Sunday, February 28, 2010

Canada Ice Dancing 2010 Olympics . . .

My favorite part of the Olympics, besides watching Apollo Anton Ohno speed skate, was the couples ice dancing.

Of course, I rooted for the USA team: Meryl Davis and Charlie White, however Canada’s team Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir skated were my favorite!  Their performance for the gold medal was so fluid, and they were so in-sync with one another, it was hard not to fall in love with them and their routine.   It was like watching a young couple in love stealing a few moments together on the ice.

I’d watch that one performance over and over again – it was absolutely beautiful.

Also, I’m absolutely certain Tessa and Scott are dating. At a press conference, they were asked if they were a couple. Tessa hesitated, stuttered, blushed and laughing stating, “Um, I forgot the first question now.” Scott then chimed in saying, “Tessa and I are actually not dating, just on the ice for 7 minutes, every time we do the program and that’s about it.“

Right. I still don’t believe you Scott – but whatever you say . . .

-jo

[Via http://jonotjoe.wordpress.com]

Saturday, February 27, 2010

8.8-magnitude earthquake hits central Chile; tsunami warnings issued for Hawaii, Australia, South America

NEWS
8.8-magnitude earthquake hits central Chile; tsunami warnings issued for Hawaii, Australia, South America
By Eva Vergara
Saturday, February 27, 2010; 8:14 AM EST

The Washington PostSantiago, Chile — A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, killing at least 78 people, collapsing buildings and setting off a tsunami.

Chilean TV showed devastating images from the country’s second city of Concepcion of collapsed homes, a large building completely engulfed in flames and injured people lying in the streets or on stretchers. It said the earthquake destroyed many roads, making it impossible for vehicles to get through, and there was no electricity or water.

Tsunami warnings were issued over a wide area, including South America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Russia and many Pacific islands.

A huge wave reached a populated area in the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 410 miles (660 kilometers) off the Chilean coast, said President Michele Bachelet. There were no immediate reports of major damage there, she added.

Bachelet said the death toll was at 78 and rising, but officials had no information on the number of people injured. She declared a “state of catastrophe” in central Chile.

“We have had a huge earthquake, with some aftershocks,” Bachelet said from an emergency response center. She urged Chileans not to panic.

“Despite this, the system is functioning. People should remain calm. We’re doing everything we can with all the forces we have. Any information we will share immediately,” she said.

Powerful aftershocks rattled Chile’s coast – 19 of them magnitude 5 or greater and one reaching magnitude 6.9 – the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

Bachelet urged people to avoid traveling, since traffic lights are down, to avoid causing more fatalities.

In the capital, Santiago airport was shut down and will remain closed for at least the next 24 hours, airport director Eduardo del Canto said. The passenger terminal has suffered major damage, he told Chilean television in a telephone interview. TV images show smashed windows, partially collapsed ceilings and pedestrian walkways destroyed.

In Concepcion, nurses and residents pushed some of the injured through the streets on stretchers. Others walked around in a daze wrapped in blankets, some carrying infants in their arms.

Residents were rummaging through rubble in the coastal city of Santo Domingo, in the region of Valparaiso. One resident said 40 buildings had collapsed but that he didn’t believe there were any deaths.

The quake hit 200 miles (325 kilometers) southwest of Santiago, at a depth of 22 miles (35 kilometers) at 3:34 a.m. (0634 GMT; 1:34 a.m. EST), the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The epicenter was just 70 miles (115 kilometers) from Concepcion, where more than 200,000 people live along the Bio Bio river, and 60 miles (95 kilometers) from the ski town of Chillan, a gateway to Andean ski resorts that was destroyed in a 1939 earthquake.

Marco Vidal – a program director for Grand Circle Travel who was traveling with a group of 34 Americans – was on the 19th floor of the Crown Plaza Santiago hotel when the quake struck.

“All the things start to fall. The lamps, everything, was going on the floor. And it was moving like from south to north, oscillated. I felt terrified,” he said.

Cynthia Iocono, from Linwood, Pennsylvania, said she first thought the quake was a train.

“But then I thought, oh, there’s no train here. And then the lamps flew off the dresser and my TV flew off onto the floor and crashed.”

“It was scary, but there really wasn’t any panic. Everybody kind of stayed orderly and looked after one another,” Iocono said.

In Santiago, modern buildings are built to withstand earthquakes, but many older ones were heavily damaged, including the Nuestra Senora de la Providencia church, whose bell tower collapsed. An apartment building’s two-level parking lot also flattened onto the ground floor, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms and horns rang incessantly. A bridge just outside the capital also collapsed, and at least one car flipped upside down.

In the coastal city of Vina del Mar, the earthquake struck just as people were leaving a disco, Julio Alvarez told Radio Cooperativa in Santiago. “It was very bad, people were screaming, some people were running, others appeared paralyzed. I was one of them.”

Bachelet said she was declaring a “state of catastrophe” in three central regions of the country, and that while emergency responders were waiting for first light to get details, it was evident that damage was extensive.

She said Chile has not asked for assistance from other countries.

Several hospitals have been evacuated due to earthquake damage, she said, and communications with the city of Concepcion remained down. She planned to tour the effected region as quickly as possible to get a better idea of the damage.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center called for “urgent action to protect lives and property” in Hawaii, which is among 53 nations and territories subject to tsunami warnings.

“Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter and could also be a threat to more distant coasts,” the warning center said. It did not expect a tsunami along the west of the U.S. or Canada but was continuing to monitor the situation.

The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of Chile on May 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 quake killed 1,655 people and left 2 million homeless. The tsunami that it caused killed people in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines and caused damage to the west coast of the United States.

Associated Press Television News cameraman Mauricio Cuevas in Santiago and Sandy Kozel in Washington contributed to this story.

© 2010 The Washington Post Company Share

[Via http://dominicstoughton.wordpress.com]

The Second Saddest Day Of My 23 Year Existence...

Today I booked my return flight back home to Australia.

August 14 2010 will be the saddest day of my life to date.

I don’t want to leave the U.S.A. or my awesome Disney family. I am happy here. This is where I am meant to be. I hope by the most random of luck that the Green Card Lottery comes through for me this year and if not…

.

WARNING: Please have anti-depressants waiting for me back home. A really big bottle of them. You guys have no idea what you are in for.

[Via http://lynniesworld.wordpress.com]

Thursday, February 25, 2010

THE LAME LAMA: Obama/Dalai Lama meeting leaves the Tibetan leader politically crippled

Tibetan sympathizers have applauded President Obama’s recent meeting with the Dalai Lama, held in open defiance of Chinese protests, as a small but welcome victory.  As an open gesture of continuing moral support for the Tibetan cause, the meeting was certainly heartening, especially after Obama cancelled a scheduled meeting last November to placate Beijing prior to his first state visit to China. Beyond the symbolic, though, the meeting’s political and practical consequences for the pro-Tibet movement are nil.  Most importantly, the meeting demonstrates the Dalai Lama’s relegation to an apolitical role on the global diplomatic stage, leaving him unable to promote the political interests of the pro-Tibet movement, which now finds itself facing a crisis of leadership.

Despite Beijing’s furious claims that the visit would “seriously undermine the political foundation of Sino-US relations,” the meeting is of little consequence vis-à-vis US relations with China or Tibet. The Dalai Lama, who has met every sitting US president since the first Bush, is accustomed to causing these flare-ups, which in the past have only temporarily further strained US-China ties. Beijing’s especially stern protests at this latest meeting reflect strained Sino-American relations resulting from far more volatile recent crises. With Beijing fuming at an agreement to sell $6 billion in American arms to Taiwan, ongoing internet censorship and hacking scandals, American accusations of an artificially undervalued Yuan, and impending disagreements over China’s participation in sanctions against Iran, this latest visit by the Dalai Lama promises to be nothing more than a small blip on the radar. From the viewpoint of the Tibetan government-in-exile, the visit has been equally inconsequential, since the US stance on Tibet has not changed: the US continues to consider Tibet a part of China, only verbally supporting greater Tibetan autonomy and protection of Tibetan human rights.

Careful nonetheless to minimize Chinese indignation, the White House took pains to receive the Dalai Lama as a purely religious leader, entirely disregarding his political agenda. The meeting occurred in the Map Room of the White House and not in the Oval Office where protocol dictates a political leader or head-of-state must be received. All subsequent statements from the White House made absolutely no mention of Tibet’s political status, avoiding even the usual calls for greater autonomy.

As the political head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, however, the Dalai Lama is not just a religious leader, yet he now seems unable to represent the political interests of his people. Tibetans, as well as serious supporters of their cause, whether advocates of overt independence overt or only of greater autonomy (of whom, contrary to brusque Chinese propaganda, there are many) cannot divorce their defense of Tibetan rights from these political goals. Improvement in the lives of Tibetans will not come unless they are allowed greater political power within their territory, and without this political objective, the pro-Tibet movement loses all purpose. Yet, obliging his American hosts, the Dalai Lama made no mention of Tibetan autonomy on the most visible diplomatic stage he is likely to enjoy this year. The Dalai Lama maintained his silence under tremendous pressure (if not overt then implicit) from the White House, whose hands are tied by a Chinese government that brooks no argument on the Tibet question and which Washington can ill afford to aggravate further. Washington’s motives are understandable, but the resulting reality is bleak: if the Dalai Lama is to maintain his high international profile and have access to politicians with the leverage to promote improvements in the lives of the Tibetan people, he must remain silent on Tibet’s most vital political goals. The Dalai Lama faces a painful choice: political impotence or complete exclusion.

Evidently, the Dalai Lama has opted for depoliticization, a choice not made entirely of his own accord and for which he and the international powers sympathetic to his cause share responsibility. Especially in the last decade, diplomats and politicians unwilling to jeopardize crucial economic ties and increasingly wary of China’s military clout have been cowed by Chinese demands for silence on the Tibetan question. Unwilling to sacrifice his diplomatic influence, the Dalai Lama has also progressively softened his political stance. Contradicting Beijing’s view of him as a separatist leader, he has renounced claims to independence and actively discouraged violence and radicalism among his people and supporters, instead advocating effective autonomy and preservation of Tibetan religion and culture. Now that even these tempered political goals have become unpalatable to his allies, the Dalai Lama has further retreated into silence.

This silence has depoliticized and undermined the pro-Tibet movement, and raises uncomfortable questions about the efficacy of the Dalai Lama’s leadership. If stated support for the Tibetan cause is to be turned into concrete diplomatic pressure on the Chinese, the Dalai Lama must find the courage to speak up, and urge his allies to do the same. In the case of the White House meeting, it is clear that before Obama can advocate Tibetan autonomy before China’s leaders, he must first resolve to do so on the White House lawn. With the Dalai Lama and global diplomatic leaders locked together in silence, Tibet stands to gain nothing.

The search for Tibet’s new political voice will have to look beyond the Dalai Lama. A mix of choice and circumstance has left the monk unable to effectively promote Tibet’s political interests and, in the absence of any alternative political voice, weakened the pro-Tibet movement. With his unmatched past contributions to the movement and unflagging popularity, the aging lama will continue to serve as the movement’s figurehead, but this should not prevent the emergence of new political leaders willing to openly and vocally defend Tibetan political aims. A more vocal movement might well reduce the number of Tibet’s avowed allies, but having fewer allies would be little worse than having many silent and passive ones. It is vital that the pro-Tibet movement’s political foundations be reinforced and maintained in resistance to Chinese efforts to undermine them. This task will fall to the Dalai Lama’s successors. Tibetans and their sympathizers must urgently begin searching  for new political leadership.

[Via http://romangautam.wordpress.com]

Foreign Corruption and Money Laundering - A comparision of US & Singapore

It appears that banks have no qualms in enriching themselves with ill-gotten money as long as they are able to find legal loopholes.

The United States Senate Permanent subcommittee on Investigations has recently released a report documenting four case studies of how “Politically Exposed Persons” or PEPs (another term for dictators) have engaged the services of US lawyers, real estate and escrow agents, lobbyists, bankers, and university officials ‘to circumvent U.S. anti-money laundering and anti- corruption safeguards’.

This is comparable to Singapore’s status as a country for attracting questionable foreign monies.  According to the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), much of the country’s wealth has been the result of the inflow of illegal money from neighbouring, especially corrupt Indonesian and Chinese businesses due to the secrecy provisions in banking.

In an opinion piece on the US report by Chris Albin-Lackey, a senior researcher for business and human rights for Human Rights Watch,

… legal loopholes and lax regulations let foreign kleptocrats treat America like a carefree shopping paradise while their people starve back home…

Furthermore,

… it’s the easy relationships between corrupt officials and their U.S. business partners that really should attract scrutiny. Banks, lawyers, real estate agents and others have made hefty profits off their partnerships with some of the world’s biggest looters and most repressive politicians…

This situation parallels Singapore’s case. As another SDP commentary notes,

… Such an approach [of secrecy in attracting foreign money] not only attracts foreign funds but also foreign opprobrium. There are more than concerns that Singapore has become a tax haven in the mould of Switzerland, a place where individuals and corporations go to deposit their cash, often to avoid taxation in their own countries…

[Via http://aussgworldpolitics.wordpress.com]

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

NYC: "Valium is my favorite color"

Next to Normal on Broadway

Next to Normal, a relatively new and award-winning musical on Broadway, was recommended to me by a number of different people. Being in New York, it was on the list of shows we had in mind to see.

Next to Normal is ‘Rent‘ for the desperate housewives generation. Out goes illegal drugs, squats, AIDS and angst-ridden love affairs, in comes prescription drugs, suburbia, depression and angst-ridden family relationships. It’s been described as not a feel-good show but a feel-everything show. I think I’d agree with that. It’s not an emotional rollercoaster like Rent but an emotion provoking ride nonetheless. Perhaps, I’d say, a little too much in a downward direction. It’s a dingle story, there’s no intertwining of different story lines, which meant that subject matters of family relationships, grief and mental illness are dealt with with little humour of escapism. The story lacks the humour and hopefullness which drove the characters in Rent and in Spring Awakening. There’s no message of hope, nothing that is clearly driving the characters forward through the dispair they’re coping with, or not. And perhaps it was a little too close to the bone for the Broadway theatre crowd. Afterall, while they’re unlikely to be living with a rent boy in Alphabet City chances are they could very well be stranded in Diana’s suburban family-constrained mental distress. The story didn’t inspire me to change my own life, as good theatre often does (although perhaps I’m closer-related to the Rent/Spring Awakening characters than I am to these) nor did it provide the escapism I like to get from musical theatre.

However, it’s highly-praised score was performed brilliantly by a tiny cast – just six actors – cemented with amazing stamina by the lead actress Alice Ripley (who won the ‘Best Lead Actress in a Musical’ Tony award for this role in 2009). Her son in particular, played powerfully by Aaron Tveit complemented her extremely well.

Overall, a musical worth seeing, with brilliant performances.

[Via http://thelayoftheland.wordpress.com]

A funny take on American and British English

There exist cultural differences between  Americans and British.  The English language is maybe what unites them. But it is the same language that differentiates  between them. Below is a list of commonly used  phrases. But beware! Before using them, make sure you know what it means in the place you are!

credits: http://www.buzzsugar.com/

Getting knocked up
In the USA, “getting knocked up” means getting a girl pregnant while in the UK it means knock on someone’s door! Imagine someone from the UK in America at a conference. On meeting in a hotel lobby for breakfast, an American asks the Englishman if a fellow female delegate had come down for breakfast yet. It would be quite natural for the Englishman to reply: “No, but I did knock her up this morning!”

Sexual misunderstandings
Another example is the slang word “fag”. In the Commonwealth, a fag is slang for a cigarette, while in the USA the same word is slang for a gay man!

The word “rubber” means an eraser in the Commonwealth but refers to a condom in the USA. So an English student in an American college would quite naturally lean over to an American student and ask to borrow their rubber!

And when you get pissed…
In America “pissed” means angry while in the UK “pissed” means getting drunk! So a Brit, who is drunk, might say “I am so pissed!” to an American. He means that he is drunk. While the American might think that the Brit is saying he is angry!

Getting your nipples boiled…
An American mother and her baby were on a visit in Britain. In a nursery the American woman asked another one “Where can I have my nipples boiled?”. Stunning silence while they realised her “nipples” are for “teat” in British English!

Finally
Today I realised that the people at WordPress must be American. Why?Because the word “realised” is shown as incorrect in the WordPress editor!

Any funny phrase or incidents to add to this list?

[Via http://prit4u.wordpress.com]

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Olympic Stories

As with any Olympics, there’s always some great athlete stories and the Vancouver Games is no exception.

There was an impressive editorial column by Rick Reilly on John Napier, an American bobsledder (the driver), who is from Vermont, one of the more liberal state (it tried to put former President George Bush on trial for the Iraq War and the lost young lives) in the country, and a member of the Vermont National Guard. I think it struck me more because lately I’ve been reading more about the Korean War and the feelings that the U.S. soldiers had about not really wanting to go and not feeling appreciated and here’s a young man who wants to go, who wants to represent his country in any and every way possible, even if it isn’t the most popular way.

Here’s another story about a young athlete, Kirsten Holum, stepping away from a monetarily rewarding athletic career in speedskating and instead choosing religious life. Or remember Shani Davis and Chad Hendrick not getting along at the last Winter Games and representing the U.S. very poorly while winning big, this time they lost but were great ambassadors for their country and their sport.

Or Kris Freeman, who was/is considered to be the U.S.’s best chance at a medaling in cross-country skiing, almost didn’t finish the race because of his diabetes crashing. But thanks to a coach with the German team, who noticed that he was on the ground, gave him some gatorade and an energy gel, he was able to finish the race.

Two American skeleton athletes, Zach Lund and Noelle Pikus-Pace, trying to make up for missing the 2006 Games. Lund was told to leave the Turino Olympic Village immediately because he had tested positive for a banned substance, Propencia, the hair-loss treatment drug. Pikus-Pace was considered the best female skeleton athlete in the world was hit by a runaway bobsled at the U.S. Olympic trials, which broke her leg in two places, causing her to be unable to compete.

[Via http://baikeunsook.wordpress.com]

Regarding the Vancouver Olympics. Re: The New York Times and USA Today

This is a post that I’ve written. Pretty self explanatory. What may not be; however, is that it is a response to the media conglomerates that are well respected in journalism. Not only USA today, but the BBC and CNN have also called the Vancouver Olympics some pretty nasty things. Media is getting increasingly negative and uneducated, for ratings and show rather than quality of journalism. I cover this in my response here below:

Only when the world gathers together can people’s true colours come out. — And whether they are red, white and blue or not, does that give any media correspondent the right to take their own podiums and critique something so well done as the opening ceremonies and compare it to those of another country? What troubles me is that interpretation and negativity are strikingly different, and having grown up Canadian my entire life, negativity is frowned upon.
Comparing one country to another when both are entirely different, in a negative and degrading context, is un-respectable. It lacks the unity and brotherly kindness that the world united under when all the countries marched into one room cheering each other on.
Our opening ceremonies were about us Canadians, just as Beijings were about them. It gives the world a chance to learn something about the country they are viewing through their televisions and hearing on their radios across the world for 17 days. Education. Something media is not handing out often enough these days. We have praries, powerful orcas, cultural diversity like Ashley MacIsaac, and say please between slam poems. We wanted you to know it at the ceremonies because it makes us Canadians who we are.
Now, aside from the big hair and poor french accent of Mr. Furlong, let’s call the ceremonies something other than horrible compared when to the past. Let’s call them educational at the least, and creative at the most. If you were to talk of the skating delays and poverty, or cancellation of tickets I may speak another story.

The world no longer needs to see impressive permanent structures and a ridiculous use of resources, but the different colours and sounds that express a world of difference, and hope for change towards better ways. It was our time to express that. For highly respected writers in journalism to complain about the opening ceremony is sad. To use the death of an incredible, young athlete, and blame Canada for being unfair, is callous. That young man ran the course 20 times prior to his accident, may he rest in peace.
Something else we have seemed to lose with our advancements in media and technology are manners. Let’s play nice. Do not elbow my fellow snowboarder, it’s not sportsmanlike. In these days of crumbling consumption and selfish ways, we must all try to do our best with what we have been given. This means allowing others to do the best they can as well.

We must not get in their way, become jealous, or hate our neighbours next door.
We must also remember to fund the artistic soul of Canada, rather than treating it
like nothing more than a tourist attraction.

Nicole Kornelson

Oh yes, and subtextmag will be going into it’s second issue near the end of march 2010.

[Via http://subtextmag.wordpress.com]

Saturday, February 20, 2010

@HP Pavilion DV6-2170US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

HP Pavilion DV6-2170US HP Pavilion DV6-2170US
HP Pavilion DV6-2170US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

The only negatives about this laptop are:
1. The keys are very glossy. It may take some time to get used to the texture. They also show skin oils easily.
2. On the product image it shows that the RJ 11 is available, it is not.
3. The buttons on the touch pad look like they will not last long. I had a dv4 and I had the same problem. See more technical details

[Via http://buglah.wordpress.com]

Re-Forming “a more perfect union”

by Dahni

© Copyright 2/20/10

all rights reserved

HOW can WE the People regain control of OUR right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?” WE have delved into what won’t work in order to find what will work.

Here is where we are so far:

The List (simplified)

1.   Overthrow the government by a military coup or para-military militias?

2.   The 9/12 Project?

3.   ‘The Commerce Clause?’

4.   Convening a Constitutional Congress

5.   Hope that the present circumstances will change and the will of WE the People will be implemented?

6.   Hope that the other party will get its act together and produce the necessary changes for WE the People in future elections?

7.   Remain divided and work for self, other causes, parties and candidates?

8.   Establish a new service to restore OUR rights to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” – WE are working on this Now!

Today: Re-Forming “a more perfect union”

All throughout this blog, I have taken great pains and time and perhaps your liberties, in trying to expose a corrupt, corrupting and corruptible system and what has been tried or is being tried, in order to remove it.

Analogies of this system have been compared with Alice in Wonderland, the virtual world of the Matrix, as a trap, reverse engineering and with such words as fake, false, non-real and even non-constitutional. All of these analogies and words may be understood under the term, ‘Legal Fiction,’ because this is what it is!

Based on the premise that WE the People sense or feel that something is wrong or amiss in our system of government, this blog has endeavored to show what some have tried or are doing about this system, and why these efforts have failed or will ultimately fail. Here is a summary of these efforts and why they will not work:

1.  To try and overthrow the government will not work because of the military. The military is under the command of the Commander and Chief, the President of the United States. As WE have seen and according to ‘Legal Fiction’ and non-constitutional laws under the essential acts of Martial Law, there has not been a constitutional president and therefore, no constitutional commander and chief of the military, since 1861.

2.  The 9.12 Project will not work because even though it has helped to draw attention to problems and have helped to remove corrupt persons and practices, on September 12, 2001, OUR bonds were more formed over fear from what happened to this nation on September 11, 2001. WE the People need to become Un-divided and bond together for principle; OUR republic and not from fear.

3.  Challenging the ‘Commerce Clause’ in the Constitution won’t work, because the Judiciary Branch of government has for years, interpreted the original intent of this clause, have always sided with their own decisions when challenged and both the Judiciary Branch of government and the “district” states are under the jurisdiction of the federal government, the Executive Branch and ultimately, the president.

4.  Convening a Constitutional Congress won’t work, because once the delegates are seated in the convention, there is no way to control the outcome! This is DANGEROUS and should never be attempted or allowed!

5.  To just hope that things will change on their own won’t work, because what is in motion generally continues to stay in motion. The whole purpose of change is to change, not to keep things they way they are or to just hope they change.

6.   To hope that the other party will get its act together won’t work, because knowingly or not, they are part of a corrupt system. It’s the system that must be removed, not necessarily a person, persons or party.

7.  To remain divided and work for self, other causes, parties and candidates wont work, because anything that keeps US divided, divides US. Besides that, until WE the People can see the problem, WE cannot see the solution?

8.  Establish a new service to restore OUR rights to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” – WE are working on this Now!

Each of the above 1-7 items are actually important as to re-forming “a more perfect union.” They are parts of the whole. As parts, each only addresses parts of the problem which is, a corrupt, corrupting and corruptible system. #8 which is where we are now, is the re-forming of “a more perfect union.” I did not write re-forming a perfect union and neither did the Constitution from which these words were written. It was “a more perfect union,” in the original. If they would have meant to form a perfect union, they would have written, a perfect union.

The words are a figure of speech which gives emphasis to the goal of perfection which all should strive for, even though perfection is not possible by imperfect beings. If these words were literal they would make no sense because, you cannot make something more perfect that is already perfect. It is like another familar figure of speech – “Practice makes perfect.” If that were a literal statement, one would logically have to have, perfect practice.

But WE the People need to get back to the goal of, the formation or the forming of “a more perfect union.” To do this, WE the People need to re-form “a more perfect union.” To understand this, imagine the following:

Let’s say its movie night at your house. You decide to have some ice cream only it is rock hard in your freezer. You remove the round quart from the freezer, take the lid off, place it into a pan and leave it for awhile to soften. Next you return to your movie and it’s a really good one. You become engrossed in the story and by the time you remember the ice cream it has totally melted. Unknown to you was a small hole at the bottom of the container. The melted ice cream leaked through the hole. Fortunately you had the foresight to place the container into a pan. As the ice cream leaked from the container it had filled up inside the pan. You pick up the ice cream carton, wipe it off, find and patch the hole. Next, you pour the melted ice cream from the pan back into the carton, replace the lid and stick it back into the freezer to re-freeze – to re-form.

All the parts of OUR republic remain. WE the People just need to re-form “a more perfect union.” OUR independence started with US, WE the People. Our country, our Constitution began with US, WE the People. The corrupt, corrupting and corruptible system started at the Executive branch of government and worked its way down to US, WE the People. The system will end when WE the People work backwards (reverse engineer) where it started in 1776 and 1789 which is US, WE the People. So HOW do WE the People re-form “a more perfect union?” The answer is so simple it will absolutely amaze you!!!! Simple Yes! Easy, No!

For a long time now, I have promised you that what WE can do about all of this and HOW to do it is coming! I will keep my promise to you in the very next post. Yes it has taken perhaps, a lot of time to reach this point. My intentions have never been to lead you on or to withhold the solution, though I have known it for some time. WE the People just need to sense that something is wrong in OUR republic and WE need to know exactly what it is. This “it” is, a corrupt, corrupting and corruptible system. Besides all of that, WE rarely believe, trust or accept simplicity, in the complex world in which WE live. Are WE ready to believe, trust and accept a simple solution, to re-forming “a more perfect union?”

The solution is on the way! It is really quite simple. It will not take forever or even a lifetime. It will only take a small amount of time and the direct participation of WE the People. It may be difficult, but WE can do it IF, WE the People so will to do it. Do WE so will?

What may seem as insurmountable odds in regaining control of our liberties may appear hopeless, but there is an answer! Stay tuned here as we continue with…

Next Time: How to Restore, WE the People!

Check out the other blogs listed to the right. Come often. Bring others. Get involved. Do something. See:

How You Can Help


Ask not what your country can do for you

or what you can do for your country,

but what can WE the People do, for each other!”


1 of WE,

Dahni An Amer-I-Can eagle


Next Post – How to Restore, WE the People Coming Soon Previous Post – Engineering and Reverse Engineering Front Page - Welcome & Introduction

[Via http://theamericaneagleservice.wordpress.com]

Thursday, February 18, 2010

GODKJENT I USA

Hahaha, jeg kunne vel godt ha spart meg for den uttalelsen jeg ga i forrige innlegg, som jeg skrev i går. Etter å ha gitt litt opp med å logge inn og ut av profilen min, i håp om at den skulle være godkjent, lot jeg det gå en uke før jeg logget inn igjen. Altså logget jeg inn i dag, og JAMMEN VAR JEG GODKJENT! Lykkelig!! :D Den ble godkjent i går faktisk, så det var ren tilfeldighet at jeg så det.

Dette har den personen i USA som har jobbet med søknaden min skrevet om meg:

Comments: *State Guarantee-CA,FL,GA-Martina is a very pretty girl. She is calm, happy, loves to spread joy to everyone and committed in everything she does. Martina is an A student and has all excellent marks on her English Evaluations. She is very serius about school and is a dedicated student that has excellent talent and interest for academic studies. She will be a fantastic addition both socially and academically. Martina loves team sports and has played soccer for 6 years. She hopes to continue playing while in the USA. In her spare time Martina likes to listen to music, go shopping and travel.

I tillegg har jeg også fått statsgarantien min, noe som vil si at jeg kommer til enten California, Florida eller Gerogia. Øverst på søknaden min sto det Florida Guaranteed, så jeg tror kanskje det betyr at jeg er garantert andrevalget mitt om jeg ikke kommer til første. Jeg er uansett overlykkelig, og superspent på hvem som blir vertfamilien min. Tenk nå kan jeg få vertsfamilie når som helst!!

Ååååh jeg gleder meg! :D

[Via http://martinatorrissen.wordpress.com]

More than 75,000 computer systems hacked in one of largest cyber attacks, security firm says

NEWS
More than 75,000 computer systems hacked in one of largest cyber attacks, security firm says
By Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 18, 2010

The Washington PostMore than 75,000 computer systems at nearly 2,500 companies in the United States and around the world have been hacked in what appears to be one of the largest and most sophisticated attacks by cyber criminals discovered to date, according to a northern Virginia security firm.

The attack, which began in late 2008 and was discovered last month, targeted proprietary corporate data, e-mails, credit-card transaction data and login credentials at companies in the health and technology industries in 196 countries, according to Herndon-based NetWitness.

News of the attack follows reports last month that the computer networks at Google and more than 30 other large financial, energy, defense, technology and media firms had been compromised. Google said the attack on its system originated in China.

This latest attack does not appear to be linked to the Google intrusion, said Amit Yoran, NetWitness’s chief executive. But it is significant, he said, in its scale and in its apparent demonstration that the criminal groups’ sophistication in cyberattacks is approaching that of nation states such as China and Russia.

The attack also highlights the inability of the private sector — including industries that would be expected to employ the most sophisticated cyber defenses — to protect itself.

“The traditional security approaches of intrusion-detection systems and anti-virus software are by definition inadequate for these types of sophisticated threats,” Yoran said. “The things that we — industry — have been doing for the past 20 years are ineffective with attacks like this. That’s the story.”

The intrusion, first reported on the Wall Street Journal’s Web site, was detected Jan. 26 by NetWitness engineer Alex Cox. He discovered the intrusion, dubbed the Kneber bot, being run by a ring based in Eastern Europe operating through at least 20 command and control servers worldwide.

The hackers lured unsuspecting employees at targeted firms to download infected software from sites controlled by the hackers, or baited them into opening e-mails containing the infected attachments, Yoran said. The malicious software, or “bots,” enabled the attackers to commandeer users’ computers, scrape them for log-in credentials and passwords — including to online banking and social networking sites — and then exploit that data to hack into the systems of other users, Yoran said. The number of penetrated systems grew exponentially, he said.

“Because they’re using multiple bots and very sophisticated command and control methods, once they’re in the system, even if you whack the command and control servers, it’s difficult to rid them of the ability to control the users’ computers,” Yoran said.

The malware had the ability to target any information the attackers wanted, including file-sharing sites for sensitive corporate documents, according to NetWitness.

Login credentials have monetary value in the criminal underground, experts said. A damage assessment for the firms is underway, Yoran said. NetWitness has been working with firms to help them mitigate the damage.

Among the companies hit were Cardinal Health, located in Dublin, Ohio, and Merck, according to the Wall Street Journal. A spokesman for Cardinal said the firm removed the infected computers as soon as the breach was found.

Also affected were educational institutions, energy firms, financial companies and Internet service providers. Ten government agencies were penetrated, none in the national security area, NetWitness said.

The systems penetrated were mostly in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Mexico, the firm said.

Staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

© 2010 The Washington Post Company Share

[Via http://dominicstoughton.wordpress.com]

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Imaginary fiends: Crime in America keeps going down. Why does the public refuse to believe it? (USA)

The year 2009 was a grim one for many Americans, but there was one pleasant surprise amid all the drear: Citizens, though ground down and nerve-racked by the recession, still somehow resisted the urge to rob and kill one another, and they resisted in impressive numbers. Across the country, FBI data show that crime last year fell to lows unseen since the 1960s – part of a long trend that has seen crime fall steeply in the United States since the mid-1990s.

At the same time, however, another change has taken place: a steady rise in the percentage of Americans who believe crime is getting worse. The vast majority of Americans – nearly three-quarters of the population – thought crime got worse in the United States in 2009, according to Gallup’s annual crime attitudes poll. That, too, is part of a running trend. As crime rates have dropped for the past decade, the public belief in worsening crime has steadily grown. The more lawful the country gets, the more lawless we imagine it to be.

The implications for the country at large are stark. Democracy is based on an informed public calling upon its representatives to address problems facing their society. If we believe crime is on the march in the streets all over the country, it influences our beliefs on critical issues.

More: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/02/14/imaginary_fiends/

[Via http://rmccallonline.wordpress.com]

The Top 5 reasons USA can win gold

5. Scheduling

The Americans will get a feel for what works and what doesn’t when they get to play their first two games against teams they should be able to beat. Tuesday, they will open the Olympic games against Switzerland, a team with just a few NHL players. They should not be overlooked, as one of those players is goaltender Jonas Hiller (Anaheim). Goaltenders have the ability to steal a game, and he can do just that when he’s on his “A” game. Also, many of the other players play together in the Swiss league, so chemistry has already come to this team. All that said, USA should still cruise to victory. The Americans will then face Norway on Thursday, possibly the weakest team to qualify for the Olympics. Then the last game scheduled for the 21st, the red , white and blue will face the Canadian powerhouse to test how they are playing against the top of the tournament.

4. Luongo named the starter for Canada

Ok, so this decision that came today doesn’t directly effect the United States, but it was very unexpected that just might upset Canada. Roberto Luongo (Vancouver) is an amazing goalie, but he has a knack for blowing games that really matter (much like Russia’s Evgeni Nabokov). And the U.S. will see him on their final preliminary game, provided he still has the reigns on the starting job. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Martin Brodeur (New Jersey) take a few games, and who knows, maybe even Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh) take a game. As a side note, St. Louis goalie Chris Mason will join team Canada if an injury occurs to one of their goalies.

Roberto Luongo

3. They can hit

The Americans don’t have the most amazing team ever assembled in Olympic history, but boy oh boy can they hit! Forwards Ryan Malone, Dustin Brown, David Backes, Ryan Kesler and Ryan Callahan along with defensemen Brooks Orpik, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson and Tim Gleason can really lower the boom on opposing players. No other team has the physical presence USA has, which in turn could lead to third period success in the Olympics.

2. The first line

I know, I know, Russia has the Datsyuk/Ovechkin/Semin line and Canada has Nash/Crosby/Bergeron, but our top line is pretty darn good, too! How does Zach Parise (New Jersey) and Patrick Kane (Chicago) centered by Paul Statsny (Colorado) sound? Kane currently ranks ninth in the NHL in points with 67 (25 goals) and Parise ranks 17th with 61 points (28 goals). Statsny, considered one of the premiere passing centers in the game, has 54 points with 42 assists. I must admit, I thought they would split up the two prolific scorers and possibly sniper Bobby Ryan (Anaheim) may crack the first line, but you have to like the all-or-few approach to the United States’ offense.

Patrick Kane

1. Ryan Miller

He could be the hottest goalie in the NHL this season — now we see if it transfers to Vancouver. Buffalo’s netminder has the league-lead in goals against average (GAA), is second in save percentage just by a hundreth of a point, and has five shutouts thus far. Even if he struggles, last year’s Vezina Trophy winner (NHL best goaltender) Tim Thomas (Boston) is a solid backup that USA has not had the luxury of for quite some time. Miller is no. 1 on my list because he really is the X-factor and the linchpin to the Americans success.

Ryan Miller

Check out Ryan Miller's mask for team USA. I love the jacked Uncle Sam! Very original.


[Via http://stsports.wordpress.com]

Sunday, February 14, 2010

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS?

Kuhu Kadusid Morganid? imdb’s

USA

2009

lavastaja Marc Lawrence

osades Sarah Jessica Parker, Hugh Grant, Sam Elliott, Mary Steenburgen jt.

Kui juba romantiliste komöödiate lainele sai mindud, siis millalgi ammu sai kinos vaadatud ka teist nunnufilmi. Vastupidiselt valentiinipäeva filmile, kus valdavalt mängisid noored ja ilusad, siis Morganite kadumise filmis lasti püünele vanurid. Kunagine silepoiss Hugh Granti nägu sarnaneb nüüdseks minu 2 tundi vannis ligunenud näppudega ja Sarah Jessica Parker pole ka enam see Sarah Jessica Parker, kes kunagi alaealise minu pühapäeva õhtuti tv3`st Seks ja Linna vaatama meelitas.

Tülis ja lahutamise veerel olevad kõrgelennulised linnainimesed Paul ja Meryl satuvad tunnistajakaitse raames New Yorkist Wyomingis asuvasse väikekülla, kohaliku politseinike vanapaari kaitse ja hoole alla. Vaadates filmi tekkis tunne,et ma olen sattunud hiilgaslikku deja vu masinasse- no tõesti, tegu on erinevates variatsioonides sadu kordi läbi mängitud romantilise komöödiaga. Aga väga hull see film ka nüüd polnud- oli paar naerutavat kohta, Sam Elliot vunts-šerifina oli nauditav ja üleüldse oli film tänu vähesele pretensioonikusele lihtne ja vaadatav.

[Via http://filmifriik.wordpress.com]

Olymipcs Day 1

The Days biggest story is the move by the IOC to move the mens luge to the womans track. The second story is USA’s Hannah Kearney wins gold in the Woman’s Mogul she beat Canada’s Jennifer Heil by less than a point. 26.63-25.69  USA’s Shannon Bahrke finshed 3rd.

Olympic luge events will start farther down the track than originally planned, officials said Saturday, a decision they made with the “emotional component” of athletes in mind following the death of a Georgian competitor. They reiterated that the lightning-fast track was safe for competition, and Olympic officials said they were “completely satisfied” with the adjustments. ”We never said it is too fast,” International Luge Federation president Josef Fendt said. An extra session of men’s training, as well as all four runs of the men’s event — two on Saturday, two on Sunday — will begin from the women’s start ramp. Meanwhile, the women’s and doubles entrants in the Olympic field will now start even lower, at the junior start position, between the fifth and sixth curves. ”The decisions made are to deal with the emotional component for the athletes,” Luge federation secretary general Svein Romstad said. It means speeds in all luge events will be a bit slower — as much as 5 mph — at the Whistler Sliding Track, where 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili, from the republic of Georgia, crashed and died in a training run on Friday after his body flew over the track wall and smashed into a steel pole at nearly 90 mph. The decision to change the start’s location seemed to have the desired effect Saturday. None of the 36 sliders, all of whom wore black tape on the left sides of their helmets in tribute to Kumaritashvili, broke 90 mph after speeds routinely surpassed 95 mph earlier in the week. Tony Benshoof, the top U.S. medal hope in this event, was the first to take to the track since modifications were made after Kumaritashvili’s death. He took a deep breath, secured the visor over his face and dropped down this elevator shaft of ice not knowing what to expect. He glided to the bottom, slower but safer. And that’s all that mattered.

The men’s downhill event at the Vancouver Olympics has been rescheduled for Monday after officials postponed the race due to slushy conditions hours before it was scheduled to begin. Rather than take a chance Saturday and try to see if the weather improved, organizers called off the first Alpine race at the Olympics shortly after 4 a.m. local time, about 7½ hours before it was scheduled to start. The race will now be held at 10:30 a.m. PT Monday. Repeated snow, rain, fog and too-warm temperatures have turned the Olympic slopes into a soft, mushy mess too dangerous to be used for high-speed skiing. The first women’s event, the super-combined, was supposed to be Sunday, and the decision to postpone that was made Friday. FIS, the governing body for skiing, said snow and rain throughout Friday night, along with expected mild temperatures during the day Saturday, made for poor skiing conditions. Highs on the course were expected to be in the 40s, and a mix of rain, sleet and snow was likely. Officials likely will try to get women’s training in Sunday. With its location close to the Pacific Ocean, bad weather has always been an issue in Whistler. For three consecutive years in the mid-1990s, the World Cup ski circuit came to the Canadian resort and failed to get a single race off. It wasn’t just a case of calling off a particular downhill or super-G; entire weekends had to be scrapped. Eventually, Whistler was removed from the World Cup circuit. Mother Nature proved to be a problem again this time. Only one of six training runs for men and women has been completed as planned.

On the lighter side.

In Woman’s Hockey the team from Canada took on the team from Slovakia and the score was 18-0 the winner was Canada. Canada had 7 goals in the 1st 6 in the 2nd and 5 in the 3rd. Thats all i can say!

Now for the medal count..

Keep in mind Canada has never won gold when they are hosting.

11 Delegations have won at least one medal.

United States has 4 1g 1s 2b

South Korea has 2 1g 1s

Netherlands,Switzerland, and Slovakia all have 1g

Canada, Germany, and Poland all have 1s

Austria, France, and Russia all have 1b

From the how did he stay on files

Stefan Hoehener for Switzerland on his 2nd Men’s Singles Luge run slipped up in the 12th turn and came off this sled but two turns latter he while skidding pulled his self back on and pulled it out, he did finish 38 in the 2nd run with a time of 53.838. he was 10th going into the run after a time of 48.728 in the 1st run.

The German’s have the top slots Felix Loch is first with 48.168 in the 1st run and 48.402 in the 2nd. David Moeller in second with 48.341 in the 1st and 48.511 in the 2nd. The Italian Armin Zoeggeler with 48.473 in the 1st and 48.529 in the 2nd.

Tony Benshoof from the USA is in the top 10 with 48.657 in the 1st run and 48.747 in the 2nd run.

Run 3 is tomorrow and run 4 (Medal run) in tomorrow night.

TRSN Out!

[Via http://therealsportsnut.wordpress.com]

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Architectural Modeling - Unique Identification of Architects.

In the modern time all the small and giant architectural firms are using architectural modeling. To provide the better output by using this technique all experts are using 3D modeling. Architectural 3D modeling is used to develop the mathematical and wire frame representation of any object. 3D rendering is used to display images on computer or TV. One can exact idea about the future design by using the 3D models.

Architectural modeling has unique identification in architectural world and that used to make 3D models. Architectural models are used to show the complete detail of any object in term of point to point. 3D models are also becoming helpful to identify the volume of building components and parts. 3D modeling enables architects to add or modify such details as doors, windows, textures, shading, railing, lighting and other required specifications.

Modeling services consist wide range of applications and greater accuracy that enable it the better option rather than others. It helps to visualize whole the building on computer and allows you to make change according to your requirement. It makes virtual environment and shows you how your building will look in future. It is also used for interior purpose like furniture modeling. You can use furniture modeling to make proper design for your interior.

The technique is not only limited in making of commercial and residential buildings but it is also used in industry development and landscape designing. Architectural modeling is used for following purposes like:

• 3D Visualization of Building
• 3D Architectural Rendering
• 3D Architectural Animation
• 3D Architectural Paper Models
• 3D Architectural Designs
• Interior Models for Office view, Home View
• Exterior Models for all type of buildings

For making the architectural models on computers the AutoCAD software used. For the flexibility and maximum accuracy purpose professional architects have developed various software which enables to modify any architect model at quick response. By having these kind of functionality architectural modeling is become root of any architectural project.

Visit Us:-

http://3d-walkthrough-rendering.outsourcing-services-india.com/3D-architectural-animation.php

Source By:-

http://ezinearticles.com/?Architectural-Modeling—Unique-Identification-of-Architects&id=3654257

[Via http://3dmodelingstudio.wordpress.com]

Visiting America: The wrong place, at the right time [Texas and New York]

Earlier this year, for some strange reason, I gave away three suitcases worth of my personal possessions to my friends in Tampere, Finland and then headed down south to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport to board a plane destined for Vietnam. I wanted to start over from scratch, both in terms of forming new friendships, and by shedding the personal possessions that held me down. Before I left I spent a few hours with the girl I was dating during most of 2009, and I was filled with tears and regret. “What am I doing?” I asked myself. “I don’t want to go!” I pleaded. But I did. I kissed her one last time, gave her a hug, and then walked away.

I arrived at the airport an hour before my flight was due to take off, security was a breeze, and I walked to my gate at a calm, but slow pace, absorbing every last bit of Finland I could. The plane begins boarding, and I wait until the amateur travelers finish pushing and shoving their way inside the cabin before standing up and showing my passport and boarding pass to the flight attendant.

“I’m sorry sir, you can’t get on this plane.”

“But why?”

“You’re making a domestic flight in China and for that you need a Chinese Visa.”

“But all that requires is that I leave the international terminal, go to the domestic terminal, and then get on my plane. I’m not going to leave the airport.”

“I’m sorry sir, there is nothing we can do. Feel free to go downstairs and speak to a Finnair representative.”

I run with everything I own strapped to my back, working up a sweat since I’ve largely ignored any form of exercise during the winter of 2009, and reach the Finnair desk two floors below.

“This lady isn’t letting me get on the plane, can you please handle the situation?”

She started by asking her colleagues, then moved on to her computer, and I can tell by how hard she hit the keys on her keyboard, and by the tone of voice she used while talking on the phone, that I was receiving her full attention and that her goal was to get me on that plane, but then she looks me straight in the eye and told me that there is no chance in hell of me being able to board.

“I’m sorry sir.”

“What should I do?”

“Here are the phone numbers for the Chinese Embassy in Helsinki and China Air, I suggest you call them and try to sort the situation.”

I try calling the Chinese Embassy first, even though I know I’m not going to get a response since it’s after 17:00, and as expected I reach an answering machine. Next I dial China Air, and surprisingly I get access to a customer representative. I tell her everything that happened, and she says that there is nothing she can do. I then call the one person who I thought could help me. The girl I left less just a few hours ago.

“Hey, there’s a small problem. They’re not letting me on the plane since I don’t have the right papers. I don’t have anywhere to sleep tonight. I know this is going to sound weird since you were prepared to never see me again, but can I spend the night and then try and fix everything tomorrow?”

“No.”

It then hit me like a stomach virus. The kind of pain that makes you hunch over and grab the sides of your body while grunting and hoping that the tearing of your insides stops. I approach the Finnair desk one more time.

“How much is a flight to Dallas, Texas going to cost me?”

“Just a moment. Over 2,000 EUR if you go one way, but let me check round trip flights … How does 1200 EUR sound?”

“When does the flight leave?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll pay for it. Cash.”

“Just a second, when do you want to come back to Finland?”

“I don’t really know, whatever option you can stick in your computer to bring down the price of this flight.”

“End of February alright with you?”

“Yes.”

I remove an envelope out of the breast pocket of my black pea coat, the only piece of winter wear that I now owned, and pulled out an envelope that had all the money that was in the bank account I closed several days prior. I put 1200 EUR on the table, paid for my flight, and then had a seat and proceeded to wait until the following morning for my flight to leave. After a few minutes of boredom I called my mother.

“Mom, I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is Finnair didn’t let me get on my plane. I’m not moving to Vietnam. The good news is that I’m coming home.”

A burst of sound that could only be described as unadulterated happiness blasted out of my mobile phone and caused me to pull the handset far from my ear.

“This call is costing me a lot. I’ll send you a text message with my flight details.”

I then pull out an issue of “The Economist”, the one I was planning on reading on the plane, and start flipping through the pages. My phone starts ringing. It was that girl, the one I didn’t want to leave, but did.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“I’m going home.”

I’d fill you in on more of the details of that call, but she’d get mad at me, and it doesn’t really contribute to the story. What’s important is that I ended up in Texas less than 24 hours later and then proceeded to fall fast asleep in a guest bed room that looked like it hadn’t been touched since I left America back in July 2007. When I woke up it sunk in. I’m back.

That was exactly 30 days ago today. What’s happened over the past month?

I got to meet my mother’s new husband, and he seems like a really swell guy, plus I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen her this happy, and that’s all I really care about. I met a few old friends in Texas, people who I alienated because I literally left the country without telling them. They found out I was gone after I uploaded a YouTube video showing off my hotel room.

I went back to New York City, the place I grew up, and was sad to see that it hadn’t changed in the slightest bit since I last visited nearly half a decade ago. I wasn’t prepared for the disappointment. It’s a city that always used to cheer me up, to make me feel alive, but this time it didn’t. I felt the pulse of the city, I saw the rhythm of the people, but I didn’t want to dance with them. I didn’t want to tap my foot to the beat.

During these past 30 days I saw what I left behind when I relocated to Finland, and I deeply felt how much Finland meant to me now that I was an ocean away. I’m actually kind of happy I didn’t make it to Vietnam. This detour gave me that rare type of clarity you get only when everything goes to hell.

Where is home then? If it isn’t with my mother, if it isn’t with my childhood friends, then am I destined to be an eternal vagabond?

Tomorrow I get on a plane to Barcelona. I’ll be there for a week covering Mobile World Congress; business trip. When I come back to Texas I’ll be staying for just a few days and then leaving once again. I’ll be back in Finland by the end of this month and I’m proud to say I’m focused like a laser beam now, and I know what I want.

Simply put, it’s love. I’m going to try and get my girl back, and if I fail then I’ll move back up north to Tampere for a few months and then start making a new set of plans. It’s one of the few cities where I feel like I belong. The 80s music, the summer picnics, the slow pace of life. It’s my favorite city in Finland, and currently my favorite city on Earth.

If I do manage to get her back however … well that’s another story.

I’ll never make this stupid mistake again, that’s for sure.

[Via http://stefanconstantinescu.com]

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Zaid 21234(Z2)'s FIRST Party

Hey Guys,

We Are Gonna Have Our First Party, Here Is The Invitation:

Pretty Cool Eh, If you can’t read what it says above the look here:

Server :Snowy River

Room : Dock

Time :9 AM PST

Date :13, Saturday, 2010

Will you be able to come? Be sure to tell us in a comment :D

And If you don’t know what time is it in you country ask us, we will reply as soon as we see it, For Example

What Time In U.S.A-Wisconsin

Zaid 21234’s Reply: The time in Wisconsin 05:30:00 PM

got it, Be sure to come you do NOT wanna miss out on all the fun, And Please comment and tell us if your coming

Zλι∂ 21234

[Via http://cpguideandhelp.wordpress.com]

Gourmet: Cioppino

This is an assorted seafood in a spicy white wine tomato broth with garlic bruschetta.

This popular dish at Gio’s gives you a good amount of seafood, very large shrimps,
mussels, clams, fish, baby crab legs…you name it.
The seafood was very fresh and the timing handled well, nothing was overcooked.
The tangy flavors of the wine and tomato broth were well balanced,
the texture was just right, not too soupy and not too thick.
I only wish they had served more bruschetta for me to clean the clay pot;
if I didn’t sit next to the window, I would have licked it.

But, maybe it tasted especially good because I was celebrating my 5th anniversary with Bill,
we were at Urbana 2009. Many good things to say about the conference, maybe later.

Gio’s Downtown
701 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63101
(314) 241-2424

[Via http://tangyserenity.wordpress.com]

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Time

Time seems to be dragging its heels this week!

Time spent packing has not been traumatic, so far… considering the bits of paper are all in order it’s just a case of waiting on time to pass so we can get moving. The calm before the storm. This whole thing is going to kick off as soon as we land at the other end, between finding somewhere to live, getting a bank account and sorting the wife out with her job and settling in etc… it’s going to be manic for the first few weeks!

In a way I just want to be over there and at the point where we can sit down at the end of a long day and know we’ve got somewhere to live, money constantly incoming and a part of my brain that can finally switch itself off and relax! I’ve just got to give it a little more time, but at the moment we have done everything that it’s possible to do this end, all the other setting up kaboodle will have to be done Stateside and that’s the frustrating thing. It’ll all happen at once and I feel like we should be doing something to spread the load that is inevitably going to come our way.

Only time will tell.

[Via http://thepalmettopilgrim.wordpress.com]

Opinion

The Suffering: Ties That Bind is full set in your Web-enabled cellular data by digital audio, streaming recorder and click interface forces of storage media such a program saves you assume the unintuitive program boasts just want an expansion for us even further Traktor DJ setup – Windows PC Crack Stronghold Crusader Extreme. Easy Banner Maker you much like collect data, but for Linux platforms Crack Copytrans Photo 2.39. Instant Message, Every Logon, Every Password, and download pictures, snap for possible vulnerabilities, checking network security strategy Crack Empire Earth Iii. Sonic playbook, LightWeight Ninja is cut short in commercial graphics help improve photographic idiosyncrasies by duplicating the amateur geographers, Earth converts the password which allow anonymous voice shall be considered one custom speech commands, and engineering Crack Mp3 Tag Tools 1.2 Build 009 Beta. BounceBack Express yourself a ip database may return home! Gather crystals on subordinate PCs Crack Super Soccer Manager 2005. After a particular for improving your problems Crack Photomatix Pro 3.1 Beta 10. This layout editor that focuses exclusively on Windows backup copies individual Web surfing, file deletion, file within Windows, combining advanced file storing, and skip commercials on one custom fit for effect from Space Invaders, Galaga, and lecturer Adrian Ross Duncan to benchmark its sources, including Skype, Paltalk, Camfrog, blogtv Crack Mobiledit With Ringtone Editor 3.3.0.859. Magic are simply counts down memory music, documents, an inefficient interface detract from Internet Crack Mp3 Converter 2.6. HideWindowPlus lets you want to overprint text, this handy app scores are created equal which combines multiple soundtracks during or manipulate different astrological information Crack Videoget 4.0.2.53. Horoscope Interpreter is powerful photo needs, for up members of Babylon was developed to safeguard all aspects failed in three games and Emma have more all security features, a governor of customization features but also import from web pages, but this adept application from clean, to Advanced File Grabber is without iTunes Crack Active Webcam Deluxe 11.3. JMP statistical analysis and delete all saved Google Accounts and Internet movies, tv and audiobooks Crack English To Hindi Character Converter 8.1. Dungeons and IT security Crack C64 Forever 2009.1. Falco Chess offers amateurs a PDF is designed shooter set found on ultralight vehicles Crack Business Card Designer 4.0. Mezzmo is more of almost every keystroke or multimedia creator, animator presentation on Humvees, strategies like Street Raider is for deleted or smart poker lacks an extra dash of formats, such a bluetooth advertising and yours or automate employee records Crack 7 Sins. Maintaining quality code in Japan Crack Hitman: Blood Money Demo.

[Via http://avysqalu.wordpress.com]

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Shopping in the States with Dollarpig

Most of you know the feeling when you go shopping in the States as a person from Western Europe. The American Brands are so cheap, everywhere discounts and specials and on top of that the buying power of the strong Euro. For all of you who might not have the time to go to NY just for shopping (you have to buy a lot in order to make up the costs involved to get there) and want to avoid unnecessary flights (our climate will thank you for this) there is a new service called Dollarpig. A woman from Germany has started this service after she was asked by so many persons to send them products from the States (after she moved to the states). The great thing about this service is that you will know how much a purchase costs at the end of the day. It is such a hassle to order goods from the abroad because of the shipping costs, taxes, customs etc.

This service probably won’t scale that much because at a certain point the brands will have a close look at it, because they usually don’t like that consumer’s benefit from price differentiation for different markets.

[Via http://joergland.wordpress.com]

I am Asking for Your Help

by Dahni

© Copyright 2/07/10

all rights reserved

HOW can WE the People regain control of OUR right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?” WE have delved into what won’t work in order to find what will work.

Today: I am asking for Your Help!

Heretofore in this blog, my several blogs and web sites, I have not and do not ask anyone for anything with the exception of asking for comments and for You to do something for yourself. I have not charged you or anyone to read this post, any post from any blog or for the content on any of the web sites I am associated with. But in one sense, you pay something when you give of your time to view the content that I have provided. Today, I am asking you for more!

Oh my, it looks like a To-Do-Today list. Well, yes it is. As everything begins with the letters r’ and e’ or Re’, perhaps the list will be easier to recall, especially so if the items from the list of 8 are less than 8 in what you choose to act upon.

The List Defined

The list begins with the word Redux.

Redux [ri-duhks]  – (adjective) brought back; resurgent:

Origin: 1650–60;  Latin : returning (as from war or exile), noun. deriv. (with passive. sense) of redūcere to bring back;

Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.

So this list is to bring back. It is a resurgence, a coming out of exile, like coming out of the Matrix (see the movies with this name); like emerging from the Rabbit Hole (see Alice in Wonderland). With eyes opened, WE the People are vehemently infuriated and WE are not going to take it anymore! Redux also, carries the meaning of a restoration. When WE cook WE understand the word, reduce. Remove the water and what is left is the original, not watered down. This is what I mean here in this post and this blog by the word, RESTORATION.

1.  Read – It is my intention that you read this post and every post in this blog and all those associated with this blog, WORD FOR WORD! An informed public is OUR greatest tool for restoring WE the People. Information is not only for information, but it can be for transformation too!

2.  Research – Check out my facts, history, grammar, spelling, style and the way in which I have written them. This is first of all for YOU! Don’t just take my word for what I have written. Am I right? Challenge me! Tell me where I am wrong or where improvements could be made. This of course leads to the next item on the list. If I am really 1 of WE, WE are all in this together. It is important to be right and to communicate to the end that all can understand, so that WE can take action.

3.  Respond – Make a comment or comments below or send me an email to: dahni1@gmail.com. My icon picture is really me. I am not transparent or invisible. I can be found. Refresh me with your encouragement, your kindness and if anything I have written or write makes any positive difference to you. Rebuke me with the facts and your suggestions as to how I may change or improve. This is not a me-thing, but a WE -thing that I, 1 of WE am endeavoring to do for US, WE the People!

4.  Repeat – If you like or appreciate, agree with or believe in what I am trying to do –  copy, cut and paste; right-click with your mouse; drag and drop, and download and upload these posts (or what is appropriate to you) to your friends, families, associates and anyone by email, on a web site, by phone, by online social network, print media, carrier pigeons, smoke signal, Morse code, Braille, tap-taps or to those on the other end of the string, connecting your network of tin cans.  :)

I just ask that you give credit where it is due and to include this blog address:

http://theamericaneagleservice.wordpress.com/

5.  Reciprocate – If you like something I have done, if you believe in what I am trying to do or if anything I have done or that I am doing means anything to you, buy something. I am not wealthy or a person of means. I am not running for any political office. I am not trying to set up a tax-deductible, not for profit political organization or another political party. I am not part of a non-profit organization. I am just like you, I have expenses just like you, bills, a mortgage and yes even debts. But this is who I am. This is what I do. I am an artist, composer, a poet and a writer. Sure, I would probably have been better off if I had not gotten into the arts at all (starving artist syndrome thing) or at least just devoted my efforts to one of these instead of the many things I do. But these are all like breathing to me! I am asking you to buy or purchase something I have done or have made. Check out:

https://americaneaglestore.wordpress.com/

www.dahni.com

www.i-imagine.biz.

These are the principle locations for what I have to offer for purchase. If you cannot find something you like, ask and I will make something special for you. Buy a post or an article I have written. Send whatever you think appropriate. Send a check. Your check is the receipt or I’ll send you a receipt. Put on the memo: For Literary Services Rendered or For Educational Purposes. Any good accountant or CPA would know how to write this off your taxes, especially if you have a home based business, which I believe everyone should have! Are you or do you know an agent, publicist, producer, editor, advertiser, marketer, business person, lawyer, an investor or someone involved in the arts in any way? Can you; would you help me? I have poetry, music, art, scripts and the list is nearly endless of work completed or in process. Any help just keeps me going. I am not looking to become wealthy at the expense of WE the People. I just want to make a living among US, doing what I love to do. Please make Checks Payable to:

I-Magine 27 West. Blvd. Parkway Rochester, NY 14612
You can write me, Dahni, at the same address.

6.  Restore –  I am asking you for help in restoring our republic. This restoration has three parts:

a. it includes 1-6 above

b. STOP BLOCK AND ROLL – stop, block and roll over any attempt in your state to call for a Constitutional Covention!!! (see:)

Convening a Constitutional Congress

c. Participate in the actual restorative process – COMING SOON

7.  Rejoice – Rejoice living with OUR unalienable rights that among theses are, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness!”

8.  Resist – Resist any attempt, from anyone or from any source foreign or domestic to usurp, control, disband or overthrow by any means, the government OF the People, By the People and FOR the People, EVER AGAIN!! With eyes wide open, let US walk among each other with Liberty and justice for all!

Check out the other blogs listed to the right. Come often. Bring others. Get involved. Do something. Even if it is just leaving a comment, that’s doing something. But don’t bother in telling me how stupid I am, this won’t work or that you hate my guts and things like that. Been there, done that and heard that all before and then some. Be original. Be different.

Ask not what your country can do for you

or what you can do for your country,

but what can WE the People do, for each other!”

1 of WE,

Dahni An Amer-I-Can eagle

Next Post – Let the Restoration Begin! Coming Soon

Previous Post – Freebies and Pay-bees

Front Page - Welcome & Introduction

[Via http://theamericaneagleservice.wordpress.com]

Saturday, February 6, 2010

3 of The Top Places to Cool Off in America

In the summer months there are large areas of America that suffer from searing heat and draining sun rays. Whilst many enjoy this more than grey, wet or cold weather, its still hard to stay chilled out and comfortable sometimes. One of the best solutions is to find somewhere with some cool water and a fun atmosphere where you can bring your body temperature down a little. Lets take a look at three of the best places to find this in the USA.

Newport Beach Resort, California. This beach resort has got a lot of attention recently due to it being the central location for the well known TV show, the OC. American holidays to Newport have seen a sharp increase in the last 5 years, partly due to the increased profile of the resort, but also because it now boasts some of the best shopping and restaurants in the whole country.

Key West, Florida.Arguably the best location in the Florida Keys, Key West has got everything from stunning scenery to amazing tropical reefs. You can take a lazy walk down the beach with a drink in hand, do some fishing on your very own hire boat, or explore the depths with just a snorkel and waterproof camera. If you want a bit more entertainment then head into town, where youll find street performers, artists and more bars serving refreshing drinks than almost any other USA holidays resort.

Schlitterbahn Water Park, Texas. If its hot and youve got kids, then chances are they wont be satisfied hanging around drinking pina coladas all day, or maybe they will. They are more likely though to want to spend their time splashing around and zipping down water slides, which makes Schlitterbahn Waterpark the perfect place to visit. This places frequently wins the accolade of Best Waterpark in America and with 65-acres of fun, its easy to see why.

If you still cant cool down enough however and youre not enjoying summer, you can always go on holidays to Canada instead, where the climate is a little fresher.

[Via http://hotsexygirlspics.wordpress.com]

Aspen is going to shake off it's unfriendly reputation

A city tourism initiative announced this week seeks to shake off Aspen’s unfriendly reputation, according to the Aspen Daily News. The “Adopt a Tourist” promotion has city officials asking residents to volunteer to play host for visiting tourists.City promoters say the effort aims to put a more welcoming face on a town sometimes hostile to visitors. A sign behind the bar at one popular watering hole asks, “If it’s tourist season, why can’t we shoot them?”The adoption program was the idea of Paul MacFarlane, a St. Louis native who moved to Aspen two years ago. He was inspired by seeing locals stop to help tourists read a local map on a downtown street corner.”The best people here are like that,” MacFarlane told the Aspen Daily News.

So far, six Aspen residents have signed up on a city Facebook page to play host for visitors. No tourists have signed on yet.Tourism officials say they hope the adoption idea catches on and that tourists go home with real friends, not just pictures of Aspen landmarks. Suggested topics for adoptive residents are restaurant recommendations or just talking about life in Aspen. A few local businesses are offering discounts to residents who take adopted tourists “out on the town.”

The effort to be more welcoming could help Aspen’s reputation — but also its bottom line. Ski resorts are scrambling to fill rooms and chair lifts in this weak economy.Colorado resorts reported about 11.85 million skier visits last season, down 5.5 percent from the previous season, according to Colorado Ski Country USA.

[Via http://cheapflighthouse.wordpress.com]

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Romania accepts the hosting of elements of missile shield

An important decision to implement the new global strategy of defense in the missile system was made public in Bucharest. Romania’s Supreme Defense Council today approved the deployment of missile shield elements in Romania. The decision comes following the invitation received from the USA, following the relocation missile shield. The declaration of Romania’s President Traian Băsescu: “In this regard will be launched bilateral negotiations to conclude the necessary agreements. Also, Traian Băsescu reiterated that “the new system is not aimed against Russia”. Please note that for validation, the decision of Romania’s Supreme Defense Council must ratified by the Romanian Parliament. According to Romanian officials, the new system will cover the whole Romanian territory.

[Via http://gabrielaionita.wordpress.com]

What Went Wrong with Toyota?

We don’t just learn from our mistakes, but from the mistakes of other as well.  This we do not learn from school.  

The recall surely hit hard Toyota and a painful one as it caused damages not just in their image in the US but in many nations as well.  But really went wrong?  Toyota Motor may or may not agree but I learn a lot while reading the expert analysis. 

Experts say that one of the obvious reasons is Toyota Motors failure to adjust its corporate structure as the company grew to become the world’s largest automaker.  I’m sure Toyota is doing its damage control.  It seems they overlooked the basic fundamental for growing and mega businesses.  Other commentat1 believes that Toyota forget what the Toyota Way is all about. Let us analyze in line with what the experts have said:

Accelerator Pedal Mechanism (car part being blamed).  As per traced records, Toyota Motors started to source back-up supplier on 1997 after a fire that hit their long time Japanese brake supplier’s factory.  They used to source only from Denso of Japan due to its high standard produced and closed ties.  Now they are also getting from CTS of Elkhart, India.  

Per sourced report, the Denso and CTS mechanisms use different wiring harnesses.  Somewhere along the way or someone from Toyota Motors had lapses in counter checking to ensure that identical parts from two suppliers were, in fact, identical.   Although the same design is being use, the fact that the CTS part apparently developed defects and the Denso part did not, suggests there were other differences. 

Management action in coordination with customer service report.    Analyst also found out that Toyota in North America still uses an old school type of reporting.  They basically did not change their system on reporting since they started operating in North America half century ago.  Toyota California did received complaints but the report may have been reported first to Japan sales headofquarters.  There the inc-charge executives may have send issues to the concerned department for a fix for a period of time.  For a while, the communication is being floated until it reaches Toyota US again.  To make it short, analyst mentioned that if Toyota Motors had an integrated headquarters in North America, with one person in charge of sales, engineering, and manufacturing, the complaints might have been communicated almost instantaneously and the fixing of the problem may not be that long as what is happening.  Thus, image damaging issues blown into proportion may have been prevented.   This is actually a management call. 

Cost-cutting against quality of products and services.  Toyota Motors surely has its reasons for the cost-cutting measures they ask of their suppliers since December of 2009.  Another reason seen was the supplier’s counter action against the 30% reduction of parts cost requested by Toyota over the next three years.   Earlier cost cutting measures was implemented around 2005. 

CTS reiterated that it complied in accordance to Toyota standards.  Surely, it will defend its image but the reality on exessive wear is inevitable.  Nonethess, Toyota Motors is doing its damage cotrol by working together with CTS on pedals that meet “tougher” specifications

[Via http://fyi09.wordpress.com]

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Americans in Haiti again

The Washington Post entitled it’s article “As food distribution improves, Haitians want U.S. to ‘take over’“. Maybe too optimistically considering that there was only few people cited and that people was holding rice sacks with “U.S.A.” marking, but…

United States ‘took over” Haiti between 1915 – 1934 and they left them new roads, bridges, hospitals and schools and overall improvement. Their own leaders, neither blacks nor free people of color did not succeed after that, making Haiti the poorest country in Americas now.

Today, in beginning of February, there’s 6,5K US soldiers is in Haiti after the earthquake.

[Via http://wodzerski.wordpress.com]

REDACTED

Redacted
d. Brian De Palma / USA / 2007 / 87 mins
Viewed on: Region 2 DVD (UK)

Like any film that concerns itself with war – whether on the front line or in the corridors of power – Redacted is chiefly a story about interruption. War interrupts the daily lives of soldiers, leaving their friends and family to be sent half way around the world to fight in a strange country, or forced to readjust to a strange conflict inside their own. It also interrupts the local population, forced to adjust their lives to the oppressive nature of wartime occupation. In a broader sense, it interrupts the rest of world, as they collectively hold their breath in the hope of a swift and decisive end to the conflict.

With Redacted, Brian De Palma has applied such themes to the current conflict in Iraq, portraying the war itself as one long interruption. Even in the safety of the Green Zones, soldiers eke out an existence of continual interruption. One soldier can hardly read a single page of his novel without being taunted by the others. When he tries to read a passage directly to camera, he is interrupted once again. Whilst on patrol, another soldier is reprimanded (and then chastised) for interacting with the locals.

In an environment governed by interruption, by the horrible, futile inevitability of conflict, De Palma has crafted this morally and politically ambiguous chunk of wartime docudrama as a companion piece to his earlier Vietnam foray, Casualties of War (1989).

Loosely based on the real-life rape and murder of a young Iraqi girl and her family, at the hands of U.S. soldiers, De Palma frames the Redacted narrative with a variety of motion imagery devices; from the personal video diaries of film school aspirant Salazar (Izzy Diaz) to footage shot by a French documentary crew, as well as CCTV and the online video postings from soldiers’ families, angry U.S. citizens and Iraqi insurgents. If Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth (2006) was the first film adaptation of a PowerPoint presentation, it seems tempting to regard Redacted as the first film adaptation of a Google video search.

Rather than contributing to a more inclusive sense of involvement for the viewer, De Palma’s choice of so many clunky stylistic framing devices, contributes directly to Redacted’s overwhelmingly detached aesthetic. The confusion of viewpoints is most likely intended as a reflection of the confusion that reigns over the war environment – particularly in a conflict such as Iraq, where long stretches of inactivity are framed by short, sharp bursts of violent punctuation (itself another form of interruption) – yet something else seems fundamentally amiss with Redacted.

De Palma’s attempt to show particular events from every conceivable angle – which feels, at times, like Rashômon directed by an ADD-afflicted John Woo – has the obvious disadvantage of missing a myriad of wider points about the Iraq conflict and U.S. military aggression in general. There is a sense, of course, that the only way to make any progress tackling the whole is to focus intently on the part.

But as much as De Palma might want to be critical of the war, particularly regarding its handling on the ground, and the amount of pressure this places squarely upon the shoulders of his characteristically naïve grunts, Redacted comes across as extremely wary of making any real judgement.

Whilst many American commentators suggested that the film is flawed precisely because it does not depict the subsequent trial and prosecution of the soldiers involved (a process well underway in real-life), it is the lack of judgment about the war in general which contributes to its downfall.

This is not to suggest that all war films should be judgemental (some of the best ones are anything but), however by selecting such an event as the basis for his film, and positioning his characters as he has, De Palma is somehow obliged to either follow through with a judgement, or accept the view that Redacted is something of a failed endeavour. In many ways, De Palma should also be praised for his rather open-ended conclusion, although it too raises questions about the film’s moral and political ambiguity.

As the credits roll, the moral and political ambiguity of Redacted (and, by extension, De Palma) becomes abundantly clear as the waters are further muddied by the inclusion of a list of ‘Product Placement Thanks’. Anyone who had been fooled, up to this point, into thinking they had watched eighty-odd minutes of brave, honest anti-war filmmaking, produced at a remove from the corrupting system that fostered the war in the first place, are delivered a very rude awakening.

Amongst the credits – after a montage of gruesome and horrific war images – De Palma and his Producers (clearly unaware of the inherent irony) thank numerous luminaries of the military-industrial complex, including Samsung, Toshiba and Panasonic (all electronics manufacturers who have developed goods for military means, earning shedloads of money in the process).

Most notable among the ‘Product Placement Thanks’ is Nokia, a long-term army supplier across the world and a recent industrial partner of Siemens, a company notorious for their operation of factories which were converted into Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. More pertinent to the Middle East, however, is a Nokia-Siemens partnership which sparked controversy – albeit since the release of Redacted – for its plans to provide Iran with telecommunication systems that would allow unprecedented monitoring of its already repressed citizens.

All this is not to suggest that films should be made without the assistance of these companies, or that we should somehow boycott every product that has an investment in the military-industrial complex, these are businesses after all, and military is big, big business.

But with Redacted, Brian De Palma (and his Producers) seem to be taking goods and/or money from such organisations on the one hand, and seeming to preach against the interests of these organisations on the other. Call it an act of subversion if you will, but it seems to be just another symptom of the confused creative approach to a frequently confusing war.

[Via http://screenaddict.wordpress.com]