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Note from CEO
March 4, 2008

Praise God!  Last week, America World staff was notified that we are now officially Hague Accredited!  We strongly believe that this will only further help families in their international adoptions due to this new cooperating agreement between countries.  It is with great joy and excitement that we at America World Adoption, look forwad to how this Accreditation will further help orphans around the globe.

Things never seem to slow down here!  It seems like we just celebrated New Year’s and now we are already find ourselves the first weeks of March.

In April, I’ll be traveling along with our Africa Program Director, Duni Zenaye, to Africa, where I’ll be meeting with our staff in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  I’m looking forward to seeing Girmachew Tadesse and Rachel Ward as well as meeting some of the newly hired staff in Addis.  I will also be traveling to Kigali, Rwanda for a brief trip to meet with government officials regarding adoption.  Since AWAA completed our first Rwandan adoption in November, we’re encouraged at the opportunity of developing this as another program offering adoption from the great continent of Africa!

In May, I’m attending the Christian Alliance for Orphans meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  America World is a member of this organization and I’m privileged to serve on the Board of Directors of this organization.  During one of the break-out sessions, I will be presenting on how adoption agencies can partner together for the best interest of prospective adoptive parents and children still waiting for a family to call their own.

Depending on when meetings can be arranged, I will be traveling to El Salvador either shortly before or right after this conference to meet with our staff and continue to work with the Salvadorian adoption authorities to find solutions to the bottleneck in their adoption process.

I'll continue to blog through this wonderful new avenue of communicating with families - hopefully you'll have the opportunity to hear more about these trips and their outcomes.  Your prayers are always desired and appreciated as our agency continues to develop and refine programs.

Brian Luwis, CEO

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FRESS Marbled Salmon Full Skirt

Marbled Salmon Full Skirt

This Bainha de Copas piece was inspired by FRESS’s bookbinding and marbled paper workshops. Each page has a beautiful marble effect worked in with complex gold leaf decorations that give the book an unsurpassed level of workmanship and beauty.

Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva’s (FRESS) asked Bainha de Copas to interpret the foundations Fine Arts through the brands Portuguese Wearitage®. We proudly took on the great work of promoting the 64 year old institution which houses master craftsmen and artists.

Visit the origin of these patterns here: FRESS / Museum / Workshops, Largo das Portas do Sol, 2

100% Modal.  Modal is a fibre 100% composed of chlorine-free treated cellulose. Its main selling points are that it remains soft even after many washes; its excellent ability to let the skin breathe, its lightness and the brightly and silky coloured finish.

Care instructions

Wash inside-out. Machine wash 30ºC max. Dry in the shade. Do not dry clean. Iron at a low temperature 110ºC max.

Please contact for more information:

VAT included.
Shipment not included.

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Saturday, 3 June 2017

Recipe Post 2017 No.10- Rasberry Muffins

Happy Late Bank Holiday! Happy Half Term!

First and foremost, thanks for your feedback for my post on my baking tools. As per usual, it is very beneficial for my blogging etc,etc as well as plastering a big grin across my face (cheesy, I know).

For some reason, I've been undertaking a fruit theme with recipes and somehow seem to have a desire to eating sweet treats which are low-calorie,low-fat, are in some fact good for you, as well as including fruit. I derived this recipe from all-famous Yummly. If you aren't already aware, Yummly is the digital version of the YouTube channel Tasty. It comes in the form of an device app and a website which provides THOUSANDS of recipes documenting in just one click.

In order to stop myself from rambling about the excellence of Yummly,let's jump right in.

60g of  wholemeal flour

125g of plain flour

a pinch of salt

2 teaspoons of  baking powder

150g of soft light brown sugar

100ml of vegetable oil(I used coconut oil as a healthier alternative)

296ml of water

 1tsp of apple cider vinegar

234g of fresh or frozen raspberries +more for decorating

Baking in the making:

Firstly, pre-heat the oven to 200C, Gas Mark 6. Together, mix the flours with salt and baking powder.

Fill the muffin tins with muffin papers(or cut out the designated amount of baking paper)

Within another bowl,steadily whisk the sugar and oil. Eventually, add water and vinegar to the sugar mix and combine together well.

Stir together the dry ingredients with the wet. After some time, fold in the raspberries.

Equally fill up the muffin cases, popping a raspberry onto each muffin. Bake the muffins for 25 minutes,checking to see they're ready by inserting a toothpick into the centre. If there's batter sticking to the pick, the muffins are not complete.

Allow them to cool for...I'd would suggest 10 minutes before tucking in a eating as well as of course sharing.

Prior to this post ending:

Our hearts and thoughts go out to Manchester after such a terrible occurrence. #justiceformanchester

Coffee or Tea: Which is actually better for you?

Happy Birthday to those who have had a birthday or are due to have one(alot of my friends' birthdays  have happened throughout May and are upcoming).

For those to plan to get active and exercise over the break, please use this link as a favor in return for nothing.

 Song of the month(in reflection of Manchester's attack)

Alex Aiono Cover-Let It Be

To see more of my "day-to-day" life and keep up-to-date with upcoming posts, follow me on my social medias:

 Pinterest name: Chocolatelover

YouTuber of the month:

Au revoir!

#sweetreats xx

  1. They look so good! I'll definitely try them!

    1. Thank you. Unbelievably, I am yet to try them. I'll let you know how they tasted!

      #sweetreats xx

  2. Ooh they look amazing! I love muffins and despite having won a recipe book dedicated entirely to muffin recipes once a couple of years back in a tombola, I have never baked any! I must try these out at some point:)

    1. Yes, I'd encourage you to bake these as they really suits the time of the year and weather(which has recently been wet and rainy with sun and mildness)😁.

      #sweetreats xx

  3. They look delicious! I'll have to make them at some point and check out the channel you said the recipe is from! xo

    1. Yes, I can confirm they went down,splendidly😊 Um the channel which I had mentioned is not where I derived the actual recipe. The recipe originates from,for your information.😅 Thanks so much for your comment.😊😀😁😘

      #sweetreats xx

  4. Mmmmm these look good!

    1. Aw thank you so much!😘😄😂

      #sweetreats xx


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Regulatory arbitrage in action: evidence from cross-border lending and macroprudential policy

Dennis Reinhardt and Rhiannon Sowerbutts.

We find evidence that certain types of macroprudential regulation are avoided by borrowing from abroad. Borrowing by the non-bank sector from abroad increases after an increase in capital requirement, but not after an increase in lending standards. This is likely to be because of the way that the two regulations are applied and is supportive of strong frameworks for reciprocating capital regulation.

Following the global financial crisis macroprudential policies have become part of many central banks’ toolkits. These instruments are being used actively to address cyclical and structural risks within financial systems; and as such there has been extensive debate about the use of different instruments for different microprudential and macroprudential objectives.

There is a recent and rapidly expanding literature on the effects of macroprudential instruments (see Lim et al (2011), Kuttner and Shim (2013),Vandenbussche et al (2012), and Classens, Ghosh and Mihet (2013)).But the effectiveness of these instruments may be compromised if banks and borrowers are able to avoid these measures via regulatory arbitrage or if the regulation is subject to `leakages’ whereby the activity migrates to institutions which are not covered by the instruments.

Much of the debate over leakages has focused on lending by ’shadow banks’ or non-bank financial institutions, but another kind of regulatory leakage stems from internationally active banks. Some macroprudential instruments – in the absence of reciprocal arrangements – cannot be applied to all financial institutions within a country. As an example capital regulation may apply unevenly as foreign branches and cross-border lending are not necessarily subject to the same regulatory measures as domestically-regulated banks. In contrast, product regulation, such as placing a limit on the maximum loan-to-value mortgage a household can get, usually applies to all products sold in a particular country).

Differences in regulation are a significant driver of cross-border banking, as banks expand lending to countries with lower regulatory standards (Houston, Lin and Ma (2012) and Ongena, Popov and Udell (2013)). Aiyar et al (2012) examine the issue of leakages for minimum capital requirements applied at an individual institution level in the UK and find that foreign branches can be a considerable source of ‘leakage’ as they expand their lending into the UK after an increase in UK banks’ capital requirements. . We examine whether these leakages apply to a broad range of macroprudential instruments in a cross-country study (Reinhardt and Sowerbutts (2015)).

To examine the question of different instruments we use a new database on macroprudential policies. This database builds on the work by Lim et al. (2011) and Kuttner and Shim (2012), but continues to update their work to 2014 by hand-collecting data from regulators’ websites, financial stability reports and communication with relevant authorities. This allowed us to build a dataset containing information on a wide range of macroprudential policy actions in 70 countries over the period 1990 to 2014. Time series of the number capital and lending standards actions, which are the main focus of this paper, are illustrated in the charts below, negative bars reflect the fact that regulation was loosened.

Examining the cross-border effect of macroprudential regulation

We group together applications which are similar in terms of their regulatory application, so for example all risk weight and capital requirement actions are combined to create the variable ‘capital’. Similarly actions such as limits on loan-to-value ratios, debt service ratios and repayment periods are grouped as ‘lending standards’, given that these all apply to borrowers, are introduced via the same framework of regulations and are frequently taken at the same time.

To examine potential leakages, we examine how non-bank borrowing from foreign banks – using the BIS consolidated banking statistics – changes after that country’s authorities take a macroprudential action. We estimate tightening and loosening effects separately.  We include a number of controls including domestic credit growth, as by controlling for the domestic credit cycle, we focus our attention on changes in foreign bank lending growth over and above changes in domestic credit growth, such as lending driven by changes in the relative competitive advantage of foreign banks vis-à-vis domestic banks.

We include sending country fixed effects to capture all factors external to the country implementing the macroprudential policy. Our coefficients hence capture changes in foreign bank lending growth driven by domestic factors of the country taking the macroprudential policy action.

We are agnostic about the time-period over which macroprudential policy may affect banking flows and so we vary the lag structure of the ‘macroprudential’ variable to let macroprudential actions affect borrowing from foreign banks over different time horizons.

Figure 1 below illustrates plots the coefficients of our regressions. In our baseline specification we find that neither a tightening nor loosening in lending standards is associated with an increase in borrowing from foreign banks.  However, we document evidence for leakages: a tightening in capital requirements is associated with an increase in borrowing from foreign banks as a typical capital tightening event leads to an increase in the growth rate of borrowing from abroad; although a loosening in capital requirements is not significant.

The figure plots the regressions coefficient of macroprudential policy dummies on non-bank borrowing from foreign banks and their confidence intervals for various options for the lag structure on these dummies (and conditioning on other factors).

The results of this paper suggest that a tightening of capital regulation induces domestic non-banks to increase their borrowing from foreign banks while a tightening of lending standards does not have the same effect. This suggests that uneven application of bank capital regulation may be a driver of international banking flows. This is separate to the effect, which has been documented extensively in the literature mentioned above, where banks transfer funds to markets with fewer banking regulations. Our results show a subtle contrast: banks transfer funds to countries which tighten regulatory standards, but transfer these funds when the regulatory tightening does not apply to them, and instead confers upon them a competitive advantage.

Authorities are able to apply capital regulation to subsidiaries which they supervise but not branches. This suggests that leakages should occur via branches. By accounting for measures of the relative of importance of branches vs subsidiaries taken from Fiechter et al. (2011),, we show that the evidence on leakages is indeed stronger for banking system where foreign affiliates are mainly organised as branches.

Our results also suggest that instrument choice matters for the effectiveness of macroprudential policy. Indeed, some of the results in the literature – which focus on the domestic effects – may be influenced by how open and subsidiarised the country’s banking system is, and the fact that currently reciprocity arrangements only apply to the countercyclical capital buffer. Our research is supportive of building strong reciprocity frameworks with a high degree of automaticity as the leakage occurs soon after the action is taken.

It is welcome that reciprocity of the countercyclical capital buffer is a cornerstone of Basel III, and EU law requires automatic reciprocation of CCB rates from 2016. These rules do not, however, proscribe rules for all potential macroprudential instruments. The results presented in this paper suggests that there are likely to be also leakages with regard to other capital and liquidity-like policies suggesting that there may be benefits from extending the principle of reciprocity further. At the European level assessing the cross-border impact of macroprudential policies and coordinating Member States’ action is at the heart of the mandate of the ESRB (the European Systemic Risk Board). Capital rules (CRD IV/CRR) which have been in force since 1 January 2014 already foresee some coordination procedures involving the ESRB for specific instruments; but more work needs to be done on working out an optimal and feasible reciprocation and coordination strategy

A version of his post was originally published on

Dennis Reinhardt works in the Bank’s Global Spillovers Interconnections Division and Research Hub and Rhiannon Sowerbutts works in the Bank’s Macroprudential Strategy and Support Division.

If you want to get in touch, please email us at

Bank Underground is a blog for Bank of England staff to share views that challenge – or support – prevailing policy orthodoxies. The views expressed here are those of the authors, and are not necessarily those of the Bank of England, or its policy committees.

Comments Off on Regulatory arbitrage in action: evidence from cross-border lending and macroprudential policy

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Being a BAOT steward: extending the reach of occupational therapy

Michelle England explains what led her to become active in the union and shares her experience of standing up for BAOT members at work.

I first got involved in BAOT/UNISON when Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) were created in 2001. During this time, AHPs were being made to move from their familiar acute settings over to the PCTs, and the initial proposal for the AHP directorate to be split was not wanted by our members.

michelle-england-photoEvery time my manager returned from meetings where plans were discussed, she was not able to answer our questions. After a while, she grew sick of the constant badgering and told me that if I wanted answers, then I should go to the meetings myself! So I did, and a few weeks later I found myself at a trust board meeting with the director of AHPs. The issue was debated and it was decided to go ahead and split staff up, but I just didn’t feel like I had the confidence to speak up, so I spent the duration of the meeting tugging on the director’s sleeve, telling them how wrong they were. Following the meeting, I decided that I needed to take matters into my own hands, so I encouraged every AHP staff member to write to the chair of the board to express their concerns. Finally, the board gave in and we were all moved over to the PCT as one.

It was this experience of challenging a management decision and successfully changing it, that prompted me to become active in my union. I became involved in the UNISON branch and after a short while it became evident that there was tension between the community and hospital staff and it was my role to bring the staff together. I managed to win them around and not long after, I became the Branch Secretary. It was only then that I felt confident enough to attend the Joint Negotiating Committee as the Staff Side representative for BAOT/UNISON. This was a great experience, it helped me to develop my negotiating and communication skills and I found that I could navigate my way through difficult meetings with management and the other trade union reps. The next thing I knew, I was Staff Side Chair which was an excellent achievement for me both personally and professionally. I’m now Vice-Chair of the Regional Health Committee, the lay member on the TUC group on ‘Devo Manc’ and the Chair of the National OT Panel.

Being a union rep has equipped me with a massive range of skills, all of which have benefited me in my clinical role. I have learned how to:

  • build relationships between different groups with diverse interests,
  • deal with challenging behaviours
  • engage in policy development and strategic planning
  • be a successful negotiator.

All these skills are transferable and greatly enhance future career prospects.

What I’ve learnt is just how important it’s been for me to act as a professional voice for OTs in the workplace. It’s because I put myself forward as a BAOT rep that I’ve been able to attend meetings with directors and chief executives and bring an OT perspective to discussions. I’ve always been at pains to use every available opportunity to promote the value of Occupational Therapy – being active in the union gives me many more opportunities to do this.

Over the years in my role as a steward I’ve been given the chance to talk to people that I’d never usually come into contact with – the decision makers at the top. Being a BAOT steward has equipped with so many skills but it would be a lie if I said that it’s been plain sailing. In our professional lives, we’re constantly being asked to do more with fewer resources, and that makes our role challenging and all consuming. As a union rep, it’s our job, to promote what we do and to let others know about the benefits of partnership working with trade unions. I have witnessed so many times that when an employer works in partnership with the unions to resolve an issue or meet a challenge, it results in better decision-making and outcomes for both patients and staff.

Being a union rep has been great for me, my branch and my profession but most of all, it’s been beneficial for patients and the services they receive. I am proud to be a BAOT/UNISON steward and I strongly encourage other OTs to put themselves forward, to be active in the union and make a positive difference in the workplace

Michelle England
North West regional BAOT lead

Article first published in OTnews September 2016

Celebrate your BAOT steward on social media

Tell us what you value from your BAOT steward #MyBAOTSteward

Are you interested in becoming an OT steward?

Being a steward and getting active in your workplace enables you to represent the views of your OT colleagues during the many changes that take place at work. As a steward, you can influence the way in which those changes take place, and, in some cases, whether they happen at all.

The more stewards we have, the stronger our voice and the better we can represent our members. If you, or someone you know, is thinking about becoming an Occupational Therapist steward, please email at baotstewards@unison.co.uk
for more information.

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Dear David Comissiong, time mek a change

Submitted by Heather Cole
Submitted by Heather Cole

Submitted by Heather Cole

Dear Mr. Comissiong,

My mother had a saying, that “time mek a change.” I do not recall how old I was when I asked her what she meant by this. Her explanation was that something profound occurred from which there was no going back. It is that something that is always responsible for change. While I have been looking and waiting for a sign that change is about to come, I realized that one can be in the midst of change and never realize it until that something tilts the balance.

At every occurrence that has affected Barbados nationally, I wondered if it was the catalyst for which I was awaiting. In my watch, I believe that I may have almost missed that sign that was right beneath my nose until something that I read only yesterday resonated with me and caused me to stop and to think.

Yesterday I read an article about the Black Lives Matter Movement. My take away from that was that a movement, no matter how great it is will lose focus or disintegrate or become detached from the next generation unless there is political mobilization to activate change. Two cases that were mentioned were the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s and Occupy Wall Street. They had both reaped some measure of successes but then never went on to the next stage which is to become cemented into a body or institution. We refer to the civil rights movements as a historical occurrence while the occupation of Wall Street seems to have become almost forgotten.

While some persons speak out about corruption, Barbados does not have a protest movement. No group of people has publicly stood up against corruption. The closest thing that we have had in terms of a movement since the 1930’s was the activity that occurred on that Facebook page “Bajans against $700M Waste to Energy Plant.” I do believe that the group reaped some measure of success in preventing the plant from being built in Barbados. Sadly the group’s management never aligned with my point of view that the next step was to form a political party. The once vibrant and active page has become a group without a focus. The fight against the Cahill plant should have been the preparation for a full onslaught against corrupt practices in Barbados.

Number one on my watch list was for a leader to emerge. A leader in every sense of the word; confident, fearless who is more than willing to stand up for what they believe in, someone who is not easily swayed and someone who holds his ground and is not afraid to stand up to the government.

As we stood by and watched, you took the government to Court regarding the unconstitutionality of being finger-printed multiple times as a security measure. When you won we all cheered from the sidelines. Then last Friday, you wrote an article in the midst of Kadooment. It was an article that reminded me of a soldier’s valiant efforts to hold the old fort down against opposing forces. The only thing that was not written in that article was a call to mobilize. Yet the people heard the unwritten call and responded with a testament of over 1000 shares on Facebook from Barbados Underground blog.

I have dared to think that you may be the leader of a new movement for change in Barbados and that with a re-branded People’s Empowerment Party can become a viable third party option in Barbados. Are your actions and the response of the public my sign that “time mek a change?”

Tags: , ,

122 Comments on “Dear David Comissiong, time mek a change”

  1. ac August 4, 2016 at 10:08 AM #

    Yes Heather u are correct in a democracy all have a right of freedom to protest even the communist.
    But if the communist take control of leadership such a guarantee right would no longet exist.
    Funny how communist can easily and readily point out the failures of a democracy but have no problem endorsing commuist countries which deny or violate their citizens guaranteed rights which in retrospect reflects my memory on the Raul Garcia saga where Garcia was denied entry to return to his place of birth Cuba but barbados was forced to relase a known criminal and having to orovide him living accommodation at the taxpayers expense
    Yes only in a democracy would such a saga begin and end with a costly expense to its citizens
    Yet we hear Comissiong singing the praises if Venezula while whipping bajans into frenzy about our immigration laws and corrupt govt
    Makes me wonder what type of measuring stick he uses when he sees no failures within socialist dictatorships but can shout loudly in a democracy to say whatever he pleases

  2. pieceuhderockyeahright August 4, 2016 at 10:08 AM #

    I expected the nuanced echolalia to be introduced in the discourse earlier.

    Like in the scene with Mark Antony and the homage paid to Caesar one watches the careful repetition of the word “communist” and hears the timed derogatory innuendo of “Honourable men” in the pronouncement.

    It is noted, openly remarked on and one will watch the thread.

    My ongoing problem with “the communist” is not his ideologies, nor his Cuban nor Venezuelan ties, it is his disconnect where he, like others who have said that they would return to discuss, say a, cuntstitional draft, have gaffes off the bloggers, BECAUSE AS BLOGGERS WE ARE EXPECTED TO FORGET.

    David C of a truth has not authored this article so of a truth DC cannot be accused of “HAVING JOBBIED, LIKE A CAT, IN A SANDPIT, AND LEAVING IT” no in this case this litmus test jobby has been deposited by another cat, one which sees the 3 party threat that Commisiong represents

    Which brings me right back to my point about frequenting that “rum shop”, be it virtual, or actual, in Tudor Bridge or Barbados Underground once a month, deigns to mix with the common man or leaving it to us to write flowery articles which, in one breath commend your activisism as champion of the people’s rights, and then in another breath, 2seconds after the first, to sum up all your interventions and SUCCESSES, and subtly seek to deride these all as your “communist” leanings.

    If the undercover Mugabe-ite could see it and employee this turncoat article to sound out what PEP support is, then so should you, you think?

    There is something to note here that me ole grandmother used to call “putting out a sprat to catch a whale”

    I’d like you readers to go back through these articles and see how AC at on time, at least, ridiculed The author with a contrary view.

    Normally, as Jeff Cumberbatch will attest, contrary views attract the ire of the author yet, incredulously, the author ignores the ridicule(s) and goes on to asks AC for “opinions”.

    The simple part of Legion bites the bait, the wiser Legion doesn’t

    Yet a few of you still continue to believe that this is not the herald of Mugabe as The Silver Surfer once was the herald of Galactus, the destroyer of worlds?

    I would that I could not see “these things” and that I was born a simpleton who would have been content to suck the posterior of Fumbles Asss Asss or Ass*s Cubed or the board phalange of Mugabe.

    “Yon Cassius hath a lean and hungry look, he thinks too much, such men are dangerous…”

  3. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 10:29 AM #

    Ms. Cole, I for one am happy for the revelation gleaned from your Article, at least you have finally come out of the ‘Commie Closet’, along with a number of your Comrades here in clear view.

    As William Wilberforce said, “You May Choose To Look The Other Way But You Can Never Say Again That You Did Not Know.”

    The Socialist/Communist Ideology is Modern Day Slavery where the Elitist Rule, and the Rest are Serfs!

    You And Yours Do Not Have The Best Interest For Barbados At Heart, You Only Pretend To.

    Your Only Desire is For Power to Rule Over Others!

  4. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 10:31 AM #

  5. Well Well & Consequences August 4, 2016 at 10:35 AM #

    I personally have a problem with the wannabe dictators educated at UWI…Gonzalez of St. Vincent comes to mind, it’s too easy for them to try to control the people for decades, I dislike when one family try to control a whole country uninterrupted for decades, anything can play in such scenarios.

    …how can the people win…pretence at democracy with a gaggle of crooked politicians selling out the island and people while enriching themselves ……or….. those carrying around failed ideologies in their heads trying to get their turn at leading. …all spells disaster for the people.

    In my view, genuine leaders would dump all the manmade pretences, corruption, greed and idiocy and just lead….make the majority happy so ya can be seen as a real leader.

    Copying crap from the colonial system and the communist system will always lead to unhappiness, hardship and heartbreak for the people…both systems were designed by arrogant men with over inflated egos.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Heather August 4, 2016 at 10:45 AM #

    @balance, your description made me laugh. Why didn’t this movement get off the ground?

  7. balance August 4, 2016 at 10:47 AM #

    “Donna August 4, 2016 at 7:18 AM #

    Political parties are imploding as we speak. In the USA we have Donald Trump running against Hillary Clinton. We have Paul Ryan and John McCain endorsing a person whom they know is a madman, all in the name of a political party. They are encouraging Republicans who have more integrity than they do to keep Trump out of the White House. The idiocy that is a political party has been clearly demonstrated for all but the blind to see.”

    Doesn’t this hold true for Mrs Clinton as well. With such an unprecedented high disapproval rating for an international figure who has been in the public eye for over thirty years, can we not say the democratic party is doing the same thing for the closet racist , bigot and proven liar? Surely we can excuse the blind but not so sure of the purblind.

  8. Well Well & Consequences August 4, 2016 at 10:57 AM #

    The systems have failed…all of them, that is why all societies have ended up with candidates and politicians who display substandard intelligence and low levels of intellect, many are semiliterate…..they possess no real leadership skills and all have ugly agendas.

    It is now rare to find a well rounded and genuine political leader. I am sure you may only find 5 on earth, if so many.

  9. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 11:03 AM #

    Do You Think Trump Can Out Do Obama’s and Killery’s Record??? Certainly Not By A Long Haul of The Imagination

    Jan 7, 2016 – 75 Times Obama Broke Law During Presidency… And Counting….

    An extensive list of Obama’s crimes showing why Congress

  10. Hants August 4, 2016 at 11:13 AM #

    Is she a relative of the Minister ?

    ACCUSATIONS OF NEPOTISM and charges of unfairness have been levelled against the management of the National Housing Corporation (NHC) by the National Union of Public Workers.

  11. William Skinner August 4, 2016 at 11:37 AM #

    @ Hal Austin,
    Who will consider Ginger Bourne to be an elite? I forgot to mention him in my earlier post.

  12. David August 4, 2016 at 12:23 PM #

    The perception by many of the NDP was heavily influenced by Richie Haynes.

    Please be distracted by the communists bullshit.

  13. Pachamama August 4, 2016 at 12:25 PM #

    @ Bushie

    We like your expert description of Barrow. The sooner we come to that firm recognition and destroy the fiction created around him the better.

    And every other PM including FJS was just like Barrow, an elected dictator.

    We see another man here talking ’bout a political party with policies and people with integrity.

    What policies can a party have that the people themselves cannot have access to?

    This is a fiction aimed at constructing and maintaining the the rule of the political-managerial class, elites.

    Why do the masses have to give these elites their power and then hope that this same class of people who got us here will be honest, have integrity?

    What nonsense!

    Everywhere in this society the elites have betrayed the people.

    Give us one set of elites from gynecologist to gravediggers who are not guilty of abuse of the public in some way, as a class.

    @ Heather

    Cooperatives are based on the concept that everybody is a leader.

    If we have everybody leading the enemies of the people will have to kill us all.

    Not single out a Malcolm X or a Bussa to kill.

    We then become immune to decapitation.

    By killing one man, the leader, the movement dies or assumes a less ambitious trajectory.

    No wonder African peoples are the poorest everywhere.

  14. ac August 4, 2016 at 12:42 PM #

    The communist “bullshit”is not a distraction with a brazenvreality aimed to garner support from the vulnerabilities of those asking for change by any means necessary.

  15. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 12:46 PM #

    “White leftists descended on Negro communities like locusts, posing as “friends” come to help “liberate” their black brothers.

    Along with these white communist missionaries came the Negro political Uncle Toms to allay the Negro’s distrust and fears of these strangers.

    Everything was inter-racial, an inter-racialism artificially created, cleverly devised as a camouflage of the red plot to use the Negro.”

    “Sure Sounds As Relevant Today”!!!

  16. ac August 4, 2016 at 12:47 PM #

    The communist “”is not a distraction but a brazen reality aimed towards society vulnerabilities and weakness seeking change by any means necessary

  17. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 12:52 PM #

    The First Step In Promoting True Communism…

  18. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 12:56 PM #

    Typical Marxist Strategy… That is Implemented By Socialist

  19. ac August 4, 2016 at 1:01 PM #

    These people are very easy to spot they are masters of manipulation usingv the very constitution that they detest. Yet first in line to needle and pinch every iotta of what is wrong bringing society in line with their views and ideologies Castro did it Hilter did and so Cahvez most notably these are people of a higher intelligence that many would not dare to question their ideas or principles.
    How is it that Comissiong was so able to use a process of humanity to get a criminal an a noncitizen of the state expedition waived contrary to our country laws.

  20. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 1:01 PM #

  21. Heather August 4, 2016 at 1:55 PM #

    @William Skinner
    @Bush Tea

    How democratic was EWB when 30 years after the Riots and the waste of time Moyne Commission he was responsible for crafting a Constitution which exclused the voice of the people?
    Did he have democracy in mind when created the Public Order Act of 1974? That was an act of a fearful dictator. Look where the destruction of freedom of speech has brought us, to be unable to publicly speak out against the corrupt practises of this government.

  22. Well Well & Consequences August 4, 2016 at 2:14 PM #

    Too funny not to

  23. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 2:25 PM #

    The First Truthful Thing killery said that I could remember!!

  24. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 2:31 PM #

  25. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 2:33 PM #

    Investor and financial crimes researcher Charles Ortel joins me to uncover what he is calling “the “largest UN-prosecuted charity fraud ever attempted.”

    Charles reports that the Clinton Foundation is part of an “international charity fraud network whose entire cumulative scale approaches and may even exceed $100 billion, measured from 1997 forward.”

    And the most shocking aspect of the Clinton Foundation’s missing Billions is that much of it was stolen from those who need it most, the world’s poorest of the poor. Bush the Clinton’s formed The Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund after the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake.

    Charles says, “What the Clinton’s have done, is they are stealing the people’s physical gold in Haiti, as well as perhaps stealing or diverting massive sums that were sent towards Haiti and refusing to make an accounting for it.”

    This is a story of fraud and corruption so vast in scope that it should result in putting the Clinton,s in prison, not back in the White House.

  26. flyonthewall August 4, 2016 at 2:45 PM #

    As A BLP propagandist, Ms Cole has been tasked with making David Comissiong more “heroic” in the eyes of the Barbadian public and therefore more palatable to the electorate. (Most Barbadians would agree that to date, as a potentially electable candidate for political office, he has been a too bitter pill to swallow.)

    The reason being that Mia wants to build a strategic alliance with the PEP to help her win the next election. Politics makes strange bedfellows, and Mia will do anything to win this election.

  27. Bush Tea August 4, 2016 at 3:46 PM #

    @ David
    There MUST be some kinda way that you can quietly dump this Freedom Crying shiite into the e-trash where it belongs… Clearly this an AC associate (FC?) whose mission is to make BU as unpalatable as possible…
    Don’t underestimate these albinos hear? …if they can’t identify you and destroy you with the aid of Carl Moore; and they can’t bankrupt you with their economic clout ….. don’t think they won’t come and overwhelm the blog with shiite in an effort to destroy it….

    We trust you to be a benevolent dictator …like the dipper.
    Man pass the ‘Freedom Cryer BU Act of 2016’….
    No more than two shiite posts per day…. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Donna August 4, 2016 at 4:06 PM #

  29. Artax August 4, 2016 at 4:46 PM #

  30. pieceuhderockyeahright August 4, 2016 at 5:31 PM #

    Whuloss Bush Tea….Whuloss…

    You are sooo right, even if the topic is about whether to buy slippers or wear flip flops Sand Nigger going come in and Say two things

    “Socialist want you to wear slippers because Stalin say so pun such and such a website” followed by “Hilary or Killery trying to destroy the arches of your feet and Hilary got a slippers company and a black man say so, so since he black and we black, we is to believe it.”

    Tings get so bad now dat I does look at posts where she posting and left dem till during de night when she sleeping to read dem or to write pun dem…lololol

    I hope dat Dr. Georgie Porgie got “a file pun Sand Nigger cause when dere is “problem childrun” all he does do is say two lines AND DEM DOES DISAPPEAR FOREVER.

  31. Donna August 4, 2016 at 5:58 PM #

    Tee-hee again!

  32. ac August 4, 2016 at 6:19 PM #

    bush shitt stop talking trash yuh lil ole tin horn dictator every u want to control ,

  33. Anonymice - TheGazer August 4, 2016 at 6:46 PM #

    I do not know the man and I am ‘unaware’ of his political leanings. But the real choice is between a ‘do something for the public good’ and ‘just mekking a dollar’. Given such a limited choice, ‘Mr. Do Something’ is the winner.

    Liked by 1 person

  34. Anonymice - TheGazer August 4, 2016 at 6:49 PM #

    BT is 100% correct. Your cousin FC is inflicting some real pain…..
    if we are anonymice, can we call you ‘yard-mice’

    Liked by 1 person

  35. Freedom Crier August 4, 2016 at 7:09 PM #

  36. Donna August 4, 2016 at 7:30 PM #

    Pieces???? Bob Marley now! This is hilarious!

    Liked by 1 person

  37. Donna August 4, 2016 at 7:32 PM #

    Scrolling…. scrolling… scrolling…. Pretty soon she will be the only one on the blog.

  38. ac August 4, 2016 at 7:42 PM #

    Anonymice So was Castro and so was Hitler All had good intentions for the public good and just like you the public chose Mr. Do Something
    i could only imagine the public in awe and mesmerized by these up and coming youthful and vibrant dictators whose message would have resonated in more ways than one with the people , However these two leaders lives have become indelible stench in the minds of societies who have met them face to face

    signed friendly reminder

  39. Piece Uh De Rock Yeah Right - INRI August 4, 2016 at 8:55 PM #

    @ Donna & The Gazer

    I am noticing a trend and you should note it too.

    Legion likes and counters lololol

    The DLP are showing how much they fear Barbados Underground by these puerile acts.

    Let de ole man explain.

    1.Say that you or Bush Tea or anyone posts something contra AC or Sand Nigger, we would expect 1 dislike. Never 5. The only person with so many dislikes is AC

    2.What this means is that more of them have been asked to come here and support their effort. Now you must realize that dufuses can’t comment here on BU cause, like PPK det does get tear up. So what has happened is that they are now coming and giving likes lololol

    3.Test my theory. Watch that when you generally have an “overnight batsman ” that the last comment rarely gets dislikes over 1. For you to get 5dislikes there have to be at least three posters after you, BARRING AC lololol

    Doan worry bout Sand Nigger doah.

    Dat feller Fenty de donkey used to come and carry de blog to a low of idiocy completely below that of his assinine (incorrectly spelt) counterpart AC. Many days de Blogmaster would say those immortal words “thine hignorance knows no bounds”

    But note that Donkey is no more.

    Someone soon going tear a new one for Sand Nigger and dem going dry up and crawl away

  40. ac August 4, 2016 at 9:07 PM #

    lol hE hee Hee HA HA HA good one Mr stupid cartoon adviser

    Liked by 1 person

  41. Well Well & Consequences August 4, 2016 at 10:06 PM #

    Trump is so dumb he should not be given any classified briefings, since he is on his way to being pushed right out.

  42. balance August 5, 2016 at 1:58 AM #

    “What is wrong with a village council running their own community?”

    Nothing but we have long gone past the use of the pit toilet syndrome

  43. Well Well & Consequences August 5, 2016 at 6:12 AM #

    This is what I call putting Bizzy in his place, he thinks it’s some bajan government minister, politicians or local black people he can push around, now he’s swimming with the sharks…real sharks.

    Bizzy and his brother have for years hogged everything on the island in a bid to pretend they are slave masters and owners if the island and people, then enters scum like Bjerkham and Maloney to keep the fraud alive and trying to spread themselves and their blight acriss the Caribbean….while doing everything they can to stop bkack people from doung any busuness in Barbados by bribing black government ministers and politicians to stagnate people’s progress and growth….but time longer than twine. The below 2 paragraphs grabbed my eye, which means the Williams and other minorities were thoroughly investigated…it is known they are crooks… takes one to know one, why Bizzy is now

    “However, in a hard-hitting statement Thursday to Barbados TODAY, Del Mastro said Williams’ comments seemed to encourage a Barbados that was “closed to investment, closed to massive export economy and closed to building a more prosperous future for the people of Barbados”.

    “By extension his comments also cause me to wonder why he competes for business throughout the Caribbean if he really believes what he is saying. The logic of his argument has to lead one to the conclusion that his business activities on other islands are hurting the economies, companies and workers in those locations. For obvious reasons one would understand why he wouldn’t want the logic of his argument applied to his own business activities and opportunities outside Barbados,” Del Mastro reasoned.”

    “Deltro executive fires back at Bizzy
    Added by Marlon Madden on August 5, 2016.
    Saved under Business, Local News

    Chief Financial Officer of Deltro Group Dean Del Mastro has hit back at local business mogul Ralph Bizzy Williams, saying the Barbadian entrepreneur’s recent comments regarding the multi-million dollar solar power project served “to mislead the people of Barbados on the intentions of Deltro”.

    In an interview Wednesday with Barbados TODAY, Williams expressed reservations about the construction of a 20 megawatt solar farm on 70 acres of land by the Canadian-owned energy firm, warning that if permission were given for the project it would be an unjust act against local alternative energy entrepreneurs, whose efforts at getting similar treatment continued to fail.

    However, in a hard-hitting statement Thursday to Barbados TODAY, Del Mastro said Williams’ comments seemed to encourage a Barbados that was “closed to investment, closed to massive export economy and closed to building a more prosperous future for the people of Barbados”.

    “By extension his comments also cause me to wonder why he competes for business throughout the Caribbean if he really believes what he is saying. The logic of his argument has to lead one to the conclusion that his business activities on other islands are hurting the economies, companies and workers in those locations. For obvious reasons one would understand why he wouldn’t want the logic of his argument applied to his own business activities and opportunities outside Barbados,” Del Mastro reasoned.

    “Deltro Group Ltd is a Barbados-based company as are its affiliates Deltro Solar and Deltro Caribbean Corporation, complete with Barbados-based bank accounts. Deltro will employ Barbadians, hundreds of them in fact, and will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the Barbados economy.

    “Deltro is not seeking to take anything away from Barbados; in fact quite the opposite is true. Deltro is building an export focused business that will sells its goods internationally for US dollars and pay all of its workers and expenses in Barbados dollars. All of which is expansionary for the Barbados economy, benefits Barbadians and supports the foreign exchange system employed by the Central Bank in Barbados,” he added.

    Further stressing why the project was needed, the renewable energy official said the proposed solar field was intended to showcase the skills and products of Deltro Group and Deltro Solar throughout the region, adding that in doing so it would also showcase the skills of Barbadians, since they would be the ones employed by the company.

    Pointing out that no company in Barbados had ever undertaken a similar project, Del Mastro said the company was “presently one of only a handful of leading renewable companies worldwide that has the experience and capability necessary to build the type of cutting edge system” that had been proposed.

    “In this regard, Deltro is clearly positioning Barbados as a technology leader throughout the region and establishing a clear centre of excellence that will serve to benefit the Barbados economy tremendously as a key player in the fastest growing segment of the global economy,” he said.

    He added that the “clearest example” of why the investment by Deltro was important for the future of the island was the solar site being built at St Lucy by the Barbados Light and Power (BL&P).

    “While I applaud the investment into renewable generation being made by BL&P, the fact that they hired a Spanish/German group to design and build the project demonstrates that companies like Williams Solar and others do not have the necessary experience to compete for these projects,” he said.

    “Deltro has built dozens of industrial ground mount solar sites, we have a team of engineers that specialize in these very projects and we will teach the lessons we have learned to the companies and workers of Barbados that we will employ during the construction of the Waterford site. Every company and individual that takes part will be able to sell themselves to others as having taken part in the construction of the cutting-edge Waterford site which will only serve to help them grow their business in Barbados and beyond,” he added.

    Stating that there was no downside for residents, only “incredible opportunities”, Del Mastro concluded that anyone against the proposal was “either protecting their personal interests or simply objecting for objections sake”.

    When the solar firm executive spoke to Barbados TODAY last December, he said the company had received “some tax concessions and some import concessions” from Government, but insisted that the Barbadian taxpayer would not be asked to fund any part of the project.

    The Barbados Renewable Energy Association, the local non government organization that focuses on renewable energy, immediately demanded from the Freundel Stuart administration details of the special concessions and asked whether the project would meet acceptable standards.

    Just two days after announcing plans for the project, it emerged that Del Mastro, a former Canadian parliamentarian, had spent one night in jail in June last year for overspending on his electoral campaign in 2008, before he was released on bail pending an appeal,

    His cousin and President of the DELTRO Group David Del Mastro, had also been charged with wrongful contributions to Dean’s 2008 campaign.”

  44. Donna August 5, 2016 at 7:45 AM #

    I’m already reading the tea leaves and laughing my head off!

    So obvious it’s pathetic! Do they really believe people are THAT GULLIBLE?

    Comic relief!

    Liked by 1 person

  45. Well Well & Consequences August 5, 2016 at 8:45 AM #

    Bizzy is a small island semiliterate bajan redneck who cannot match brains or business acumen with real live educated , business oriented sharks….being dependent on corrupt black politicians and a black population being dumb enough to let you push them around for decades does not constitute a real successful businessman….and if Del Mastros is going where I think he is with this, it will be more than interesting to watch…lol

  46. Well Well & Consequences August 5, 2016 at 9:07 AM #

    This is what real racist rednecks do, wannabe rednecks pretend they white and are slave masters…lol

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text:
Four-color fruit cake.

Ingredients (Form 29 cm):
300 g flour
120 g of oil
100 grams of sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 tsp lemon peel
pinch of salt
250g soft cheese
1 egg
1 tbsp sugar
berries, fruits at the discretion

40 g flour
30 grams of sugar
30 g of oil

1. Mix the flour with sugar, salt, lemon peel, add the egg and milk.
2.Nozhom chop the butter and knead the dough. The form of grease and sprinkle with flour.
3. Roll out the dough to the size of the form, make bumpers. Piece of dough left on the partition. Beat the egg with a fork. Stir in 2/3 of the cheese, there also add a spoonful of sugar. The resulting mass lay on the dough.
4. Make the dough from the remnants of walls. 1/3 eggs use to being covered with edges and partitions. At a quarter to put each separate type of berries / fruit.
5. Sprinkle crumbs. Bake at 190 degrees 35 minutes. Cool on a lattice, without removing from the mold.

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Ontrol Sedona Controllers

From 15 September 15:00 until 15 September 16:00
Posted by alper uzmezler
Categories: Webinars
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Gotomeeting event takes place only if someone registers. Please verify registering on the system.

This will be held in GotoMeeting Live session

1. Please join my meeting.

2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.

Dial +1 (805) 309-0010
Access Code: 676-610-992
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Meeting ID: 676-610-992

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Not at your computer? Click the link to join this meeting from your iPhone®, iPad®, Android® or Windows Phone® device via the GoToMeeting app.

P-ION Sedona Programmable Controller

P-ION series products are universal programmable controllers that can be used to manage a variety of building systems including heating, ventilation, air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. Basic and advanced control strategies can be programmed by Sedona Framework ™ for optimized performance.

R-ION Programmable touch-screen Sedona Controller

R-ION series products are programmable room controllers ideal for managing a wide range of individual building products such as fan-coil units and VAV boxes.

Extremely flexible customization options are available thanks to configurable color touchscreen, full programmability and custom logo placement options.

In addition to basic fan-speed and temperature settings, lighting controls can easily be integrated, as well as custom application specific functions (e.g. Do Not Disturb / Make Up Room buttons for hotel rooms)

R-ION controllers support various industry standard protocols simultaneously. The main supervisory system communication (Port 1) is serial RS485 or wireless IP depending on basic version:

RK4 Relay Module

RK4 is intended for use with various Ontrol controllers, or other BMS systems, to enable on/off switching of loads. It provides 4 independently switchable relays. For each relay, both normally-open and normally-closed contacts are available for wiring. LEDs indicate status of the relays and supply voltage.

RK4 has two modes of operation.

  • Analog Control: A 0-10 V input is provided for controlling each relay independently. In this mode, the RK4 is a general-purpose analog-to digital converter that can be used with any BMS controller. See specifications for switching voltages.
  • Ribbon-cable connection : When connected to a compatible Ontrol controller via the ribbon cable connection, the relays are directly controlled by the attached controller. In this case, analog input terminals are not used.

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text:
The L.G. Smith Steak & Chop House welcomes Celebrity Chef Peter Vaulty in preparation for the upcoming special fall menu

DSC07431L.G. Smith’s Steak & Chop House is gearing up for a special fall promotion, featuring a spectacular menu created by celebrity chef Peter Vaulty, co-owner of Red, the steakhouse in South Beach, Miami, Florida, and two restaurants is Cleveland, Ohio, Moxie, the restaurant, and Red, the Steakhouse.

Vaulty will also serve as guest chef for the duration of the autumn special, kicking off on Friday, at the heart of town steak & chop house, located at the Renaissance Marina Resort.

The special menu boasts a variety of contemporary classic appetizers, such as Peppers stuffed with home made Italian sausage, Oysters Rockefeller and Steak Tartar, made of Certified Angus Beef Prime tenderloin, and Apple Salad with bibb lettuce and Westfield Farms goat cheese. As entrÃ©e, diners will be tempted by Steak Alla Oscar with fresh crabmeat, or dry-aged Prime Stripsteak blackened with charred pineapple or a cold-smoked Rack of Pork, accompanied by two seasonal sides of their choice.

Ensuring the ultimate in dining excellence, the beef dishes will feature Certified Angus Beef brand Prime, representing less than 1% of all US beef production, available for the first time ever, in Aruba.

Also sure to please, the desserts which include a Double Dip CrÃ¨me Brulee with chocolate mousse, Banana Cream Pie and Fresh & Hot Donuts with raspberry jam.

Each of the fall menu dishes will be accompanied by a special wine suggestion, available by the glass or bottle.

To introduce the suggested wines, the restaurant recently held a wine tasting for its waiters and kitchen staff, introducing them to a selection of wines from Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma, California. Laura Hayes led the tasting of Ravenswood’s full-flavored varietal wines, including a delicious Zinfandel, with the popular TV show Trend Alert filming the event. Later in the week Eric Wente, of Wente Wineries will be in Aruba to conduct a special wine tasting with staffers and invited guests.

Starting Friday, patrons are invited to savor the sizzlin’ fall steakhouse menu for a prix fixe of $58 p.p., and reservations are suggested.

Joining Vaulty in our picture, Chef Gomez and Chef Lie-Kwie, the resident executives at the Renaissance Aruba Resorts Marina & Beach towers. Vaulty was selected for the task of creating the special fall menu by Certified Angus Beef, as he has a special relationship with the organization â€“ he even catered its anniversary celebration dinner, feeding 250 food connoisseurs.

Chef Gomez & Chef Lie-Kwie share Chef Vaultyâ€™s passion for food and promise to deliver an unforgettable dining experience this fall at the L.G. Smithâ€™s Steak & Chop House.


text:
The Beretta M9 appears to have run it's course with the U.S. Army.
The Beretta M9 appears to have run its course with the U.S. Army.

After many years of service, the Army is looking to replace the venerable Beretta M9 9mm handgun with something else:

The U.S. Army is moving forward to replace the Cold War-era M9 9mm pistol with a more powerful handgun that also meets the needs of the other services.

As the lead agent for small arms, the Army will hold an industry day July 29 to talk to gun makers about the joint, Modular Handgun System or MHS.

The MHS would replace the Army’s inventory of more than 200,000 outdated M9 pistols and several thousand M11 9mm pistols with one that has greater accuracy, lethality, reliability and durability, according to Daryl Easlick, a project officer with the Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia.

“It’s a total system replacement — new gun, new ammo, new holster, everything,” Easlick said.

The Army began working with the small arms industry on MHS in early 2013, but the effort has been in the works for more than five years. If successful, it would result in the Defense Department buying more than 400,000 new pistols during a period of significant defense-spending reductions.

Army weapons officials maintain that combat troops need a more effective pistol and ammunition. But experts from the law-enforcement and competitive shooting worlds argue that tactical pistol ammunition — no matter the caliber — is incapable of stopping a determined adversary without multiple shots in most cases.

One of the major goals of the MHS effort is to adopt a pistol chambered for a more potent round than the current 9mm, weapons officials said. The U.S. military replaced the .45 caliber 1911 pistol with the M9 in 1985 and began using the 9mm NATO round at that time.

The article goes on to say that the competition will be an open-caliber competition… which is false.

The .357 SIG and .40 S&W are dead on arrival as military calibers.

The Army wants a handgun caliber that is durable and long-lasting, and which doesn’t beat guns to death prematurely. Law enforcement agencies are already abandoning both of these calibers because of continual frame and slide cracking issues. They are returning to 9mm (due to advances in ammunition performance with modern hollowpoints)  and .45 (due to the general thought that “bigger is better” and advances in modern hollowpoint design).

As the military isn’t impressed with 9mm ball ammunition (due to the Hague Convention of 1899, Declaration III, expanding ammunition is illegal for international warfare in most circumstances), this means that .45ACP will once again reign as the Army’s handgun caliber, by default.

The only real question in the “caliber debate” is whether the Army will return to the old standard of 230-grain ball, or if they’re entertaining the notion of testing lighter, faster, 185-grain flat-nosed FMJ load.

You’ll also note that the competition is for the Modular Handgun System, which throws the majority of .45 ACP handgun manufacturers out of the competition right off the bat.

Colt, Glock, Heckler & Koch, Para-Ordnance, Remington,  Smith & Wesson, Springfield Armory, etc do not have a truly modular handgun system.

Offhand, it appears that only the  Sig Sauer P250 has a legitimately modular system in .45 ACP among major manufacturers…

Sig Sauer P250

…but it too, has a very significant hurdle to overcome.

You see, the P250 is yet another “plastic fantastic” with a polymer frame, and the U.S. military has never shown significant interest in purchasing polymer frame pistols for general issue. Presumably, their prior testing of polymer-frame firearms has convinced them that they lack certain characteristics that they desire, and there have been proven instances of “kabooms” happening with polymer framed firearms that are much less common in metal-frame firearms.

There are also ergonomic concerns that must factor into the adoption of any new pistol, of course, with more women joining the military, meaning that a pistol must fit a wider range of shooters than ever before.

In the end, the Army is looking for a metal-framed, modular, .45 ACP pistol that is capable of being fired accurately and controllably by the widest number of soldiers possible.

Only one handgun system comes close to meeting those criteria, and it already exists…


text:
Photo Courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings

Photo Courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings

Today’s Happy little Martha Wedding tip is adorable so I decided to share with ya’ll.

Yes I said ya’ll. Well Mason jars are southern right? People sing about them, and drink out of them. It’s pretty great. I love it.

So now you can use them to light the pathway to your reception venue, or place on your tables as easy-peasy centerpieces. I kind of love them. Plus… they’re super inexpensive. This version plays with the aqua and emerald color scheme which, yes is pretty darn great, but you can do this with anything. Use clear mason jars and adorn with pretty pink ribbon, or bright yellow polka dot ribbon or go effortlessly classic with simple white. Whatever works for your particularly fabulous soiree. You can buy mason jars in bulk from craft stores or online at Amazon. Or shop thrift stores and garage sales for unique glass blown mason jars in a variety of colors and shapes for a more casual vintage feel.

If you want to hang them, check out this easy DIY tutorial from A Backyard Wedding.

 BEWARE: Jars can get very hot!
*Martha’s tip: Fill each jar with 1/8 inch of water before setting votives inside.


text: So by now I’m sure you’ve all seen this… however I’m going to post it again, just in case you feel inspired to incorporate some choreographed dancing into your special day. For the record- I will say, that this is awesome as an entrance because it’s so unexpected. It would also be amazing as an exit at the chuch, or an entrance to your reception…. just saying.


text:
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2015 UK General Election Results

2015 UK General Election Results

Here are my thoughts on the results of the UK’s 2015 General Election results, in a nutshell and without the benefit, or otherwise, of reading what others are saying.

The SNP won because Nicola Sturgeon is a charismatic, feisty, articulate and intelligent leader who built on the momentum from last year’s Scottish Independence referendum. She’s tough and may well engineer an independent Scotland over the next five years. She is probably the most astute politician on the UK scene right now.

Ed Miliband and his party lost because his leadership and politics were weak and his second lieutenants, Ed Balls and Harriet Harman, were both universally disliked and distrusted. The Labour party’s demise was nothing to do with the rise of the SNP. It was because the so-called working class had become disillusioned with his leadership and with his constant attacks on the opposition instead of formulating a serious socialist policy.

Miliband was also seriously damaged when Tony Blair purported to support him as a leader but then said nothing about supporting Miliband’s policies. It was a double kiss of death for Miliband based on what Blair did not say plus the fact that Blair is nowadays considered to be toxic. Blair is the epitome of a champagne socialist and is universally hated by the British people.

Nick Clegg lost because nobody trusted him any more (his backtrack over student loans, particularly, caused damage to his integrity) and nobody knew what was and is meant by “liberalism”. His policies, if I can call them that, were wishy-washy and peppered with his trademark word “fair” when fairness had nothing to do with it.

Nigel Farage lost because his role in raising the awareness of the political effects of the UK’s continuing membership of the EU and the social effects of unlicensed immigration was finished once David Cameron announced the 2017 EU in-out referendum promise. But what a catalyst Farage has been.

David Cameron won because, finally, he decided to do something about the country’s unrest with our continuing membership of the EU; similarly uncontrollable immigration; and he finally grappled with personal tax, social benefits, problems in the NHS, inheritance tax and a host of other domestic issues close to the hearts of many many people. He has passion and conviction and, despite the belief of many pundits (including BBC left wingers, of which there are many), Cameron does appeal to “the common man”.

Miliband deserved to go. He was weak and ineffectual and too prone to being jerked by his spin-doctor controllers.

Clegg deserved to go. He was a waste of space – period.

Farage did not deserve to go. He would have been a welcome maverick in the House of Commons, reminding MPs of the things that people really care about. He would have been the country’s conscience. I wish him well and I hope he returns to front-line British politics.


text:
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This is Part 3 of a 5-part series on bathroom products.  Series titles and links are as follows.

Part 1 shower gels.
Part 2 soap, deodorants and toothpaste
Part 3 shaving creams and foams, and female condoms (this blog)
Part 4 toilet rolls
Part 5 predictions on new bathroom products

Note: Part 6 on hair care products may never be written.  I never use them and it’s a vast subject with more pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo than you can shake a stick at.

Part 3 Shaving Cream and Foam

I accept that women shave.  They shave their legs, their armpits, and if they originate from Brazil or Hollywood, or perform in adult movies, their pubic hair.  They also may be tempted to shave off unwanted facial hair but a quick Google search reveals many other ways to do this such as using tweezers, an epilator, waxing,  a depilatory cream, threading or trimming, all of which sound somewhat gruesome.  But, back to shaving creams and foam.  Are there separate men and women products?  Certainly.  Men have a plethora of products, always have, always will do—foams, cream, oils, soaps.  Will these products work for women?  Yes, but women can buy their own women-only products and thus save bathroom arguments plus add clutter to the bathroom cabinet.  Here are some such products: Pure Silk’s Rich and Luxurious Raspberry Mist Shave Cream (what man would be seen buying this product after browsing in the shaving section of a supermarket?); Eos Ultra Moisturising Cream in a variety of wholesome nutritional flavours—Cucumber Melon, Pomegranate Raspberry, Vanilla Bliss, Lavender Jasmine, Island Blue, and Fragrance Free for sensitive skins; Rasierseife für die Dame; Velvet, a Shaving Soap for Women; Tierra Mia Organics’ Shaving Soap for Women (with raw goat milk!); and don’t let us forget Catie’s Bubbles’ Irish Coffee French Style Shaving Soap with sweet fresh brew coffee and some Irish whiskey.  I might give that one a shot with a biscotti on the side!

As a bonus item for this discussion, let’s take a look at female condoms, more a bedroom product than a bathroom product but what the  hell!  Female condoms, I hear you exclaim.  Surely that’s an oxymoron?  But no.  Google “Female condom” and up comes (no pun intended) femidom.   (Note: not femdom.  That’s something very different—female domination.)  Femidoms are similar to what we used to call diaphragms but are nowadays a soft plastic pouch (sheaf) rather than a vulcanised rubber cap.  How and when femidoms were so named I don’t know but I suppose if a copulating couple want to be extra cautious, he could wear a condom and she a femidom in which case the subsequent merging of the two prophylactics might be called a femicondom?

Ah well, we live and learn.  Part 4 on genderised toilet rolls will follow shortly.  Stay clean and stay seated.


text:
Thursday, 1 March 2012

Blue LED - 青

Nelson, New Zealand

Panasonic Lumix GX1
AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm F2.8
F2.8, 1/125, ISO-800

It's wide-open but also very close to the subject hence effective F stop is way darker than that....

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