Canyon de Chelly Arizona - Copyright National Archives, Ansel Adams
Per chi ancora non avesse avuto occasione di vederle, segnalo le foto inedite di Ansel Adams che l’Interior Department Statunitense ha pubblicato di recente sul suo sito, dedicando alcune pagine ad un lavoro che nel 1941 fu commissionato al famoso fotografo che decise di intitolarlo “The Mural Project 1941-1942“.
Si tratta di 26 scatti eseguiti nel miglior stile di Adams, mostrati solo ora al pubblico in una esposizione visibile dal vivo nei corridoi del Dipartimento o, più facilmente cliccando qui .
Per chi volesse approfondire c’è anche un interessante video a questo indirizzo.
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Comunicazione di servizio. Per chi fosse interessato, volevo segnalare che ho aggiunto un bottone nella colonna di destra del blog che facilita notevolmente l’iscrizione agli avvisi via email che il sistema inoltra automaticamente quando vengono pubblicati nuovi post.
Un metodo semplice e senza sforzi per rimanere sempre in contatto che si aggiunge al classico sistema dei feed RSS che trovate sempre in alto a destra.
A Family’s Heartbreak: A Parent’s Introduction to Parental Alienation, is the true story of one parent’s struggle to maintain a normal, loving relationship with his young son in the face of overwhelming odds. From the emotionally devastating actions of the child’s other parent, to a court system and mental health community ill-equipped to deal with a destructive family dynamic, A Family’s Heartbreak: A Parent’s Introduction to Parental Alienation is both an education in parental alienation and an eye opening experience for parents who don’t believe this could happen to them.
Introduction to A Family’s Heartbreak
IN THE SPAN OF SEVEN DAYS I filed for divorce, was arrested and falsely accused of child abuse. I also walked into a clinic with all the symptoms of a heart attack. But you know what? Those events were the high points of my week. Divorce, arrests, child abuse charges and heart attacks are like marching in the Disney World parade compared to the world of parental alienation.
The concept of parental alienation is pretty simple – one parent deliberately damages, and in some cases destroys, the previously healthy, loving relationship between his or her child and the child’s other parent. In a severe case the alienating parent and child work together to successfully eliminate the previously loved Mom or Dad from the child’s life.
My introduction to parental alienation began on the night of July 14, 2004. Until that night my 11-year-old son and I had a wonderful relationship. By the early morning hours of July 15, 2004 we didn’t have a relationship.
I know what you’re thinking – a normal, healthy father/son relationship doesn’t go from hugs to heartbreak in a few hours. I believed the same thing. I was wrong. Parental alienation is like a train barreling through a dark tunnel with its lights off. I was standing in the middle of the tracks when the train emerged from the darkness. I never saw it coming.
Of course, now I can look back and say I should have at least heard the train coming. Now I can point to things my then-wife said to my son one and even two years before that might have set off alarms in my mind. But my son and I had a normal, healthy relationship. I couldn’t conceive that any parent would do something so emotionally destructive to his or her child. What I didn’t realize is that a variety of emotional issues could combine with the anger, hurt and bitterness of divorce to drive some people to unimaginably vindictive and destructive heights.
On that July night my attorney hadn’t even finished drafting my divorce complaint when my future ex-wife started screaming at me within earshot of my son. According to her I was solely responsible for our impending divorce. “Your father is abandoning us,” she told him.
My ex-wife had my son sleep in her bed that night. He was still sleeping in her bed when I moved out of the house one month later. “I need you to protect me,” she kept telling him.
Before I moved out, I couldn’t even get him to have dinner with me. “Please don’t leave me,” Mom begged him. “I don’t want to be alone.”
I’ve learned a lot about parental alienation since those first nights. I’ve had a lot of time on my hands. As I write this, I haven’t spent any time alone with my son in almost three years.
One thing I’ve learned is that an alienating parent is only interested in filling his or her unhealthy emotional needs at the expense of the other parent and their child. The alienating parent doesn’t understand that he or she is also hurting the child by forcing the kid to choose a side in the parental conflict.
I’ve also learned that parental alienation is not just a single crime against the other parent, but three crimes against the child.
The first crime is that the alienating parent doesn’t acknowledge that every child is one half of each parent. Every time the alienating parent tells the child how horrible the other parent is, the alienating parent is telling the child that half of him (or her) is horrible.
The second crime is that the alienating parent teaches the child that cutting off contact with people is an acceptable way to handle anger, hurt and disappointment. The world is full of people. One day the child will be an adult. The child will grow up without the appropriate coping skills to have normal, healthy relationships with other adults.
The third crime is that one day the child will look back on the alienating parent’s behavior from an adult perspective. He or she will then realize that the alienating parent robbed the child of something very precious – the love and attention of the other parent. The child-turned-adult will realize that the trust placed in the alienating parent was misplaced. He or she will feel betrayed. At that point the adult will not just have one damaged relationship with a parent, but damaged relationships with both parents.
The third crime is the worst crime of all.
I’ve learned so much about parental alienation I decided to write this book. But before you read any further there’s something you should know. I’m not a psychologist. I’m not a lawyer. I’m just a Dad. That’s all. A long time ago I would have identified myself as a journalist, but my last byline was during President Ronald Reagan’s administration. The statute of limitations on my journalism credentials expired long ago.
Yet my old journalism experience came in handy when I started studying parental alienation. My goal was to regain my relationship with my son. I knew I lived on an emotional roller coaster of anger, depression, helplessness and disillusionment. How were these emotions affecting my ability to achieve my goal? I couldn’t imagine what my son was living through. How could I address his issues when I didn’t even know what they were? What about family court judges, attorneys, family relation counselors, psychologists, and even the police? How could these divorce-war veterans help, or hurt, my chances of ever having a normal relationship with my son again?
I approached parental alienation like a journalist approaching a news story. I gathered the facts. I interviewed a variety of people – therapists, attorneys and victims. And I passed on everything I learned to the psychologists, attorneys and counselors involved in my case.
Guess what? Many of these professionals had never heard of parental alienation. And the few that had heard of it didn’t really understand how to approach a severe case legally or therapeutically. During my crash course in parental alienation I found lots of valuable books on children and divorce. These books discussed alienation-type symptoms, but few books tackled parental alienation head on.
One book that did tackle the subject was Dr. Richard Gardner’s The Parental Alienation Syndrome. Gardner’s book became my bible. I quoted Gardner chapter and verse when I talked to people involved in my case. But Gardner wrote his book for psychologists and attorneys. On the title page of The Parental Alienation Syndrome, Gardner even calls his book “a guide for mental health and legal professionals.” Naturally, Gardner used a lot of legal and psychological jargon to explain parental alienation.
Since Gardner talked about the life of an alienated parent in clinical terms, I wrote A Family’s Heartbreak: A Parent’s Introduction to Parental Alienation to address alienation in human terms. The book is based on a true story. I wrote it from a parent’s perspective. There’s a big difference between clinically dissecting the anatomy of an alienated parent and being on the receiving end of the alienating behavior. Think about the difference between studying a driver’s manual and climbing behind the wheel of a car for the very first time. Reading the manual doesn’t quite measure up to stepping on the gas pedal.
Since I’m not a psychologist, I left the psychological analysis in this book to a professional with experience helping parental alienation families. I shared my story with him. You can sit in on our “sessions” and hear him clinically explain parental alienation. I’ll also give you my perspective on parental alienation. I’ve learned a lot about the legal and psychological professionals forced to deal with this relatively new phenomenon. Perhaps my perspective will save you some time and money. Maybe my experience will help convince legal and mental health professionals that parental alienation is not something they can just dismiss as “bad parenting.” Most of all, I hope my experience will help your family avoid what my family went through.
A big part of this book relates examples of alienating behavior. Each one is true. I’ve presented some of these examples in the form of a journal. This isn’t merely a writer’s technique. I really kept a journal in the years leading up to and immediately following my divorce. How the journal developed is a story in itself.
At first I told myself I was keeping a journal because I would never remember all the incredible but true events I would need to remember if my divorce went to trial. I was right on both counts. We went to trial, and a large portion of my testimony focused on my future ex-wife’s alienating behavior. I wouldn’t have remembered a fraction of that behavior without the journal. I highly recommend keeping a journal to anyone who anticipates a nasty trial and child custody battle.
I also discovered that keeping a journal is good therapy. There were many times during my ordeal when I became frustrated or angry. My overwhelming desire at those times was to call someone, anyone, involved in my case and just start yelling. Writing down my frustrations rather than subjecting someone to them was a much better way to handle my emotions.
One day I was writing in my journal when the old journalist inside me re-emerged. I began thinking about parental alienation as a story that needed telling. I found myself editing my journal entries like a copy editor – shortening sentences, comparing verb tenses and double-checking facts. At that point I began not only writing for me but also for you.
Since I was writing for both of us, I had to make some decisions on your behalf. I edited the story heavily to keep the focus on alienation rather than divorce. I also grouped similar examples of alienating behavior together in the journal chapters to illustrate certain concepts better. Finally, I had to make a decision on the use of gender and pronouns when talking about parents and children.
I couldn’t write an entire book writing Mom or Dad, him or her, he or she, every time I referred to a parent. In some chapters I thought it was important to remain gender neutral in my references to the alienating parent. Despite my best efforts, you’ll notice how awkward the language became. So in other parts of the book I picked a gender for the alienating parent, the alienated parent and the alienated child and stuck with those choices. I also had to decide whether to discuss the alienated child in the singular “child” or the plural “children.” So in the pages that follow the alienating parent is generally described as female. The alienated parent is male. The alienated child is male and referred to in the singular rather than the plural.
To be honest, I didn’t spend much time considering alternatives. I am an alienated father, I was married to an alienating mother and my son is an alienated child. I tried not to confuse either of us by using one set of pronouns to tell my family’s story and another set of pronouns for generic references.
I sincerely apologize to all alienated Moms if I make it appear that only Dads are victims of parental alienation. Fathers successfully alienate children from mothers too. I’ve heard from many alienated mothers who are suffering the pain and heartache that only an alienated parent can know. I decided to title this book, A Family’s Heartbreak: A Parent’s Introduction to Parental Alienation, because Moms, Dads and children are victims of alienating behavior. In the final analysis, an alienating parent is an alienating parent – regardless of gender. If alienated mothers were to change all my male references to female references and vice versa, the examples and explanations of parental alienation would apply equally to them.
Another decision I had to make was whether to follow Dr. Richard Gardner’s lead and write about parental alienation as a syndrome, PAS, or focus on parental alienation behaviors. In this case I did spend a long time considering my decision.
I ultimately decided to drop “Syndrome” from all my parental alienation references because PAS isn’t in the DSM — the psychology profession’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. The manual is the clinician’s bible – a guide to symptoms and syndromes and the definitive diagnosis on any legitimate mental health condition.
PAS may not be in the DSM, but alienating behavior still inflicts pain, heartache and incalculable emotional damage on the children, parents and extended family members involved in these horrible situations. Parents on the receiving end of alienating behavior don’t really care if professionals classify the behavior as a syndrome or a bad alignment of the stars and planets. They just want someone to help them restore their previously normal, loving relationships with their children.
I believe one day mental health professionals will classify parental alienation as a “Syndrome.” Until then, I am quite comfortable writing about “parental alienation” as behavior and let others debate what to call this very destructive family dynamic. However, I did use the phrase “Parental Alienation Syndrome” or “PAS” in this book when I discussed or quoted other professionals who used the phrase in their work.
I didn’t plan on writing the definitive work on parental alienation and in that respect I’ve succeeded. Writers do their best work writing about their experiences. Not all alienation cases resemble my family’s story. An alienated parent needs to examine his or her own personal situation and consult with professionals before completely understanding the circumstances of his or her own case. But whether you are male or female, I hope this story helps you find some answers, comfort and solutions to your alienation nightmare.
I also hope you become outraged that parents alienate their children from the other parent. I hope you become further outraged that judges, attorneys and many mental health professionals consider the actions of an alienating parent just part of a normal day at the office when working divorce and child custody cases. I hope you recognize that parental alienation is a form of emotional child abuse that we can’t ignore any longer.
Most of all, I hope that this book, in some small way, helps alienated parents and children begin rebuilding their previously loving relationships.
By:Mike Jeffries
ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service
I always have a propensity towards psychological effects named after people, places, phenomenon, history, or even animals… examples : halo effect, butterfly effect, sheep effect, chameleon effect, Stockholm syndrome, withdrawal effect..Abiding by Newtons 3rd law, we can work backwards and realize that there is a cause for all these, its like a cause-effect or action-reaction like..
One thing that caught my eye just few minutes back is the “Lucifer Effect”. The first thing i did was google “lucifer” . Lucifer refers to a pagan based or christian faith based belief that Lucifer was an angel sent to earth but ultimately became a Satan. I instantly realized that what Lucifer effect would mean. It is simple : What makes good people turn evil!
“The “Lucifer Effect” describes the point in time when an ordinary, normal person first crosses the boundary between good and evil to engage in an evil action. It represents a transformation of human character that is significant in its consequences. Such transformations are more likely to occur in novel settings, in “total situations,” where social situational forces are sufficiently powerful to overwhelm, or set aside temporally, personal attributes of morality, compassion, or sense of justice and fair play”
At the outset the subject feels/sounds very heavy and it became heavier and heavier as I digged more on Lucifer effect. Youtube has put up videos of “Stanford Prison Experiment”. I highly recommend watching all the parts : More Info:
Stanford Prison Experience: Information about the psychological study
Phil Zambardo Talks to MIT students..
The book about Lucifer Effect by Phil Zambardo can be found in the aforementioned link.
What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph? These are some of the questions we posed in this dramatic simulation of prison life conducted in the summer of 1971 at Stanford University.
The Lucifer Effect raises a fundamental question about the nature of human nature: How is it possible for ordinary, average, even good people to become perpetrators of evil? In trying to understand unusual, or aberrant behavior, we often err in focusing exclusively on the inner determinants of genes, personality, and character, as we also tend to ignore what may be the critical catalyst for behavior change in the external Situation or in the System that creates and maintains such situations.
This work finds accurate parallels with the current war torn situation in Mid East..How???? Most of you would be aware of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal few years back on how military was using torture as technique for interrogation. Phil Zambardo was actively involved in the prisoner trail and he comes up with a reason that psychology has explanation for such complex , wild behavior. For people who just saw the Prisoners who were abused by the US military with shock and awe , Phil comes up with a simple and solid psychological reasoning for such drastic behavioral shifts even in the most noble of men.
The report said the military police within that site were part of a unit that was not properly trained for internment operations, lacked discipline and standard operating procedures, had been on duty in Iraq for far longer than its members had expected and were under constant threat of random attack by insurgents outside the prison walls. The soldiers lacked even the minimal luxuries of Army life in Iraq — like a barbershop — and were grossly understaffed. The lapses of discipline that occurred as their morale plummeted.
Kind of heavy at the outset when you just look at prison abuse, defunct morality, psychology , evil etc but from a purely medical, social and psychological perspective even such wild, weird complex, erratic, behavior have an explanation. The positive aspect of this comprehensive research is that new guards are being trained with the prison experiment videos. Every class room in psychology department uses this study to come up with logic behind why we have child killers, juvenile jihadists etc. Hopefully it would lead to some kind of a conclusion and early detection of such psychological patterns is highly helpful in preventing the evil winning over good scenario.
This mediocre sushi restaurant in downtown Portland was rated subpar for two major reasons:
Reason 1: Mystery food. My pickle salad appetizer had pickled daikon, pickled ginger, and a mysterious beet-dyed pickled slivers that I thought might be pickled plums. It didn’t taste bad, but I prefer informed eating. The waitress didn’t know what it was, the cooks couldn’t identify it – I was going to have to wait for the manager to come back for identification. As the manager hadn’t returned by the time I was ready to leave, I’ll never know.
Reason 2: Bad rice. It’s glaringly obvious when rice is poorly cooked, and the rice here was gluey and unpleasant in my mouth. The fact that it was slightly warm under each piece of fish, which I usually prefer in sushi dishes, did not help the fact that it was overcooked using too much water.
Councilman Michael Johnson swearing-in to serve the citizens of Phoenix...
How ironic!!!...Lesson of the day from the Phoenix Police Departmentt: Unless you hold some political clout, getting roughed up by the cops is gonna float right under the radar.
Moderately Conservative Democratic and popular prominent city council member Michael Johnson, of Phoenix,Arizona, was beat up and handcuffed by an officer of the Phoenix Police Departmentt, on the scene of a neighbor’s house that was on fire. Councilman Johnson is a former Phoenix Police detective for 20 years and is now retired and serving as an elected official on the Phoenix City Council.(SOURCE)
Councilman Johnson, having served as an officer of the law, and supporter the “thin-blue-line”for over 20 years,has been a staunch supporter of “Americas toughestt sheriff” Joe Arpaio, and he bravely put his council seat on the line when he supported and campaigned for a sales tax to be waged in order to provide the police force with more financial stability.
Maybe some police officers can get raises, keep their jobs, and more officers can be hired to put out on the streets, so the citizens of Phoenix can continue to have safe and secure lives for their family and friends.
Beloved,yet brutalized by the cops,Councilman Michael Johnson
Well, early this morning,two members of the Phoenix police department let Council member Johnson see just how much they appreciate his support–they beat him down, and treated him like every other powerless citizen that they routinely victimize,if you should DARE disagree or simply engage a street officer in a reasonable conversation that does not allow him or her to intimidate or dominate the situation at hand.
The practice of utilizing lethal physical force and the routine abuse of power by the police on the proletariat is an injustice that typically goes unreported in the media,and is widely known to be true, but there has rarely been any credible evidence to prove this fact, because of the strength of the thin blue line, and the sycophantic blind faith hero-worship by many in the neo-conservative public at large society.
Most neocons and frightened citizens believe that the police can do no wrong, and that their actions should never be questioned.
This is the genesis of the problem…Anybody that carries a gun legally, and knows that they have a legal right to kill or severely whoever they choose to unchecked ,…unfortunately will.
They are what you call Fascist…and they enjoy abusing their power, and terrorizing their community, under the cover of the badge.
The name of the offending, rouge officer involved in this event, 27-year-old Officer Brian Authement.
Now…Officer Authement does not too much to worry about, given the recent national history of similar events.
Councilman Johnson is black and a Democrat, so a lot of citizens in Phoenix and around the country are going to immediately believe that he was at fault, and disregard the evidence…as well as the police apologist running for city council will whore this unseemly event out to their tea-party constituents, and fire up the haters and bigots in their community that applaud such abuses of power,and why not… the thin-blue-line has gotten away with blatant murder without any repercussions,..so why should they worry in this instance????…
The dark side of the phoenix police department.
…he’s just a black liberal Democrat, and he probably deserved it!!!He must have done something to provoke that young princely police officer!!!…who is probably Republican.i mean, if he did not beat him down for asking him a question, then he would not have been doing his job!!!..
Michael Johnson was concerned about a neighbor whose house was on fire, and he had known this neighbor as a good friend for many years, and the neighbor is an invalid. He was just trying to be a Good Samaritan,just like when he voted to finance raises for the police department.(SOURCE)
It was the middle of the night, and he was startled awake to the sounds of sirens,and the blazing fire next door….he was concerned for his neighbor.He used his police training to get permission from the fire chief on the scene to go to the property to check on the neighbor, because he thought he might be trapped inside, given the fact that he is bed ridden.The emergency responders did not know that!
Upon approaching the house, he came into contact with the 27-year-old junior officer Brian Authement who was acting erratically, and was quite possibly looking to exhort his own perceived power on the “perps”in the community, where the house was burning, because when Johnson explained to him what he was doing there, and his authorization to proceed,… the officer decided to escalate the discussion to a physical altercation.(SOURCE)
The officer allegedly told him to stay where he was and not move.
At that point Councilman Johnson once again asked a fire battalion chief if he could go check on his neighbor and the fire battalion chief said it was okay.
When Officer Authement saw the council member he confronted him about leaving the area in front of his home and the fact that he had moved. The officer then reportedly threw the council member to the ground and handcuffed him as punishment for his movement.(SOURCE)
What happened next is reprehensible!!!…the officer brutalized the council member, and threatened to drag him across the street like a slave, and other unnecessary actions that are simply unprofessional.
Michael Johnson was rescued from the beating only because a fireman recognized him and the police chief was notified to come out to the scene.
….obviously, given that the two officers involved are white, and Michael Johnson is a black man,many are rushing to claim that this racially,power abusing , racial event… could not be racially motivated.(SOURCE)
You know, that’s the New Racism that allows you to participate in and do racist things, with the comfort of knowing that you can then turn around ,and claim those that confront you about it-are the racist, and you are not!!!..WTF?!?
You are just having fun…albeit a “Compton Cookout”!!!
I guess that’s what the racist mean when they say that we are living in Post Racist America..they get to be 1000% more racist, and lie about it that much more.
Cowards….
This past summer, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates was brutalized by a cop in a racially motivated event, and the neocons and police sycophantic fanatics twisted the truth behind the motivation for the arrest, and got away with it simply because they hate the fact that the President is black,we will have universal healthcare for all, and the proletariat feels empowered.
They got away with it the Gates scandal because the Professor acted belligerently to the officer, but that is not the case with the 20 year veteran cop, currently city council member Johnson…
In this case, they just got caught@!!!..(Click here to read a statement from Councilman Michael Johnson)
The officer has been put on paid administrative leave pending and internal affair’s investigation, which is like a paid vacation.I think he should be immediately relieved of his duty and his badge.Let him go be a stormtrooper for the skinhead KKKlan and just be done with it!!!(SOURCE)
Believe me,we will be following the developments surrounding this case, as Council member Johnson is a close personal friend of my family, and I can guarantee you, the KKKops are in the wrong in this sordid affair!!!…
Brutal rouge Phoenix P.D. KKKop Officer Brian Authement
Nếu có dịp đến thăm viếng New York nơi tôi đang sống, mời các bạn thử tham quan thác Niagara nằm giữa tiểu bang New York và Canada, đẹp và thơ mộng, nơi hẹn hò của tình nhân khắp thế giới, nhiều người tới đây thăm viếng và tổ chức đám cưới ở đây.
Việt Nam mình có “Miền Nam để nhất Thác”, thác Pongour ở Đà Lạt. Mời các bạn cùng chúng tôi thăm viếng Niagara Falls, một thác nước nổi tiếng khắp thế giới, đẹp, thơ mộng và vỉ đại, để xem thác Niagara có thể so sánh được với thác Pongour không. Mỗi thác một vẻ, thác nào cũng đẹp và thơ mộng phải không? Ở một nước nhỏ, thác lớn quá sẽ không cân xứng, phải không? Mời các bạn thưởng thức nét đẹp thác Niagara Trời cho chúng ta.
Cả nước Việt Nam mình có 3 triệu du khách đến thăm mỗi năm. Riêng thác Niagara mỗi năm có hơn 14 triệu du khách khắp thế giới đến tham quan, trong số đó có rất nhiều cặp tình nhân đến đây hẹn hò hoặc hưởng tuần trăng mật. Niagara nổi tiếng thế giới nhờ cuốn phim nổi tiếng do Marilyn Monroe đóng vào năm 1954, và mới đây phim Superman II. Bài hát “The river of no return” nói về giòng sông Niagara đổ vào Thác..(Sẽ bổ túc sau)
“Thác Niagara (tiếng Anh: Niagara Falls; tiếng Pháp: les Chutes du Niagara) là thác nước ở sông Niagara tại Bắc Mỹ, nằm ở đường biên giới của Hoa Kỳ và Canada.
Thác Niagara bao gồm 3 thác riêng biệt: thác Horseshoe (Canada) (đôi lúc gọi là thác Canada), thác Mỹ và một thác nhỏ hơn gần đó là thác Bridal Veil. Dù thác không cao nhưng các thác Niagara rất rộng.
Với hơn 168.000 m³ nước rơi xuống mỗi phút vào thời điểm nhiều nhất, và trung bình gần 110.000 m³ mỗi phút, đây là thác nước mạnh nhất ở Bắc Mỹ. Thác Niagara tọa lạc khoảng 20 phút đi từ thành phố Buffalo của Hoa Kỳ và Toronto của Canada.
( New York của tôi , http://lthdan02.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/thac-niagara-di%e1%bb%83m-h%e1%ba%b9n-c%e1%bb%a7a-tinh-nhan/ )
Thác Mỹ và một thác nhỏ hơn gần đó là thác Bridal Veil giống như khăn che mặt cô dâu
Thác Horseshoe Falls cao khoảng 173 feet (53m).
Đi tàu Maid of the Mist (Tàu du lịch ở thác Niagara) ra tận chân Thác Horseshoe…
Quang cảnh thành phố Niagara bên phần đất Canada
Khai trương 4 Blog mới kể lại những ngày hưu trí đi du lịch khắp nơi, đi, thấy, hiểu, và vui hưởng cuộc đời. Mời các bạn viếng thăm:
On Thursday 4th March, 2010, World Book Day, we asked teachers to talk to their classes about their favourite books or books they are currently enjoying. Mr Rees talked with his classes about four publications that meant a lot to him. The first is the incredible story of Joe Simpson and his climbing partner Simon, which has also been made into a moving documentary about their terrifying ordeal:
‘ “Touching the Void” is the heart-stopping account of Joe Simpson’s terrifying adventure in the Peruvian Andes. He and his climbing partner, Simon, reached the summit of the remote Siula Grande in June 1995. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frost-bitten, with news that Joe was dead. What happened to Joe, and how the pair dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted when Simon was forced into the appalling decision to cut the rope, makes not only an epic of survival but a compelling testament of friendship.’
Students were very interested in this book – what do you do when your only hope of survival could result in the death of a very close friend? What a dilemma.
Mr Rees then talked of Old Berkhamstedian Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s latest book, ‘Force of Nature’ which he thoroughly enjoyed (and has his own signed copy!):
‘In January 1969, aboard his home-built wooden boat Suhaili, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston became the first person ever to sail solo, non-stop around the world. Twenty-five years later, Sir Robin again completed a record-breaking circumnavigation, co-skippering Enza with Kiwi yachting legend Sir Peter Blake. His place in sailing’s pantheon of greats was assured. Then, after the tragic death of his wife Sue, Sir Robin decided he would try again. In October 2006, at the age of 67 – when most people are settling in to a well-earned retirement – Sir Robin embarked on another gruelling single-handed race around the world. Compared to his rivals he lacked recent experience and a large shore-based support team. There were some who believed that this time he might have bitten off more than he could chew. Then early on, it looked like their worst fears might be realised.Within days of setting off, near-Hurricane-strength storms in the Bay of Biscay capsized his 60′ yacht Saga Insurance. But it wasn’t just Sir Robin who suffered. Three-quarters of the entire fleet had to run for shelter. When they re-emerged, all faced months of hardship and intensity ahead. “Force of Nature” is Sir Robin’s first-hand account his extraordinary return to the ultra-competitive, punishing world of single-handed offshore racing. It turned out to be a very different journey from the one he undertook on Suhaili, yet his experience aboard her remains a touchstone throughout this story. It’s a story of courage, ingenuity and resilience played out against the World’s oceans. But most of all it’s a powerful reminder that age is nothing but a number; no barrier to realizing one’s dreams.’ Truly inspirational.
Thirdly, he recommended Doris Kearns Goodwin’s latest biography of Abraham Lincoln:
‘In this monumental multiple biography, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin studies Abraham Lincoln’s mastery of men. She shows how he saved Civil War-torn America by appointing his fiercest rivals to key cabinet positions, making them help achieve his vision for peace. As well as a thrilling piece of narrative history, it’s an inspiring study of one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. This is a book to bury yourself in.’
Finally, he talked about a publication by the Royal Horticultural Society about creating a vegetable and fruit plot in your garden… A little light relief, perhaps, from all the fascinating and heart-stopping reading…
All synopses have been taken from Nielsen BookData Online.
We are going to head to Bisbee today. Apparently it is a pretty obscure but beautiful place. Mum and Dad have been there before and both loved it. I cant wait! But first we have to go pick Kathleen up from Douglas (the college where we are staying is about 10 miles out of town).
So Dad, James and I set off and arrive a little early. Seeing as we are all a bit dusty still from our night out in Mexico we decide to sample some local coffee.
Caffenio is a drive through coffee shop. As I have am on a break from my coffee free lifestyle I’m looking forward to this.
James orders a large hot chocolate, Dad gets a long black and I get a Mocha with cinnamon.
From this day forth, Mocha’s should always have cinnamon.
Kathleen is ready now so we jump back into the car to head to Bisbee and brunch!
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was a white male American inventor, scientist and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed “The Wizard of Menlo Park” (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.
Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S. patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He is credited with numerous inventions that contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunications. His advanced work in these fields was an outgrowth of his early career as a telegraph operator. Edison originated the concept and implementation of electric-power generation and distribution to homes, businesses, and factories – a crucial development in the modern industrialized world. His first power station was on Manhattan Island, New York.
Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_edison
Seasonal Sea Turtle Worker
Agency: Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Location: Ossabaw and Sapelo Islands
Job Description: These are hourly, seasonal positions (40 hours/week) in the unclassified service of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The positions will be located on Ossabaw and Sapelo Islands. Housing is provided. Responsibilities, qualifications and other pertinent information are as follows:
Responsibilities: The successful applicants will work under the supervision of the state
It’s so strange to read and hear about America going through the Daylight Savings Time rituals. The worst part of DST is in the Spring when you’re forced out of bed an hour early. Fortunately, we will get up at the same time we always do and don’t have to change our clocks at all.
Japan only used DST for three years between 1948 and 1951, and has never gone back to using it. There have been a few attempts to bring it back but each once has failed like student trying to get up on time. In 1998 and 1999 Hokkaido (Japan’s northern most island) tried to get DST back on the clocks. Because the island is so far North sunrise can be as early as 3:45A.M. in the summer. More recently Shinzo Abe, the former Prime Minister, tried to get DST back. Just like in America, there were claims that it would save more energy and, in turn, reduce green house gas emissions.
After living in a country that does not use it, DST seems a bit strange and annoying. I always enjoyed the Fall part of DST, but “Springing Forward” is just awful.
Here’s a map of the world’s use of Daylight Savings Time:
Blue = Counties using DST, Orange = Countries that once, but no longer use DST, Red = Countries that have never used DST
Do you like Daylight Savings? Or would you rather just get rid of it altogether?
I did not know Bell K-crust-al had a father! I thought [he] is a slimy son of the Satan. This crook Margolick himself must be a Zio-Nazi for writing this back-handed complementary piece raising the totem-pole of the diabolical cabal and hailing the sons of bitches as kings and princes, – my foot! Nobody respects these slimy creatures. Not in USA, anymore. And for petrified Puttreaus to have made that bizarrely servile comment about the childless duo K-egg-ans having Iraq occupation as their child, - is the most pathetic statement of sycophancy I have heard from any general.
I have lost all respect for petrified Puttreaus (not that I have any respect for a general of any army, – as a doctor I am trained to save lives and not kill thousands for the lies of the racists). He should do his job and not lick the boots mass-murderers who have no authority over him. I am sure when Pakistani generals read his comments in Newsweek it will generate even more paranoia in Pakistani military. It may seem to Pakistan that Zio-Nazi are really driving the war to destabilize and destroy Pakistan because of its nuclear weapons capability. Much like Soviet Union was destroyed by destabilization even though it was a super-power. Zio-Nazi are doing their best to restore themselves as they are completely shunned by any thinking American who cares about the interests of America rather than conniving to use Americans as cannon-fodder for the sake of their foreign masters.
That begs the question, is Obummer administration into extending and funding the private wars for the likes of K-egg-ans and K-crust-al the megalomaniac faux-kings of robbers and faux-princes of thieves? (read Newsweek article to get the context athttp://www.newsweek.com/id/232053 )
This article is written to intimidate the talk show hosts and sundry editors of dying American media (in opinion of others) not to ignore these bastards because they are not spent force yet in the opinion of Mr. Margolis. So K-crust-al who was boot-licker of that blathering idiot Dan Quale is now a prince (his just dead dad, a king of crooks who was not paid obeisance by Queen Cheney)! But look at K-cryst-al, – he is double-triple king-queen bed-maker for Obummer, MacQaack and Paw-lint also!! The truth is that son-of-bitch K-crust-al is considered the slimiest creep in DC. And now please don’t start reading his column and increase his ratings. Just like many Muslims watch Fox to increase their blood-pressure and the ratings of hate-mongers.
Zio-Nazis are also lucky in their success because Muslims continue to not so much as squirm in pain or whimper in protest as they continue to be target of the genocidal interest of all kinds of enemies and happily oblige by killing their own pitilessly for pittance (a coin or two). In fact, at individual levels and organizational levels like governments and societies Muslims are willing and sometimes grateful facilitators of their own enemies. Pakistanis proudly butcher their own for 83 cents per Pakistani per month (7.5B/5Y/150M/12). For that fantastic sum of money Pakistanis kill maim and destroy fellow-Pakistanis and then endure devastating retaliation from each other. I have not seen more obliging ruling elites as Pakistanis and Gulf Arabs who have done for these Zio-Nazis. Here is a link for how much Pakistani self-destruction and sacrifice for likes of K-crust-al and K-egg-an is appreciated by Zio-Nazis, from Boston Globe:
While, we, who are on the receiving ends of the genocidal attention of all of our wolverine enemies from middle-east to south-Asia to here, we are never able to get organized enough to protect our legitimate interests or predictable safety of our future. Even in this great country of ours (USA) which guarantees our rights, we manage to let our rights pass thru our fingers like sand. We are constantly on defensive and groveling around from pillar to post for some body to deliver to us what is already ours: Our ‘Inalienable Rights’ given to us by nature, Allah/God, and US constitution and recognized world-wide as our human rights.
I propose, let us form a group called American Rights Guard to roll-back the genocidal policies of Zio-Nazis who are out to annihilate America having used it as cannon-fodder for their megalomania! Indeed, they are now openly arrogating themselves the right to rule America as their birth right, each one of them claiming to be a king as thy claim the right to claim other people’s land as their own.
New York is without a second thought one of the most visited cities of USA. Not only that but if we were to conduct voting on the most popular cities in the whole wide world, New York would get first price. It is city adorned and loved by many. It attracts visitors like bees to honey. The city is also lovingly referred as the “The Big Apply”. Day and night, 24/7 New York City offers the same level of excitements and life that some call it “ a city that never sleeps” .
The identity of New York is the sky scrappers that are many and give the city a look of Concrete Jungle. It is the high rate of developments that has made NYC, almost a Capital of the World, the greatest city indeed. A vital aspect of NYC being the most popular and favorite city of many is the New Yorkers. Though most are busy and hard to get hold of, but if you have any friends there or successfully make some, your experience will be unforgettable. According to the New Yorkers, The City So Nice They Named It Twice, The City.
The icon of this 21st century metropolis is the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building construction started in March of 1930 on the site of the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, located at 350 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street. Amazingly, it was completed only 14 months later ready to take over the city in May, 1931. The Empire state Building’s deign was presented by the well reckoned architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb, & Harmon Associates. This concrete and steel giant remained the tallest building in the world for a long time with 102 stories. Latterly in 1972, the title went to the first tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.
The Empire state Building is considered as one of the modern time Wonder of the World. It is not unsuitable to say, if there be a “God’s Finger” in the 21st century modern day world of cyber and mechatrons, The Empire state Building is quite a match.
SOME QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING – NYC
Replaced Site of: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel demolished in January 22, 1930
Cornerstone Laid by: Alfred E. Smith, former governor of New York, Sep 17, 1930.
Architectural Design by: Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates.
Build in: 1933 by Starrett Brothers & Eken, Inc.
Work Force: 3,400 during peak periods.
Building Materials Exterior: Indiana limestone and granite, trimmed with aluminum and chrome-nickel steel from the 6th floor to the top.
Building Materials Interior lobby: Ceiling high marble, imported from France, Italy, Belgium and Germany.
Official opening: May 1, 1931, by President Herbert Hoover (he pressed a button in Washington, D.C. to turn on the building’s lights).
Total time: 7 million man hours, 1 year and 45 days work, including Sundays and holidays.
Location: 350 Fifth Avenue, between 33rd and 34th Streets, New York, NY 10001
Height: 1,472 feet (448 meters) to top of antennae. Volume: 37 million cubic feet.
Area Occupied: 83,860 square feet.
Cost of building alone: $24,718,000
Cost including land: $40,948,900.
Today, the Empire state Building is the identity of not only the city, but also USA. If you want to get inspired by this modern wonder of the world, catch a flight and don’t miss to see the icon of the world’s most popular city.
Also, flights to New York are available on not only daily, but hourly basis. Almost all 3-5 star airlines fly daily to New York from all four corners of the Globe and offer New York flights City USA. For more on listing and current availabilities on promotional offers and other cheap flights to New York visit Travelhouseuk.co.uk
The USA’s Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps broke his own American short course record in the 200m butterfly at the Maryland Swim Championships with a time of 1:39:65 beating his old record set in 2006 of 1:39:70.
As the event was held at the Naval Academy, where the pool is measured in yards, not metres, the ‘record’ is deemed unofficial until USA Swimming certifies it.
It was the third win of the weekend for Phelps, who was swimming competitively for the first time in seven weeks won three races over the weekend.
Phelps was quoted as saying “I tried to find out what my splits were when I broke the record back in ‘06 and just wanted to see what I could do tonight, I wanted to try and go out and take a shot at it. Coming off the last turn I wanted to stay under as long as I could. That was clearly the difference.”
Phelps who is building for the 2012 Summer Olympics also said that the two years would “fly by.”
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T S Eliot had remarked that there was a shadow between ‘idea’ and ‘reality’. That shadow has not shrunk rather widened when Obama’s ‘rhetorical’ statements are matched against the practical outcomes. Churchill, despite his distasteful colonial mind-set and obnoxious Empire-building disposition, was a shrewd politician, who snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat when the Nazis had overrun quite a number of European countries in World War II. His Prime Ministership, proved the nemesis of Adolf Hitler, due to superior strategies maneuvered in eliciting the cooperation of USA as well as of former USSR. Fighting at two fronts, in Europe – Great Britain, as well as Moscow – proved fatal for Germany. Churchill emerged as victor and Hitler as vanquished, who preferred committing suicide rather than face the humiliation of defeat. It was expected that the great hero of war would win the elections against his political rival of the Labor Party – Clement Attlee. But the nation did not oblige by re-electing him as Prime Minister. Attlee’s victory at the polls proved enigmatic.
It was, however, not without reason. Psychologically people were fed up with war. They wanted change. Attlee promised that change and delivered what he had campaigned for. Not Obama. He promised change and a courageous departure from the senseless war that his predecessor, George Bush, by far the most despised US President, had waged against Iraq and Afghanistan. The lone Super Power, equipped with the state-of-art weapons with their killing propensity only technically not following in the nuclear category but have caused death of millions of Muslims – men, women and children – euphemistically called “collateral damages.” The overly callous sensibility of the US President, overwhelmingly brutal cannot be justified in any ‘just war’. Iraq was invaded on a contrived lie, that it had weapons of mass destruction.
Nuremberg like trial of Eichmann, who was instrumental in the genocide of the Jews, should have been held against George Bush and Blair, who blundered into using military power to control the oil wealth of Muslim countries, if the world were free from the menace of ‘double standards’ and the power of the lord of the jungle. Obama promised a speedier exit strategy from Iraq and prove that US President could well be sensibly principled. Similarly, facing ignonimous defeat in Afghanistan as well, besides Iraq, he saw the futility of continuing war in a country which has had no peace since the last thirty years. Torn and totally ravaged by the successive wars by the two super powers, and phenomenal civilian casualties, the ‘will’ of the Afghan nation to fight and die for their ‘freedom’ is indeed a remarkable feat in the annals of history.
Obama started off with a correct perspective of the global disarray by identifying the roots that have spawned ‘terrorism’ and violence. The gravity of the 9/11 Manhattan tragedy was in the failure to resolve the Palestinian issue and chronic indifference to their sufferings and the occupation of their land by Israel. When it crossed the tolerance threshold of the brothers-in-faith, a global culture of terrorism for the restoration of Justice was a reactive concomitant. Similarly, the ruthless suppression of the freedom lovers of Indian Held Kashmir was the determinant of Indo-Pak wars and in accelerating tension between the two nuclear rivals, which have very ominous bearings for the region as well as global peace and harmony. Obama was quite right in mentioning ‘Kashmir’ problem as vital for peace in the region, but the moment, the Indian leaders at the seat of power, reacted adversely, Obama sheepishly dropped mentioning Kashmir as if it were a non-issue. The strongest power in the world behaving like a powerless nation. How ironical!
What made Obama make U-turn from sublime goals to the ridiculous measures of sending 30,000 more US troops, was for extracting some semblance of victory in Afghanistan before making an exit. Accepting defeat gracefully is not in the bones and marrows of a super power. But pushing Obama towards further surge in Afghanistan is the hidden hand which controls the foreign policy of USA. There is a remarkable book by Jeff Gates titled “Guilt by Association – How Deception and Self-Deceit took America to War”, which was kindly gifted to me by the author. I recommend every one to read it who has a passion for sifting “reality” from barrage of words, which are instruments in creating false constructs, specially in this information age, with skilled peddlers of ‘stereotypes’ and ‘images’ like Radical Islam, Islamo-phobia, War on Terror, Islamic Terrorism, Islamic Bomb etc. One of the most gifted intellectuals of this age, Noam Chomsky, rightly remarks about this book – ‘Breathless just reading it.’
Lord Cromer (1849-1917) is reported to have made a very apt remark “we do not govern Egypt, we govern the governors of Egypt.” This is what Israel (Zionist lobby in collusion with Christian Zionists) is doing with those who govern USA. The degree of their power to control USA is reflected in the former Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon’s statement, whom George Bush had labeled as an Apostle of Peace: “I want to tell you something very clear, don’t worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people control America and the Americans know it.” (Quoted in Guilt by Association p-xiii). Jeff Gates rightly laments: “American post-war leadership embraced on alliance with a deficit and fundamentalist subculture, within Judaism’s broader faith tradition. Sixty years of war experience have since confirmed the illusion of common interest between an inclusive secular democracy and exclusivist theocratic state. Though many Americans have long sensed that some-thing fundamental was amiss in this alliance.
The facts have not been available to support that intuition – uptil now.” (P-xiv) To this one may add that had John McCain, the Republican candidate won the elections, he would have been instrumental in making US commit its ‘blood’ and ‘treasure’ to expand the Iraq, Afghanistan war to Iran. Such are the morbid thoughts and ‘beliefs’ being manipulated through the powerful media mostly being controlled by the Zionist lobby, which manipulates the minds of the gullible US citizens. The Christian Zionists (evangelists, to which George Bush belonged) naively believe that unless the Jews were supported, the second coming of Christ would not be possible. The criminal syndicate, comprising the Neo-cons, the Arms Producing lobby and the Oil Barons are out to create a greater Israel.
Obama, despite realizing the vicious Israeli game feels helpless in towing the agenda being pursued by the powerful elites and extremists among the Jewish community. They exercise octopus like hold and the impact they wield on the American mind is indeed phenomenal. How can one see peace in the world, when the Super Power’s President is so perilously poised to follow the “fixed” intelligence and “displaced facts” to create false consciousness?
The officer allegedly told him to stay where he was and not move.
Edna Spennato 2010.
nning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin studies Abraham Lincoln’s mastery of men. She shows how he saved Civil War-torn America by appointing his fiercest rivals to key cabinet positions, making them help achieve his vision for peace. As well as a thrilling piece of narrative history, it’s an inspiring study of one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. This is a book to bury yourself in.’
