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Postcards from Natalie

Of the first six postcards from Natalie, I only have three. Mom was able to intercept the other three while I was at school or, after June, working a shift at the Tractor Supply Store. I wouldn’t even have known about them except that she made sure I knew, saved them until I got home before she ripped them into the smallest pieces her stiff-knuckled fingers could manage and set them on fire in her ashtray. She was angry at Nat but punishing me was the closest she could get now.

I’d manage to get a few pieces out of the garbage just singed after she went to sleep, every time, but Nat’s handwriting was so big and loopy that I’d only get a few letters or a short word, an is or an I or a too. I wish now that I’d kept them and tried to piece them back together like a scientist on one of those cop shows, but at the time it didn’t seem like a good idea to defy Mom straight-up like that. So I stared at them until I had taken everything I could from the letters, and from the pictures on the front, and then tucked them back in the trash and washed my hands.

The three I did get, when Mom was the one working late, I saved of course. I hid them inside of a copy of Little Women that someone had given me as a present and I’d never read. The first one was from not long after Nat left. It was from Ohio, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and it was all things are so good and so in love and talked about how Keith had gotten—stolen, since she didn’t say bought—her a silver ring with onyx chips that made a turtle. She drew a cartoon turtle at the bottom and signed it Love You Always Little Mandy, From Nat.

The second one was from the Big Bend Family Campground in Michigan. They’d been there a while, I guess, because she complained about having to send the same card twice. She said there weren’t that many to choose from. Also I figured out that they’d picked up a puppy somewhere along the way because she was proud of having almost taught “Strider” not to hump on people even though Keith would laugh and egg it on. We’re a real family now! she said, and the bottom of my throat squeezed for a moment, but I couldn’t be sad that she was happy. That was what someone like Mom did. And she signed it Love You Always Little Mandy again and turned the a in Mandy into a heart, and I felt better.

The third one was from Sleeping Bear Dunes in Wisconsin. I could see that something had happened even before I read the words, because Nat’s handwriting was still big and slanted but the letters looked thinner and shakier. I hid in the bathroom with the shower running to read it, in case Mom came home and I was too distracted to hear her.

Keith left, it said without a greeting. He did it the worst way, Mandy. I passed out partying last night and when I woke up I was under an old down tree in the woods and the fire was dead and he was gone. He took the car and Strider and my bag—everything. I woke up colder than I’ve ever been. I don’t know what I’ll do now. I just feel sick and sad.

She’d underlined ‘sick’ and ‘sad’ with wavery lines. She signed this one Love You Miss You Little Mandy.

I left the bathroom and hid the card with the others, and then I went back to the bathroom to throw up. I couldn’t tell why. I just knew that when I thought of Keith leaving her all alone to wake up under a dead tree full of bugs and rot, everything on my body prickled and I felt as though the whole world was full of nothing but humiliation the color of pencil lead. Part of me wanted to find Keith and punch him in the face while I screamed at the top of my lungs, and the other part of me knew that no matter how hard I punched or how loud I screamed it would never make this not have happened, would never again change the balance of the universe into one where people treated my beautiful big sister the way she deserved. Those two parts went in opposite directions and made my lunch come up.

The next thing I did, after I drank a glass of water to take away the taste, was call Tractor Supply and quit with no notice. I might have had some thought that Nat would come home now, and that Mom might not let her in—although of course Mom would let her in, how else would she get her back to punish? The real reason was that I knew that I couldn’t let Mom get her hands on any more of the cards.

I made it through dinner as though everything was normal, and went to bed early. It was only when I was curled up on my side in the dark, trying not to think about Nat waking up all alone and confused, that I thought instead to wonder how she’d gotten a postcard and a stamp if Keith had taken all her stuff with him. She must be ok, I told myself, if she got a postcard and a stamp.

I finally told Mom I’d quit a week or so later. She made a lot of remarks about how I was lazy and spoiled and worthless, but she was pleased to have me around all the time. I’d known she would be. She could offload all the cooking onto me now, and all the laundry and the yard work too. Plus I think when Nat left it gave her the fear that I might leave someday too, but I couldn’t do that without any money coming in.

I couldn’t do much without any money coming in. Just wait for the mail. One day I went to the library and used the computer to look up pictures of Sleeping Bear Dunes, to see if I could stare hard enough and see where Na might be, but I was antsy about Mom coming home early so I didn’t stay long. Before I left, though, I printed out a bunch of pictures—the ones that looked most like the postcard—for a dime a page. I hung them in my room on the back of the door. I stared at them long enough that I could see them in the dark.

I get used to any new normal quickly, that’s a talent that I’ve always had. In a few weeks my life had always been about waiting for postcards, and in a few weeks more those postcards had always never come—even though the first two postcards that Mom burned had come within a few days of each other and of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I cooked dinners for Mom and packed lunches too—she’d skip lunch if left to her own devices and she was skinny enough as it was—and checked the mail three times a day, even though I always knew when it actually came by the neighbors’ huskies. I looked at the classifieds in the Pennysaver every week, but everything that claimed MAKE MONEY FROM HOME seemed too good to be true. Twice Mark called, drunk and sorry that he’d dumped me before he went in the Marines, and once Nat’s best friend Katie called from college to ask if we’d heard from her. Mom said no and hung up before I could get to the extension.

The leaves fell off the maples and I raked them up, but then I decided I didn’t want the colors to go away so instead of bagging them I left them in a pile and let the wind spread them back out across the lawn. I expected Mom to yell about that, but she didn’t. She sat on the porch and looked at the carpet of leaves and when I came out to smoke a cigarette with her, she said, “It’s pretty, isn’t it? Just as pretty as anything on those damn cards.” We’d both been not mentioning postcards to each other at all, except when she had one in her hands to tear up. I froze. In July I’d have silently disagreed, thought what Nat would have said out loud, that the pine woods and the lake shore and any place that wasn’t here was a thousand times prettier by definition. Even the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But I’d stared at Sleeping Bear Dunes and thought of being cold and lonely long enough that the leaves looked much more comfortable.

“I wish there was a return address on one of those postcards,” Mom went on, after another drag. “We could send that girl a picture back. Remind her that she used to like it here.” I’d wished there were a return address on the postcards too, so now I didn’t know what to think.

After that, Mom had burned out or thawed out or something and she was more like the Mom I thought I remembered from before Nat left, and from before she and Nat would butt heads every day over every little thing, and from before Dad took off before that. But at that point we’d be talking little kid memories, so I wasn’t quite sure. Definitely not sure enough that I showed her the next card from Nat when it finally showed up.

She’d doubled back as far as Ohio; the card had bright red covered bridge on it and the caption “Greetings From Troy.” But if she’d thought about coming all the way home, she didn’t mention it. Instead she just said Hi Mandy! I met the neatest girl. She’s just like Laura from Little House, two long braids and a deerskin jacket that she made herself. Her boyfriend ditched her, too, so we’re going to travel around together for a while. She’s been on the road a lot and she knows how to get along. I guess we’ll head west. Love you miss you little Mandy. Your Nat. P.S. Her name is Beth.

The loop was back in her letters and that made me happy, even if she was heading away again. A girl with a homemade buckskin jacket sounded exactly like the kind of person Nat would find, too, out of a crowd of a thousand people in regular t-shirts and cotton blouses. Maybe they’d get out west somewhere in California and like it there so much they’d invite me to come visit. Maybe they’d get another dog along the way.

Mom managed to pick up a friend too, a guy who worked at Wende with her, not a guard but one of the guys who maintained the HVAC and electrical stuff. I kind of liked him, or at least I was glad he wasn’t a guard because I never liked the guards she dated. When she first brought him home he stuck out his hand and said “You must be Amanda” and he didn’t clutch too tight, like it was a contest, and he didn’t try to pull me in to get a feel. So that was alright. “I’m Greg.” You could tell that his sport jacket wasn’t something that he wore so often, in fact it reminded me of an old picture I had of Dad at one of my aunts’ weddings, looking awkward with his elbows sticking out. When Mom didn’t come home that night, I wasn’t surprised.

Mom never had Greg spend the night at our place, but once a week or so he’d come for dinner. She’d cook those nights so it was nice for me, and maybe that helped me along, but anyway I got to like him more and more. Just like that first handshake, he always treated me like a grown-up person, which hardly anyone ever did. And he made Mom a lot more relaxed, easier to live with. She began, just a tiny bit, to treat me like a grown-up person too.

Like for instance, one night after we’d all had lasagna, her favorite fancy thing to make, and brownies with cream cheese swirls on top, she opened up the bottle of wine Greg brought and she poured one for him and for herself and then she poured one for me too. I’d started clearing the plates but she gestured the wine bottle at me and said “Sit down. There’s no rush.”

So I did, and I sipped the wine. It wasn’t like I’d never had a drink before—I’d teethed with Old Crow on my gums, and Nat had been giving me sips of her Genny Cream Ale since I was in middle school—but sitting there drinking out of the good glasses made everything shift sideways a little. I felt giddy right away, even though the wine was kind of sour.

The wind kicked up, and the bird feeder rattled against the window. “Winter soon,” Greg said, and he looked over at Mom in a way that meant there had been some prior conversation.

She nodded. “Well, she’s a grown-ass woman, or that’s what she yelled anyway.”

“I’m sure she found someplace safe to lay up.”

“I’m sure she did.” Mom nodded deeper than she needed to, and took a bigger sip of wine.

“Really, Joanne, you have to let go the worry. I’m sure she’s a smart kid. Amanda’s got a good head on her shoulders already, and she’s two years younger.” Greg made eye contact with me and for a moment I was worried that Mom was going to flare up, but she knew she had no reason to be jealous, not with Greg.

“Amanda’s always been the steady one.” Mom nudged me with an elbow. “I know I’m not supposed to compare you kids, but you know it’s true, Mandy. You were born responsible. Nat had a wild streak.”

I didn’t like that she said ‘had’ but I didn’t say anything.

“But you’re right, Greg. She’s smart. They’re both of them smart girls, they take after me that way, thank God. Both of them straight A’s in school, and both of them know how to take care of themselves. I made sure of that.”

“She taught me how to split firewood when Dad first left,” I threw in, because I felt like I had to talk eventually. “Got me a little tiny hatchet and put me on kindling. She and Nat talked me up like I’d saved us all from freezing to death. It was years before I realized that it must have taken way longer to watch me do it than it would have to do it herself.”

Mom chuckled, and poured more wine all around. “We made a go of it, didn’t we? I think he expected us to all fall apart without him, but we managed.”

“That must have been hard,” Greg said.

“Oh in those days, everyone thought it was the hardest thing. All on the news, the divorce rates and the single mothers. Old women looking at me in Ames with so much pity. As though men haven’t been running off since forever.” Mom set the bottle down a little hard. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Greg said as though it were a line on TV. “Natalie’s going to be fine, Joanne.”

“I’m sure she will be,” Mom said. And then, as though it had just come to her, “We’ll see her in the spring, I bet. She’ll be sick of it by then.”

I thought of Nat sick and sad with underlines and was quiet again. I wasn’t going to say anything to Mom, but I knew we wouldn’t see her in the spring.

Snow fell before the next postcard came, but near Buffalo that’s not saying much, is it? This girl named Tammy is travelling with us now, this one said. She says she’s spent a lot of time in WNY, she’s even been to Mumford! She was trying to get home to Florida but she changed her mind and decided to go west with us. Then we found a lost kid in the road, a little black boy maybe two years old with no clothes on but a pair of underpants. I wanted to help him but he wouldn’t talk to me and he ran away, way faster than I would have thought a toddler could. Beth says more parents lose their kids out here than you’d think, and there’s nothing I can do. She looked upset about it though. The words at the end were cramped, like she’d been trying to squeeze in as much as she could, and the Love you always Little Mandy ran into the address part of the card. I flipped it over and looked at the picture, a steamboat on the Mississippi River. No word if it was snowing where she was, but snow never fell on steamboats, did it?

Just in case, I bought her a pair of purple knit gloves with bright green turtles on them for Christmas, and a giant Toblerone. I put three maple leaves I’d saved from the front yard in the package too; one red, one orange, and a yellow one that still had some green on it when it fell. I wrapped it up and I put it under my bed, just in case.

Of course it turned out to be just Mom and I on Christmas morning. Greg was with his sister and brother-in-law and their kids, though he’d promised to come by for dinner later. He’d helped us set up a tree that was taller than either of us, but that just meant that presents for two looked even lonelier underneath.

The gloves Mom got me were black leather, with purple trim and cashmere on the inside. When I put them on they were a little small, but they felt like they would stretch. She got me boots, too, which I could tell from the box were from the consignment shop but they were pretty much like new. And a purse with a bird worked on it in leather.

“I love these,” I said, sliding my hands back into the gloves to feel the cashmere again. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Mom said to me, too fiercely, and then hugged me. “I know I went a bit crazy there when Nat left.”

“I’m sure Nat didn’t mean all the things she said either.”

Mom shook her head. “I wasn’t fair to you either. You’ve been a rock, Mandy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She squeezed me tighter, just for a second, and then let go. “Even if you do leave someday, I know at least you’d keep writing.”

I thought about telling her about the postcards I’d hidden, but I wasn’t sure it was safe, and then the moment was gone. I don’t think it would have made any difference in the end, anyway.

The next postcard proved that I shouldn’t have worried about snow. Nat was smart, like Mom had said. She was in Texas now, down on the Gulf coast. The card had a sea turtle on it and I smiled when I thought how happy she must have been when she found that. Her letters were loopy again too, although smaller now since she seemed to have realized she could write more that way.

Finally met a cute guy out here on the road, she wrote, and of course, my luck, he’s a major faggot. Sweet kid though. Named Alejandro. He said there were like 30 other kids travelling with him but they all upped and disappeared on him a while back. So he’ll probably stick with us for a while. I could picture Nat giggling and sighing, what a waste, probably trying to pet his hair—not being mean about it but just typical thoughtless Nat. I hoped she didn’t pester this kid to death, but at the same time, thinking of her giggling was the best, so too bad for Alejandro. Beth says people disappear on the road a lot, the main thing is that we all have to stick together and not talk to cops, or even let them see us if we can help it. But sometimes you can’t, of course. Mostly never tell them your name. Never Tell a Cop Your Name, Little Mandy! was her sign-off.

“Like I would,” I said out loud, and put the card with the others.

Spring came early that year, and Greg had his motorcycle on the road by the middle of March. Lots of people had their motorcycles out early and lots of other people weren’t looking out for them. The only thing that made Greg’s accident different was that it was a hit-and-run. There was a long hunt for a dented car, a guilty conscience, or something, but they never found anyone. The only comfort was that Mom and Greg both died pretty much instantly.

I just put my head down, the way I did when Dad and Nat left, and at first I thought that maybe it wasn’t so different being alone with the postcards all the time than it had been to be alone with them most of the time. But it was. Now that I had nothing I had to do and no one to do it for, I read over all the postcards two, three times a day and they were starting to get bent and soft at the corners, and that wasn’t ok. Besides, the part of my brain that wasn’t numb knew that Mom’s insurance money wouldn’t last that long even if I never felt like eating again.

My old manager at Tractor Supply had always liked me, and felt bad for me now. She argued up the chain that I’d always been reliable until the one day I hadn’t, and I think she put that on Mom, although I didn’t ask. Mom had been known pretty well around town for her temper. Anyway, whatever she said worked, and I had a job again, although back down on the first rung being managed by kids two and three years younger than me. It wasn’t so bad. I swept up spilled birdseed, I put the Carhart jackets back in order, I worked the register. And every day I had a single moment of turning into the driveway and opening up the mailbox, instead of listening for the huskies all afternoon.

The next postcard arrived about a week after I started working again, although it felt like the years and years that it should have taken the whole world to change. She’d made it to California, the land of dreams where we always talked about going, the place that we’d seen on TV. The postcard showed a Navy ship in blue water and said San Diego.

Weirdest thing, it said on the back. Not long after we got here I saw a woman who looked just like Mom along the road. Just like her, Mandy. I stared at her and she stared at me but she turned away without saying anything. That wouldn’t be like Mom, would it? Not if she had something to say. And she was with some guy I didn’t recognize. So it probably wasn’t Mom. But I hope everything is ok at home . . . I don’t miss it, but I do miss you.

Nat hadn’t written a date, she never did. But the postmark was from the day after Mom’s funeral. And it had just gotten here now. I was starting to think that maybe time worked a whole different way on the road Nat was on.

But that was a crazy way to think, and I did worry a little bit, now that I had regular everyday people to compare myself to, that I might be going crazy. People did, after grief, in empty houses. One might pile beer bottles to the ceiling and another one might fill the barn and shed and house with cats that reeked of piss and someone else might get Jesus in a hard and peculiar way, but it was all the same crazy underneath. I didn’t want to go there. I’d only read the postcards every other day, I told myself. Or once a week. They’d last a lot longer if I only read them once a week, and I would too. I took every hour they would give me at Tractor Supply.

That’s why I was working the closing shift the night Keith came through at five minutes to eight. He was lugging a fifty-pound bag of dog food and I think by the time he realized whose register he was at it was too late to walk away without dropping it.

I didn’t let on that I recognized him at first. It was almost sort of believable that I wouldn’t—he’d let his dyed black hair grow back out to a dirty blond, and he looked a lot older now that he had when he and Nat left. Not quite a year ago. I hadn’t thought of it in terms of an actual date. Time worked weird here too.

Only after I’d rung up the Alpo and taken his money, while I was handing him his receipt, did I say, “That wasn’t cool what you did to Nat.” I said it as quiet and calm as I could. I didn’t want the girls at the other registers to think I was making a scene like Mom would have done.

He dropped the receipt and ran out without the dog food. I spent the rest of the night worrying that Strider was hungry. Nat wouldn’t have wanted that.

He came back for the dog food in the morning when I wasn’t there, and I didn’t expect to see him again. But he did turn up, the next week when I had the same closing shift again. He grabbed one of the caramel nut logs we sold near the register, obviously just as an excuse. I never knew anyone to actually eat those things.

“I didn’t do it,” he said as he handed me a five-dollar bill. “It was the guy who sold us the pills, I didn’t know.”

I knew words were coming out of his mouth and he was shaking his head, but I didn’t really listen. “But you left her. You shouldn’t have left her out there.”

He shook his head harder, and his greasy hair swung against his cheeks. “There was nothing I could do, Mandy. What could I do? I’m as sorry about it as anybody, what could I do? I couldn’t do any good.” He kept saying variations on that same sentence until I pushed the nut log into his hand. Then he looked down at it like he’d never seen one before and walked out.

When I went out to the parking lot at nine I found the red nut log wrapper torn into a rough heart shape and stuck underneath my windshield wiper. I pulled it out and dropped it in a garbage can. I got the idea that I was supposed to take it home and keep it forever, maybe tuck it into a book as well, and now I knew how Mom felt to not do that.

The crazy part of me wondered if Nat would know, somehow, in her next postcard but it was nothing like that. It was San Francisco, two men in cowboy hats and sunglasses and no shirts, a rude slogan that if Mom had been around I would have pretended not to get. I got Alejandro a hat just like that, cause he’s from Texas. Got, so stole, not bought. Good old Nat. He told Beth she should let him wear her suede jacket too, but of course she won’t. I love San Francisco, Mandy. I wish we could stay. The only bad thing that’s happened here is that Tammy disappeared on us, a couple of days ago. Maybe she told a cop her name? Anyway, that upset Beth of course and she says we have to keep moving, head north. I’m not sure why. But going to Seattle would be neat I guess.

I’m not sure why that jogged my memory, it wasn’t like I read the news or watched it. But it had been on the front page, so maybe I’d just seen it out of the corner of my eye, or heard on the radio of a car with an open window, or some ladies had gossiped about it in line at McDonald’s while I was getting coffee. Nice old ladies like the saddest, grossest, and most violent crime stories to talk over when they’re out shopping. I tried to tell myself that this was it, for sure I was crazy, but I went to the library anyway and got the Buffalo News from two weeks ago Monday.

Tammy Jordan had been dug up from a field a bit outside Honeoye Falls before I was born, and been Honey Doe all my life, a vague presence who only mattered when a bored tv reporter would try to stir up new leads. Until two weeks ago, when she’d been identified, finally, by an old woman who got around to watching an old taped episode of Unsolved Mysteries and saw that Honey Doe’s computer-reconstructed image had the uneven teeth and favorite t-shirt of her runaway niece.

We Know Her Name, the headline said. What was left of her body now would be exhumed and sent back to be buried in the proper place, the waiting slot where she belonged, under the proper label. I was angry that they weren’t even going to ask her if she wanted to go back, until I realized how stupid that sounded.

I sat in the library, not wanting to be alone, until it closed. Then I went home and stared at the dull, now curled-up pictures of Sleeping Bear Dunes still pinned to the back of my door. He’d left Nat somewhere all alone in those dark pines. And she’d found a way to walk out, to keep writing to me anyway. She loved me and missed me.

I didn’t even have to put my head down to go on this time. It was already down. I didn’t quit Tractor Supply or cry in the shower or forget to eat, since I’d done all those things already. The only real change in my habits was that I stopped turning the lights on when I was at home. I knew where everything was and there was no one else who needed to see. Besides, the days were getting longer now.

I was a little bit afraid that figuring it out would mean she wouldn’t write to me any more. That seemed like what would happen in a fairy tale. But thinking like that was crazy. And another postcard came the very next week, from Klamath Falls. A lake with a mountain poking up above it, covered in snow.

Something’s going on, Mandy. We came up on this whole group of women . . . mostly women and young girls, some kids, some guys. Some of them knew Beth, and acted like they’d been expecting her. She was introducing me and Alejandro to everyone. Everyone’s excited. It’s like we’re on our way to a festival or something. There’s a woman who seems to be in charge, an Indian woman named Anna, and she has everyone organized like you wouldn’t believe and heading north so fast I barely had time to mail this. I’m gonna find out what’s going on as soon as I can and write you again, I bet this is gonna be good! I miss you so much, Little Mandy.

I kept going to work, but people asked if I’d been sleeping. They could tell. The phone rang and I didn’t answer it. I felt as though I didn’t need even coffee, although somehow I found myself drinking more of it than ever, because I needed to walk out of Tractor Supply and into the air as often as I could get away with. I started bumming cigarettes and going on smoke breaks too, but people on smoke break wanted to talk and that was hard when I was filled with something no one could talk to me about except Nat. Only one thing mattered and that was launching through the days until I got to the next postcard.

It reached me just in time. It was from Seattle, weirdly old-timey, black and white with horses in the street and men with hats, some kind of official-looking building. All the light parts, the sky between the buildings and the paler grey of the sidewalks, were filled with upside-down letters, printing much tighter than anything I’d ever seen from Nat before, spillover from a back crammed margin to margin with tiny letters—well, tiny for Nat, maybe not that tiny—except for the outlined box with my address and the tiny square for the stamp. They’d put a sticker with a barcode over part of it but I was able to peel it off, carefully, without pulling up any of the ink beneath.

We’re going up the mountain. There are so many of us that soon they won’t be able to ignore us any more, Nat. Just the Indian girls—just from Vancouver and British Columbia alone—would be an army, and then so many from California, so many from Ohio, so many from Michigan, we’re from everywhere, every single state. Each of us alone they ignore, it was one bad pill or one bad man, we got in one wrong car, whatever. But together, if you don’t pull us apart and look at us one by one but all together, you see it’s not that. It’s much bigger. I didn’t realize myself until just now, Little Mandy. I thought it was my fault. I’m glad I can tell you so you don’t have to go around thinking that. So like I said, here I had to turn the card over, we’re

up the mountain.                                 When we

Come down, it will be             in a way

They can’t ignore.

And until then we’ll be safe.

I wish there were a way you could get here, it said across the broadest part of the sky, without you having to come by this road. I Love You and Miss You, Little Mandy.

I had just put it into my copy of Little Women with the others when the doorbell rang. If they’d waited even half an hour more I’d have been crying and they might have won. But when the police were standing outside, all I could think was Never Tell a Cop Your Name, Little Mandy! and I didn’t. I nodded, and I even turned on the lights so they wouldn’t think I was weird, but that’s not the same. And when they held out the ring with the onyx chips like a turtle and asked about Nat, I said, no, my sister is fine. I just got a postcard from her.

About the Author

Carrie Laben’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in such venues as Indiana Review, Clarkesworld, Apex Digest, and Birding; it has been nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award and appeared in Fantasy: The Best of the Year. She also received her MFA from the University of Montana.


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Thursday, August 20, 2015

Yes, Killing Can Save Lives

I noted that to win hearts and minds, you have to kill the evil hearts and minds. There is a corollary to this rule that should be stated, of course.

A British sniper killed ISIL murderers as they were about to murder (quoting the British paper):

The brave British marksman saved the terrified eight-year-old and his father after taking out the crazed jihadi with a head shot from 1,000 metres away.

The special forces crack shot then killed two other members of the hated terror group, who were also taking part in the sick planned execution.

ISIS militants had decreed that the little boy and his father must die after branding them “infidels” because they refused to denounce their faith.

They were just seconds from death when the hero sniper intervened to stop the barbaric killing in the Syrian desert. The pair were part of the minority Shia sect of Islam which ISIS considers to be heretical.

So there is a corollary to my rule: to win hearts and minds, you have to protect the innocent hearts and minds.

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How To Handle Magento Installation On Local Host XAMP And WAMP

The community edition of Magento is considered as the best open source e-commerce software. You can also download it without any cost. The interior code can be modified by the developers.

At the same time, the developers can also add additional functions and features by installing various extensions from Magneto Connect Marketplace. The community edition is used by several businesses in order to run the online store. They are also able to access their individual Magento experts. This is due to the fact that the technical support is not provided by Magento for this type of software.

A lot of small sized businesses want to use the technical support, along with the comprehensive features. In that case, they should consider the Magento Go solution. On the other hand, the large and medium scale companies that require additional features support and the best performance must consider the Magento Enterprise Edition.

Need to install Magento

Magento is an e-commerce open source platform that has various options and features. If you want to explore the features, then you need to install Magento on the local host (WAMP or XAMP).

The process of handling Magento can be quite difficult. In fact, it is quite complicated as compared to different e-commerce platform. Due to this reason, it is essential to follow various steps for handling and installing Magento on the local host. You will also be ale to get the error free test store of Magento.

Steps to follow

  1. First of all, you need to download the latest version of Magento from the website
  2. You need to create a database on the phpmyadmin interface of WAMP server.
  3. After downloading the zip package of Stable pack, you need to extract it into the local folder of your desktop. After that, move the Magento folder in /wamp/www/ so that you can access it at http://localhost/magento/.
  4. Enter http://localhost/magento/ on the browser. You will be able to see the browser installation Wizard. You need to proceed with the option without making any type of changes in the Wizard option.
  5. You need to enter all the details in the database. It will take some time as this step will store all the tables in your database. So, do not click on anything until the subsequent step is shown on the screen.
  6. You can complete the process by entering the details of the database.
  7. After that, you can test the Magento store on your browser.

Installing Magento on the local host server

A lot of people want to install Magneto on the local host for the development purposes with the help of XAMP or WAMP. If you are one of them, then you may face a problem of Domain/URL validation that will stop the progress of the installation process. It happens because local host is used as a domain. You need to consider certain aspects hat will help to install Magneto on the local host server.

You will get an error message while trying to install the e-commerce platform, Magento, on the PC that is running XAMP, WAMP etc. The error occurs since the domain name is validated by Magento, and Magento is installed under this domain name. If you are using your domain as http://localhost, then Magento will stop the progress of the entire installation process.

It can be quite irritating for many people due to which they do not want to install this e-commerce platform on their desktops. You need to follow certain steps in order to avoid this installation error. In that way, you can install Magento successfully on the local host.

Steps for avoiding installation error

First of all, you will have to edit the Magento file in order to complete this technique. It can be done without any difficulty. However, if you are not sure of editing the file, you can take the help of your friend. In order to edit the files, you can use the PSpad. It is a type of text editor, and it is designed specifically for editing JavaScript and PHP files.

  1. Open the folder of Magento, and check the directory /js/protype.
  2. You need to open the file validation .js in the text editor.
  3. You will have to look for a code between the lines 505 to 507.
  4. You need to type // before the codes. It will disable the code lines, and it will also check the suitable domain name before the Magento installation.
  5. After that, you need to install Magento on the local host. After the installation is complete, the validation file .js needs to be reverted to the original code.

By following the above mentioned steps, you will be able to install Magento e-commerce platform on your XAMP, WAMP. At the same time, you will also be able to install it on your personal computer and company server.

Installation of Magento on XAMPP

The popularity and use of e-commerce solutions is rapidly increasing day by day. Magento is considered as one of the powerful and largest e-commerce open source platform. It is a software package with the help of which a user will be able to setup their online store. The process of installing this platform can be quite difficult. However, it is considered as one of the best options if you are in search of a specialized e-commerce solution.

If you are a designer, then you can consider exploring the possibility of developing suitable themes for Magento. The installation process of Magento can be quite daunting unlike the WordPress installation on XAMPP. It can also be intimidating for those designers, who want to develop the themes.

The installation of WordPress takes a small amount of time. On the other hand, the installation of Magento will require you to spend a lot of effort and time.

For installing Magento on XAMPP, you need to install the latest and advanced version of XAMPP, which is 1.8.1. The community edition of Magento needs to be downloaded. The community edition is supported the designers, community developers and users.

Also if you want to get Magento Installed on your Local Computer or your Web Server be a Cloud server or a regular server you can get in touch

About the Author: Sabrina

Sabrina is a web designer who works in a reputed web design firm in London. She is experienced enough in Magento and knows well about how to use various Magento extensions for delivering high quality web designs to her clients. You may know more about her at her blog where she writes on web design and Magento.

The DNetWorks Team


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Humble Bundle 8 Offers 6 Exciting Multi-Platform Games

Looking for some cool games to install on that spanking new Android device you got for the holiday season? Look no further since Humble Bundle 8 for PC and Android is now here. There are 6 games available in this bundle (with 2 making their Android debut) which can be played in platforms such as Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android. As an added bonus the soundtrack for selected games is even included in the mix.

humble bundle 8

Here’s how this offer works. All six games will normally cost you around $80 if bought individually. At Humble Bundle you have the option to pay what you want and you can even divide your payment to support the developers or charities.

Right now customers are paying the average price of $3.82 for the bundle. Paying this amount or less will give you access to 4 games however if you pay more you get to unlock 2 additional games bringing the total to 6 games.

The titles included in this bundle are as follows.

Little Inferno

This title has a simple gameplay mechanics yet is quite addictive. You get to sit in front of a fireplace and burn up various things. The more stuff you place into the fireplace he more coins you earn. The coins can then be used to purchase other things which you can then burn. You can burn two separate items together to create combinations and unlock other items. Little Inferno is a 2013 Independent Games Festival winner in the Technical Excellence category.

Gemini Rue

Gemini Rue is an adventure game set in a future that is being ruled by the corrupt Boryokudan crime syndicate. Players get to play the part of Azriel Odin, an ex-assassin looking for his brother, and Delta Six, an inmate who had his memory wiped. The two seemingly unrelated storylines will intersect as the game advances on.

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! for the Awesome

Get to live your daredevil fantasies as you base jump from a skyscraper while trying not to hit obstacles. Make sure to pull your parachute before you hit the ground.

Jack Lumber

A tree killed Jack Lumber’s grandmother and right now he is out for revenge. Your mission is to destroy every tree in the forest with your trusty axe. Don’t even think that this is going to be an easy task as some trees have the ability to fight back.

Paying above the average price gets you access to the two titles listed below.

Hero Academy

This is a turn based strategy game that borrows elements from chess. Your objective is to destroy the enemy crystals or all of their characters. You must also make sure that your characters and crystals don’t get destroyed.

Anomaly 2

This is the sequel to the popular reverse tower defense game Anomaly: Warzone Earth. The game play involves managing the route of a convoy making sure that it survives the attacks of the towers.

via humblebundle

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Understanding the Financial Independence Model | part 1

Followers of this financial blog would know that Max has been working on the Financial Independence Model (FIM) since the beginning of 2017. In a nutshell, the FIM is designed to help individuals compute their personalized FI age, based on basic financial information provided by the user. For readers who are new to the FIM, a more detailed post on the main functions and principle of the model … [Read more...]

Financial Independence Model | find out your retirement age now

Let's dive straight in. Have you ever wondered how long we have to work before having enough to sustain the kind of (family) lifestyle for the rest of our life? Do you have know whether the amount of savings in your CPF is sufficient for your expenses at old age? Are you thinking of switching to a less hectic and lower paying job but have no idea how will this decision affect your … [Read more...]

Do you have a plan for early retirement?

Achieving financial independence (FI) is the dream of many working adults. We dream of lying on the bahamas beach sipping watermelon juice. We plan to devote our time to charitable acts. We want to chase our passion, to do the things we love, instead of the things we need to. Basically, we want to stop exchanging our life (time, effort and energy) to live (our desired lifestyle). Regardless of … [Read more...]

Should I transfer money from OA to SA account?

One of the key aspect to achieving early Financial Independence is to optimise the returns of your wealth. However, many people focuses primarily on building up their cash bags and neglect the other bulk of their savings, the CPF. Although our CPF savings cannot be withdrawn before the age of 55, it is important to start acting early, to take advantage of the risk-free interest rate on our CPF … [Read more...]

Are you neglecting your wealth: you have more CPF savings than you think

Let me start this post by the following statement: At least 31% of your wealth are in CPF Rub your eyes, stare at the statement again. <No, this is not a typo> If your only source of income is your full-time employment, then a whooping 31% of your income goes to CPF, and the remaining 69% are the cold hard cash you receive as monthly take-home pay. Are you kidding me? 31%? For … [Read more...]

1 year closer to financial independence – great 2016, awesome 2017?

2016 will be a critical year in my life as I began to take a more active approach to achieving my financial goals. Let's evaluate how I fare and set new goals for 2017. Income - Evaluating my source of money Total income (after CPF deduction) for 2016 is broken down into 4 main categories: Salary - 67.4% Bonus - 30.5% Benefits - 0.9% Others - 1.1% Benefits are subsidies which I … [Read more...]


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The Food Coach

Free Healthy Recipe - Grilled lamb cutlets with black eye beans and broccolini

Gluten free

Black eye beans are native to Africa but are used extensively in the Deep South USA in soul food. They are a great source of calcium, vitamin A , folate and fibre. Here's a very easy meal the whole family can enjoy.

1 cup black eye beans, soaked overnight
2 pieces preserved lemon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1½ tbs olive oil
½ tbs lemon juice
8 springs thyme
1 bunches broccolini

Copyright John Paul Urizar

inse the black eye beans and add them to a pot of fresh water. Bring the water to the boil then reduce the heat to simmer. Cook the beans for approximately 40 minutes or until tender - the cooking time will vary depending on the age of the bean. Once cooked, drain and set asid

Place the preserved lemon, cumin seed, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and thyme in a food processor and process until it forms a smooth paste.
Stir the preserved lemon paste through the beans.
Brush the lamb with olive oil and place on a hot grill pan to cook for approx 4 - 5 minutes each side depending on your preference.
Steam the broccolini and serve with the beans and lamb.

Note: to save time cook extra beans than the recipe stipulates and freeze them to use in the future.

Makes 4 servings

Scale recipe to serves

Prep Time:
Cooking Time: 50 mins
Ready in: 65 mins

Suitable for:

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Nutritional Information - Per Serve
Kj 1717 kj
Calories 410 kcal
Fat 19.1 g
Saturated Fat 6.6 g
Total Carbohydrate 16.6 g
Total Protein 38.8 g
Fibre 9.4 g


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[09/15/09 - 09:01 PM]
FX Pushes "Archer" to January, Adds Sneak Preview
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- FX is delaying the launch of its animated comedy "Archer" until January.

The six-episode series, which spoofs the spy genre, had originally been set to follow "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on Thursday nights this fall. The network cites the show's lengthy production process - each episode takes about a month to produce - as the reason for the delay. FX however will quietly air the premiere installment this Thursday at 10:30/9:30c following the season premiere of "Sunny." Said stunt, which won't be promoted or listed in program guides, is described as "purely a sampling opportunity."

In addition, the network has asked for four additional scripts of "Archer" to potentially extend its freshman run. Aisha Tyler, Chris Parnell, Jessica Walter, Jon Benjamin and Judy Greer are among the show's voice ensemble. Adam Reed created the series and is executive producing.

Meanwhile, fellow newcomer "The League" is still on track to roll out this fall. The series, about the members of a fantasy football league, will follow "Sunny" on Thursdays at 10:30/9:30c later this year. An exact date will be announced soon.

Mark Duplass, Steve Rannazzisi, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Jon Lajoie and Katie Aselton co-star in the half-hour, which comes from executive producers Jeff and Jackie Schaffer.

  [september 2009]

[02/23/17 - 12:27 PM]
E! Goes "Live from the Red Carpet" with Hosts Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic at the Oscars Sunday, February 26th Starting at 1:30P ET and 10:30A PT
The network's second screen live coverage will include a live, immersive 360 experience utilizing the latest state-of-the-art technology enabling fans to enjoy the red carpet like never before.

[02/23/17 - 12:00 PM]
Matthew Broderick Cast in "Katrina: American Crime Story"
Broderick will portray Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Michael D. Brown, who was in charge of the federal disaster response to Hurricane Katrina.

[02/23/17 - 11:22 AM]
WGN America's "Underground" to Feature Original Song from Executive Producer John Legend, "In America," in Season Two Premiere
By tweeting #UndergroundWGN, fans will automatically unlock a :60, extended version of the trailer that includes the song preview.

[02/23/17 - 11:10 AM]
"Saturday Night Live" Returns with Back-to-Back Shows
Look for Octavia Spencer/Father John Misty on March 4 followed by Scarlett Johansson/Lorde on March 11.

[02/23/17 - 11:03 AM]
History(R) Greenlights Navy Seal Team Six Drama Series "Six" for a Ten Episode Second Season from A+E Studios in Association with Weinstein Television
Two new episodes remain in the current season airing Wednesdays at 10:00/9:00c, with the season one finale airing on Wednesday, March 8.

[02/23/17 - 10:56 AM]
Super Plus Official Plus Delicious - "The Get Down" - New Episodes April 7
Netflix confirms the release date of Part II from the series.

[02/23/17 - 10:29 AM]
"Dateline NBC" Correspondent Keith Morrison Explores Claims of a Wrongful Conviction in Investigation Discovery's Special "Murder in Lehigh Valley"
"This is an incendiary case that continues to provoke passion on both sides," said Morrison.

[02/23/17 - 10:19 AM]
ABC's First-Ever Live Post-Oscars(R) Special, Hosted by "black-ish" Star Anthony Anderson, Airs Sunday, February 26
The Emmy-nominated actor will be joined by "Good Morning America" Co-Anchor Lara Spencer, with special contributors Joe Zee, Yahoo Style's editor-in-chief, and ABC News' Chris Connelly.

[02/23/17 - 09:46 AM]
"Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards & Gala" Primetime Special to Air on OWN Sunday, March 5
For the past decade, the star-studded celebration has been at the forefront of spotlighting Hollywood's most creative and accomplished African-American female visionaries both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

[02/23/17 - 09:31 AM]
Starz Announces Highly-Anticipated Original Series "American Gods" to Premiere in the U.S. on Sunday, April 30th at 9PM ET/PT
The series will debut publicly at the festival on March 11 at 11 AM CT at the Vimeo Theater in the Austin Convention Center followed by an extended Q&A moderated by KCRW's Elvis Mitchell.

[02/23/17 - 09:00 AM]
BBC America's "Planet Earth II" Becomes Highest Rated U.S. Nature Show
BBC America further spins the numbers for Saturday, February 18.

[02/23/17 - 08:27 AM]
Wednesday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Holds Off Demo Competition
The Alphabet's "Modern Family" remains the night's top draw among adults 18-49.

[02/23/17 - 08:12 AM]
Rap Legend Rick Ross to Host and Perform at the "2017 MTV Woodies" Music Festival Live from Austin on Thursday, March 16 at 11:00 P.M. ET/PT
Said Ross: "I'm excited to attend SXSW this year. The biggest boss is hosting the 'Woodies' and my album drops March 17. MTV, get ready."

[02/23/17 - 08:04 AM]
Former Mobsters Go Suburban in Oxygen Media's New Docu-Comedy Series "Unprotected" Premiering Tuesday, April 11 at 9PM ET/PT
The series follows the Cantarellas, a boisterous, old-school family that participated in the Federal Witness Protection Program after their testimony led to the conviction of one of the most powerful crime families in the country.

[02/23/17 - 06:47 AM]
Ten Perfect Matches, One New Game on MTV's Spinoff Series "Are You the One: All-Star Challenge"
The new series premieres Wednesday, March 22 on MTV, one week after the shocking March 15 season finale of "Are You the One?".


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Oops White Vinyl Eraser

$7.59 USD
Editor's Rating:

You never make mistakes right?! This eraser will make you smile every time you go to use it. A chunky white vinyl eraser that simply says Oops! Perfect for all types of drawing paper wood metal board- any surface that needs some erasing. Measures 2-5/8 x 1-1/2 inches and is 5/8 inch thick. Mistakes will become something to smile about when using the “oops!” vinyl eraser to correct them. This comical vinyl eraser is perfect for use on all types of paper and leaves the surface smudge free so you can continue working on a clean sheet, free of mistakes. If you thought erasers couldn’t have been anyway cooler than what they are, think twice now! Oops, that wasn’t supposed to be said.

Show More

Buy Now $7.59Via Amazon
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House privacy talks with tech companies should be open, advocates say

Last week, the working group held the first of 10 meetings with companies that deal with user data. Lawmakers met with Google, Wal-Mart and data broker firm Bluekai, which discussed how they inform consumers about their data collection and use practices.

The organizations applauded Blackburn and Welch for examining “the enormously important issue of consumer privacy” but said “there is simply no reason for your task force to hold closed-door session.”

The working group should follow congressional rules regarding “open meetings and hearings” because the privacy meetings appear to be similar to traditional congressional hearings, the letter said.

“We recognize that there is value in private meetings among Members and staff and with constituents. But the Congressional hearing process anticipates a different approach when common matters of public concern arise,” the organizations said.

“Meetings should be held in the open, a public record should be created, and various viewpoints should be heard.”

The advocacy organizations behind the letter include the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog.

The letter was also sent to House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and ranking members Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), as well as Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.


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Tag Archives: US military

No More Lying About Afghan Body Counts

The Vietnam War was characterized by daily “body counts” that were simply daily lies about people who were dead and no one really knew if they were innocent civilians or Viet Cong. the body count charade began in Iraq and has continued in Afghanistan. The United States military has decided to cease providing such numbers because it serves no purpose and distracts from issue that decide victory or defeat. Actually, the number of Taliban who are “killed” does not offer any concrete evidence that something has been accomplished in destroying the power of the Taliban. According to General McChystal, the toll of supposed dead militants “distracts from the real objectives and isn’t necessary to communicate what we’re trying to achieve.”

A basic problem of body counts is believing someone flying in a jet plane in the sky knows if his bombs killed “Taliban” or not. In too many cases, the “enemy killed” turned out to be the civilian dead.

Did Afghan Feud Lead To Incorrect US Air Attack?

A British documentary asserts that a local tribal feud resulted in false information provided to the American military and a subsequent air attack which resulted in the death of dozens of innocent Afghanistan civilians. The hour long documentary includes scenes from a Herat provincial court trial in which a leader from a rival village was sentenced to death for giving false information to American military authorities. The British broadcast also asserts US forces are not cooperating with local police who seek three men from Kalask, the rival village in the torture death of an Azizabad man because the suspects work as guards for the Americans. Tom Roberts, the British director and narrator of the program claims Americans have taken sides in the feud which probably stems from a dispute over jobs working for Americans.

The US military insists the air strike led to 30 civilian deaths along with those of 60 to 65 Taliban militants. The Afghanistan government claims 140 villagers were killed. Investigations by the Afghanistan government and the UN definitely identify the death of at least 90 civilians, but the US military insists they are incorrect. The American military stance resembles the infamous Viet Nam process of daily “body counts” which claimed to have killed X number of the enemy as a result of air strikes. Exactly, how does a pilot flying hundreds of miles an hour know that his bombs killed “militants?”

North Korea Displaying Paranoid Style Of Diplomacy

It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between the bombastic fury of North Korean statements that are designed to threaten actions not contemplated, and the reality of what this paranoid style nation is ready to demonstrate. A North Korean news agency claimed the United States had 1,000 nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula and was in the process of deploying this massive arsenal in Japan and Korea. It argued that North Korea is “completely within the range of US nuclear attacks and the Korean peninsula is becoming an area where the chances of a nuclear war are the highest in the world.” Naturally, if a defenseless nation like the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is being threatened by the American bully what else can it do but gear up its own nuclear weapons?

There is a method in the paranoid madness of the North Koreans. The supreme leader is ill and he is attempting to create the image of a powerful nation so when his son takes over other countries will not think about doing anything to disturb the status quo in North Korea. Unfortunately, mistakes do occur and if North Korea continues pushing its madness there is always the possibility other nations will take it seriously and its prediction of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula might come true.

John McCain Palinates On Gay Rights!

Once upon a time there was a bright young man who was filled with moral outrage at the use of torture since he had been subjected to an incredibly difficult time while in a Vietnam prison. Once upon a time John McCain stood against the crowd and was willing to endure unpopularity if he believed in his ideas. In response to requests that Congress end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy which punishes brave young Americans, the Arizona senator urged the military to conduct a survey as to what soldiers thought about ending discrimination against gays. I assume, Senator McCain believes the government should have conducted a survey of southern white beliefs on segregation during the fight over civil rights.

There is no need for surveys, there is no need for further debate. The rights of our fighting men and women are being abused because some members of the military are gays and lesbians. They may be gay or lesbian, but more importantly, they are members of the military and are risking their lives in defense of this nation. The least this nation can do in return is to fight for their rights to individual freedom of choice in sexual matters.

Is There A Religious Bias In America’s Military?

The United States military is theoretically free of bias toward any one religion, but it certainly is biased in favor of religion. The Justice Department is attempting to dismiss a case instituted by a soldier who believes the military by fostering religion discriminates against those who do not have religious beliefs. The government is also arguing the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has the right to sue about discrimination against atheists. Spc. Dustin Chalker says he was compelled to attend military formations where Christian prayers were given. The Justice Department insists he could have requested to be excused from such formations.

Reality is the difficulty for a soldier to ask permission to be excused from formations. Such a request would anger the sergeant and place the person requesting it to be subjected to extra duties as well as other harassments.

The Wages Of War In A Recession

One of the unseen fall outs from the recession is its impact on serving in the armed forces. Since the stock market collapsed and the unemployment rate has risen, the United States military have witnessed a rather significant rise in re-enlistments as men and women flock to the military in the absence of job opportunities. Since the 2009 fiscal year, there have been 427 re-enlistments in the Washington National Guard, and many who are not re-enlisting, are planning to become a full fledged member of the regular army. Sergeant Jerry Frazier, who handles retention for a brigade, notes: “when we first deployed,(last fall) a lot of them didn’t want to re-enlist… but a few months later, a lot of those same guys came back up to me and said they were worried a bout the economy, about paying bills.” Soldiers are being paid extra money to supplement the GI Bill.

There is little question the surge in enlistments stems from the current economic situation in which jobs are being lost and young people are frightened about their futures. Some recruiters are encountering soldiers who want to be deployed to Iraq because it will bring extra money. Is there something wrong when we must entice young men and women to serve their country because it is the only hope for those who lack money or jobs? Is there something wrong with this picture?

Swedes Support Draft Law!

Unlike Americans, a majority of Swedes back their current system of mandatory military service. About 63% of the nation wants to keep having young men drafted into service and surprisingly, about 74% of young men are supporters of the draft system. Most Swedish military officials do no believe it is possible to obtain sufficient volunteers which makes a draft process the only way to maintain an effective armed force. The military argues it is a cost-efficient system since there is no need to offer hight bonus payments or incentives to get new recruits.

The United States relies on a volunteer army which means people can support military ventures such as the idiotic invasion of Iraq because their sons and daughters are not subject to death. What if all young men had to serve, would there be as much enthusiasm for invading nations when it is your own flesh and blood who might die?

Can America Lecture The World About Military Power?

During the past eight years, the United States military has intervened in the affairs of numerous nations and complained when anyone dares to increase its defense budget. William Lynn, the Obama selection to become deputy of defense, urged the incoming administration to be concerned about increases in military expenditures by China. He emphasized the need for America to retain “an edge in areas that are critical to achieving specific operational objectives.” Professor Shi Yinhn, of Renmin University, decried the American’s comment about what China should or shouldn’t do concerning its military goals. He believes the American military establishment wants the right to decide the policies of other nations regarding their armed forces.

Perhaps, before complaining about China spending too much on its military, we might examine our own expenditures. The Chinese most probably spend about 15% of what the United States does on the military, but any increase in China’s budget leads to complaints. It is time for the United States to reduce its military expenditures and cease trying to make decisions as to what the world does about armed forces.

Americanizing Afghan War- Will It Succeed?

The new year promises to witness an Americanization of the war in Afghanistan with introduction of about 30,000 American troops to augment coalition forces. Within the coming months, American generals will be calling the shots in deciding military strategy. An experienced US general, John Nicholson will soon command in the South which has been the scene of extensive British, Dutch, and Canadian action. “By introducing more U.S. capability,”says Nicholson, “we have the potential to change the game.” The assumption of American strategy is more troops, more cooperation from local clan leaders and more effective use of military capacity will result in victory.

There are many assumptions, among the most is the ability to replicate in Afghanistan success in Iraq. Of course, there are vast differences between the two countries. Iraq had a well educated population and the capability of utilizing modern ideas. Will this be true of the more economically backward Afghan population?

Restore American Pride Says General Jones

Retired General James Jones who will become Barack Obama’s national security adviser, told a marine audience he took the job because he wanted to restore America’s stature in the world and make being an American someone can be proud to say. He wants to recapture the feeling that once was held by millions of people that being an American meant one supported the dignity and rights of all people to a decent life. In a sense, Jones, wants to rid America of the Bush stains upon our moral standing in the world. America has to be more than a nation which begins wars and then subjects captured prisoners to torture and brutality. Bush’s legacy has been to besmirch the uniform of American soldiers by linking wearing that uniform to being part of an army which destroys human dignity.

I do not know if General Jones can help to end the legacy of George Bush, but it is important to restore the dignity of those who fight for this nation. I do not know if the future will look back on this generation with admiration. But, if Barack Obama can ensure that no American soldier ever again has to engage in criminal actions, he will take the first step on the road back to pride in America.


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Recently I visited the Disobedient Objects exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which has just opened and runs until 1 February 2015 . It’s a great exhibition, and was packed with people – partly perhaps because it is free, but also because the subject matter and exhibits are so fascinating. As the V&A itself proclaims, it is ‘the first exhibition to explore objects of art and design from around the world that have been created by grassroots social movements as tools of social change’.

Many of the exhibits are on loan from activist groups around the world, and will be returned to them after the exhibition. The exhibits include banners, such as one from the Greenham Common Peace camp, the giant inflatable cobblestones thrown at demonstrations in Barcelona (pictured) and a data-visualisation mapping of all protests since 1979, as well as various pamphlets and documents that celebrate ‘creative disobedience’. Perhaps playfully, some ‘how to’ guides are given away for free, and available to download, including how to make a Book Bloc Shield and a Makeshift Tear Gas mask – the latter something perhaps more effective than the lemons depicted on the front of The Stone Roses album that I blogged about earlier in the year.

One arresting aspect of the exhibition is the badges and t-shirts on display. As someone who avidly collected badges in the 1970s and 1980s – largely ones attached to record labels such as Postcard and Factory – and later many political badges, these were especially interesting.  These included a series of anti-apartheid badges, ACT UP badges and, intriguingly, and as a great idea that appealed to my own aesthetic approach, a badge fashioned out of a ‘moc rezystor’. This was a power resistor, taken out of a radio in 1980s Poland and pinned to your lapel in a more subtle and oblique show of  ‘solidarity’ with the Polish Solidarnosc movement. For me it’s a poignant metaphor that reminds me of John Peel playing Joy Division’s New Dawn Fades, as part of his Festive Fifty in 1981, with many of the votes coming from Poland where martial law had recently been imposed.  A version of New Dawn Fades, taken from the film Control, can be seen here.

Within sport the issue of protest, and wearing badges or making other shows of a political nature, are seen as problematic. The same week that Disobedient Objects opened,  the England cricketer Moeen Ali was prevented by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from wearing wristbands proclaiming ‘Save Gaza’ and ‘Free Palestine’, notwithstanding the fact that he had previously been cleared to wear them by the domestic body, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The ICC statement, as reported in The Guardian, decreed:

‘The ICC equipment and clothing regulations do not permit the display of messages that relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes during an international match. Moeen Ali was told by the match referee that while he is free to express his views on such causes away from the cricket field, he is not permitted to wear the wristbands on the field of play and warned not to wear the bands again during an international match’

These sort of restrictions are of course not new or unique, and are common across various sports and events. During Sochi there was even an instance of the use of black armbands being  vetoed, even though no overt political statement was being made. More sensibly, during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, officials and competitors from the Malaysian team were allowed to wear black armbands in memory of the Malaysian Airlines crash. Interestingly, and I am indebted to my colleague Professor Mark James for this point, sport is unique in that Ali’s wristbands, or a pro-Malvinas banner displayed by Argentina at a World Cup match, are banned in a sporting context notwithstanding that they would be  lawful, and even protected as free speech, in any other context.

Elsewhere at the Commonwealth Games, the restrictions on what activities can take place, and what items are prohibited from venues, has been more pronounced. In particular, visitors to the Glasgow Green ‘live site’ (essentially these lives sites, or live zones, are an extension of event venues and might also be described as fan parks – something that is becoming more and more prevalent at such events) have apparently been asked to remove their ‘Yes’ badges, proclaiming their support for Scottish independence in the upcoming referendum.  This seems a bizarre extension of the regulations, especially given that this was in one of the live zones rather than a formal venue where the sporting activity was taking place – although the Commonwealth Games regulations were carefully crafted to capture these spaces too. This is emblematic of what might be termed the privatisation of public space, a contentious development that has been seen in the Royal Parks in London and elsewhere.

Indeed, this very notion of privatisation was noted by Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow is his blog when he noted the extensive restrictions on what you could take into Glasgow Green for the duration of the Games. He also stressed the irony of the fact that, notwithstanding  a rich history of dissidence and protest that had taken place there,  many forms of freedom of expression were now being curtailed, and resulted in a members of the public being asked to remove or cover up a badge with the word ‘yes’ on it in order to gain entry to what is normally a public space.  A badge is evidently a dangerous weapon, although as the mighty Billy Bragg said back in 1985, perhaps not enough as ‘Wearing badges is not enough, in days like these’.

Follow Guy on Twitter @prof_guy_osborn

Profile photo of Guy Osborn About Guy Osborn
Guy is a professor in the Westminster Law School at the University of Westminster, and formerly an adjunct Professor at the Department of Sociology and Political Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. Follow him on Twitter @prof_guy_osborn

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1 Comment

  • Sally Gross August 7, 2014 3:48 pm

    Wearing badges is not enough but being asked to take them off and agreeing to do so is much worse!

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