginning to dominate dragons when Hiccup confronts Drago and Toothless. Drago orders Toothless to attack, but due to his loving connection to Hiccup, Toothless is able to refuse, break the domination and buck off Drago. At this, Hiccup returns to the saddle and the remainder of the battle happens much as in the actual film, with Toothless becoming the new alpha to rule the other dragons and Hiccup becoming chief. The monologue about peace blah blah blah is deleted, though.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Noah: A Review, More or Less

I liked Noah. It is not accurate to Scripture, and anyone expecting it to be knows nothing about movies. Further, it makes character changes that have really annoyed some Christian reviewers, and make this film not just inaccurate in detail, but different in broad strokes; it's also a fantasy film, in case you couldn't tell from the trailers depicting a massive wave of flame erupting from Methuselah's glowing sword. Still, I liked it.
This will not be a conventional review (and it will have spoilers). What I want to focus on are Darren Aronofsky's major themes and how they work in the film, because that is the biggest reason I find the film interesting. (I also like the magical/miraculous/crazy fantasy elements that are included, because that's the sort of thing I like in movies anyway.) I will mention one detail up front: the visuals that accompany Noah's retelling of the creation story look suspiciously like a depiction of stellar, planetary, and biological evolution, which doesn't quite fit the narration; it's one of the few times where I feel like the film is trying to have it both ways, rather than just making a decision and going with it. I do like the fact that Adam and Eve glow, however--it's a great way to show them as different from the animals and made in God's image.
On to the main focus: Noah is concerned with human wickedness and misuse of the earth, God's justice, and mercy and love. The film depicts the conflict over the dividing lines between good and evil, use and abuse, and justice and mercy in a number of ways. It is less interested in accurate historical portrayals of its characters, and more interested in using the characters to show different perspectives on these themes. Therefore, Tubal-Cain changes from a minor character in a genealogy to a king who argues for man's right to survive by any means necessary, even if some call it evil and it demonstrably damages the earth. Noah becomes focused entirely on carrying out God's plan to destroy evil while preserving innocent animals, even if the evil seems to inhabit his own family. His wife Naameh counters his views with her plea for mercy. Ham resists his father's extremism, seeing a lack of love, and also wondering if Tubal-Cain has a point in his single-minded focus on survival. You get the idea.
The primary character arc is Noah's. God's instructions in this film come through dreams and visions, some of which Noah has a hard time understanding. Arguing over different interpretations of God's Word is a time-honored part of Judaism, and Aronofsky seems to use the ambiguous visions from God as a parallel to the disputed texts about which God has not spoken directly in several thousand years. Noah at first seeks guidance from Methuselah about the visions, and so learns how they fit with (and differ from) Enoch's visions. But he becomes certain of his interpretation with time, and becomes ever more extreme in carrying out what he believes to be God's instructions. Noah accurately sees the evil of the line of Cain. (Incidentally, the movie focuses on their mistreatment of the earth, but this should not be seen as an environmental screed. All that Noah says about proper use of the earth's resources is Biblical.) He understands that the earth must be cleansed, and what remains good of God's creation must be preserved. At first he believes his three sons must begin humanity again, but in time his knowledge of their flaws convinces him that humanity must end with his family. So onto the ark he takes only a barren wife for Shem, and no wives for Ham and Japheth. When Shem's wife turns out not so barren as supposed, he is horrified, and comes to believe he must kill her child should it be a girl. Some have argued that the film makes God a monster with this turn, but the film portrays only Noah's perception of God's will. The viewer is intended to understand that his perception is wrong, as is made clear at the end.
In contrast to Noah, Naameh, though willing to follow her husband and believing he is following God, recoils when he determines that humanity must end with his family. She sees the good in her sons, and wants to protect their lives and their potential descendants. She cannot believe God intends his greatest creation to be destroyed, even if there is evil within all their hearts. Noah does not listen to her, but in the end, he cannot go through with the killing.
Meanwhile, Tubal-Cain speaks the language of man made in the image of God, intended to have dominion and subdue the earth, but he has no care for the creation. He knows the earth was cursed, and believes this justifies anything he does to survive, for God does not relate to humanity anymore. When Noah becomes increasingly extreme, Tubal-Cain is able to appeal to Ham, for he encourages Ham's natural feelings, rather than the unnatural discipline of Noah--it seems better to save a woman Ham cares for than to leave her to die with the wicked as Noah did. In the end, though, both preach killing. Tubal-Cain wants revenge, and tries to carry through with it, but Noah fails to meet his own ideological standard and lets the children live.
Noah's family nearly falls apart, but after the flood Noah eventually reconciles and comes to terms with his failures. It was love that prevented him from killing, he acknowledges, and he comes to realize that the children of Shem's wife are part of God's plan. It is only after this that the rainbow appears--still a message from God, but thematically changed to be a sign that they have finally come to a better balance of justice and mercy.
Also connecting with the conflict of justice and mercy, good and evil, is the plight of the Watchers. I enjoyed these crazy rock creature fallen angels, and I see how they are being used, even though I have theological issues with their end. What happens is that they protect Noah and the ark from assault, and as each one dies, the Watcher's angelic form returns to heaven. The first problem with this is that it implies salvation by their own efforts, not by grace. The second problem with this is that there is no evidence that fallen angels can or will return to God.
Aronofsky is not concerned with orthodoxy, however. He is exploring another facet of justice and mercy, though I think a bit less successfully than in the main plot. The angels fall because they have mercy on fallen humanity and go to help them contrary to God's wishes. Their help only allows the line of Cain better technology with which to kill and destroy, however. The line of Seth is nearly wiped out by the unjust actions of the angels, however kindly they were meant. When the Watchers meet with Noah and help him carry out his preparations for God's judgement, then kill those assaulting the ark, they are finally doing justice; the time for mercy for the wicked is over.
As you may have noticed, my thoughts are still a little disorganized; this is a movie that demands debate. Anyone who thinks the movie is perfect probably hasn't thought about it enough. Anyone who hates it could probably benefit from thinking about it more, too--though many good people will hate this film for its extreme liberties taken with the story. I myself may have more clarity in the future, but those are my initial thoughts.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The Desecration of Smaug

Just When Gravity Made Me Believe in Movies Again, Peter Jackson Made Me an Atheist

I will begin with an equation: (M. Night Shyamalan + Michael Bay)George Lucas = Peter Jackson, 2013.
My proof follows.
Shyamalan first burst onto the scene with The Sixth Sense, a brilliant movie; as he continued making movies, no one told him no, and he became an exemplar of solemnly ridiculous movie-making. It is increasingly apparent that Fellowship of the Ring is Jackson's best work. Everything since then has been downhill, though the next two parts of that trilogy weren't terribly far down. Michael Bay never found a nonsensical action sequence he didn't like, nor a way to add more CGI he wouldn't use; Peter Jackson now follows in his footsteps. All this is compounded by Jackson's screenplay, which might have better dialogue than George Lucas, but makes up for it by having stupider character motivations. The only thing that remains is to laugh so that we may not cry. What follows is my attempt.
Question: Which of the following events actually happens in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug?
A. Bilbo takes off his ring while staring directly into Smaug's face.
B. Smaug is unable to crawl fast enough to catch the dwarves he wishes he could kill, apparently forgetting he can breathe fire.
C. Beorn dislikes dwarves so much that when he finds out they have broken into his house while he was away, he gives them ponies.
D. Gandalf goes to Dol Goldur with Radagast. After determining their enemy is not yet ready to attack, but that entering would certainly put him in a trap, he tells Radagast to leave while he goes in alone.
E. All of the above.
The answer, of course, is E. I would say that having multiple idiot balls* for characters to pass around is the worst thing about this movie, except that there is so much else wrong with it. Let us start with the dragon. The animation is excellent, and he looks pretty real--a pity they never let him do anything interesting. Oh, you thought there was an awesome dragon fight in this film? No no no. That has to wait for the third film. In this film you get a lot of running around and the occasional nonsensical attempt to defeat him, all while the film broadly telegraphs There Is Only One Way To Defeat The Dragon,** then hides the magic black arrow of deadly power in some random boat, while the one true archer of destiny runs around elsewhere. Sure hope he finds it again by 2014.
Moving on, the dragon's voice actor is enCumbered with a batch of nonsense to say. He speaks well, as his name would suggest, but now, writing a few hours after seeing the movie, I can only remember one good line. He claims to be intelligent, but the ease with which the dwarves confuse him suggests that he is kind of stupid. That's a good thing, too, since otherwise he would be able to kill all the other stupid people in the movie. Maybe his intelligence takes the form of telepathy, since he soon seems to know everything there is to know about Bilbo and his companions. The movie fails to explain where he gets his information--maybe he read the book?
There are other villains, too. Azog (Kratos, in Elvish) is back, and now he has a son named Bulge, who appears to have been created in an accident involving steroids and industrial equipment. There is also of course, Sauron the Necromancer. None of them are very interesting, which makes them fit right in with most of the heroes. Thinking about the number of villains in this film reminds me of an even bigger problem than anything mentioned so far: there is practically no plot. Perhaps you are skeptical. Wouldn't a short book turned into three films have to contain not only the entire plot of the book, but also some extras? Not when Peter Jackson is in charge! Beorn barely bearly has any screen time, the dwarves are literally in Mirkwood for about five minutes--just enough time to get lost and find some spiders, and most of the other events from the book are replaced with similar-looking events invented for the movie. And those other events manage to accomplish approximately nothing. Consider the fights/confrontations in the film and their results in this convenient list.
1. Orcs/Beorn chase everyone. Nothing happens.
2. Bilbo, dwarves, and elves fight spiders. Spiders actually die.
3. Legolas and Tauriel kill anonymous orcs. The ones with names survive.
4. Orcs attack three kids and a poisoned dwarf. No one dies until Tauriel shows up. Even then, no one with a name dies.
5. Legolas fights Bulge. No one dies.
6. Gandalf fights Kratos. No one dies.
7. Gandalf fights Sauron (seriously). No one dies.
8. Smaug chases everyone. No one dies.
9. Somewhere in the midst of all this, Bard fights a bunch of city officials. I don't recall anyone dying, and if they did, they certainly didn't have names.
10. I have undoubtedly forgotten a bunch of other orc deaths. But they're demonstrably forgettable.
There are non-fight events in the "plot" as well, but none of them accomplish much either, except for the whole "opening the door to the Lonely Mountain" bit.
With all those problems, the only good things left in the movie are the lovely New Zealand scenery (except there isn't much left after all the CGI), the beautiful score (which is a retread of all the previous scores), the lived-in world Peter Jackson is so known for creating (come to think of it, only Laketown looked lived-in), and the special effects (which could be seen a lot better if the camera would focus on them). Er, I guess that's not much. Oh well. It's a good thing Peter Jackson didn't also repeat all the mistakes he ever made with his previous four movies, remove all evidence of Christian worldview from Tolkien's work, and add in the stupidest love triangle in the history of fantasy movies. Except he did.
Curse you, Peter Jackson, and may the sun take you, for now you are just trolling.

*With Jackson, one of something is never enough. Sometimes even two is not enough, which explains why there is another movie coming out next year.
**Spoiler: the same way as in the book, except presumably from the mounted bolt launcher that has been sitting in the town for the last several decades.

Monday, November 11, 2013

King Solomon's Mines (and a note on Thor and Legend of Korra)

Before I get to the main subject of this post, I have a question: How did it happen that Thor: The Dark World ended up with the exact same plot as the second season of Legend of Korra? Both have a (Harmonic) Convergence returning after thousands of years, a Dark Elf (Thor)/ Dark Spirit (Korra) that wants to bring the world into darkness, essentially destroying it, a mistake by a main character that makes this possible, etc., etc. I like both stories, but this is seriously weird.
So. On to King Solomon's Mines. This book is by H. Rider Haggard, was written in the Victorian Era, and was recommended by C. S. Lewis. It concerns an elephant hunter named Allan Quatermain who is hired to help a fellow Englishman find his brother, who has apparently gone in search of the legendary mines of King Solomon. I will not go through the plot in detail. Much of it is standard "adventure with primitive tribes" stuff, though I gather that this book is one of the reasons some of these things became standard. (The book's solar eclipse, for example, is clearly borrowed for the Tintin comic book Prisoners of the Sun, and Wikipedia informs me that this book was a major influence on 1930s Republic adventure serials--which of course inspired Indiana Jones.) There are also the sort of regrettable racial and colonial attitudes one might expect to find in much Victorian literature (though Haggard does have his main character explicitly reject the use of the term "nigger").
The book intrigued me early on with its description of the legend, and the ancient Portuguese manuscript--written, of course, in blood--in which a dying man tells of the riches and dangers to be found in a hidden African kingdom. Then for some time I wondered what Lewis had liked so much. The events that follow are enjoyable and exciting, but it is not till the book nears its climax that I understood what made the book so great. What had been hinted at earlier in the book comes to full flowering in the journey to the actual mines and to the Place of Death: a sense of ancient awe and mystery, a feeling that cannot be put into words, but only created by reading the words of Haggard. For that reason, this book is a great accomplishment.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

The World's End: Finally, a Good Movie

This has been a disappointing year for movies, at least for the type of movies I'm interested in. The best thing I had seen was Joss Whedon's home-movie version of Much Ado About Nothing.* But now that one finally has competition: The World's End.
This is the third film in a sequence of movies variously called the Cornetto trilogy or the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy. I have seen neither Shaun of the Dead nor Hot Fuzz, but since this is a "trilogy" sharing actors, director, and sensibility, not plot, that doesn't really matter except for missing a few inside jokes that the Internet can explain for anyone interested. What matters is that this film is good. And The World's End is not merely good. It is a film that makes me interested in watching other films directed by Edgar Wright, whose work I had previously never seen.
Better reviewers than I can talk about the quality of the film's plot, shot construction, or whatever else. I will just mention a few things that stood out to me. First, the premise itself. I first learned about this film upon seeing the trailer. It started out looking like a more-clever than average comedy about drunks and man-children. Then evil robots showed up and attacked. When I realized the film was an apocalyptic British sci-fi man-child comedy, I got very interested. I am pretty sure no other film in the history of the world fits in that combination of genres.
Second, the dialogue in this film is great. I suspect a second viewing might be funnier than the first, just because the drunks in this film sound smarter than the geeks in most other films--and even when they're being dumb, they're dumb in a cleverly-written way. So some of the humor takes a moment to process, though there is also plenty of instantly understandable humor.
Third, the ending to this film is unexpected and wonderfully appropriate. I cannot say anything about it, because that would spoil it for everyone else.
Fourth, though the film is a comedy, it has quite a dark subtext--two of them, in fact. It critiques the sameness of mass culture, especially in relation to our technology, and it sticks a dagger in mindless nostalgia and displays the dangers of trying to relive the past. With this film, sometimes you can't laugh for cringing, and sometimes you only avoid cringing because you are laughing.
Why can't we have more films like this?
*If you're interested, the other movies I've seen have been the imperfect, but enjoyable, From Up On Poppy Hill; Shane Black's terrible mockery of an Iron Man movie; the self-contradicting Man of Steel; and the good but unfunny Billy Crystal-starring Monsters University.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

On Man of Steel

There are a number of things to like about Man of Steel, but it has its flaws. Interestingly, both its greatest virtues and its greatest flaws concern the nature of the title character. On the negative side, I could discuss the generic nature of Hans Zimmer's soundtrack, the annoying documentary-style camera zooms, or the occasionally-confusing action. On the positive side, I could mention excellent performances from Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, and Amy Adams, or the film's intelligent use of flashbacks. But none of these thing are as interesting as working out what's right and what's wrong with Kal-El himself.
Henry Cavill does a good job playing his part. He is physically convincing as Superman, and emotionally convincing as Clark Kent/Kal-El. (It remains to be seen in the sequel whether he can match Christopher Reeve when playing the reporter disguise of "Clark Kent.") The script gives him some nice Christological parallels, as a Superman movie should--listen for the line from his adoptive father about how elsewhere Clark has another father who sent him to earth for a reason. It is also nice to see that the film is not embarrassed to present him as an American, so his can be seen as something of the ultimate immigrant story. There is also no attempt to muddy him up or make him morally questionable.
So what's the problem? Carelessness. Superman is said to care about helping others. He is once shown snatching a pilot out of midair to prevent him from falling to his death. But for all the rest of his fights, he seems to ignore the multiple skyscrapers falling down, the city-destroying explosions, etc., that his fights with General Zod occasion. Does he (or the screenwriter) not realize that thousands of people are undoubtedly dying from all this? On a similar note, when Superman shows his displeasure with drone surveillance, does he have to destroy the whole drone? Sure, it's funny, but there are less expensive ways to tell the army you would rather not be spied on.
I won't go point-by-point through the whole movie, but you see the central problem: Superman is described in all the right ways, and sometimes demonstrates his virtue through action, but too often there is a disconnect between what is said and what is actually done. I still rather enjoyed the film, but it certainly will not be knocking Captain America: The First Avenger off its pedestal as best moral paragon superhero movie.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

From Up on Poppy Hill + Blog Update

This blog is not entirely dead, despite appearances--even last year I was posting infrequently, and this is my first post of 2013. There are several reasons for this. First, I started this blog partly to keep in practice with my writing, and that is no longer necessary, since I'm writing stories for publication. Second, I have mainly been writing about movies I have seen, and I did not go to the theater for the past three months. Finally, I have simply gotten busy with other things.
So if you're one of the five or six people in the world that reads this, expect occasional posts over the next few months, since I'll be going to the movies more, but don't expect the posting to ever be frequent again. For now, I'll give a few words on From Up on Poppy Hill.
This film is from Studio Ghibli, but is directed by Hayao Miyazaki's son Goro, rather than his more famous father. Goro Miyazaki's first film, Tales from Earthsea, was not an excellent film, but this one is rather better. It is currently in limited release in the U.S.--I had to go to an art-house theater in Fairfax called the Angelika Film Center to find it.
The storyline of this film is reasonably good, though even one of the characters admits it's a little melodramatic. It takes place while Japan is preparing for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and is set in a high school not far from Tokyo. The film focuses on a high school girl who balances schoolwork with helping her grandmother with their boarding house on Poppy Hill, and a high school boy who is trying to preserve an old, decrepit clubhouse that various boys' clubs make use of.
Where the film shines is the animation and characterization. Studio Ghibli always has beautiful animation, especially with their attention to detail in their backgrounds. This film adds some deliberately over-the-top character animation for comic effect (rivers of tears, and that sort of thing), which works well. The dialogue of the film combines with the animation to do an excellent job of delineating the characters, whether a ridiculous would-be philosopher, a sleepy and zoned-out artist, or the heroine of the film, a responsible but lonely student who still mourns her dead father.
The film has many funny moments, including some that are easy to miss if you're not listening closely to the background dialogue. Overall, it is quite enjoyable, even if lacking the (both literal and metaphorical) magic of Hayao Miyazaki's best work.


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Tuesday, May 29, 2007

9 years ago

A Day's Worth of Sparkle

Now Jane is standing without help. The barrette in her hair struggles for grip as much as her feet.

Above you see Jane communicating: Pick me up, hug me and help me. When Jane attempts to walk she leads with her tummy which means her feet should be where her stomach is and her stomach where her feet are. In simplified language, those hot dogs and enormous servings of yogurt pull her down every time.

Sparklers bring a smile and a late bedtime. This far north it is light till 9pm. In a month's time it will still be light at 10pm.

La. She has long hair.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Sprinkler Days

Relaxing after work, Ben dons his cowboy hat. He's got Texas on his mind and Baby on his lap.

Fritz, let's see what happens when things get wet. I'll put this newspaper in the sprinkler, you try that plastic thing over there.

It is just a bit cold for the sensible and those with limited fat reserves.

Emily's face is a thousand percent better than the beginning of spring. We think she has PMLE and develops more sun tolerance as the season progresses.

Last night was awards night for Awanas. Alex and Fritz with their respective leaders.

My two little spies. Don't you know spies dress in navy blue so they can creep around unnoticed at night. The last few nights Emily has gotten out of bed at some ungodly hour. I'm thinking she is not one for stealth, because her footsteps are like little earthquakes. There is a proverb that says if you bless someone early in the morning it will be taken as a curse. Perhaps during the day her footsteps sound more like butterfly wings, but don't quote me on that.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

7 up

Just finished watching The Up Series on DVD. This British Documentary is fascinating. The premise is: "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man." They started filming the series in 1964. It began when they interviewed 14 adorable seven year olds. They ask the children what they might want to do when they are older and what they think about marriage, children and money. Then every seven years they had a follow up interview with the original children to catch up on what has transpired. Be warned it is a series that will make you laugh and cry. If you love sitting in a crowded place watching people, this series is for you. You get to observe the same people for 35 years. You watch their weight change and their hairstyles. You see them live out the choices they have made. I have watched them grow from age 7 to 14, 14 to 21, 21 to 28, 28 to 35 and 35 to 42. I hear age 49 is now available too, but I haven't seen it.

Because Alex is seven I probably enjoyed The Up Series even more. What will he look like at 14 and 21? What will he be doing? When will he marry? Will he marry? Will he be much like he is now, just more mature? Will he have a quiver of children? Will he like his job? Will he be confident and caring? Will he be an overcomer or a victim? And a thousand other questions? I guess the series reiterates how important these founding years are in the life of my children. If I only have till age seven, how crucial it is that I am a wholehearted parent that deliberately and habitually instructs my children in the way they should go. How I must be a truth speaker and a lover of their souls. Time is so short. So even though most of the interviewees' lives were mapped out by age seven, as a secular production, the series does not take into account the ability of the Holy Spirit to change a person. Even the most unregenerate.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Three for Florida

Last week Ben's mom gave us the special gift of travel. She came to watch the little girls while the boys and I went to Florida to visit my grandmother and their great grandmother. On the airplane I got hooked on sudoku puzzles. I completed my first four. If you love logic and tolerate numbers you ought to try one. It provided me hours of mental stimulation and a whopping big headache from rearranging numbers. Seeing my grandmother after many years was a real treat. The boys swam whenever possible, watched the jumping dolphins and the manatees feed on leaves. Speaking of food, Alex and Fritz ate more meals out than the entire past year, and loved it. We enjoyed our time immensely.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Redeeming the Moment

Yesterday I was given an opportunity by the Lord to evangelize my children. For that matter, I am given an opportunity everyday. But yesterday was different because my son broke the glass in our back door. I was angry that I had another project to fix. I was angry that an apology wasn't forthcoming. I may have been "rightfully" angry, but my anger was as destructive as his fist through glass. Fortunately, Ben didn't see son 1 in the ER for hand lacerations. (The drunks all minding their own business don't seem to fair as well when glass "accidentally" shatters.)

Last night I sat with chisel and hammer loosening the frame that held the glass pane in place. It was slow and arduous work to take apart that which has held fast for almost a century. This morning I realized I could use the pane as an object lesson for my children. The sin in our life is like a big noticeable crack in glass. The secret sins might be like little bebee holes, but they are still seen by the Glass Maker. Our life is cracked with sin from birth. In our imperfect state we aren't acceptable to God. Consequently we try on our own effort to hide the sin with good works. Maybe we place a pretty chintz curtain in front of the crack to hide it. Or the more deluded among us try to cover the crack with clear tape as if the Glass Maker won't see our sin. With the awareness our best efforts are inadequate, we ask Jesus to take out our broken pane and put himself in its place. God no longer sees us and our unrighteousness; He sees Jesus and his own reflection. In this He is well pleased.

The moral of this tale is take heed from my initial folly, and as glass will break, redeem a disastrous moment into an eternal moment, a chance to evangelize your kids.


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Kader Sevinç is currently:

► elected member of the second largest European political party, the PES (Party of European socialists & democrats) Presidency Council

► member of the ‘Progressive Alliance’ Steering Committee

► the EU representative in Brussels of the CHP, Turkish social democratic and main opposition party

► recognized by the Diplomatic Courier magazine and the YPFP in Washington DC among the most influential young (Top 99 Under 33) foreign policy leaders in the world.

► non-resident fellow of the SAIS – Center for Transatlantic Relations (Johns Hopkins University – Washington DC)

►  advocate and  initiator of the Smart Democracy & Smart Citizenship or Democracy 4.0 workshops, a suggested model for democracy, politics and citizenship in the 21st century

► founder and manager of the Brussels-based debate club, the Turkish Coffee Briefings

► leader of the educational initiative, the Sinif-1B

► poet, member of the Brussels Poetry Collective of Passaporta and Siirden poetry magazine’s editorial board

Education and professional life

Kader Sevinç is an honors graduate from and completed Jean Monnet European Integration Program (2005) in the Akdeniz University Antalya Turkey, pursued “business communication” training at the Harvard University and obtained her MA in International Relations from CERIS/Paris XI University with “grande distinction” (Thesis: Theories of International Negotiation, European Union’s Enlargement and the Turkish Case”).

As a Visiting Fellow at Center for Transatlantic Relations/SAIS-Johns Hopkins University in 2012, Sevinç worked on the Transatlantic Relations and their implications on Turkey. She is currently a non-resident Transatlantic fellow of the CTR / SAIS.

Kader Sevinç is a regular commentator on Turkey-EU, future of Europe, Transatlantic relations and renovation of politics in international and Turkish media such as BBC, Euronews, European Parliament TV, Deutche Welle, Belgian VTR, L’Echo, International Herald Tribune – Dünya, CNNTurk, Halk TV, Habertürk TV. She has written commentaries and columns for Yurt, Dünya, Radikal and Hürriyet dailies and made live daily EU news comments to “Business Channel” television.

She previously worked as researcher in the Akdeniz University’s EU research center, as manager in the private sector and as political advisor from 2005 to 2008 in the European Parliament in Brussels. In 2008 she was appointed as the CHP Representative to the EU and in 2010 she was elected as a PES Presidency Council member (Party of European socialists & democrats). She is also steering committee member of the Progressive Alliance, the platform for the progressive parties all around the world.

Kader Sevinç is a frequent speaker in international policy circles with experience at the European Commission, European Parliament, United Nations – New York, College of Europe Bruges and Natolin, Boston University, University of Maryland and various European think-tanks, such as European Policy Center, Henrich Böll Foundation – Europe, Frederich Ebert Foundation Europe.

Selected publications, conference papers and interviews in English:

Foreign Policy Challenges in the 21st Century” , Diplomatic Courier

“How to negotiate with the EU? Theories and Practice”, Turkish Policy Quarterly

“Europe and Turkey: In search of a new world”, Euractiv

“A Better Europe”, New Europe

Lykian Union: The Roots of the European Union in Anatolia , Mediterranean University EU Research Center

Friedrich Ebert Stiftung – Europe : New Dynamics for EU-Turkey Relations

Turkey, Europe, Democracy and Transatlantic Relations, University of Maryland

“Turkey’s EU Membership Process: Short Term Problems and Long Term Perspectives”, Insight Turkey

Cultural Diplomacy and Turkish Coffee Briefings in Brussels, Al Arabiya

“Saving Turkey-EU relations more important now than ever”, Independent – Research Turkey

“Run-up to Swedish EU Presidency Turkey-EU Blame Game”, CafeBabel

Turkish foreign policy in a changing global order”, Strategic Outlook

“EU and Turkey: In the name of wisdom and vision”, FEPS Progressive Observatory

“Gender equality and the EU’s transformational power in Turkey” , Euractiv

The refugee crisis is just a by-product of the West’s out-dated 20th century instincts , Vocal International

Women rights and social democracy in Turkey , Social Europe

“Turkey’s EU bid faces opportunities and challenges”, SETimes

Gender equality in Turkey: Progressive policy proposals , Hurriyet Daily News

Cyprus crisis: A valid test for the EU Nobel Peace Prize?

“Croatia’s EU negotiation model is an opportunity for Turkey” , Slobodna Dalmacija

The EU and Turkish Women: What Do the Numbers Say? What Does the EU Do? , Reflections Turkey

2010 Constitutional Referendum and Turkish Democracy

Video interview on the state of Europe, Brexit, EU-Turkey relations, Smart Democracy & Smart Citizenship

Video interview Deutsche Welle – Sevinç kämpfen für EU-Beitritt der Türkei / Sevinc fights for Turkey’s EU accession

Video interview Belgian Vrt: Working for Turkey in Europe

Chapter Contribution: “Turkish Foreign Policy in the New Millennium”, edited by Hüseyin Isıksal and Ozan Örmeci, Peter Lang Publishing


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Technology - Internships/Independent Study

Tplus students can make a request to become a teaching assistant or intern within the other technology classes. Students who participate as a teachinig assistant or intern  increase their skills in the areas of teamwork, attention to detail, customer service, patience, flexibility, as well as applying their own technology skills in an employment like atmosphere. Students with advanced technology skills sometimes have the opportunity to work on high-level, authentic information technology projects. These experiences can be added to a resumes, cover letters, and letters of recommendations.


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The Adopt-A-Highway program is a statewide effort to reduce roadside litter and to keep Kentucky’s highways beautiful. Litter-free roads promote a clean environment, foster civic pride and save taxpayer dollars.
Kentucky has participated in the International Adopt-A-Highway Program since 1988. We have 26,000 miles of State Primary, State Secondary, State Supplemental and Rural Secondary Roads. We do not cover any interstates or parkways. Currently, there are nearly 700 Adopt-A-Highway Groups in the state, focusing on 4,800 miles of road. With move involvement, we can maintain more roads.
Adopt-a-Highway Program Information:
  • There is no fee associated with adopting a roadway.
  • Any permanently established business, association, community or public organization, or government entity can adopt a stretch of highway. Participants must be at least 13 years of age. Anyone under age 18 must be supervised by an adult.
  • Participation in the Adopt-a-Highway program is on a strictly volunteer basis. KYTC does not compensate groups or individual participants.
  • Groups agree to adopt a minimum of two miles for a period of two years. Volunteer groups may renew the contract at the end of the two years.
  • Groups commit to at least four cleanups a year, three of which are scheduled by KYTC.
  • Cleanups involve both sides of the road within the adopted section.
  • Filled bags will be picked up by KYTC Maintenance Crews if requested.
  • KYTC provides volunteer groups with safety vests, trash bags, and warning signs.
  • All groups must review roadside safety information will all participants prior to each cleanup.
  • One sign will be installed on the adopted roadway with the name of the organization or group.
  • Groups are asked to complete a survey after each cleanup.

Contact one of our Adopt-A-Highway Coordinators to learn more about the program and to identify available highways. Please compete and submit an application form to the coordinator.

Cleanup dates
Spring Clean: March 20 - 26, 2017
Summer Scrub: June 19 - 25, 2017
Fall Sweep: October 16 - 22, 2017
Get Involved
Cleanup Survey (former Notification Form)
Adopt-a-Highway Program
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
200 Mero Street
Frankfort, KY 40622
Phone: (502) 564-3419
Map it

Keith Buckhout, Statewide Coordinator


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Tags » cheappianolessons

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Virtually every person needs to participate in the piano. It would be extremely nice to find out how to participate in your preferred tunes with all the piano. Effectively, your potential for actively playing the piano is close by. http://www.msidallas.com With exactly what the world wide web can do to our earth nowadays, learning piano has also appear to perform with such craze. Now you are going to have every single opportunity to find out the fundamentals and advance methods in taking part in the piano via online piano classes.

Various piano classes are available on-line. It may be without spending a dime or it could have a reasonable rate. But if you’re a rookie, I recommend you go for cost-free piano classes on line first right before you bounce to lessons which have to have payment. Make use of the cost-free classes for it’s going to offer you a very good start out in learning the way to participate in the piano. If you assume you might be performed learning the basics from totally free lessons, you’ll be able to purchase individuals lessons that arrives using a value. I assure you its really low cost when compared to true piano classes.

Finding out how you can engage in the piano online is really inexpensive. Employing a piano teacher could well be very pricey. You are going to be demanded to pay for the teachers’ hourly amount. So it can be extremely a good idea to have piano lessons on-line in its place. It could help you save far more income.

You need to have a computer of your respective have if you need to possess lessons online. You also should possess a rapid world wide web relationship. Some lessons may perhaps even call for you gadgets for its packages. Some would even have piano academics online in which you can ask inquiries a few lesson.

Acquiring on the internet piano lessons provides you with the consolation of mastering to perform the piano appropriate straight from a household. It is possible to discover it at any time of the working day. You can also invite your own private family members to join you so it could be a lot more enjoyable finding out the piano.

So you have got to own your own piano in the home. In the event you will not have one, then get one particular. I show you its all worthwhile considering the fact that you’d like to master it straight out of your house. It could be very high-priced purchasing a piano of one’s individual but believe that me the achievement you can expect to get from mastering is priceless.


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Travel Trends: Have Friends, Will Travel

MySpace “Data Availability” – Sick of updating your profile on multiple social networks? Perhaps not for long. MySpace recently announced a “data sharing” partnership with a Yahoo, Ebay, Twitter and their own Photobucket subsidiary. The project called MySpace “Data Availability” will allow users to house their information in one place have it available in other sites. For example, your MySpace default photo, interests and favorite music might be displayed on your Yahoo Instant Messenger or your Ebay account.

Facebook Connect – Of course not to be outdone, Facebook shortly thereafter announced “Facebook Connect”, an application that allows users to “connect their Facebook identity, friends and privacy to any site.” The implications of this applications (that’s still in development) could have a profound impact on brands looking to build and leverage community within their digital experiences. A practical example could be that I use my Facebook account now to access GoSeeOregon in order to rate places and write reviews; my friends in turn would be able to access my reviews directly from Facebook making the experience more relevant and meaningful.

Google Friend Connect – Google’s version of data portability puts two spins on this concept. First, its program is designed to allow very small Web sites to add some social networking features without sophisticated programming. All they have to do is copy a little code onto their Web pages. Second, Google lets site owners link to a range of other sites, including, for various functions, AOL, Yahoo and Facebook.

Comment? @travel2dot0 or email.


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Thursday, July 19, 2007

July 19, 2007 Uneventful days at work

Gooooooooood mooooooooorning, Vietnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!
I just woke up after 10 hours of intense sleeping! How wonderful! "Bed" is definitely one of my favorite spots in the world *smirk*

But although I woke up at 6 am, it was about 28 degrees outside! By now, the clouds are all gone and we are having blazing sunshine - so I am trying hard not to burn. It's still a little bit humid, but for the most part just nice to be outside. Can't wait until the hanabi-season starts, then every little village will have their own firework party at the local river! (hanabi = fire flower)

Speaking of language - today I learned a new word! Well, that in itself isn't all that big news, I constantly pick up new words and generally impress everyone when I write one kanji... but I still CANNOT speak! Not even teeny tiny phrases... well, ok, teeny tiny phrases I can say. So nevermind.

But today I learned that there is a Japanese word (yappari!) that literally means "I thought about it for a while and came to the conclusion that..." - how cool is that?!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Soy Silvia!!
Qué tal en Japón?
Ahora vivo con una
chica coreana!
Es muy divertida!!